Year in Review Books, BOOK OF THE YEAR, "Deliver Us From Evil/ Jesus Among Other Gods," Ravi Zacharias

The mark of a truly great book is hating to read the final chapter. My kids bought this double volume Ravi Zacharias book for Christmas last year and it turned out that I hated to read the final chapter of either book. I should pause for a moment to make sure that you understand that these are books that force you to think deeply and will take some time for even the best of readers to work through. It does not retract from them at all in saying this, but rather adds considerably to them because of it.




Deliver Us From Evil

Thomas Nelson Publishers offer this as the synopsis of the book-

"In this compelling volume, Ravi Zacharias examines the mystery of evil. This brilliant writer and gifted teacher traces how secularization has led to a loss of shame, pluralization has led to a loss of reason, and privatization has led to a loss of meaning."

The premise of the book surrounds the challenge to God offered by many- "Why is there evil if the God you espouse is so good?" While we may think that this question only lies in the halls of higher learning, it exists as one of the greatest of heart cries of all of humanity regardless of education. I daresay that ALL have faced this question and, at times, been left floundering for the answer. Zacharias does not flinch in answering the question on many levels- the intellect, the emotions and so on.

Quotes from the book-


"The loneliest moment in life is when you have just experienced that which you thought would deliver the ultimate and it has let you down."

"Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain. Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure."

"Shame is to the moral health of a society what pain is to the body."

Whether you are comfortable with explaining the problem of evil or not, this book is HUGE step in getting a better understanding of it.

My copy has been highlighted, written in, considered, meditated on, and will be read again. And again. And again.

Please do yourself a favor and buy this book.


Jesus Among Other Gods




We live in a society that has lost its moral bearing. All gods are given equal footing though this idea is patently untrue. Ravi turns his considerable intellect and experience to the comparison of the major "gods" of this world and demolishes them on their own grounds when compared to the man who hung on a Cross.

Jesus Among Other Gods focuses on the major world religions of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity. After all, especially in the world in which we live, the major portion of the population is so biblically ignorant that they are given to thinking that all are equal, and the mantra of the times is that "all paths lead to the same place."

Zacharias posits this as the basis of the book: “Philosophically, you can believe anything, so long as you do not claim it to be true, Morally, you can practice anything, so long as you do not claim it to be a 'better' way. Religiously, you can hold to anything, so long as you do not bring Jesus Christ into it. How does one, to a mood such as this, communicate the message of Jesus Christ, in which Truth and absoluteness are not only assumed, but sustained?"

It is in that apologetic framework that Zacharias excels and makes the complex simple.

To be sure this question is faced from the largest churches in America to the small town church. This book will help settle the conflict of gods in this world, and in your life...if it hasn't been resolved already.


Some quotes from the book-

“The route I have followed is to present a clear difference between Jesus and any other claimant to divinity or prophetic status. I have taken six questions that Jesus answered in a way that none other would have answered.”

“Capturing the beauty of the conversion of the water into wine, the poet Alexander Pope said, "The conscious water saw its Master and blushed." That sublime description could be reworked to explain each one of these miracles. Was it any different in principle for a broken body to mend at the command of its Maker? Was it far-fetched for the Creator of the universe, who fashioned matter out of nothing, to multiply bread for the crowd? Was it not within the power of the One who called all the molecules into existence to interlock them that they might bear His footsteps?”

“Faith in the biblical sense is substantive, based on the knowledge that the One in whom that faith is placed has proven that He is worthy of that trust. In its essence, faith is a confidence in the person of Jesus Christ and in His power, so that even when His power does not serve my end, my confidence in Him remains because of who He is.”


Make sure you buy this one as well, and work through it...it is well worth the time.

Year in Review Books, "Blood and Thunder," Hampton Sides

Picked this book up at the local library as a random "I'll give it a shot" sort of book. As it turns out, Hampton Sides produced a truly entertaining and readable history of Kit Carson in the same well written way as Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin.

If I did not know that the material was indeed nonfiction, I would have thought I were reading a tall tale that originated from some campfire that proceeded to get bigger and bigger as time went along. A fishing story, if you will. But it is nonfiction, and Carson's exploits are truly jaw dropping, heightened only much more so by his reluctance to tell the stories for any sort of monetary gain when he was living.

Take, for instance, his methodology of survival in the desert when water was no where to be found- he cuts the ears of the mule train and drinks the blood of the mules to stay alive. Saved the party he was guiding by doing so. Another time he was going to get military help and walked barefoot for more than 30 miles in the cactus filled desert to get the reinforcements.

It was a incredible life that he lived.

Hampton Sides matches the life with a book that is worthy of the man he documented.


This is my Book of the Year in the non theology category.

Year in Review Books, "A Tale of Three Kings," Gene Edwards

Gene Edwards book, "A Tale of Three Kings" is seminal work in modern Christian literature, but somehow I had missed reading it over the years. I should have read it sooner.

