Secrets of the Koran

Secrets of the Koran by Don Richardson

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
It was interesting to read this book after having read Building Bridges and seeing how vastly different books on the same subject from a different angle can be. Building Bridges took a much kinder approach to the Koran and Islam whereas Secrets of the Koran's goal is to pretty much rip apart Mohammed, Islam and the Koran. A great part of the reason for the difference is that Building Bridges is designed to help Christians evangelize Muslims and therefore encourages the reader to be very careful about what they say. On the other hand Secrets purpose is tell the real truth about Islam with no sugar coating in light of the positive press that it has received from the liberal media and academics. They both have there weaknesses. Bridges weakness is that it tends to hold the Koran to highly. On the other hand the author of Secrets is at points unnecessarily sarcastic when there is no need to be. Because of that it can cause the reader to be distracted from the real arguments he is making. All in all it is a good book that does well a picking apart Islam. However, I would not recommend it for a Muslim because it would make them defensive because of the sarcasm.


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Cross-Cultural Connections

Cross-Cultural Connections: Stepping Out and Fitting in Around the World by Duane Elmer

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
The main focus of Cross-Cultural Connections is to help provide clarity on the difference between something being different and something be morally wrong when entering a new culture. This is not easily done especially when we don't realize how much we assume are right and wrong issues just because they are what we are used to in our own culture. He does this by examining different parts of cultures such as the way they view time. It is quick and easy read with short fast paced Chapters that keeps things interesting. I would definitely recommend anyone entering a new culture to read it as well as anyone who might want help understanding someone that comes from a different culture or background.


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Building Bridges

Building Bridges: Christianity and Islam by Fouad Elias Accad

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a good quick read that is pretty much a method for evangelizing Muslims using the Qur'an to build bridges to Christianity. It does this by using the verses in the Qur'an that agree with the Bible as a starting point to build on. The authors purpose is also to take away all of the offense that we sometimes bring with the Gospel that are not part of it. He does this mostly by shifting vocabulary and avoiding certain topics to start with. Overall I thought it was a good book that at times I felt may have been treading on some dangerous water by taking the chance of elevating the Qur'an to highly, but as you read on in the book the author does make a point to wean Muslims off of the Qur'an.



- Daniel


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Ministering Cross-Culturally

Ministering Cross-Culturally,: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships by Sherwood G. Lingenfelter

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I found this book to be very helpful. The main emphasis of the book is that when ministering cross-culturally we need to try and see things from the perspective of those we are ministering instead of assuming they see everything from our perspective. The author states that many things that are different in other cultures we may initially have a reaction that says "that's wrong" when in reality it is only different. We must discern the difference between wrong and different.


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Walking With God

Walking with God: Talk to Him. Hear from Him. Really. by John Eldredge

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have to say this book was a welcome and needed change of pace. The author uses examples from his own life as a way to make a guide to developing a conversational relationship with God. The (or one of the) overarching themes of the book is that in order to have a life in which we walk with God we must walk and talk with Him in the everyday and little things because those are the things that make up our lives. Although I agree with the majority of what he has to say I have a tendency to disagree with what he say about spiritual warfare. He has a tendency to “see a demon around every corner”, but if you are able to see past that there is much to gained from this book.


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God Still Loves the French

God Still Loves The French by Marc Mailloux

My review

God still loves the French is one man's story of his life and vocation for sharing the gospel with often misunderstood people of the land of Calvin. It is a collection of autobiographical anecdotes accumulated during twenty plus years in France, first as a student, then as a missionary.



This description on the back of the book does a good job of describing this book. The author is a great storyteller, and even if you don't have an interest in France I think you would find this book most interesting.


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Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: Why We Love France but Not the French

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: Why We Love France but Not the French by Jean-Benoit Nadeau

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an excellent book. It has a similar goal to The French Way by Ross Stelle, which is to give overview of the French culture. The difference between the two is the way they go about it. The French Way gave many short chapters with little tidbits of information about each topic. SMFCBW on the other hand does a great job of going beyond giving facts. It gives you a real feeling for the French culture. It goes into the details of why things are the way are. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the French Culture.



-Daniel


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John Wyclif: Myth & Reality

John Wyclif: Myth & Reality by G. R. Evans

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is one of those books that I really got into when I first started reading it, but as I got further along I found it less and less interesting. It starts off describing the rise of universities in 13th century Europe (specifically England). This is by far the best part of the book as the author paints a vivid picture of how the first universities began. Oddly enough the least interesting part was the part specifically about Wyclif. It is very well researched, but it just didn't have much life to it. Bottom line is that I believe the author does a much better job describing the world in which Wyclif lived than the life of Wyclif. However, it is a worthwhile read if you are interested in the beginning of present day universities.


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Churches with Roots: Planting Churches in Post Christian Europe

I found this book to be most helpful and very practical. It was a book that once I put it down I found my self having to pick it right back up and continue reading. The author draws a good deal from his experiences planting churches in Belgium, which makes it especially helpful for those interested in Church Planting in Europe. However, the book is not written in a way that makes it only for Europe. I would say 85-90% of it would apply to just about any church planting situation. He gives a great deal of examples from his own experiences that not only show you what to do, but what not to do. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to plant a church or anyone interested in church planting.



-Daniel

Introduction

Come here to see what we are reading and what we think about it. That is if you like that sort of thing.