Baker Books

Barry Sparks brings Frank "Home Run" Baker back into baseball's limelight in this biography of the Hall-of-Famer. Barry managed to unearth much about Baker's personal life despite the fact Frank has been deceased since 1963 at age 76, and few folks still were living who knew Baker during the author's years of research. This book is more about Baker's life and baseball career than about baseball in his era---the preferred mix of information in a biography. Too many biographies of players from baseball's deadball era emphasize the game as played then, its stars and the winning teams, but provide too little about the player himself. Not so, with Sparks' biography on Baker. Baker's work ethic helped him become a star player, but his personal life interrupted his playing career several times. Find out more about Baker's World Series heroics, the reason for his nickname, and the reasons he had to stop playing in the major leagues on more than one occasion. Read Barry's detailed and informative biography about baseball's first home run hitting hero in the World Series.

Barry Sparks's book about Frank "Home Run" Baker is an insightful story of the Major League Baseball home run leader from the early 20th century. Tracing Baker's life from his hometown of Trappe, MD, to the Major Leagues and into retirement, Mr. Sparks tells of Baker's career with the Philadelphia A's and New York Yankees, and of the two seasons during which he stepped away from the majors to play with a semi-pro team.

This book does a superb job of taking the reader back to the days of daytime-only baseball. Particular attention is paid to the World Series games in which Baker played, where he earned his sobriquet "Home Run" Baker for blasting two homers in a single World Series game in 1911.

Extensive chapter notes and bibliography supplement the story and reveal the amount of research done to create the book. Yet, the book is not written to read like a college term paper. Mr. Sparks's writing style is quite enjoyable and makes this book a pleasurable experience for baseball fans of all ages.

This book is more than an intimate biography of a baseball legend. It is also a look back at a nascent sport as it was just beginning to capture a nation's heart. This was an era when entire towns emptied out to watch the local boys play at the ballfield, and when people relied on newspapers to bring them glorious tales of big-league action. It was a time when the highest-paid player made $12,000, and performance-enhancing drugs did not yet exist. In short, it was a time when baseball was still a sport, and not yet an industry.

Author Barry Sparks does an excellent job of placing the reader inside the Deadball Era (1900-1920) as he tells the tale of Frank "Home Run" Baker. According to the preface, Sparks hails from Baker's home region of eastern Maryland, and as a boy he had an opportunity to meet the aging baseball legend. The book's lively prose suggests that the thrill of that encounter still remains with Sparks today. He reveals Baker as a polite, hard-working man who eschewed the limelight and, above all, loved playing baseball. The research is impeccable and well documented, with detailed notes, indexing, and bibliography.

"Frank 'Home Run' Baker: Hall of Famer and World Series Hero" is ideal for the avid baseball fan, and for anyone interested in the origins of America's pastime.

Mr. Sparks has fulfilled a life long ambition with this work. It is an easy read and for a sports enthusiast, opens a window into a closed chapter of our nation's pastime. In following the life, career and character of a player few know much about but who is very highly rated by Bill James (the father of sabremetrics), Mr. Sparks shows the career of the dead ball era's "Babe" in a good but honest light. The sparing with Connie Mack to be paid is an interesting sidelight, as is seeing Baker in his final years with the Yankees playing along side the real "Babe". This a very worthwhile book to own and read in depth. My copy is autographed and I do cherish it.

Barry Sparks book was interesting and informative. I couldn't put it down. My knowledge of the dead ball era was limited to tidbits about some of the players, ( Christy Mathewson ,Collins, Bender, etc). Barry's book, not only gave me a good appreciation of Frank Baker, but the whole era from 1909-1922. The effects of WW1 on baseball and the players refreshed similar memories of my childhood and WWII . It also refreshed many childhood memories of Shibe Park ,scene of seeing my first Major League Baseball Game in 1946 and numerous games when I attended Temple University in the early 1950's This Nostalgic trip expanded my knowledge and appreciation of the A's , the game of baseball, and Hall of Famers in the early 1900's. I remember my Dad and Uncle talking about these players but Barry's Book captured an intimate snapshot of early baseball and the deadball era, and has inspired me to make another trip to Cooperstown to spend more time focusing on the Hall of Famers, balls, bats, and memorabilia of this era.

Fantastic book. Reading it is like exploring the vanished world of polish stetels. Although I found only one chapter regarding Szczebrzeszyn I highly recomend the book. I wish there would be more translations of Yizkor Books.

This book contains selections from seventy of the more than five- hundred Memorial books of Jewish communities in Poland. As the editors make clear in their introduction 'the memorial books' aim to make certain that the destroyed world of Polish Jewry will not be forgotten.
The books provide in some sense a record of the town they are written about, and often a picture of the people themselves. They connect up with the Jewish traditional Literature of Lamentation. In the words of the authors, " The memorial books came to be seen as substitute gravestones. " The memorial books are structured on a continuum from simple acts of naming to highly elaborated acts of narrative." The authors make clear that even a list of names serves the purpose of remembering. In their introduction the authors quote Shlomo Pultusker," When I review in thought my life in Rozhan, events, splinterrs of half- forgotten memories, appear before my eyes. People , formerly flesh and blood and everyday Jews, were transformed by the tragic events into figures similar to heroes in the dramas one reads.Of all the people of that time, individuals stand out whose names stick in memory..And to these people, most of whose remains lie in no cemetary, may my humble words about them serve as an eternal monument and redeem them from merciless oblivion. With trembling and fear of God I write my modest words, which are no more than a pale reflection of what was in reality."

