The Return

Almost July.  Better get another post in for the fun of it.  Just had some real summer weather here and glad for the AC.  Oh yes.  I enhanced my carbon footprint significantly.  But I could also breathe.  Gotten accustomed to that habit.  Supposed to be cooler outside but it hasn't happened yet.  Try it later on. So what have I done of any import lately.  Nothing.  Just lazing around.  Haven't written a review lately even.  I do have one sort of done but don't like it.  If I don't like it I suspect the author wouldn't either.  They can take criticism pretty well but what I've got now doesn't do that or praise him for his efforts.  Give it another try later.   The problem I'm having is that I'm too close to the material this time.  Not sure why and that's probably what the writer was hoping for but I can't back off enough to be objective or at least not as subjective.  Give it some more t...

Might have a new look. Check it out after I'm done here. If it worked it was really easy to do. Like easy. Most of us do, I guess. Tired of all the BP bashing, ranting, dodging yet? I am quite sure I am. What is all that posturing about. Will it fix anything? Bring back those that were killed on the rig? Restore the Gulf to its pre-spill condition? Nope. The question is whether the folks in power and those in the know will do anything that really matters to fix both the spill and whatever caused it to happen in the first place. And will any of them look for better methods to clean up when it happens again. Yeah, it'll happen again. No sets of rules or pieces of equipment are fail proof. And accidents will still occur. And since no one seems ready to give up oil and petroleum products, like plastics, we really need to get serious about this. I think so anyway. And now. Remember everyone laughing at a movie line that said something like, "Greed is good."...

Test flying my new computer. So far so good. The old one decided to have a melt down almost literally. Don't know about that sort of thing or why they decide to do that, just that they do. RIP the old and move on with the new. And move is what the mouse does now until I get used to the pad being a little left of where the other one was. Sort of a game---find the mouse. Must talk about the weather. It is positively the best right now. Sun, breeze, cool. Just the opposite of a few days ago. Feel like a different person when the weather is good. Got to find a way to keep that going. oh, yeah. Decided to try Twitter. Not sure about it yet. Bunches of odd little quips that don't seem to relate to anything around them. Just odd blurps. Sort of IM to the universe. Then some big brother program somewhere sorts them for references relating to a particular word. No one seems to care about that, I guess. Makes you wonder if other communications are as easily monitored. ...

Jesus Manifesto Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola Thomas Nelson 2010 A manifesto? Yikes! Some of us may remember a few other manifestos from the past and the idea of another one doesn’t sound very friendly at all. So right from the start I’ve got a problem. But, the title did get my attention, so the authors and publishers succeeded in their effort. Then the vast array of praise within in the first few pages makes me wonder why bother with a review. I discovered that there is a website connected to the book as well that may shock or offend some who dare to visit it. Check it out for yourself sometime. Now all the pieces are in place for a really scathing review, as some might say. That’s not to be the case though. Not scathing, at least. The basic idea of returning to Jesus in His fullness is a great idea. Sweet and Viola make the point that somewhere the church has become sidetracked is right on target. “Youniverse” is on...

Just put up another review. The last couple of books have been amazing I think. Edifying, challenging, disturbing. All at once it seems. I would really like to be able to discuss the last two with someone else, but right now I know of no one that would be interested. Alas. Meant to write something here before the last review but that didn't happen. So after will do. Do you suppose that oil leak in the Gulf is quasi-controlled now? Not seeing much from the media on the net about it. In fact one of the sites I saw had already moved on to conjecture about whether California is due for the "big one" soon. Sort of like, what became of Haiti in the news? Guess there's no news merit after a couple of weeks. Just remembered, tomorrow is primary day here. The weather is supposed to be rainy too. Don't know who that favors. Be interesting to see how the incumbents from either party do. I'm saving my final wrath for November. Can't vote in the other ...

The Hole in Our Gospel Richard Stearns Thomas Nelson 2010 Disturbing is the best word I know of for this book. There are already hundreds of reviews for this book in its hardbound version and now the soft cover release invites more. The paperback added color photos and a study guide to the text. So for my money that is a plus. Why did I decide to call the book disturbing? I could have called it challenging just as easily but challenging is easier to dismiss. Disturbing gets into your soul and is much harder to root out. If that’s what you want to do after you read this book. Mr. Stearns tells his story to the reader while motivating that person to consider what action the reader could take to join in the world wide efforts of World Vision or another similar organization. For those that believe there’s more to Christianity than staring at the back of someone’s head for an hour on Sunday morning this is a great place to start a quest for whatever that something more might be. On...

Anatomy of the Soul Curt Thompson. M.D. Salt River, an imprint of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2010 This is the most helpful,insightful book I’ve read in a long time. There’s advice, guidance, explanations and examples to illustrate discussion offered by the author. Best of all, for me anyway, it explains some of what I had suspected about how things work all along. Dr. Thompson links human anatomy and physiology to the spiritual part of our being throughout the text. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. And God uses His creation of the physical body in amazing ways. The author does a great job showing God’s wisdom found in research and the discoveries that science has made recently in neuroscience. Whether science wants to or not, it is describing the wonders of creation. Read this book. The text will require thought, evaluation, and time to go through. The author’s writing style is quite readable and he covers the material well. While this isn’t a how to or self help boo...