BOOK REVIEW - "JUNGLE FIRE" BY DANA MENTINK

 Why did a soldier open fire on the bus that furlough-bound missionary Nina Truman was riding on? Who is the mysterious green eyed woman urging her to run instead of helping her fellow victims? And why is Shaw Wilder so reluctant to donate him and his bomb sniffing dog to help her get to safety?

I have read several of Dana Mentink's Love Inspired Suspense K-9 novels, but this is the first full length novel I've read by her. It is as action packed as I expected it to be, as well as several unexpected plot twists. 

Nina and Shaw are compelling leads in the story, as well as other interesting characters that you're not sure if you should trust or not.

I highly recommend this story.

THE FAMILY THAT SINGS TOGETHER...

Clockwise from upper left: "Worship and Service Hymnal;" "The Baptist Hymnal (1991);" "Songs for the Church;" "Praise! Our Songs and Hymns;" "Hymns of Grace;" "Gospel Hymns Nos. 1-6 Complete."

In 1997, Becky and I were listening to Elizabeth Elliott on the radio, and she mentioned singing hymns together as a family. We took her up on it and have been singing hymns together since then.

Several people suggest that couples and families pray together, and maybe read the Bible or a devotional. Singing is not as common, I'm guessing. But this is an enjoyable part of our life. As you can see, we have a nice little collection of hymnals, and that is not complete. 

Our go-to is the "Worship and Service Hymnal." When my parents divorced and I moved to Skull Valley where my grandparents were, this was the first hymnal that made an impression, mainly by having several "Amens" on the back inside cover. This came out in '61, old enough to miss including songs like "Victory in Jesus" and "How Great Thou Art." (It also lacked "Be Thou My Vision.")

I was there from February '69 to the fall of '90, when we moved to Prescott. In June, '71, I moved in with my Dad who remarried in Cottonwood, Arizona. We went to Verde Baptist Church, where I glanced at the back of the hymnal and saw the familiar Amens. We used that hymnal until '77  when we replaced it with the Baptist Hymnal 1975. 

In August '78, I started attending Southwestern College. During chapel hour, I picked up the hymnal. Yep. The Worship and Service Hymnal. 

What's interesting is that when we started, there were songs Becky was familiar with in growing up with Church of Christ hymnals, such as "Songs of the Church" (upper right hand corner) that I was unfamiliar with, like "O To Be Like Thee" and "My Jesus, As Thou Wilt," hiding in the hymnal I grew up with.

Two things happened. One is we got more hymnals. The other is some of the songs that we didn't have in "Worship and Service Hymnal." There are are three hymnals that we added to our singing time roster, though the new songs were limited.

First, there is "Praise! Our Songs and Hymns, which we used while members of Hunter Road Bible Church. It had some new hymns, and a lot of songs from John W. Peterson. In '74, I joined the camp choir which did a contata called "Jesus is Calling," and when we performed, we were conducted by Mr. Peterson himself. So with this hymnal I got to learn Peterson songs like "Come, Holy Spirit," "Springs of Living Water," "Heaven Came Down," and "Surely Goodness and Mercy." It also had "Victory in Jesus," "Be Thou My Vision," and "How Great Thou Art."

Second is the 1991 Baptist Hymnal. That had a great collection of Christmas songs (though it didn't include "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen," as well as a number of black spirituals like "Were You There?" and some contemporary songs like Maranatha Praise choruses (e.g."Seek Ye First," "Open Our Eyes, Lord) and tunes like "Shine, Jesus, Shine" and Twila Paris' classic "We Will Glorify." That hymnal had old songs I missed out on like "Brethren We Have Come To Worship," and songs by other writers like B. B. McKinney such as "Have Faith in God," which Becky and I regularly sing.

The last of the hymnals we regularly use was not pictured above. It is called "Songs Christians Sing Vol. 2", and was basicly a smaller version of the Church of Christ's "Songs of the Church." Becky was familiar with a lot of songs, but three caught my eye because they were written by hymn writers I knew but were not in any of our other hymnals - "I'm Not Ashamed To Own My Lord" by Isaac Watts, "More Holiness Give Me" by Phillip Bliss, and "Give Me The Bible" by Priscilla Owens, the lyrics writer who also wrote the more familiar "We Have Heard The Joyful Sound" (aka "Jesus Saves!) and "We Have An Anchor."