Three million Polish Jews were murdered in the Shoah.
These books are the fragmented, inadequate witness of what they were.

What this book does, like nothing else, is to recreate the diversity of Jewish life in Eastern Europe prior to the Holocaust. Carefully selected excerpts from hundreds of memorial books in the YIVO library, this book isn't just about some shtetl, but about Zionists and Misnagdim and town councils and about town that, well, "most towns have a town fool, our town was so small that our village idiot was only half-crazy."

Rarely is a book published that causes an entirely new genre of studies to open up. This was the result of the first edition of this book printed in 1983. Before 1983, some scholars, librarians, and genealogical researchers knew of yizkher bikher in general, but up to that time there had not been a major focus on these books as social, historical, and genealogical sources of first-hand knowledge of destroyed communities, to some extent because of language barriers. But as more lay persons began searching their roots in the late 1970s, with interest building in the 1980s and exploding in the 1990s, they started to tap into these remarkable books. The publication of From a Ruined Garden, containing over 70 translated excerpts from Polish yizkor books, illuminated for many lay persons the lost world depicted in these books from which they had been cut off because they could not read them in their original languages, primarily Yiddish and Hebrew. The first edition has long been out of print, but again, in another bit of fortunate timing, a second, expanded edition has been published.

This is a truly splendid compendium of excerpts from various memorial books written after the Holocaust to commemorate the vanished world of Eastern European Jewish life in the shtetlach of Poland. I read it in a sitting and will re-read it in the future. For anyone with the slightest interest in this vanished world, I URGE you to buy this book - give it to your friends, as well.

This is one of the best, if not THE best, works of Christian Apologetics to be found ANYWHERE! The essays run the gamut from a critique of so-called "higher criticism", to what constitutes the true church, with a number of other topics as well. Read and enjoy the work that launched the movement of Christian "fundamentalism"!

By the turn of the 20th century, new "modern" and liberal teachings (such as Evolution, Higher Criticism, rejection of the reliability of the Bible and rejection of the deity of Christ) had begun to have a serious influence on American churches, provoking debate across the country. In 1909, two Christian laymen, oil magnates Lyman and Milton Stewart, set aside money for the publication of a group of articles, written by well-known orthodox Protestant scholars, spelling out the fundamentals (or essential doctrines for salvation) of the Christian faith. From 1910 to 1915 the scholars published ninety articles, which were eventually compiled into twelve books. These ninety articles defend each of the essential doctrines then perceived to be under attack, and cover such things as the inspiration of Scripture, the virgin birth, deity and substitutionary atonement of Christ, and a host of others.

Though, by the turn of the 21st century, the term "Fundamentalist" has undergone a great deal of change, these Fundamentals harken back to those original Fundamentalists. If you have heard the term "Fundamentalist" used as a pejorative against Christians, and wish to understand what the term really means, then I would highly recommend that you get this book. Being written by scholars, as a scholarly defense, it is somewhat dry in its reading, plus by now some of the issues may seem out of date. But, that said, this is a fascinating and highly informative work of basic theology that I recommend to all believers. I am very glad that I read these Fundamentals, and think that you will be too.

The subtitle of this overwhelming apologetic says it all! The scholars that contributed to these writings set a standard in the study of apologetics. If you need answers on how to defend the Bible's infallibility, authority, inerrancy and authenticity against the views of "higher critics," science, and evolution, this book is for you. In this day and time, mainstream Protestants truly need to 'get back to the basics' of knowing how to defend the Word of God. "The Fundamentals," will do just that.

Do you believe the Bible to be the word of God? Do you believe the events described in the word of God? Do you believe the events described in the books of the bible really happened as described? If one answers no to either question, one is at a disadvantage to accept the message of salvation. By the end of the nineteenth century many a seminary professor taught that the bible was not historically accurate and questioned the miracles described in the bible as really happening. Many, who came to seminary to learn how to defend God's word, were taught to question the authority of the Bible. The books of the Bible were not God's authentic word. The Fundamentals was first published in 1917 in response to this situation. The word fundamentalist was coined by those who participated in the writing this work. Later the term was taken with pride by those who defended the authenticity of the Bible.

Higher criticism of the Bible is the determination of the historic origins of each particular book of the Bible. The scholar through research the text, outside historic information, and theory makes a determination who, when, and where the book "actually " was written. Some question the facts presented in the text because of "facts" and theories not contained in the text. Some have used the study of Higher criticism as a means to question the historic accuracy of the Bible; they undermine the authority of the Bible as God's written word by determining alternative Human authors to those claimed in the text, and being written in different times. These scholars describe the Bible as human myth. Many a Higher critic deny God's use of miracles to intervene in the world. They do not question God's use of ordinary means to intervene in peoples lives. These scholars taught future ministers of God's word.

The Fundamentals were written to counter such criticism of the Bible. The book contains a counter school of Higher Criticism. These writers believe the Bible was written when the text of the Bible says it was written and written by the authors as stated in the text. These proclaimers of God's word describe the Bible as accurate, historic, and the foremost means God choose to communicate to His flock. This text was written to counter the arguments of those who deny the Bible as the word of God. Each article takes on another argument against the Bible.