The story is a retelling of the life of David through a series of vignettes that center around his association with power. First it is with Saul as King of Israel, then with David King and having to deal with Absalom his son. Throughout the book, Edwards does a magnificient job of identifying the issues of the heart and the testing that goes into those issues.

The book will affect you.

I offer one criticism of the book, and it is rather central to the whole whole conceptualization that the book establishes itself on. Edwards spends great lengths of time identifying the "Saul" and "Absalom" and after spending a greater part of the book doing so then demands that the reader not use the information he has so graphically laid out in identifying the "Saul" or "Absalom" that may be in your life. While this is noble, David certainly knew these men in his life, and it is well nigh impossible and potentially deadly to NOT identify these characters in one's life.

I am under no illusions-the book is about the reader (Are you Saul, David, or Absalom?) more than the others, but Edwards presents an impractical imperative in his demand.

Nevertheless, it is a quality read on the condition of the human heart, and deserves to be on the shelf in your home.

Year in Review Books, "The End of Reason," Ravi Zacharias

In this first of the books on theology in the review, Ravi Zacharias writes a rebuttal to atheist Sam Harris's "Letters to a Christian Nation." At first glance, this would seem to be a poor subject and not worth either the time nor money spent on it. Yet in this unChristian nation of ours (proof? read the polls on the matter) it behooves us to be able to make a defense of the Gospel, which begins with the idea that there really is a God.

Zacharias, a well known apologist, certainly the greatest of his generation, and even amongst the greatest ever, sets about using logic, science and scripture to prove his point and to ultimately demolish Mr. Harris's posits.

The book is rich in logic, rich in truth (obviously there must be a culling of doctrinal bias that Zacharias exhibits) and provides excellent fodder for discussion and teaching material for churches.

Take, for instance, his defense of the gospel via the discipline of mathematics (probability) and genetics in the above picture.

Zacharias genius is obviously his unbelievable mind, yet he excels in make the complex easy to understand. The reduction of ideas are both simple and irresistible.

Year in Review Books, "Path Between the Seas," David McCullough

David McCullough is a veritable font of great writing. His works on the early fathers of the United States of American, as well as later Presidents are amongst the best I have read. When I picked up this book, I had previously read a number of his others, and was anticipating a repeat of those.

The story of the Panama canal has two major chapters, that of the French attempt and the successful American venture. "The Path Between the Seas" tells both of those stories exhaustively.

It is a book that reads more like a technical manual rather than a well written history. I realize that the engineering details are paramount to the story, but to the casual reader such as I am, hundreds of pages of that data becomes quite tiresome. The history of it (the larger than life characters, the political climate, etc) gets bogged down in the unscrutible details of how this and that "cut" was made in the mountain that divides Panama in two.

It is, to me, the ONLY aberration in the numerous books McCullough has written, and it may well be that it is the only way to write the history of the Panama Canal correctly. If so, I have no need to read another version of that again.

Year in Review Books, ""Bravo Two Zero," Andy McNabb

Most of the books I read come as recommendations, and this book was recommended to me by a neighbor that has connections in the military world. It is an excellent read.

It was during the Gulf War that eight British SAS warriors were dropped into enemy territory to disrupt communications and to destroy SCUD missile sites. They were carrying 210 lb backpacks and were dropped off by helicopter behind the lines and due to a failure of intelligence were dropped into the middle of a large military presence from Saddam Hussein's army.

Of the eight that went in, only 5 returned. They would face temperatures that were cold enough to freeze diesel fuel...and they were discovered. Their only recourse was to head for the Syrian border 75 miles away and swim the Euphrates to the relative safety of that border.

Andy McNabb was one of the five that survived and this is his story of survival.

The lessons that Marcus Luttrell learned and reported in "Lone Survivor" are an echo of this book.

Year in Review Books, "The Lost City of Z" David Grann

I found this book on the markdown rack at Books a Million, a chain that is more "earthy" than Barnes and Noble, but have a better selection, and certainly better markdown books. I took a chance, and it turned out to be an excellent $3 buy.

David Grann, who writes for the New Yorker, picks up the story of Percy Fawcett, an explorer that was convinced that there was a "lost city" in the Amazon Basin. He was able to write this story from a few meticulously written journals that were located, and put the pieces together.

Essentially, it revolves around the obsession created from the legend of El Dorado that was transported back to the Old World several centuries before Percy Fawcett gains entrance into the world. It is filled with the tales of high adventure, of conquest and discovery, something that seems to be somewhat lacking in our world today. This is not to say that we should foolishly toss our lives into the cauldron without being safe, but rather rediscovering the same "conquest" mindedness that laid out the western world in the centuries it took to do so.

Fawcettt's singular focus would ultimately kill him, and bring much derision. However, it seems as the derision comes from those who would rather succeed at something banal than to die trying something magnificient. ¡Viva el aventurero!