There are other hymnals I'd like to mention which are in our collection. These are: 

• "Inspiring Hymns," used during my first year at Cactus Baptist Church, my first year at Southwestern. It introduced me to a little known but much convicting "He Was Not Willing" (which is why I kept it). It introduced me to another of my favorite hymns, "And Can It Be That I Should Gain," though I later learned this version butchered it, using only 3 of the 5 verses, and dropped the 5th and 6th lines of two of the three verses it kept. Ugh!
• "Trinity Hymnal," which Becky picked up from a Reformed Church while she spent a month at a journalism institute put on by World Magazine. That's one hymnal I want to learn more of.
• "Gospel Hymnal Nos. 1-6 Complete" is probably the oldest in our collection, dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s. A lot of these songs were from the Dwight L. Moody days, including writers like Phillip Bliss, Ira Sankey, and my favorite hymn music writer, James McGranahan, who chose to use his musics to bring the  lost to Christ rather than getting into Opera.
• "Hymns for the Family of God" is one I'm including though we gave it away. This hymnal has a large number of Gaither songs.
• "Hymns of Grace" is the hymnal used by Grace Community Church, where the late Dr. John MacArthur was pastor. The book is large but it actually has fewer hymns than some of the others. One thing that struck me: I will mention four hymn writers, who combined wrote 80 songs. I'll start with Fanny Crosby, often considered the best known hymn writer. Only 6 songs of hers were included. Two of my favorites, Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley fared what seems reasonable, with 18 and 16 songs respectively, totaling... 40 songs? Who wrote the other 40 songs? Keith and Kristyn Getty (with Stuart Townsend). It included 10 of 12 songs from an album I enjoyed, omitting... of course, my two favorites.!

Hope I've challenged you. Of course, a lot of churches are no longer using hymnals (including the one I'm currently attending). Many of my readers might be more used to overheads and learning new songs on the radio. But I find this habit a blessing, and hope I've encouraged some to try this idea out.

 

OF MOST READ AUTHORS AND LOOKING AHEAD TO MY FAVORITES LISTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR

Favorite novels, each representing a different author. Not all the authors mentioned below are repre-sented here, nor are all the authors of above books mentioned below. List of titles and authors below.

 It's been a couple of years since I updated my list of most read fiction authors. Well, I found the list I started two years ago (which is one reason I didn't update it), so I'll do that.Allow me, though, to mention one of my favorite lists and how it's progressing. I'm speaking of my favorite songs list, which was the top 15 (in my opinion) the first year I did it ('22), and 20 each the following three years. Both last year and now this year, I have been setting aside new songs I like, and then trim it down. As of this moment, do you know how many songs are on that list? 22. So it will be a fun challenge putting it together. (BTW, I mentioned that I'm going to start cutting off the entries the beginning of December.)

Back to the novels. I currently have 36 authors on that list, and there's a few that I haven't tracked yet. But in the past two years, you know how many I have read books by? Twelve. True, I may have read multiple books by some authors - one jumped up nine spots, for example. But several seem to have hit a spot and stayed there. 

One factor is that I read a lot of Love Inspired Suspense, or more accurately, a few of the authors. This includes the multi-author K-9 series, so there's a group of authors who are basically guaranteed moving up a spot each year. One author, though, who moved up for the first time... oh, you'll hear about it soon. 

I'm debating raising the minimum on the lists from 5 to 10. Currently, I have 26 authors that have passed the 5 mark. But I only have 10 over 10, so I'll keep up what I'm doing. (In perspective, ten years ago, there were only 9 that hit the minimum of 5 and 5 of those had at least 10.) If there's much movement, I might raise it next year. We'll see.

One last comment. You may have noticed that I seem to read more women writers than men. True. Out of the 36 writers on my list, the ladies outnumber the gentlemen by 2 to 1 (24 compared to 12). But I learned in "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Christian Fiction" by Ron Benrey that the vast majority of writers and readers of Christian Fiction are female.  

