Book Review: God Against the Gods: Storytelling, Imagination and Apologetics in the Bible - Brian Godawa

God Against the Gods: Storytelling, Imagination and Apologetics in the Bible by 4 of 5 stars

While Godawa is best known for his many fictional books and writings, I, being not much of a fiction reader usually, am only familiar with a couple of his non-fiction writings like this. Not too many months back I had read his When Giants Were Upon the Earth: The Watchers, the Nephilim, and the Biblical Cosmic War of the Seed and since I thoroughly enjoyed it, I approached this title with similar expectations. Well, those expectations were met.

Again, Godawa presents a look into the culture and writings of the ancient Hebrew and their surrounding neighbors, and in doing so, presents us with a deeper understanding of many texts of Scripture that, when taken too literally, become confusing.

The premise is, the ancients wrote in a literary style that we are not necessarily expecting from them, and until we recognize this fact, we are prone to misinterpret what the writers were trying to get across in Scripture. This has been a big problem in the modern church for decades upon decades, and Godawa joins the ranks of many, many other writers delving into these topics.

Review: The Dragon King: First Emperor of China (Chronicles of the Watchers, #1) - Brian Godawa

The Dragon King: First Emperor of China by Brian Godawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I start by saying I have not previously read any of Godawa's novels of this nature. I did read his When Giants Were Upon the Earth: The Watchers, the Nephilim, and the Biblical Cosmic War of the Seed which was the historic appendixes from each of the novels in the "Chronicles of the Nephilim" series. So that book was nothing like these novels are.

I was more than pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I RARELY read fiction, preferring deeper studies into things like history, theology and ancient cultures. Well, I guess that is why I enjoyed this story so much, because it was jam packed with all of those topics.

East meets West in this historically driven story of a few Greeks making contact with an Asian culture they never knew even existed. And the things they find there astonish them. Dragons, giants, true spiritual beings unlike the myths they were so accustom to in their homeland.

Review: Making Sense of the Millennium - Douglas Wilkinson

Making Sense of the Millennium by Douglas Wilkinson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was unfamiliar with this author when I began, but little by little started thoroughly enjoying his writing style and pace. The book deals with a LOT more than just the Millennium, so the title can be a bit deceptive. I thought it was going to be millennial heavy, but it was not, it was a concise look at eschatology as a whole, focusing particularly on historic beliefs by Amillenialist and Premillennialists, comparing their views, and weeding out many of their illogical issues.

I love the way he slowly builds and builds upon topics relating to and leading up to the ideas of the millennium, as it lays a very well-laid foundation before he turns to dealing with the logical millennial conclusion in the latter section.

Review: Judaism's Strange Gods by Michael Hoffman

Judaism's Strange Gods by Michael A. Hoffman II
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

OK, I will admit up front, I did not thoroughly finish this entire book. The first portion of the book lays the foundation for the thrust of the book, and the rest becomes page after page of quotes, proofs and other evidence of the strange beliefs of Judaism.

Prior to this, I had read a handful of books and resources showing how those who are Jews today are of no relation to the bloodline of Abraham and the OT Israelite Hebrews, but are in fact simply converts to the religion over the years. So I was already familiar and pretty convinced of the lack of a Jewish "race" today.

Just prior to reading this book, I had read Judaism and Christianity unMasked - Vol 3: The Semite or Rabbi After 70 AD by Jerry Wayne Bernard, where he spoke of the difference in biblical Israelites and Jews, and the origination of the Jew being post Babylonian captivity. Well, this book by Hoffman falls along the same lines and goes further to show how different and diametrically opposed Judaism is from OT biblical Israelite beliefs.

Review: The Ancient Giants Who Ruled America: The Missing Skeletons and the Great Smithsonian Cover-Up (Richard J. Dewhurst)

The Ancient Giants Who Ruled America: The Missing Skeletons and the Great Smithsonian Cover-Up by Richard J. Dewhurst
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There was a lot more in this book than I had assumed. For the most part, this whole book is story after story, news clip after news clip, historical document after document, giving testimony to just find after find of "giants" amount the "mound people." These mound people being inhabitants of the North American continent way before the American Indians.

The stories of these findings are so many, it is near impossible to try to ignore them or pass them all off as just a bunch of hoax stories. The evidence is just too overwhelming. Sadly, most in the American (and world) public arena have no clue such history exists. Aside from just the giants found, the thousands of average size people at the same time seemed to have more advanced systems of town life than we might assume.

The bulk of the stories are from the last 150-200 years, so we're not talking ancient history and myths, we're talking reported accounts of these things being uncovered just in the times since Englishmen came to this continent and started digging and plowing things up. I was just overwhelmed by the amount of data contained here.

Review: The Bible's Cutting Room Floor: The Holy Scriptures Missing from Your Bible (Joel Hoffman)

The Bible's Cutting Room Floor: The Holy Scriptures Missing from Your Bible by Joel M. Hoffman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Overall an interesting read, though with some issues. First, the title, while meant to engage and intrigue the reader, is kind of presenting a false assumption. He is assuming that most any biblical sounding writing should have been included in the "Holy Scriptures," regardless of its content or acceptance in culture and history. While he does not push that issue throughout the book, the implication is still there, and the book falls short of making the case for that implication.

