Chris’ Blog

This is the second book of the Bronze Canticles trilogy. It had been about six months since I read the the first book and I found it very confusing at the begining to remember what had happened previously since the beginning of this book jumps forward a generation from the previous book.

Overall, the book was well written but not as interesting as the first until near the climax.

★★★☆☆

by Bill Bryson

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is essentially a history of science focusing on the people involved more so than the science itself. I have been wanting to read a book like this for a while to get a better understanding of the people who made great discoveries and the times they lived in. It is clear from reading this book that Bill Bryson is not a scientist and I found that often his explanations were clumsy and that he did not understand the science he was trying to explain, but for the most part this was a good thing. It allowed him to move through the scientific theories quickly to focus on the effects those theories had on the world and the people in it.

See this book in my library here.

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by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This was an amazing book filled with fundamental Christian theology, teaching on living as a disciple of Christ. Bonhoeffer emphasises the cost of discipleship, in that following Christ necessarily involves giving up your life. He certainly lived these principles as he was executed by the Nazi’s near the end of World War II for his teachings. Bonhoeffer thoroughly explores discipleship, suffering, obedience, the cross, the individual, and the church as well as providing the most in-depth study of the sermon on the mount that I have ever read. Of exceptional note is the complete absence of anecdotes and personal experience. Bonhoeffer draws solely on the Bible. The book was extremely dense and will require a second and third read in the future in order to gain a better understanding of some of the things he was writing about, but I found the book to be profound and I will continue to reflect on and be affected by my first read.

Find this book in my library here.

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Sixth Edition
by Elizabeth Castro

I actually finished reading this book a few months ago while making the Cache Creek Ranch website. I really enjoyed it. It provided information and examples on everything I wanted to know. It did not go into really specific details about most things but that’s what the internet is for. It was exactly what I was looking for to get a good grasp on HTML and CSS.

I give it 5/5.

by Major W. Ian Thomas, 1961

“The Saving Life of Christ” is the best Christian book I have read. It emphasises the most important aspect of Christian living: Christ living in and through you. Although the language is a little outdated, the message is clear. I recommend this book to every Christian.

See this book in my library here.

by Charles R. Swindoll, 1990

“The Grace Awakening” was an excellent book, although somewhat slow in pace throughout. The content more than made up for any shortcomings in style as the principles put forth were solidly based on scripture. Although I do not share Mr. Swindoll’s conviction that “The Grace Awakening” is a history-making movement in line with “The Great Awakening” of the 18th and 19th centuries, I do believe that grace is not demonstrated by Christians in a way that reflects its foundational importance in our salvation. Of course, I freely admit that I may not be as sensitive to changes in society as Mr. Swindoll and others may yet read of “The Grace Awakening” in history books years from now. Time will tell.

The apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians, “it is by grace you have been saved,” yet many Christians live as if the grace that brought us into salvation is somehow not present for the lives we live after salvation. We trade our bondage to sin with bondage to rules and religion. We give up our God given and Christ purchased freedom and expect others to do the same. This is the core message, as I see it, of the book.

Mr. Swindoll spends a lot of time in Paul’s letter to the Galatians as it speaks a great deal about grace and our freedom as Christians. Reading this book has greatly heightened by interest and understanding of Galatians and has given me a strong desire to share this message with young Christians and new believers before the “grace killers” turn up with their list of do’s and don’ts and crush their spirit of freedom. Grace is a fundamental aspect of Christianity, and although it is important to all Christians, I believe it is especially important to new believers that they be shown grace in order to develop their own relationship with Jesus.

I found the meat of the book to be near the front where Mr. Swindoll takes time to define grace and then identify the enemies of grace and the reasons why people reject grace. It became easy to see myself among the grace killers. More importantly, he goes on to explain why we need grace, in that it is not just by grace that we are saved, but it is by grace that we live. It is grace that sets us free from the bondage of sin and from ourselves. If we reject grace we reject our freedom, and although we are saved we will continue to live a life in bondage, perhaps not to sin, but to expectations and limitations. The remainder of the book is spent talking about how to live a life of grace and how to resist the ideas and people that would reject grace.

Overall, this is an excellent book and I would recommend it to any Christian. Although I do not share Mr. Swindoll’s optimism, I sincerely hope that a Grace Awakening does sweep our land.

The Grace Awakening at amazon.com