This landmark study was originally financed by Christian laymen Lyman and Milton Stewart, first published between 1910 and 1915 in twelve paperback volumes and distributed free to many thousands of ministers, missionaries and leading laypersons. It was published in a four volume edition in 1917. Demand has since kept the four volume edition in print. My own four copies were reprinted in 1988.
By the beginning of the twentieth century religious modernism and apostasy in Biblical criticism, theology and practice had made major inroads in American seminaries, colleges and mainline churches. This monumental work raised a defense and standard for Biblical Christianity. The many articles range over a variety of topics, covering Biblical criticism, theology and the practical application of the Christian faith.
The studies were contributed by a variety of writers representing different traditions of Protestantism in the defense and promotion of a vital Christian faith based upon the inspiration of the Bible and the great central doctrines of the Bible and the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Not only is this a great historic work that contributed to the burgeoning modern Christian Fundamentalist and Evangelical movements; it is also a work that has retained much relevance and may still be read profitably for knowledge, doctrine and practical Christian living.

This is a greatly accessible book spanning the Synoptics and John. Reeves uses a conversational tone, employing story, parable, and explanation to make a scholarly discussion of the gospels understandable to anyone.
The book is places largely in a narrative criticism and socio-historical contextual mindset, which does not concern itself with out-dated redaction criticism or unhelpful historical Jesus studies. Reeves takes each book seriously, reads from left to right, and acknowledges points of contact.
The text comes alive through Reeves reading, and the tension of an ethical Christian life is once again radical, not the Americanized, corporate religion that many of us have settled for.
This is a great read, and a worthwhile buy.

Today's review is a column I wrote this for the Missouri Baptist Convention newspaper The Pathway.

What does it mean to follow Christ in today's world? How can we be disciples of someone who lived 2,000 years ago? Why do the Gospels each emphasize contrasting pictures of Jesus? More...

Rodney Reeves, professor of Biblical Studies at Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, is the author of a recently published book that answers these questions. A Genuine Faith: How to Follow Jesus Today examines each of the four Gospels, bringing to light their unique understanding of discipleship.

"My own desire to take seriously the call of following Jesus led me to the Gospels," Reeves said.

Another source of inspiration for the book is his personal experience in pastoral ministry. He finds in the Gospels a powerful antidote to clueless Christianity.

"You pastor a church and you begin to discover that people don't know how to live out the Christian life,â Reeves noted, adding that many Christians know they are saved, but lack a deeper understanding of how to follow Jesus. That is where taking a fresh look at the Gospels can be of great benefit.

"In the four gospels we have a single Christology, but we have four views of Jesus," said Reeves. "I think we are content with going to Paul who lays it out so well, but the Gospel stories were also written both for evangelism and discipleship."

Reeves desires for pastors to press on with these texts, bringing out the implications for how we are to follow Jesus in our own day.

So, how does Reeves understand each of the Gospels?

According to Matthew, we see Jesus is willing to make disciples of anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear. Furthermore, greatness in God's kingdom is not viewed the same as greatness in the world.

"Littleness defines greatness in the kingdom of Christ," Reeves said.

Matthew also reveals Jesus' preparation of the disciples for his eventual departure. When Jesus said, "Lo I am with you always", he knew the vast majority of Christians would become disciples without seeing him in person on earth.

The Gospel of Mark reveals Jesus as one who risked everything for God.

"He believed in the reign of God," said Reeves, "and He ploughed deep fields of faith among shallow disciples."

Retelling the parable of the soils, Reeves shows how Jesus wants us to personalize the soils through self-examination. Is my heart shallow soil? Do weeds choke out my faith? Is my soil good, ready for a bountiful harvest? Certainly the parable communicates truth pertaining to both conversion and discipleship.

Luke shows Jesus reversing the curse, inaugurating the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy regarding the poor, the prisoner, the blind, and the oppressed. Although many of his enemies thought him a lunatic, Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom of God had come.

Provoking the wrath of the religious leaders, Jesus feasted alongside spiritual and social outcasts. In a particularly memorable quote, Reeves writes, "This is grace, that Jesus would stoop so low to save the least, the last, and the lost."

Indeed, sinners need to be changed by grace through repentance and faith. Luke depicts Jesus as willing to "get his hands dirty" in meeting sinners where they are. In doing so, He ushers in the perpetual year of Jubilee for his followers.

In turning to John's Gospel, Reeves spends a chapter bringing fresh insight to the story of Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well. Reeves calls her "The Ideal Evangelist" because upon her understanding of who Jesus is, she ran home and told all her townsmen about Jesus. "I kept coming back to the primary motivation that compels us to share our faith and hope: love," Reeves said, noting that the woman spilled forth the news about Christ as her heart overflowed with love for Christ.

Also in John, the nobleman whose son was healed by Christ reveals a picture of the ideal believer. Jesus sent the man home with a promise of healing for the son.

"It was a faith journey. It took a leap of faith to come to Jesus. It required even more to believe without seeing results," he said. Both the Samaritan woman and the nobleman provide living pictures of what it means to follow Jesus.

These are just a few of the Gospel stories Reeves uses in crafting this challenging book. He really drives home the point that, "We must read the Gospels holistically, not just jumping into them and reading a story and learning a quick life lesson from it." Continual reflection upon the Gospel stories in their own context will bring a clear understanding of what it means to follow Jesus today.

"I hope that when they finish my book, they turn with fresh enthusiasm to the Gospels, seeing Jesus and following him with their life," Reeves said.

A Genuine Faith will give you an opportunity to witness the glory of the Savior. You will be led down a delightful path of instruction in how to follow Jesus today.