Basically, the book examines a handful of extra-biblical historical writings, and how their inclusion in today's accepted biblical books would have added to the biblical narrative. His analysis of such writings as the Book of Adam and Eve, Apocalypse of Abraham, Book of Enoch, and writings of Josephus provided some interesting insights.

Review: Vision of New Jerusalem: Now! - Marty Angelo

Vision of New Jerusalem: Now! by Marty Angelo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A nice easy read that is like a three-fold read, at least in the way I have divided it in my reading mind. Section one is a personal testimony of the author and how he went from prison inmate to Christian, and all of the hurdles and studying along the way.

Part two, which is the majority of the book, he discusses his coming to and understanding of the AD 70 Preterist doctrine and how it differs from the modern futurist rapture centered type views.

Part three is the last couple of sections in the appendix. He has written some modern applicational type articles on how this eschatological view can and should be applied to everyday living. Originally I thought that this was actually going to be the majority of the book's topic, but it was just a couple articles at the end after he discussed his coming to his present view.

An interesting read of an interesting journey and how to live in the kingdom age NOW.

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Review: The Unseen Realm - Michael S. Heiser

The Unseen Realm by Michael S. Heiser
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When it comes to the topic of the divine council and the unseen realm stuff, I guess I kind of felt a good majority of people already had a general grasp on it. About a year ago I was given the opportunity to preach at our church and I spoke on some basics of the divine council view (view sermon here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV9P_...), and found out that the understanding was nowhere near as common as I guess I thought it was.

A month or so later I was asked if I had checked out Michael Heiser's stuff, of whom I had never heard of, and was glad to see I was on a lot of the same paths that he was. So, when I heard of this book coming out, I HAD to get it. It was everything I hoped it would be and MORE.

Review: All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christians and Popular Culture

All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christians and Popular Culture by Kenneth A. Myers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first heard of this book in early 2000s, buying it not to much later than that. I now wish I had read it back then instead of waiting all these years. Had I done so I suspect my child rearing over these years since may have indeed been drastically different. The early second of the book contain a lot of the history of pop culture, and while quite interesting, it was the latter half of the book that was most captivating to me.

Review: The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus

The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus by Scot McKnight

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very enjoyable read. As a good Reformed protestant that I have been for 25 years now, I of course shy away from any "Mary-ology" leanings. This books reveals the Mary I have never looked at or given the time of day to. That seems to be the main goal of this book, and at least for me, it works. I know have a new-found admiration for Mary, and believe all protestants should.

Review: Child to the Waters - James Everett Kibler

Child to the Waters by James Everett Kibler

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me start by admitting that this type of book is not my normal read. Therefore, my rating and review will not be as "academic" as others who read this style for a living might write. Even though I have met Jim Kibler on numerous occasions - have heard him lecture, had meals with him, and sat in an easy chair in his company, I had just never gotten around to reading any of his books. I even used to carry most of them in my online book store, so I have accumulated them, but again, never read one - until now.

The first story in this book through me for a loop initially. The literary symbolism and descriptive language being used was just so foreign and I feared I would not make it far in this writing. But alas, it did not take long at all for it all to click, and I found that the more I read, the more enjoyable the writings became.

This book is a collection of short stories focused on a slow paced life of country/southern type characters - characters which come alive in these pages, and stories that suck you in to the surroundings. I found them very well written and each story seemed more enjoyable than the last. Now that I am officially familiar with this author's writings, I will be less hesitant to pick up another of his titles in the future.

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Review: Honestly: My Life and Stryper Revealed - Michael Sweet

Honestly: My Life and Stryper Revealed by Michael Sweet

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Wow, what a page turner - for me at least. I have been a Stryper fan since finding their first album in the record bin about 3 months after it hit the shelves. I have seen them multiple times in their heyday of the 80's, evening meeting them before and after shows a few times (the photos are on Facebook to prove it), as well as the very first reunion show in 2003 (meeting them before the show again). I have been a fan all through the years of everything the band and individual band members have released. So obviously when vocalist Michael Sweet released this bio, I pre-ordered it immediately. Upon receiving it in the mail, I began devouring it, and finished it quite quickly for my normal schedule.

Review: Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe by Thomas DiLorenzo

Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, what an absolutely amazing book! I have heard many lecture, read many smaller writings, and discovered so, so many truths about Lincoln over the past 20 years, and because of that I have never actually read a full treatise on him from start to finish (figuring I knew so much already). Well, I will say that most all of the topics in this book I was already aware of general thoughts about, but for once they all came together into one theme of why and how things went down.

Review: Christ and the Kosmoses by Charles W. Asbell

Christ and the Kosmoses by Charles W. Asbell
Scripture Research - Vol 4 - No. 14

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This little book was actually a nice read. I honestly was not sure what to expect, knowing nothing of the background or theological stance of the author. Even their web site had little theological affiliations listed to reveal their position. But I read on anyway, awaiting an answer.

