Book Blog (sept-06 onwards)


14. Children of the Sun , by Morris West

Written by an Australian about the street kids of Naples from about 50 years ago, this book brings a vivid picture backed up by photos and stats of the poverty and crowded slum living conditions - not to mention life cycle of a girl through family, abuse, street kid, prostitution - to life. The work of a Catholic priest is also featured - one that went to his Bishop and asked to live with the street guys and girls, pretending to be one of them, before revealing himself to be a priest four months later, and opening for them the House of the Urchins. This brings mission to life - someone identifying with the people, to provide fr them. But I wonder why he then had to don his priest's back garb again, and transform back? I'd like to visit Naples, which 50 years later, still has more of a third world feel compared with the north of Italy, and still needs exposure and help (according to my Italian flatmate).

13. Families Where Grace is in Place , by Jeff VanVonderen

A colleague lent me this book, encouraging me to release people to be themselves, without demanding expectations. I saw through the authors words and diagrams how two empty people can be drawn to each other for relationship, but that fullness on the outside can't meet their emptiness on the inside. Full people are needed for relationships; full of God's love and confidence. But that people can and should change - and you can help your spouse or kids to do this through prayer, rather than other methods primarily. This is a book where not every word has to be read, but the gist gained, and that can be done fairly quickly, through a couple of times of reading and flicking through. The flip side is that it goes against all other recommended advice such as that in The Five Love Languages, and other marriage courses, which center on potential for change for each other, rather than releasing (already a loaded word) each other to be themselves. You'll have to take your pick as to which you think is right.

12. I Married You , by Walter Trobbisch
This is a book for those contemplating marriage or already married. It is a series of talks given by the (German) author in country in Africa, where myths about a man planting his seed in a woman (i.e. the baby being his, not genetically and therefore in practice half-half), and a man being allowed to be promiscuous as he sees his woman as a garden where he can plant his seed and move on if he likes to another garden, sometimes prevail. The style of writing, and reflection on the talks, helps the read to engage fully, and his real-life examples of the problems that his listeners had in their own relationships provide something for us to relate to, and a base from which he applies his teaching. His 'triangle' diagram, (later re-named a tent), comprises of three things necessary for marriage: leaving, cleaving, and one flesh. It especially struck me that in our culture of dating, a lot of the cleaving happens during dating, which makes it rather difficult to extradite yourself if things go wrong. However this was the side of the triangle which the author said should happen first. Also in the leaving part, the man shall leave his father and mother - so whereas in Britain the guy usually asks the girl's father if he can ask her to marry him, I also saw how important it is for the man to get the OK and approval from his own parents so they can fully release him emotionally. And finally, in the triangle, children produced by the sex part (one flesh) can sit right in the middle of the triangle/tent, protected. An excellent book.

11. True Grit , by Deborah Meroff
The subtitle of the book is, 'Women Taking on the World for God's sake'. Written by an OM (Operation Mobilisation) employee, it details the lives of 9 women who have taken up missionary posts with OM, and also outlines the issues of the area of ministry they have entered - working with the deaf in Israel, working on-board an OM ship, living in the slums of Cairo, child labour in Nepal, etc. It also offers a very easy to read, although occasionally rather cheesy, outline of the women's lives and decision making processes to get them where they ended up. I'd totally recommend the book as one that's easy to read - a chapter a sitting/9 chapters total - and enjoyable and mind-stretching. In fact I have already recommended it and my sister read it while on the beach here, and another colleague borrowed it for a few weeks. Oh yeah!

10. History of Christianity in Korea: From its troubled beginnings to its contemporary success , (click on this title to view article), by Andrew E. Kim
Not quite a book, but a very interesting web-article explaining the history of the church in Korea, from before the North/South divide, and after, and including the influence of the japanese ruling powers in crushing the church for many years. There are so many Korea missionaries spread around the world now that it's pretty important for the rest of us to understand some of where their national church started I think.

9. The Fourth Dimension , by Dr Paul Yonggi Cho (1979)
The author leads the biggest church in the world (and is just retiring as I write). He is well-known in Korea, where his church is. The blurb on the back of this book promises: 'It goes beyond ordinary living and takes you into a creative way of life - the world of answered prayer, dynamic faith and true communion with God.' This does not promise more than it offers, as the book does indeed provide many principles from God's word and from personal experience that have led Yonggi Cho into 'ordering' things in prayer (eg not just a desk, but a mahoghany desk of speific dimensions), of being 'pregnant' with prayers, which involves praying until you know you will receive it, then even when you don't see it, being confident to yourself and others that you will get it, and relating to God through this 'fourth dimension' : linking our spirits to God's Spirit, and thus having dominion and control over the third dimersion - the natural world. He has seen results through this way of praying - a 50,000 strong congregation, money pouring in for various church projects, personal prayers answered for possessions or for healing for others. Will we also participate in that?

8. The Spirit-Controlled Woman , by Beverly LaHaye (1976)
Written in 1976, and very much of that era, this book encourages women to respect thier husbands, pick up thier socks in the mornings, not to say nasty things about others to their husbands, and live with the Spirit of God in them. I can espcially affirm the latter, and the former, and the rest mgiht be a matter for personal interpretation and application! In particular she uses the four old-personality types of 'Martha Melancholic', 'Polly Phlegmatic', 'Clara Choleric' and 'Sarah Snaguine'. Of course reading it I wanted to be Sarah - the life of the party, whose husband is always kept entertained by thier sex drive (yes, even that is covered). But naturally I wasn't. More like Martha. So it had advice on how to cast some of the negative aspects of each persoanlity trait aside in order to be more fully a woman of God, and that was good advice!

7. Greater than Riches, by John White
Ongoing reading, as this is a daily devotional book with a page or so of sheer insight of God and us, gained through reflecting on Bible verses.

6. Happiness is a Choice, by Frank B. Minirth, M.D., & Paul D. Meier, M.D.
Still reading this, and want to read more. about how happy we feel is how happy we choose to be, and that when we are unhappy/depressed, we have actually fallen into the pattern of this and get some benefits from it, such as attention, habouring deep-rooted anger, and so on. Written by American authors who work at Dallas Theological Seminary and the Minirth-Meiser Psychiatric Clinic.

5. Alive and Growing, by Vernal Craig
Likening our Christian lives with nature's growth, and the four seasons. A comforting book full of wisdom that you presume is actually linked to the Bible but is not written in such a way as to be quoting passages. i'm dipping in now and again at bedtime!

4. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
An English classic! Brillaint, loved it.

3. Love is a Decision, by Gary Smalley with John Trent, Ph.D
found on our church bookshelf

2. One on church models, found on Martins' bookshelf.

1. Title forgotten, but about raising adopted children, found on Martin's bookshelf

0. The Bible
Ongoing daily reading, I hope for the rest of my life! Brings me clarity, sense/the right way to see things, as well as get to know God, the creator of the World.