I really, really like this book. We have bought many and given to pastors and friends. Dr. Reeves is a very humble man and a wonderful New Testament teacher. He challenges you to think beyond what you have heard all of your life and encourages you to open your mind and see the real passion of Christ. When you read A Genuine Faith, you are don't warm up, get to the peak of the book and then cool down at the end. It is a book that keeps going up and up and stays that way until the end.

I highly recommend and strongly urge you to get this book. In fact, you may want to order 2 of them, and then you can give one away.

I must confess; this may be a biased review, since I had the author of this book as a Professor of New Testament History.

Dr. Reeves does a wonderful job of taking what the Gospel writers have given us and spelling it out in real-world terms today. The greatest hindrance Americans have when they read the Bible is that they take the text out of context; these are not 'American capitalist' people with cloaks and sandals that we're reading about, they are Jews living under Roman oppression in the first century A.D. At times this one difference between how we act as Americans and how they acted in the scriptures can make for a decided historical and cultural conflict; one that may keep the reader from fully understanding the text.

Thank goodness someone like Dr. Reeves is able to wake us up from this sleep of ignorance. This book is a wonderful tool for understanding the meaning of the four Gospels, and it looks at each Gospel thoroughly and individually, as well as provide essential background information on both the author, setting and purpose of each individual book.

The real amazing part of this book is that it can educate those who don't have the slightest clue as to what is meant by the writing of the Gospels, as well as rebuke and re-educate those who think they've "understood" the good news. I thoroughly enjoyed having this author as a professor because he was able to add so much life to what might otherwise be a boring, easy to misread biblical text. However, his true talent of teaching is that he can address a concept that you may think you've already learned, and yet continue to shed multiple new lights on what you might have considered to be a mundane subject.

I'm so impressed with this book. It is my hope that writing will not detract this man so much from his job and family obligations that he may not continue in his written endeavors. We definitely need more books like this one. Now that he's given us insight on the Gospels, perhaps tackling the Epistles wouldn't be so tough? One can only hope.

Buy this book, and, more importantly, read it.

I really enjoyed the book. So many sermons focus on discipleship by using a variety of verses from all over the bible. This study, however, focuses on each gospel separately. We really get new insight into what Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were each trying to teach us. People rarely today study the individual gospels as individual letters. Therefore we sometimes miss the value of each writer's whole story.

Rodney does a great job in focusing our attention to the actual stories in front of us, allowing us to see the writer's story and keeping us from bringing in information from the other writers. By using this method I was able to see truths that I had not seen before and had a greater appreciation for the gospels, individually and as a whole.

This book really got to me. It makes you feel the simple yet honest sentiments expressed in the prayers. A definite buy!

A secret pal gave me this book in 1976. I am so happy to see that it is still in print. The prayers in this book touched my heart, because the messages in the poems are so relevant to my life, even though I am in another culture. The words are simple, but the meanings are deep. Here is one poem:
"Lord, Suffering is the Potter's wheel
Which turns us in the Potter's hand
of love and affection."
For each poem, there is a well-chosen photograph that adds even more life.

Whether you are interested in Haiti or Christianity or not, this book is an absolute MUST reading. It provides a very unique insight into simple mountain people and their day to day living and thinking and sincerity. There just isn't enough of it.

This is a prayer book that could be found on missionaries of all faiths tables and night stands. I was first introduced to this work as a missionary on a short term mission trip outside the City of Cap-Haitain, a missionary who had been in Haiti for more than 25 years had them on her front table for guests to take home with them.

They give a very simple look at the simple christain life. The prayers which are common among the mountain churchs and peoples are so true to their faith, they give such simple but direct meanings when explaining thier belief in God.

The picture history the book contains can depect the poverty of a third world country, however, it shows the hope of the Haitain Christain in his or her "child like" faith. Many of these pictures are a testament to a people who are encouraged that thier faith in God keeps them strong day after day.

This is a book of prayers. These are real prayers by real people, translated from Creole to English. The wisdom and sincerity of the prayers of these simple peasants will move you. Even if you've never been to Haiti, you will find yourself learning from the prayers and the accompanying photographs. This is one of those books that takes only a few minutes to read but a lifetime to digest.

I was first introduced to this book in a graduate seminar in Old Testament Theology where it got panned by a fellow student. I said to myself, "It can't be that bad," and read it myself. Not only is the book not "that bad," but quite good. It takes what is definitely a key text, Exodus 5:22-6:6 (I believe), and uses that as an organizing principle for the rest of the Old Testament, as it encapsulates God's Design for Israel. In many cases the book works, and even in the sections where it really doesn't, such when discussing quite a bit of the Wisdom Literature, it still has good insight. It is from an evangelical perspective, which I appreciate.

Dr. Elmer A. Martens' book is my first choice when students wish to understand the messages of the Hebrew Scriptures. Martens writes from a positive, constructive viewpoint. The Old Testament will become "new" for you as you read and contemplate the message of this splendid book.

Anyone interested in OT theology should start here. As a beginner-level book it should give seminary students and laypeople no problems while it is still academic enough for the scholar as reference. Martens uses Exodous 5:22-6:8 as the center of OT theology (or "God's design" in redemptive history). He argues that the OT and the story of Israel are to show God as the Saviour and Redeemer of mankind and creation. He uses four themes to argue his thesis: deliverance, community, knowledge of God, and land. Martens shows that God's design goes through the three major periods of OT history (the Pre-Monarchy era, the Monarchy era, and the Post-Monarchy era) and up to the New Testament period (God's design being fulfilled in Christ for Jews and Gentiles). The structure of the book is well organized and each theme is discussed in each period of Biblical history. With so many OT theology books written by liberal/criticalist/modernist scholars it is very refreshing to see an OT theology book written from an evangelical and conservative viewpoint. This book is a must read and will give peace of mind to many who are looking for an OT theology book that sees the Bible as God's divinely inspired Word.