This booklet deal with the idea of the Greek term kosmos, as used throughout the NT, is not actually referring to the world as a whole, but to a dispensation - a time - an era containing a specific people, and their dealing with God within it. I am not alien to this concept, and so it was not at all startling. I guess I just never looked at applying the use of kosmos to such a thought. I knew of the overarching "this age" and the "age to come" separation of the Hebrew understanding, and this kosmos understanding kind of aligns right along side of that.

Review: Revelation and the First Century: Preterist Interpretations of the Apocalypse in Early Christianity - Francis X. Gumerlock

What a great book! Very similar to the edition the author co-wrote with Gray DeMar (The Early Church And The End Of The World) but with much more content and more recent translated documents.

In a nutshell, this book has one goal - to close the mouths of those who speak as if preteristic understandings were totally absent in all of church history. As the author states in the introduction:

One common criticism against preterist interpretations of the book of Revelation is their alleged lack of representation in Christian history. Oponents of preterist interpretations of Revelation say that such views did not exist in ancient Christianity but were introduced into Christianity in the 1600s by the Jesuit names Luis Alcasar, sometimes spelled Alcazar. This, of course, implies that such interpretations are novel. For Christians, "novel" tends to mean that such interpretations are un-orthodox and not in agreement with the ancient faith handed down to us by the apostles. 

Review: 33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask - Thomas Woods, Jr

33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask by Thomas E. Woods Jr.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Books like this need to be read by all America students - of course if this information were more widely propagated, we wouldn't have such a messed up nation and government as we do. Tom Woods tackles so many various issues that most anyone should walk away learning something new.

He covers topics relating to the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, the War Between the States, States Rights, slavery, the wild west, the American Indians, Presidential powers, Social Security, FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, the Whiskey Rebellion, Capitalism, Foreign Aid, the Depression and economy, Herbert Hoover, Bill Clinton, and so much more.

Review: Discovering the Original Gospel of John - Jerry Wayne Bernard

Discovering the Original Gospel of John by Jerry Wayne Bernard

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Well, I admit I did not finish this book completely. I had high hopes for it, until I read the introduction and he gave high praise for the time he sat under Dr. Bart D. Erhman. Knowing Erhman has spent most of his career attacking Christianity and the Scriptures, I started loosing my high hopes immediately, but I pushed on hoping for the best. Well, my fears were justified, as the book started attacking the text, claiming there were two writers of John, one being more gnostic and adding pieces that wouldn't have been in the original. He also goes on to claim that Paul was radically different and actually more gnostic than the other Apostles.

Review: The Benefits of Coconut Oil : Why You Should Add This Healthy Oil To Your Life

The Benefits of Coconut Oil : Why You Should Add This Healthy Oil To Your Life by Ryan Jamieson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



A quick an easy read, but filled with information I only partially knew before. Lots of great uses for coconut oil that I have never considered. Of course since this ebook was free, I loved it even more. I have used coconut oil in my diet on and off for a couple years, but now I have renewed interest in using it for more things and more often for sure.

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Review: My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business - Dick Van Dyke

My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business by Dick Van Dyke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



It is not often that I read biographies, and recently, the ones I have read were on musical type people that I have enjoyed, but this was a book I had on my to-do list since I saw it hit the shelves. I am not exactly sure why, aside from just growing up with reruns of the Dick van Dyke show that I loved, and the few movies of his I saw as a kid. So, when I was at the public library looking for a totally unrelated biography, I saw this one standing face forward on the shelf as if spotlighted for me to see, so I grabbed it without hesitation.

His childhood was filled with typical stories of the time, but along came little neat tidbits like his close friend who had an irritating cousin who always tried to hang with them - one Mr. Gene Hackman. Just seeing how so many paths crossed over the years, I found that fascinating.

Review: The Cross & the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants - Kenneth Bailey

The Cross & the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants by Kenneth E. Bailey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoy Bailey's style, and this book was a bit less technical than some of his others, making it even more easy to read and grasp. He takes a relatively short story and expands on the underlying concepts and cultural understandings that the original hearers would have grasped when they heard it. He adds so much background story to it, that it really comes to life more.

My only complaint, and it is a relatively slight one in light of the whole story, is that Bailey kind of misses the mark in identifying the parties of the story. In identifying the prodigal son as just mankind, he misses the covenant significance behind it. The father figure is indeed representative of Yahweh as he points out, but the older son would be representative of the two southern tribes that were technically still within the covenant with the Father, with the prodigal son representing the ten Northern tribes who were not. Like the prodigal son, those tribes were cast out, dispersed throughout the nations, but they were promised (as seen in Isaiah, Hosea and Ezekiel 37, and elsewhere) that one day they were to be brought back into the fold. As we see this beginning to happen under the ministry of Paul, we see the building frustration of the Pharisees who were dealing unkindly to the idea, just as the older son in the story did.