Before Columbus: The Leif Eriksson Expedition

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Before Columbus: The Leif Eriksson Expedition, Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Landmark Books, (Random House, 2003), pb., 98 pp.

I remember enjoying Landmark books when I was a kid, so I anticipated reading some to my boys. This one is a good tool for telling the basic story of the Viking discovery of the New World. It is not a riveting retelling, but it covers the basics well. An author’s note tells you clearly what was based on data from the old sagas and what was invented by the author to fill in the blanks. That helps a lot.

One intriguing thing is that according to the author, she did not have data about Leif and Erik’s response to the introduction of Christianity by King Olaf. Without concrete data, she tells the story with Leif and Erik rejecting Christianity and holding to the old Norse gods. I wonder why she chose to present the story that way. Since we have already dealt with the Greek and Norse gods and how even in their own descriptions they are inferior to the One true God of the Bible, this was no big deal for us. However, if you have not crossed this bridge yet, then you would need to be prepared for it.

In summary, this book is useful for the history, but is not nearly as enticing as many others we have read. It is short, though, so if your children are accustomed to listening you can work through it.

Calvin Miller on Pastoral Care

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Here’s a great quote from Miller’s O Shepherd Where Art Thou, which I have commended previously:

…the church that only gets big but will not care for the sick and the broken, is no church of Christ…. No legitimate pastor can delegate this concern. He may delegate the care of a specific person in need, but the moment he tries to delegate the concern, the church he pastors will be gone. (p. 16)

Leadership Equals Teaching

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I have recently been sent the following quote from Great Leader, Great Teacher: Recovering the Biblical Vision for Leadership by Gary Bredfeldt:

“We have been hoodwinked. We have come to accept a standard for leadership that actually robs the church of great leaders. The standing-status-success standard is not a biblical standard: it is the world’s standard. Pastors are not to be CEOs, and our best models are not corporate executives, coaches, generals, and presidents. Far from it … the biblical leader is, first and foremost, a skilled and godly shepherd-teacher … Here then is an alternative standard of leadership effectiveness from the standing-status-success model offered by the world. It is a standard that describes leadership in terms of personal relationship, sacrificial care, and secure and abundant provision.” (52, 54)

I don’t know anything else about the book, but I resonate deeply with this quote.

The Beggars’ Victory

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I have previously reviewed vol 1 and vol 2 of this series, often referring to them as the “Martin and Boudewyn books.” This book seems to complete the story (though a fourth volume is projected). This book opens with Martin, his father and Boudewyn on the sea with others of the Sea Beggars, the independent “navy” that fought for Dutch liberation from Spain. In the end, the main characters are able to return to their home which they had fled in volume 1.

This is a solid book that will introduce you and your children to some important history. However, it is hard to read/follow. With so many difficult Dutch names (of people and places), the introduction of so many different characters, and the apparent assumption of a working knowledge of Dutch geography reading can be slow and difficult. I often summarized or skipped place names. It was difficult to follow the train of thought in places because I did not know the relation between various cities or which names referred to regions and which referred to cities. The story itself was fine but not real compelling. It certainly would be difficult for any story that follows the reading of a particularly excellent story like the Crown & Covenant Series. The Crown & Covenant Series is better told and handles issues of self-defense, forgiveness, etc. in a better way. I think that volumes 2 and 3 of the Struggle for Freedom Series did not rise to the same level of volume 1.

In the end, my boys enjoyed this book, I think largely because they were already into the story. This is a fine book, but will require some work to read.

“Reinvigorating Baptist Practice of the Ordinances”

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The journal containing my article by this name is now out. Mid America’s inaugural issue of Theology for Ministry came out just before Christmas. I have previously commented on some of my thoughts contained in this article.

This issue is varied in perspectives and strengths, I think. Here is a list of the contents other than my article:
Hershael York– Defending the new IMB policies/guidelines

Gerald Cowen– “Congregationalism and It’s Limits”
An argument for congregationalism and against elder rule. Account is not taken of a role for elders within a congregational setting

John Hammett– “Patterns of Leadership in Emerging Churches”

Earl Waggoner– “A Movement Toward a House Church Ecclesiology”

Jimmy Millikin– “The Nature of the Church- Local or Universal”
An argument against an idea of the universal church

Timothy Seal– “Church Discipline: Recovering the Lost Treasure”

J. D. Payne– “Ecclesiology: The Most Critical Issue in Church Planting Today”

Steve Gaines– “Worthy of Worship”

And an excerpt from E. C. Dargan, “Ecclesiology: A Study of the Churches” (1905)

As far as I can tell there is no information on Mid America’s website about the journal. If you wanted a copy you could contact the editor, Dr. Daryl Cornett.