Great basic OT book which looks at themes, such as land, covenant, prophet, etc.

I especially like his treatment of Yahweh as warrior, which is often so misunderstood due to translation of "sabaoth" as "hosts."

Excellent sections on deliverance, salvation, promise, etc. Serious students and seminarians will profit from reading this as well as keeping it in their libraries where they will turn and find valuable inputs for their ministries.

Recommended reading on the Old Testament sacrificial system. I stumbled across this in a syllabus and decided to read the footnotes at the library---once I started reading, it was tough to put down. In a concise (though sometimes rather too concise) manner, he addresses a number of difficult-to-abstract topics and digs out helpful observations from the OT text. I liked it enough that I decided to get my own copy.

The first time I read A time to love book 1 I was 14 years old. I went back to the library to try and Good-bye to love. They didn't have it. Years passed and one day am at friends house and am looking at her bookshelf and i run across A time to love, It all came back to me about Holly And Chris and how the book ended. She didn't have Good-bye to love so i came to amazon and i found it. I was so happy when i got it. Am 20 now so i reread A time to love before i read Good-bye to love. So i see a difference in the writing because its for younger crowd but the love and the emotions are there. I was so happy for Holly when she saw the city (New York) for the first time. All the stores and the traffic. Am a Newyorker so i loved that part. I loved the way Chris did not make her go or asked her about going to see a doctor when she was getting sick, b/c he knew that was not what she wanted. they saw so much in two weeks that i thought they were in the road for longer time. It makes me want to go on a road trip. If i can change one thing it would be to add one more chapter years down the road maybe 5 or 10 to see how Chris and her family were doing. Its a good read but get ready for the tissues cause you're going to need it towards the end of the book

I am the romantic out of all my friends. Once i started reading this book, i could not put it down! It was most certainly the best books I have ever read. This book and the first one was very moving and touching. The plot was great and the characters where like they were real because of the emotion. Like I said, the BEST! Jennifer Baker is one of my favorite authors and I'd sure be happy if she wrote another story similar to this. IN the end of this book, it left me in tears because it was so amazing! I cried so much, my mother had to come in my room and comfort me. I recommend this to all types of book lovers out there. You'd sure get hooked on to this!!

This book follows on from the previous one (in sickness and in health). Chris and Holly run away so they can be together and they end up in New York. After 2 weeks Holly's condition gets worse and she flies home. The end is very sad because Holly dies and she is with Chris when she does.

I never heard of Jennifer Baker before until one day I picked up First Come Love book 2 at my local libary. I thought that it was really really good. Since the libary had the first one as well I checked that one out too. Now I have 2 books by her and I read them at least 10 times. They are really well writen. I will continue to read her books for as long as they are puplished

This book amazed. I always seem to be drawn to awfully sad books. I don't know why. I guess I like to cry! Chris Franklin and Holly Paige's love for each other was truly beautiful. I may only be 14, but true love was evident. I hope people will read this book and realize what we, people who live normal, healthy lives, take for granted. My greatest sympathy to those people who have a life threatening illness. I don't know how they can deal with it, it certainly scares me. Those people are so very courageous and I admire that. I take a look at my life and realize what I take for granted. This book made me realize that. Thank you Ms. Baker, your story has opened my eyes. I intend to advise my friends to reading this excellent book.

J. I. Packer, an Anglican priest and professor, and Carolyn Nystrom, a seasoned (Presbyterian) author of Bible studies and Christian analysis, set out to demystify the puzzle of trying to "find God's will for my life." They address a fear they sense among conservatives: that despite one's best efforts, one might fail to find --- one might miss out on --- God's personal best. Packer and Nystrom propose that the fear is a remnant of the 19th-century Second Great Awakening. I wonder if it can be more immediately linked to a phrase buried in a sentence heard and memorized by a graying generation: "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." Did we miss some kind of wonderful?

As implied by the jacket --- a shepherd's staff superimposed and looming over a bucolic scene --- the loose overarching framework of the book is Psalm 23. If the Lord is our shepherd, as both the Old and New Testaments affirm, he is leading us --- guarding us, guiding us --- in a trustworthy manner.

Much of the book discusses living the daily Christian walk, by biblical counsel and command, and discerning what is good and right. But one chapter delves specifically into vocational issues or "decisions that we expect to be life-shaping hinge-points on which we think our future will turn." They continue, "We hope that what we have to say will go some way to relieving the tension and anxiety that the making of such decisions can bring."

This is not a light read. Personal, historical and biblical anecdotes supplement the authors' points, which are clearly introduced and well outlined. But the sentences themselves require one's full attention. For example, early in the book the authors summarize "the shape" (as opposed to the "scope" or the "specifics") of guidance: "The regular shape of guidance is that God teaches us to apply revealed principles of action, both positive and negative; to observe parameters and limits of behavior that the Bible lays down; and thus to follow the path of faithful obedience and true wisdom, in fellowship with the Lord our shepherd who by his Spirit leads us to do so."

The last chapter of the book focuses on the role of the Holy Spirit and discusses the pitfalls of both undervaluing and overvaluing "God's gift of reason." This chapter is worth waiting for and takes the reader beyond a biblical wisdom and reason and godly counsel model.

