ALBUM REVIEW - "STRAIGHT AHEAD" BY THE DANIEL BAND

In the early '80's, Christian music saw not one, not two, but three albums called "Straight Ahead": Jamie Owens-Collins in '81, Amy Grant in '84, and in between, The Daniel Band ('83). Which do I like best? Technically, it's a two way tie, but one of those two is The Daniel Band. Their debut project, "On Rock," has always been one of my favorite albums, and "Straight Ahead" is a worthy follow-up.

Let me divide the songs in two categories. I'll start with the majority - those with bassist Dan McCabe doing lead vocals. All of them were good, but five of the seven stand out: "You're All I Need," "Here I Am," "Reality," "Come Into My Life," and "Comin' Home." "Here I Am" is a song that has always had a special place in my life. By the way, two of the songs are demos from "On Rock": an extended version of "Free From Sin" and "I'm Sorry." (I didn't note anything different standing out on the latter.)

Guitarist Tony Rossi did the singing on the remaining three songs. The title track was a typical hard rock song; the others were not. "T'ank You" is a pop/island style song, while "In My Mind" (the last track before the two demos) was more of an acoustic ballad.

I absolutely love this album, and highly recommend it.

BOOK REVIEW - "A DEEPER WALK: A PROVEN PATH FOR DEVELOPING A MORE VIBRANT FAITH" BY MARCUS WARNER

Recently, my wife Becky was looking at books and thought this sounded like a good book for me to read. So I started reading "A Deeper Walk: A Proven Path for Develping a More Vibrant Faith," written by Marcus Warner with a foreward by Neil T. Anderson, author and founder/President Emeritus Freedom in Christ Ministries. 

Warner's premise - one I agree with - is that the church is not making disciples that are transforming the world. He is encouraging the body of Christ to grow more mature through our freedom, our identity in Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, and heart focused community. I also agree with the excellent cover, though isn't there a proverb about judging a book by its cover?

While I agree with the premise, I don't agree with his views on what that looks like. Warner encourages us to exercise our freedom in Christ through Spiritual Warfare, including commnding demons to leave, with addiction to pornography, eating disorders, and unforgiveness being possible demonic oppression, as well as generational sin. The impression Ezekiel 18 gives me is that those who live righteous will be rewarded for their righteousness, regardless of how their ancestors lived. 

I know true Christians may disagree on the issues I mentioned. But one thing that bothers me is when a Christian gives the impression that there are those who agree with them and those who are wrong. This book sounds like the author believes his proposed approach will have a 100% success rate and not using it will result in failure 100% of the time.

Most books I read I can recommend and give a 5 star result. I have enough questions that I'm giving this only three stars.

 

ALBUM REVIEW - "ON ROCK" BY THE DANIEL BAND

 Back in the early '80's, Orange County CA station KYMS would broadcast Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa's live Saturday concerts. In '81, The Daniel Band, not to be confused with Daniel Amos, was one of the artists. At first, I thought they were a little too hard rock for my tastes. But a year later, they came back, and a friend heard them practice and raved about them. So I listened to them over the radio, and was hooked. For the next month I looked every week to find out if their new album was out, and when I saw "On Rock" on the shelves, one of those albums came home with me.

There are certain artists that have such a strong first song on their debut album that it sounds like they're making sure everybody knows they've arrived. Songs like "More Than A Feeling" by Boston or "Feels Like The First Time" by Foreigner or "Loud and Clear" by Stryper. Add "He's the Creator" from The Daniel Band to that list. Guitarist Tony Rossi's opening riffs capture my attention, combined with lead vocalist Dan McCabe reminding us that, yes, God is the Creator of the universe. Somebody, please talk your group into covering it, because we need to hear that song again. That's not the only song on the project that needs to be heard by today's audience: "Undercover Christian" and "Spiritual Game" both are strong messages to the church to return to their first love.

There is not one mediocre song on the project, but some stand out. "I'm  Sorry" features unforgettable guitar picking by Rossi, and if you need a pick-up, "You Don't Need The Blues," one of the few times Rossi takes the lead vocals, will deliver. "Never Again" was entered into a contest in Toronto and came in 3rd place in a tough competition. If you hear it, you'll not be surprised. 

I can talk about the other songs, too, but I first want to mention a difference between the album that came out in '82 and the collecter's edition. The latter adds two songs to the 11 original tunes: "It All Turns To Rain" (a song that immediately made my list of Daniel Band favorites) and "I Give You All."