How Great Our Joy

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How Great Our Joy: Family Memories & Meditations for Christmas
Ray and Anne Ortlund
(B&H, 2001), small hb., 124 pp.

I am late in getting some Christmas books posted, but I’ll go ahead and put them up. They’ll be here for next year and you might be able to get them on sale now! 🙂

This little book has been a favorite of ours. It was one of the first ones that my wife and I found where a godly family discussed some of their own traditions. The book is not systematic discussion of a topic but a collection of musings on Christmas themes with interspersed reflections on their own family gatherings and classic paintings.

King’s Arrow & Rebel’s Keep

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King’s Arrowand Rebel’s Keep, Douglas Bond
Vol. 2 & 3 in the Crown and Covenant Series
(P&R, 2003/2004), pb., 215 pp./ 275pp.

I have been meaning to write separate reviews of these books but time is passing so I decided to address them together. We completed vol 3 just before Christmas, and I must say that after the Chronicles of Narnia this is the best series we have read. We accidentally left it behind as we left for our Christmas travels. We called a friend and she met us along an later part of our travels to get us the book so we could keep reading it! My wife, who is typically caring for our 8 month old daughter as I am reading to the boys, has begun reading the series for herself after hearing just a portion and being captivated by it. We read the final pages of Rebel’s Keep on the road and she teared up significantly. I can’t say enough good things about these books.

I might add some clarifications though. One friend commented that the books were hard to read aloud. They are very well written and much easier to follow that many other books we have read. I think he was referring, however, to the use of some Scottish words/pronunciation. I think I did not think to mention this previously because we became accustomed to some of what is in the book while living in Scotland. There is a glossary in the back of the book which is helpful although not every potentially confusing word is explained there. An important word to understand is “ken” which means “know.” Also “Och” and “Och, aye” occur frequently. They mean almost nothing really, something like “well” in American speech. There will be place for some stumbling with some of these words but perseverance will pay off richly. I now hear my boys from time to time playing saying “I donnae ken” (“I don’t know”).

Secondly, these books are aimed at older kids- the cover suggests ages 10-14. I think these 2 volumes are a bit tougher than Duncan’s War. They are not profane or illicit in anyway. They simply deal straightforwardly with the suffering and death inflicted upon the Covenanters. My 6 and 8 year old boys appreciated it just as much as my 10 year old boy, but you will need to consider when your own children are ready for this. It is not gratuitous, but it is gritty.

These books have real substance, a compelling, adventurous plot, good theology, thoroughgoing worldview and are written so well. Rarely do all these elements come together so strongly it seems to me.

Lastly, I should say something about the specific contents of these volumes (!). King’s Arrow begins 13 years after the final events of Duncan’s War. By this time Angus has grown to be a young man who has continued his childhood interest in the bow. He has become a skillful archer and that plays a prominent role in the books. This book concludes with the (historical) battle at Drumclog. Rebel’s Keep then picks up in the same year. In Rebel’s Keep Malcolm, Duncan’s son takes on more of a role as well. Each of the three books concludes with a historical battle. The final volume resolves the issue of the M’Kethe family’s situation, but I’ll not spoil it by saying more.

Lastly, one other great element of the book is how naturally historical people and events are interwoven. My boys often said, “Whoa! So you mean he was a real person!” A list is given in the back of the names who were real people. This, along with the manner of writing, sets these books above the books we enjoyed about the Huguenots and the battle for independence in the Netherlands.

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

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A couple of years back I finally actually read A Christmas Carol. A good friend of mine reads it each year at Christmas. I was struck by how good it was and how much superior the actual book was to the various stage versions I have seen- and how much more explicitly Christian. If you, like me, have managed to skip reading the book but feel like you know the story well enough, I would encourage you to read it. It is short and well worth the read.

Here are a few quotes:

“I am sure I have always thought of Christmas-time, when it has come round – apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that – as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open there shut up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”

“It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that, while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.”

“Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou has at thy command, for this is thy dominion! But of the loved, revered, and honored head, thou canst not turn one hair to thy dread purposes, or make one feature odious. It is not that the hand is heavy, and will fall down when released; it is not that the heart and pulse are still; but that the hand was open, generous, and true, the heart brave, warm, and tender, and the pulse a man’s. Strike, Shadow, strike! And see his good deeds springing from the wound, to sow the world with life immortal!”

“Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them, for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset…”