Speaking of godly counsel, book lovers will be happy to note that Packer and Nystrom espouse not only having Christian role models to imitate; they also claim that "the habit of reading Christian biography, as well as Scripture, is as much to be encouraged as is the habit of associating with the liveliest and ripest Christians that we know."

Some 10 study questions (for each of 11 chapters) supplement the text, making the book a great candidate for serious topical Bible study.

--- Reviewed by Evelyn Bence

Looking for spiritual guidance in matters of love, life and the universe is no easy task. How do we search for God's guidance? How do we uncover what God has planned for us? Are we making decisions based on His will? For many, a relationship with God brings comfort and direction to what can be a challenging life. For others, the lack of a relationship with God stymies their decision-making and may hold them back from living life to the fullest.

J. I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom answer these fears with Guard Us, Guide Us. They provide essential understanding to what "God's guidance" represents to Christians. Those seeking a deeper and more meaningful understanding as to how God does indeed guard and guide us will enjoy this inspiring and somewhat devotional book.

Packer, an evangelical theologian, and Nystrom, a freelance writer, collaborate to reveal traditional misconceptions of God's guidance, ideas that promote fear and discouragement among many Christians.

Packer and Nystrom proceed with a "where you are now" snapshot of spiritual health-without this analysis, it is difficult to get a feel of what spiritual guidance could provide in a Christian's life. They discuss God's teachings and commandments in scripture and apply spiritual wisdom to real-life scenarios. Guard Us, Guide Us is a thought account of how to deepen our knowledge of spiritual reflection and build our efforts at effective decision making for life's small (and not so small) challenges.

Armchair Interviews says: Interesting perspective.

Guide Us, Guard Us is a practical, scripture-based approach to viewing God's guidance. The authors uses Psalm 23 as a foundation for our quest of following God.

I usually find J.I. Packer a bit hard to read as he's usually very intense, but his collaboration with Caroyln Nystrom was a wonderful idea as she helps to get his point across in a very readable manner.

As an added bonus, the questions included make this book easy to use in a group setting.

If you are seeking God's direction in your life, this is a good book to read.

I received this book as a recommendation from Amazon, since I have enjoyed J.I. Packer's books, as well as books by Dallas Willard and Larry Crabb in this genre.

This book is the clearest, most scripturally-based and complete treatment of this topic I have read. Starting with the need to deal with fear, the author(s) (the book was co-written with Carolyn Nystrom) use Psalm 23 as a template for divine guidance and its special treatment of our need to discard fear as a driver for our actions.

The suthors then go through the respective roles of God's Word, God's wisdom (in that regard), the counsel of friends, the problems presented by a situational ethics view for guidance, the role of the Holy Spirit and an excellent summation.

If you have read Packer, you know he likes to "pack the ideas tight", so it isn't a fast read, but it isn't like C.S. Lewis's "Miracles" either. I believe Carolyn Nystrom was instrumental in spacing the ideas out a bit so it was easier to assimilate. There are also some great questions at the end of the book so you can use the book in a group setting.

Strongly recommend this book to anyone who is seeking God's guidance as they make decisions in their lives.

Packer and Nystrom present the church with a fresh formulation of divine spiritual direction.

Here is a new book written by two authors who construct beautiful sentences and well-crafted chapters in order to teach Christians how it is that God communicates His will to us.

This book is not short, skimpy, or sparing. It is more than just simple principles, and yet in many ways it arises from a simple (and Scriptural) formulaic understanding of divine guidance. In fact, I often felt I was reading an expanded and prosaic version of John MacArthur's straightforward "Found: God's Will" booklet (with 5 principles I can still remember twenty years later).

The basic thrust of the book is to put "an end to fear"- the fear found in the heart of a believer over what God's will is for their life. The authors combat false understandings, "some tangled tales" that hamper freedom and joy in the life of a believer who doubts whether they really can know God's will. Furthermore, the authors seek to combat the notion that one bad mistake along the journey will inevitably thwart any future attempt to be found in God's will.

They begin and end with Psalm 23 theology, establishing the "guard" and "guide" verbs of love flowing from the good shepherd to his sheep. They also show how the Word of God provides light and understanding, and how we are to obey the divine text as being the very will of God, for that it is what it is.

The vital foundation for hearing and following God's will is to be walking in overall spiritual health and vitality. This means holiness and purity and a heart desire to glorify God and obey Him. Without this commitment, a professing Christian has no reason to expect their sickly spiritual life will have ears and mind and heart to properly hear from God.

Packer and Nystrom present the church with a fresh formulation of divine spiritual direction. I am sure that additional reading and meditation will yield even more spiritual profit from their words. I can see this book being very useful for late high school and college students.

Jeannie Baker is no novice to this kind of subtle-changes-on-each-page book. However, her book "Window" --quite similar in approach-- left me feeling quite down and thwarted by urban overdevelopment and the loss of rural life. Quite opposite, "Home" bolsters one's spirits by depicting an area of urban decay turning gradually, over the period of some 20+ years, into a lovely urban oasis, complete with many trees, flowers, and shrubs and the reappearance of birds and animals. What's even better - it shows a family growing and thriving in the same environment and taking an active role in the neighborhood's change.

My four year old has asked for this book every day since we checked it out of the library, and I love it, too. A book that can appeal to multiple generations is a hands-down winner in my eyes.

A very good book to read on the subject. Well written and informative.