BOOK REVIEW - "THE ROUGH GUIDE TO CLASSICAL MUSIC: AN A-Z OF COMPOSERS, KEY WORKS, AND TOP RECORDINGS," EDITED BY JOE STAINES

I've heard of series like "Complete Idiot's" and "...for Dummies," but this is my first encounter with "Rough Guides." Joe Staines is listed as the editor of this book, and as co-authors with Jonathan Buckley, Phillip Clark, Andrew Dickson, Kate Hopkins, Stephen Johnson, Nick Kimberley, and Gavin Thomas.

This book gives you an introduction to many classical composers, identifies what is considered as their key works, and providing you with a list of recordings, making this a good guide if you want to enlarge your collection of classical music. 

Note I said this is "a good guide." Considering that three of my ten favorite symponies are not considered "key works" (i.e. the Lobesang and Reformation symphonies by Felix Mendelssohn, and the Singulaire Symphone of Franz Berwald), or that one composer I like is not mentioned (again, Berwald), I'm being fair when I call it "a good guide." After all, this is not meant to be exhaustive, and I've recently looked at another book where Berwald is again omitted from the list. 

I've read some reviews that are critical of this, but I do not agree with the criticisms. In spite of my disappointments, I think this book achieves its goals, and I would recommend it to someone who wants to learn more about classical music.

 

BOOK REVIEW - "WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN: THE BOOK OF DANIEL IN BIBLICAL THEOLOGY" (NEW STUDIES IN BIBLICAL THEOLOGY) BY JAMES M. HAMILTON, JR.

 

Daniel is one of the most interesting and most controversial books of the Bible. Reason for the controversy: If this book was written when it was set, then it is very accurate prophesy. That's no problem for those who believe in an all-powerful, all-knowing God. For those who reject that premise, that's a different story.  So they claim it was a forgery written late enough that it's history pretending to be prophesy.

"With the Clouds of Heaven: The book of Daniel in biblical theology," authored by James M. Hamilton, Jr., is the 32nd of 67 books of the New Studies in Biblical Theology series. For those unfamiliar of the concept of Biblical Theology, it is developing a theology through individual books and then analyzing how it fits in the whole of Scripture (as compared to Systematic Theology, which looks at all the verses on a particular subject to develop one's theology.

Hamilton starts off with the question of authorship, and points out the problems with the view of Daniel being a forgery. He then looks at how Daniel fits in the Scripture, the literary make-up of the book, and how the New Testament authors interpret it. Finally, he compares Joseph and Daniel, and notes how this comparison has parallels with Abraham, Jehoichin, Esther/Mordecai, and Nehemiah. 

I've read 18 of the books in this series. Some are basically intellectual, while others are inspirational. This one is somewhere in the beginning; the simplest way to put it is that it confirms and strengthens my faith in the truth of Scripture.

BOOK REVIEW - "BASIL OF BAKER STREET" (THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE BOOK 1) BY EVE TITUS

 

When I saw the release of Disney's movie "The Great Mouse Detective" in '85, I saw a story that interested me. I didn't realize that this book was of the series "The Great Mouse Detective", and that the first story was written by Eve Titus the year before I was born. 

So, I finally watched the movie 40 years after it came out, and read "Basil of Baker Street," which had been around for 68 years. I enjoyed both. Several of the plot points of this story appeared in the movie, such as the main characters masquerading as a boat captain and his mate.

I would recommend this to children, regardless of whether the childhood is the first one or not. By the way, the first five books were written by Eve Titus between 1958 and 1982, and Cathy Hapka revived it with three new stories from 2018-2020.

BOOK REVIEW - "LETTERS OF PAUL IN 30 DAYS" BY TREVIN WAX

 This is part of a collection by Trevin Wax, Vice President of resources and marketing at the North American Mission Board, and a regular columnist for the Gospel Coalition. Others include "The Life of Jesus in 30 Days" and "Psalms in 30 Days."

This book is divided into Morning, Midday, and Evening readings for 30 days. Each includes a reading from Paul's epistles, but they also include other things. The Gloria Patra and the Lord's Prayer are included in each reading, meaning you're reading those portions 3 times a day, 90 times in the reading. Some of the other readings are from Scripture, but you also have the Apostle's and Nicene Creeds, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Reforming Catholic Confession, in addition to quotes from church fathers and other Christians from the past.  

When reviewing "The Life of Jesus in 30 Days," I started out by saying, "Definitely the best liturgical book written by a Southern Baptist I've read." Well, this is tied with it. I highly recommend it. This is a good way to have an organized devotional time.