Monday, May 28, 2012

Book Review: Sola Scriptura The Protestant Position by Various Authors

What is our only source of knowledge for who God is? How do we know what He is like? Where does faith come from?

The answer is Sola Scriptura. This is the Latin phrase for "Scripture alone".

In today’s society, we have lost a love and respect for God's word. We still "say" we love it, but our actions speak otherwise. The only time we read it is to look for promises to stand on when something goes wrong.

The Bible is the "God-breathed" word. Even though there are many writers, behind it there is one author, the triune God. It is without error and totally sufficient for everything God desires for man to know. Through it, God gives us faith for salvation.

In this book a variety of authors share different aspects of the sufficiency of scripture. Scripture is the only place we can go to for 100% reliable information on all that God is.

*Where did the cannon come from?
*Who's view of scripture is correct, Roman Catholic or Protestant?
*Is Scripture enough or do we need new revelations?
*What is tradition?
*How does the word change us?

Although "Sola Scriptura" is a short book, it contains some great doctrine. There are contributions from some of the leading Christian authors and Theologians of our time. Articles by John MacArthur, James White, RC Sproul, and many more makes this a must read for the Reformed Reader.

I recommend this book - 4.0 out of 5 Stars.

*This book was provided to me free of charge by Reformed Trust Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Book Review: To Be Perfectly Honest - Phil Callaway


What would it be like not to tell a single lie for the next year?


That is the subject of Phil Callaway’s newest book. Phil tries to answer every question he encounters with total honesty. I don't want to spoil the book for you, but he doesn't start out very well.

What do you say when someone asks:

Does this outfit make me look fat?
How was the music at church?
How was the sermon?
Do you owe me some money?

He shows that the truth costs; it costs time, money and sometimes relationships. In fact, for the year, it cost him $1,605.49. In some telling moments, he shows that telling the truth is hard. One instance was when the car insurance company asked him if he would be hauling merchandise in his vehicle. Being a comedian, he travels with boxes of his books. If he tells a small lie, he can save a lot on his insurance. If he tells the truth, it will cost him.

He also moves deeper into the motives we have behind what we do. When we pray aloud, are we praying to God or the congregation?

How many times have we laughed at jokes that were not funny, just to keep from hurting someone’s feelings? Is that lying?

This book is filled with hundreds of one liners and sarcastic joke. It was hilarious. While I never laugh out loud while reading a book...

That was a lie :)

Let’s try this again. While I seldom laugh out loud while reading a book, I found myself doing it over and over.

I recommend this book.

*This book was provided free by Waterbrook Multnomah for a fair review.