Jeannie Baker's "Home" is a model for a book without text: The pictures are compelling, the story flows easily, and there's enough intrinsic narrative to stimulate discussion. Although much of the material is relevant to social and economic issues, the gorgeous collages and everyday scenes will appeal to infants and toddlers, as well as older siblings and adults. Publisher Greenwillow displays its usual excellent production values.

Baker shows the progression of a rundown neighborhood to the small city equivalent of a town square, as well as the maturation of the female protagonist ("Tracy") from newborn to mother. Baker cleverly shows this--"Rear Window"-like-through Tracy's upper floor apartment window. From this perspective, we view the changing interior (a window ledge and some of the wall), the adjoining backyards, and the stores and dwellings at the intersection. When Tracy is born, the backyards and large apartment building are run-down, and graffiti ("DAMAGE," "PAIN ") reveals residents' frustration and anger. You get the feeling that the people, too, are neglected objects.

As the young girl grows, she and her environment begin to change. It starts small: The girl plants some flowers, a wall is fixed, and eventually someone puts up a sign: "Reclaim Your Street." Gradually, more and more people enact the spirit of that sign as they rebuild their houses and yards. Residents make a small common area in a former driveway/vacant lot, and newer buildings replace old ones. On a larger scale (one that may be appreciated by grade- and middle-school kids), economic and perhaps political forces begin to shape the neighborhood: The apartment building is renovated, the streets are lined with plants, and a large complex in the background is torn down-revealing a beautiful lake that was previously hidden from view. Meanwhile, the young girl makes friends, goes to school, and later falls in love, marries, and has a baby.

The changes are gradual and believable: They apparently spring from residents' desire to fashion a better place to live. A couple of times, Baker "cheats" just a bit by painting the sky overcast on one page, and then a clear light blue as the intersection improves. For the most part, however, the book doesn't take the easy way out-not everything is perfect in the end, nor is everything simply a "slum" in the beginning. Neighborhood improvement is not necessarily equivalent to "neat and tidy" either: By the end of the book, large, varied, and somewhat overgrown foliage blocks the view.

"Home" is a beautiful picture book with exceptional composition and colors. It is bright and pleasant to look at and it's fun to compare the subtle on each page. It is also heartfelt, as Ms. Baker, in an afterward, discusses how the term "home" once encompassed the entire neighborhood. This is a superb book that with appeal to many different age groups, each of which will experience it in a different way. That quality makes "Home" a small treasure.

Wow, wow, wow! Another reviewer said this was the best picture book of 2004 and I'm inclined to agree: it's simply a fabulous book, beautifully produced and rich in meaning (even without text!) The book takes us through a neighborhood in transition, from a slum to a service area to a vibrant, tree-filled paradise. Through it all, the story of a young girl growing up weaves it together and provides a timeline that is easy for small children to comprehend. It's a simple story but eloquently presented to viewers through the incredible collages of paper, fabric, and pressed plant materials that are rich in detail and meticulously arranged. The author closes the book with a beautiful passage, "People are discovering the need to nurture and to be nurtured by the unique character of the places where they live. It takes time, as this book shows. But the choice is ours to make - having simply a place to live or, by understanding the land and caring for it, belonging to a living home." While this book would be read and read again by young children, it would also be a useful addition to art curriculum for older youth.

Without question, the most beautiful picture book of 2004. No other contenders come half so close. Author/illustrator Jeannie Baker has somehow managed to create a deeply moral book without placing even a sentence of dialogue or text into her tale. "Home" is a simple story that follows the circular nature of life and regeneration by paralleling the growth of a single young girl with the restoration of an urban neighborhood. What follows is a gorgeous story about what we owe the places where we live, and how best to interact with our environments. All that and it's still a fun book for Kindergartners to flip through repeatedly.

Almost every page of this book is the exact same shot again and again and again. We are initially looking out of a house's window onto a grimy city street. In the first picture, a mother and a father cuddle their new baby daughter within their enclosed yard. The scene is gritty but, because of the couple and their daughter, touching as well. The next two page spread takes place two years later. It's clear that the couple have recently put down new sod, though the neighborhood still hasn't changed much around them. Next door, an old man works on his garden. With every turn of the page, another 2 years passes. Right before our eyes we watch the girl, whether she's in the yard working on her bike or in the house waving to some approaching friends. She's getting older and more mature. Soon it becomes clear that there's a concentrated "Reclaim your street" effort on the part of the other people in the neighborhood. A dingy old lot across the way starts getting painted and given new green trees. The street itself looks nicer and before you know it a megamall has been torn down, giving the house a beautiful view of a nearby lake. The girl, Tracy, gets older and eventually marries in a ceremony in the street. And before you know it, she has a new baby of her own, and a job as a local native plant specialist where once a used car lot used to be.

The story in this book is told entirely through complex collaged images. I referred to Jeannie Baker at the beginning of this review as an "illustrator" but I think that term does her an injustice. She would more rightly be called an artist of the finest pedigree. I do not know how you go about creating full images like this from just snips and spots of paper and cloth. Yet every single picture in this book is filled with hundreds of delicate details. Baker gives these scenes a great deal of depth, both literally and figuratively. If you've ever seen a book by Anno or spent some delightful hours with a kid while they attempted to locate a tiny detail on an enormous image, this book will not fail to impress.

I loved the lesson of this story as well. As Baker herself explains in an afterword to the text, "In some cities...communities are finding ways their streets can once again become part of people's sense of home and play a part in their sense of belonging". In these situations, people will act similarly to the characters in this book. They'll reintroduce native plants and animals. They'll spend a lot of time revitalizing run down areas. They'll create safe spaces for kids to play and for old folks to sit and relax in the afternoons. "Home" is the ultimate fantasy. One in which a dirty city area becomes tamed by the efforts of the people who know how to love it.