This book belongs in every home in America.

Year in Review Books, "Adam" Ted Dekker

I was inveighed upon to read Ted Dekker by a couple of friends who declared his work to be "stunning" and a host of other adjectives. I picked up his book "Adam," and read the story of a the search for Eve, a serial killer that doesn't believe in God.

Dekker's detective novel falls short on both the medical side as well as the intent (I think...) of showing the interaction of good and evil. For instance, Dekker's Eve doesn't believe in God yet is clearly possessed by a demonic force. That, to me, is a failure of good theology.

Essentially, the book comes down to the search of a serial killer and the pathos that the profiler goes thru during the search.

I suppose that if Dekker is the inheritor of the genre that Peretti mastered with "This Present Darkness," et al, we are left bereft as readers to use this as intake of the genre. The comparisons between Peretti and Dekker are unavoidable...

As you can see, I was disappointed in this book as CHRISTIAN novel. If it were a secular one, I would declare it to be better than passable reading. However, it does not get a passing grade in my book due to its errors in theologic concept.

If you like the Steven King-meets-a-good-guy kind of book, this may be right up your alley, to give Dekker his due.

Year in Review Books "Over the Edge of the World" Laurence Bergreen

In the second installment of the "best of" books for this year, I read Laurence Bergreen's "Over the Edge of the World," a biographical tracing of Ferdinand Magellan's epic circumnavigation of the world. The journey left the shores of the "Old World," in 1519 and arrived back in 1522.

It is hard to contemplate a world where it was not known for a fact that the earth was round, much less a world in which reliable navigation methods abounded. This is the world into which Magellan sailed for a shorter route to the "Spice Islands," trying to create a safer and more economical route for trade.

Magellan was a native to Portugal, the chief rival of the Spaniards in those days, and after offering Portugal his services and being turned down, Magellan turns to Spain. This choice caused trouble for him on both his native soil as well as his adopted country. Threading the needle of finding a sponsor became imperative and his voyage was not confirmed until almost too late.

After leaving the shores of Portugal, Magellan has to face down numerous challenges to his authority before he touches the shores of South America. The storytelling of Bergreen is excellent through out the book but his description of Magellan's leadership is stunning, even as throughly Machavellian in character.

It would be the threading of the tip of South America, finding a protected passage through the famed Tierra del Fuego (a mouthful for English speakers), the land of fire, that still bears witness of Magellan.

Magellan did not survive the voyage, but it was through his efforts that the circumnavigation of the world was accomplished. The description of the voyage was recorded by a certain onboard man by the name of Antonio Pigafetta who gave Bergreen ample resource to write such a book as this one is. Having said that, I must give warning...Pigafetta, while working with the trained eye of a geographer, he describes the land, the people and practices of those people with an unflinchingly accurate description that Bergreen records as well.

Extraordinary book.

Year in Review Books "Into the Wild," Jon Krakauer

I am going to do a "2011 Year in Review" for the various books I read this year that deserve a honorable mention.

I will begin with the review by breaking the rule as I start...

I first met Jon Krakauer in the book "Into Thin Air" an epic account of the ascent of Mt. Everest in 1996 when several died high on the mountain. Krakauer was on the mountain and wrote an excellent account of the mistakes and successes of the various parties climbing the highest mountain in the world.

After reading that, I picked up and read most of Krakauer's other books, including "Where Men Win Glory," a story of Pat Tillman, the NFL star that joined the Army Rangers after 9/11. He also wrote "Under the Banner of Heaven," a look at a polygamist that wound up giving a decent history of Mormonism in North America.

However, beside "Into Thin Air," the most troubling and heartrending story that he wrote was "Into the Wild," a book written in 1996 about Christopher McCandless. McCandless was a brilliant kid from the Washington, DC area who went on to Emory University and graduated there with honor but decided to give his money away and to live the life of an adventurer/vagabond.

The book gives account of his "adventures" that were designed to make McCandless think on his feet and to rely heavily on his own abilities. He goes on to many treks that probably should have killed him, but with a natural resiliency and a toughness that belied his upbringing, he survives.

His trek down into Mexico on a canoe could fill the pages of a single book....

However, McCandless decides he wants to "test" himself one last time before possibly venturing back into society, so in April of 1992, he hitchhikes up to Denali National Park and with little gear that would help him walks into the National Park to survive the winter.

He was found dead later from a hidden enemy. He made a few mistakes that would not have been fatal on their own, but given the terrain and the nature of what he was attempting, it was the end.

I will not give it away, but suffice it to say that this-the book is FULL of incredible illustrations.

I asked for this book for my personal library and my kids gave it to me for Christmas this year. That is the highest compliment that I can pay any author. Krakauer did an excellent job with this book.



As an addendum, this book has been made into a feature length movie that I have not seen.


I will review another book tomorrow.