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Philippians: The Fellowship of the Gospel by R. Kent Hughes

Thorough and interesting St. Paul's letter to the Philippians is not a very big book but it is a treasure trove of spiritual advice, advice about how a congregation should work together, historical information and ultimately, Paul points out how the Christian life should be lived with other Christians. R. Kent Hughes explains the historical setting of the book. He describes the city of Philippi, Paul's journey to Philippi and how Paul ended up in a prison in Rome when he writes this letter. Most importantly, Hughes explains Paul's theme that Christian life must be that of fellowship. Not that of coffee and doughnuts on Sunday morning fellowship, but fellowship like that expressed in the books and movies of J.R.R. Tolkein's Fellowship of the Ring ), a fellowship based on a shared sense of mission, devotion to one another and the mission (the spreading of the Gospel) and perseverance through hardship. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. This book can be found o

Alien Nation: Common Sense About America's Immigration Disaster by Peter Brimelow

Thought-provoking - made me question some long-held views Peter Brimelow has written a thought-provoking work that exposes the quirks and idiosyncracies of America's immigration policies by providing lots and lots of details, facts and charts while, for the most part, keeping the text lively and interesting. Not a mean feat. Brimelow is a writer for Forbes Magazine and, apparently, he enjoys digging into controversial topics. I've also reviewed another of his books concerning Teacher's Unions. He goes after the potentially explosive topic of immigration in two ways. First, he looks at the ways the current laws were supposed to have worked by delving in to the original debates of 1965. Secondly, he goes after America's cherished beliefs about immigration and asks rather simple questions that usually dismantle those beliefs as easily as a breeze destroys a house of cards. He tiptoes on the edge of sounding racist (he often questions whether it is in the best inter

There's A Word For It In Mexico by Boye Lafayette de Mente

Flawed but extremely useful I read this book the way it was not intended to be read - straight through, rather than using it like a dictionary. It can get a bit repetitive as the author tries to fully explain how Mexico's history has caused their culture to react certain ways and to see things as they do. I must have read the sordid history of the Conquest of Mexico and its exploitation by both Church and Spain 25 times. The cultural elements are well-explained, very informative and usually well-written. FREQUENT spelling errors mar the book as do occasional historical errors. His math facts concerning the growth of the Mestizo population in Mexico also conflict with one another, depending on the entry you read. Was the book valuable? Yes, and not just to the traveler to Mexico. If you live near or work with Hispanics in the United States it will also be of considerable value. Despite the flaws that I mentioned above, I am still giving this book 4 Stars out of 5. This b

Heaven's Mirror: Quest for the Lost Civilization by Graham Hancock

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Heaven's Mirror was an interesting read. Graham's Hancock's theories are infectious and at times you find yourself marveling at all of the wonderful coincidences and halfway believing him. Other times, he takes liberal use of supposition (even going so far as to suppose what Albert Einstein would have thought of one of his ideas) and he throws out so many ideas that he reminds me of a desperate defense attorney who throws out any idea to throw doubt on the prosecutor's case. Here, Mr. Hancock throws out any number of theories, including Atlantis; aliens (but never says it - but he leads you that way); Egyptians coming to Europe, Asia, South America and Polynesia; the use of magic or an unknown force to build ancient megaliths and more. I enjoyed the book but there are occasional bad photographs that mar the book - he refers to one picture two or three different times and the picture is not clear - the image has been worn too much over time. That would have been th

Louis L'Amour's The Sacketts DVD

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Fantastic cast, poorly written 1979 movie with two main plot lines that barely interact If I told you I had a western based on Louis L'Amour books starring Glenn Ford, Ben Johnson, Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott with Slim Pickens and Jack Elam as supporting actors you'd think you'd found yourself a piece of cinematic gold. Well, you'd be dead wrong in the case of Louis L'Amour's The Sacketts. Sam Elliott is the eldest Sackett brother who is living in Purgatorie, a piece of God-forsaken mountainous wasteland in what must be northern New Mexico. Tom Selleck and Jeff Osterhage are two younger brothers who become cowhands and later sheriff and deputy of Santa Fe. The two plot lines interact only twice - once to hand the Ben Johnson character off from Tom Selleck to Sam Elliott (Johnson is great, as always, playing second fiddle and making every scene he's in better) and in the climactic fight scene that ends the movie. The Sam Elliott plotline is the best

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns

Touching, Powerful Look at Extreme Poverty and at What Christians Can Do Richard Stearns has been the president of World Vision U.S. , perhaps the leading Christian relief organization in the world, since 1998. In The Hole In Our Gospel Stearns lays out powerful, persuasive arguments for the need for Christians to act out their faith, especially when helping "the least of these." (Matthew 25:40) The book's title comes from the visual image of literally cutting out the parts of the Bible that are uncomfortable for you. Stearns asserts that we have cut out the parts that demand the church act because of a desire to avoid the concept of doing good works to get into heaven. Clearly, the Bible states that faith alone is all that is required. The church has stopped with that and is ignoring the opportunities to do good works in the name of Christ. Stearns is quick to affirm that good works without faith is pointless for salvation. But, he is fond of quoting Matthew 25