Which leads to the inevitable will-kids-enjoy-this-book question. The answer is a resounding yes. They'll love it. They'll try to find the old lady in the purple dress on every page, or try to figure out exactly when that tree was planted and that highway was rerouted. Best of all, they'll look at the cover of this book and realize that it is actually the moral of the story. High above, you can see the neighborhood as the book leaves it at the end. There are green things growing, childress playing in the streets, and a young woman relaxing in a hammock. And not that far away, where the used car lot used to stand, is a building entitled, "Tracy's Forest". You can't read this book and not be impressed by it. I couldn't read this book and not love it immediately. The most impressive book created in years and years.

Jesus According to Scripture: Restoring The Portrait From the Gospels is an extensive and erudite account by Darrell L. Bock (Research Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary) that strives to piece together a thorough and accurate portrait of Jesus Christ as drawn from the synoptic gospels, as well as an analysis of Jesus' portrayal in The Book of John. No effort is spared in the scrutinizing of close detail resulting in a truly scholarly and meticulous reconstruction which presents the reader with a clear and cohesive portrait of the Christ himself. Jesus According To Scripture is a welcome and impressive contribution to Christian Theological Studies in general, and those who seek a clearer understanding of the Gospel depiction of the role and personhood of Jesus in particular.

Darrel Bock has delivered a lengthy and scripturally sound portrayal of the life of our Lord and Christ. The Person and work of Christ is done biblical justice and denies the 'self' any right to claim salvation as originating in man. God-in-the-flesh condescended to His creation, His creatures, to bring them redemption thru His vicarious atonement on the Cross - a life led and laid down in glory to the Father.

Bock harmonizes the Synoptic Gospels, side by side, and quotes various original translations with each separate episode. He then deals with John as a separate account - as that of Christ revealed from heaven to us.

This work is a solid refutation of the many 'Jesus traditions' that have circulated the last century - namely, that of the 'origins' critical school. It is thoroughly scriptural and bases its reading upon the divine inspiration of Scripture. This is the true Son of God revealed!

`Without an appreciation of His suffering, Jesus' messianic calling is not understood. Only as the cross draws near does the full scope of divine promise and calling emerge.' pg 33

`The servant Jesus is an example of how to walk with God in a world that rejects those sent by God. It is here that the pastoral demands of discipleship appear as well (Mark 10: 35- 45).' pg 33

`Jesus' work brings intense rejection and will lead to persecution one day. This means that disciples must persevere in their walk in the face of great persecution (Luke 21:7-19). The two great obstacles to discipleship are the pressure that this persecution produces and excessive attachment to the world, especially thru possessions (Luke 8: 11 - 15, 18:8).' pg 37

`What Jesus gives thru His work is deliverance, forgiveness and ultimately enablement, alongside the eternal life God gives.' pg 37

`At the end of the Gospel, blessing comes to those who have faith without the need for signs (John 20: 29).' pg 41

`Jesus' death shows the love of the Father for His own people and is an example to disciples of how they should love, (John 13: 1, 11 - 17); and is a means by which the Son and Father are glorified as life is made available through Him (John 3:14 - 16).' pg 41

There are certain books that ought to be on every Christian's bookshelf when it comes to the Bible. One of these books ought to be Jesus According to Scripture. In this, Bock goes through each periscope and provides some points that ought to be considered. Another valuable part of this book is "Major Themes in the Evangelists' Portrait of Jesus' Theology." No preacher should tackle the Gospels without this by his side. I'm very impressed with Bock and his research and cannot recommend him highly enough!

This scholarly, yet approachable volume on the life of Jesus will appeal to both scholars and interested laypeople alike. While not exactly dumbing down, Bock writes in a style that would allow one not familiar with the technical sources cited to breeze over that material and get to the heart of Jesus' teachings.

Bock masterfully synthesizes the Gospels into a coherent, thematic picture of the Jesus of history. Bock's methodology uses very technical synoptics to piece together the gospel accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus and present the "portrait from the Gospels." The history of the life of Christ comes alive, and Bock draws on historical and cultural data to further the reader's understanding of the texts.

Most will find the overview of the four gospels at the beginning a good introduction (or a great refresher) to the historical and form issues of each.

Most excitingly, Bock deals a devastating blow to critical scholars (i.e. John Dominic Crossan, and his minions)who seek to undermine the credibility of the gospel accounts of the life of Christ. After reading this work, it becomes very apparent that these Jesus "scholars" are far from scholarly in their treatment of the life of Christ. They are simply revisionist historians making attempts to form their own portrait of Christ and read it back into the gospels. Bock doesn't argue against these fascimiles of biblical scholars in this volume, but his portrait of Christ makes it clear that theirs are thoroughly counterfeit.

I give Bock's book two thumbs up. A refreshing alternative to the critical garbage we've all been forced to put up with for the last century. At last, a biography of Jesus that is evangelical, scholarly, intelectually stimulating, and a historically accurate picture of the life and ministry of Christ.

Dr Bock has performed a great service to the Evangelical and faith seeking world. This treatment of the Life of Christ, is a fine update to a previvous work by fellow DTS professor Dwight Pentacost. It is a easy to understand and follow work, and contains Dr. Bock's interaction with current NT work in the area of Christiology. It is useful for both the newest believer and the seasoned pastor. Do yourself a favor and buy it today.