Archives: February 2010

19 Feb 2010, Comments Off

The Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan

Author: Elijah Layfield

225 Book Reviews

Book Reviews in 225 Words

Just the naked and unashamed truth

(Genesis 2.25).

The Eye of the World

Book One: The Wheel of Time

Robert Jordan

Tor Fantasy

657 pages

In 1996, I began a 14 year journey that is as fresh as ever. It began with a tattered paperback copy. It morphed into an deep appreciation which continues today.

I’ve read this book more than five times. This review is as much a reflection of that as it is for the fact that this book opens up a series that is over 13 books long. As such, this review is merely “a beginning.” The Eye of the World is a Tolkien-esque introduction to a world that surpasses most fantasy writers. He rivals Tolkien in story-telling and surpasses him in writing.

This book, nodding to its traditional fantasy roots, is a coming of age story of three village boys who have been destined for greater things that tending sheep, apprenticing as a blacksmith, or skirting from prank to prank. For one of these young men, he is the Dragon Reborn—the prophesied one who is the world’s last chance against the Dark One. Jordan is a master world-builder. He crafts compelling characters and exotic cultures that the reader longs to journey to again and again.

4 out of 5 stars.


11 Feb 2010, Comments (2)

Challenge to Men on the Occasion of Valentine’s Day

Author: Brian

Valentine’s Day is approaching. Quite soon couples will be exchanging tokens of their affection for one another over dinner, a night at the ballet, cheese and wine, beautiful jewelry, a stroll along the river, and countless other ways in order to celebrate love.

In observing how our culture advertises, promotes and celebrates Valentine’s Day, it concerns me that perhaps we have distorted the very definition of love.

Let’s review definitions for “love”:

  • Love is patient and kind, love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude… (1 Corinthians 13)
  • Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25)
  • See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God (1 John 3:1)
  • By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. (1 John 3:16)

These statements indicate that love is selfless, sacrificial, intentional, seeking another’s best interests, adoptive welcoming another into a deep familial relationship… The love described in these passages is so much more than a feeling – it’s a decision; a commitment.

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines “love” differently:

  •  a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties
  •  warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion
  •  unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another
  •  an amorous episode
  •  the sexual embrace

Can you see a difference? The scriptures speak of something deep, committed and action based. Our modern usage of the word emphasizes affection, feeling, and sexual relationships.

My attempt is not to deny the validity of affection, but rather to emphasize that “love” is much more.

On this Valentine’s Day, what will you celebrate? Will you celebrate affection? An “amorous episode”? Warm attachment, enthusiasm or devotion?

I hope that you will seek to celebrate a love that is all that, but much more. Celebrate commitment. Celebrate sacrificial love. Celebrate love that seeks another’s best interest even at the loss or possible loss of your own. Celebrate a love that builds another up. Celebrate love that will be there through thick and thin, gladness and mourning, sickness and in health, in wealth or poverty.

“Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…” Ephesians 5:25  Happy Valentine’s Day.

9 Feb 2010, Comments (1)

Guilty of Verbicide?

Author: Elijah Layfield

C.S. Lewis offers 5 pointers on avoiding verbicide, the murder of words.

  1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean, and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else.
  2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long vague one.  Don’t ‘implement’ promises, but ‘keep’ them.
  3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean ‘more people died’, don’t say ‘mortality rose’.
  4. Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was ‘terrible’, describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was ‘delightful’, make us say ‘delightful’ when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only saying to your readers ‘please will do my job for me’.
  5. Don’t use words too big for the subject. ‘Don’t say ‘infinitely’ when you mean ‘very’; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.” (W.H. Lewis, Letters, p. 271)
8 Feb 2010, Comments (2)

John Adams: Party of One, by James Grant

Author: Elijah Layfield

225 Book Reviews

Book Reviews in 225 Words

Just the naked and unashamed truth

(Genesis 2.25).

John Adams: Party of OneJohn Adams: Party of One

James Grant

Farrar, Straus and GirouxPublishers

450 pages

Biographies are a like opinions. The first sounds good, until the next comes along. I don’t know how faithful this biography is in the study of Adams since I haven’t read any others. So, I’ll try to review the book as a stand alone, apart from the body of Adams study.

From a writing standpoint, John Adams is very readable. Every biography is difficult to write in such a way that it’s not dry. There are definitely some dry portions of this book, but they are rare. The main takeaway is that the reader gets a good sense of who John Adams the man was. Grant does a good job of presenting Adams flaws and all.

From a readability standpoint, this book is in-between a popular level book and an academic book. Grant cites notes copiously. In fact, there are 47 pages of notes. But, the notes are secondary and presented as endnotes.

I wonder at some of Grant’s theological presentations. When it comes to the Puritans, he seems to perpetuating a hostile and negative view of the Puritans as is often found in liberal academia. The text extols universalism and rejects traditional Christian orthodoxy.

3 out of 5 stars.

4 Feb 2010, Comments (1)

Pastor, What’s Your Temptation?

Author: Elijah Layfield

Pastor Sam Crabtree highlights 15 temptations that a pastor might face.

The five I fear the most:

1. Familiarity—“loss of awe at holy and amazing things.”
4. Mediocrity—doing the bare minimum.
10. Numbing—“TV, food, escapism, banal entertainment.”
13. Envy—“looking over the fence at some other ministry.”
14. Self-rule—following my own agenda rather than taking time to listen and follow the Spirit.

4 Feb 2010, Comments (2)

A Call for Boys to Become Men

Author: Brian

Our culture allows the period of life we call adolescence to linger too long. There are entirely too many males in our world in their 20′s, 30′s, 40′s who are resisting responsibility. Those in Hollywood typically portray the adult American male as sex-crazed, lazy and weak. I dare say that too many of us have given good reason for such a portrayal. How long will we tolerate this perception?

The Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 13, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” The adult American male needs to follow Paul’s example. There are too many homes with absent or virtually non-existent dads. There are too many single, Godly young women without husbands because the adult American male refuses to grow up. Too many wives are victims of the effects of affairs losing their husband’s time and affection to other men, women, work and/or the computer screen.

Let us put away childish things.
Let us be men of integrity.
Let us be disgusted at the portrayal of men on television and in movies.
Let us rise up and be called men.
Let us exercise restraint.
Let us find joy and fulfillment in fighting for and loving our wives.
Let us find purpose in the work God has given us to do.
Let us raise young men and raise young women in security with an example of what a man is supposed to be.
Let us stand up and lead in our homes, our workplaces, in our community and in our churches.
Let us be men.

2 Feb 2010, Comments Off

The Right Word and the Nearly Right

Author: Elijah Layfield

“‘The difference between the right word and the nearly right,’ commented Mark Twain, ‘is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.’” (qtd in Between Two Worlds, John Stott, 234).

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