Message: A Review

The Message is the Bible in contemporary language paraphrased by Eugene Peterson.

I personally really like the Message version because it is in very plain easy to understand language. (I recommend using various translations, and paraphrases of the Bible because—at least for me it helps me understand the meaning of scripture).

Eugene Peterson began his vocational life as a teacher and for several years taught Hebrew and Greek in a theological Seminary. His life then took a sudden vocational turn and he began pastoring a congregation!

Peterson soon realized he was in quite a different world and many of the members of his church knew very little about the Bible.

Pastor Peterson personally read the Bible in Hebrew and Greek and while much of the original manuscripts were written in everyday language of the time in Hebrew and Greek, the King James English Version of the Bible is not. (The King James Version is an excellent version but often, for those who did not grow up on it, it can be a real challenge reading it).

Pastor Peterson began translating for his members the Bible into contemporary English when in reality he began teaching his members the Bible.

After doing this for some 30 years, the pastor was encouraged to put this together into a complete Bible and thus the MESSAGE came into existence.

Here is a short sample of the Message; Matthew 7:24-29 which is the conclusion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:

These words that I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit-but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.

When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything that he was saying-quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.

The Message Bible is available on line at Amazon.com and can also be purchased at many book stores.

Please feel free to make comments on your preferences of translations of the Bible.

Long Road to Armageddon: A Review

Armageddon; a word universally understood in the context of judgment and destruction that often strikes fear into the hearts of God’s people but, should it?

In The Long Road to Armageddon, author Marvin Moore places the battle firmly in the context of the great controversy. “It is the conclusion of the struggle between the kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness,” he states, and as such, it is not something to be afraid of when recognized as the fulfillment of the hopes and dreams of God’s people.

I found  Marvin Moore’s writing very clear and biblical.  I also highly recommend this book.

You can read the complete first chapter on line for free at the link below:

http://www.adventistbookcenter.com/the-long-road-to-armageddon.html

Mud: A Review

Rich Aguilera author of Mud has compiled some extremely fascinating fun, fabulous, and sometimes bizarre facts on edible bugs, barnacles, bears and a bunch of other fascinating stuff. 

Did you know, for example, that the catfish has more than 27,000 taste buds-the most of any animal?

That it’s possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs?

That snails can sleep for three years without eating?

That bats always turn left when exiting a cave?

That slugs have four noses?

These are amazing facts that prove all of nature has been wonderfully designed by our loving Creator to help sustain life for us on planet Earth.

It’s no wonder that God looked at everything He had made and said, “It is good.”

http://www.adventistbookcenter.com/mud-off-road-discoveries.html

Man-Eaters of Malekula: A Review

This is the story of Cannibals in the South Sea Islands and the missionaries that brought salvation and civilization to these islands

The South Seas Islands known as the New Hebrides consist of 80 Islands stretching some 450 miles long and in 1839, when the first Christian missionaries came to these islands, the islands were inhabited by Cannibals. These two missionaries arrived and within minutes of their disembarking from their boat, they were killed and subsequently eaten!

About 20 years later John Paton, another Presbyterian missionary, came to the island but, before leaving his home for the journey, he was told by one of the church leaders in Scotland, “If you go to that hate-filled land, you will be eaten.”

John Paton’s reply was, “If I live and die knowing the Lord Jesus it will make no difference whether I am eaten by cannibals or eaten by worms.”

So, John came to the island. His wife died in childbirth the following year and their baby son a week later but he labored on, distraught and lonely.

More Presbyterian missionaries came some of whom were eaten by the cannibals.

In the early 1900’s several different Adventist missionaries came. They built upon the work that the earlier Presbyterian missionaries had begun but there was still much cannibalism and darkest heathenism. 

This book is a thrilling story of how God could turn heathen cannibals into beautiful Christians.

You can read the first chapter for free at the following link:

http://www.adventistbookcenter.com/man-eaters-of-malekula.html

Danger's Hour: A Review

This is one of the more sobering books I have read this year.

The author, Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, tells the story of the USS Bunker Hill. Toward the end of World War II, just days after the Nazi Surrender, this magnificent vessel that held thousands of crewmen and the most sophisticated naval technology available was holding at the Pacific Theater, 70 miles off the coast of Okinawa, Japan.

The Japanese, in their desperation, turned to Kamikaze warfare a new and terrifying weapon using airplanes as suicide bombers.

On the morning of May 11, 1945, Kiyoshi Ogawa flew his  “Zero” plane and  nose-dived into the Bunker Hill at 10:02 am.

The attack killed 393 Americans and was the worst suicide attack against Americans until the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.

The author details the heroism of the men aboard the Bunker Hill describing how American Sailors and airmen worked together, risking their own lives to save their fellows and ultimately triumphing in their efforts to save their ship.

This is an amazing story which helps one realize the cost of war and also the sacrifice of those who have given their lives to protect us.

I believe one of the values of books of this type is to help us appreciate Americans who on a daily basis give their all to protect us and also to help us realize how important it is to  as much as possible keep relationships such that wars do not have to be fought.

This book is available through Amazon.com

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