Okay, now with the list. I debated started at the top, because there are more suprises at the bottom, but I'll make it a countdown nontheless. So, you ready?

Tied for 22nd, 5 novels read: Maggie Black, Valarie Hansen, Dana Mentink, Frank Peretti, and Amy Wallace. The last two mentioned have been there a while, but Dana joined this group last year and Maggie and Valarie this year.

Tied for 17th, 6 novels read: Jackie Castle, Julianna Deering, Sandra Orchard, Ellery Queen, and Laura Scott. Laura is new to this spot, the others have been there awhile.

Tied for 14th, 7 novels read: John Otte, Janet Sketchley, and Jill Williamson. All these haven't moved.

Tied for 11th, 8 novels read: Sharon Dunn, Stephen King, and Terri Reed. This summer will mark the 40th year since I've read any King. 

10th, 11 novels read: Ian Fleming. The last Fleming novel I read was probably in '76 or so, until last year when I read "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." 

9th, 13 novels read: James Blish. I read a couple of his short stories a couple of years ago, but no new complete books, which consists of the first Star Trek novel and 12 collections of TOS novelizations.

Tied for 7th, 14 novels read: Kerry Nietz and Randy Singer. This tie will be broken this year.

Tied for 5th, 15 novels read: Allistair MacLean and Jessica Patch. MacLean, Blish, and Singer have all been in this 13-15 territory, with MacLean being the first to hit 15 in 2017. 

In 4th place with 19 novels read is Jodie Bailey. I discovered her in 2019, and she's been racing up the list.

3rd place? Nancy Mehl, with 21 novels read. 

And in 1st place? Agatha Christie, with 23 novels read. She has been towards the top for decades, hitting first place around 2011, where she sat at the pinnacle...

Except she's currently in a tie for 1st place. Dame Agatha is sharing the spot with another mystery author: Donna Fletcher Crow has reached the same goal. Now the question is if Donna's going to continue being at the top, or if I'll go on a Christie reading binge, as has happened a few times in my life.

Let me close by giving you the list of the novels on my shelf above, left to write:

• "The Clocks" by Agatha Christie. 
• "Where Eagles Dare" by Allistair MacLean. 
• "Ransomed Dreams" by Amy Wallace.
• "An Unholy Communion" by Donna Fletcher Crow.
• "Missing Mabel" by Nancy Mehl.
• "Undercover Colorado Conspiracy" by Jodie Bailey.
• "Dangerous Obsession" by Jessica R. Patch.
• "The Judge" (formerly titled "The Cross-Examination of Oliver Finney") by Randy Singer.
• "Judge" by R. J. Larson (pen-name for Kacy Barnett-Gramckow)
• "Amish Vampires in Space" by Kerry Nietz.
• "Numb" by John Otte (pronounced Ah-tee).
• "The Methuselah Project" by Rick Barry.
• "Daughter of Light" by Morgan L. Busse (pronounced Bus-see).
• "Ablaze" by Jackie Castle.
• "Burn" by J.M. Hackman.
• "The New Recruit" by Jill Williamson.
• "Heaven's Prey" by Janet Sketchley.
• "Big Bluff" by Jackie Zack.
• "Seeking the Truth" by Terri Reed..
• "Wilderness Defender" by Maggie K. Black. 

You know, I might do a series of my favorite authors, and maybe follow that with my favorite musicians. If I'm really bored, I might go to favorite actors/actresses, favorite athletes, and favorite politicians... okay, I won't go that far.

A TALE OF TWO HALFTIMES AND WHY I'M WATCHING NEITHER

🏈🏈🏈 

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight is the Superbowl, and you have two choices for the halftime show. You can watch the official program, featuring Bad Bunny, offensive to many Christians. Or you can watch the one put on by Turning Point, the organization founded by Charlie Kirk, hosted by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. 

Which am I watching? Uh, I already answered the question in my title. Neither one. 

But why?

Reasons not to watch Bad Bunny? Well, his performance might be offensive to Christians as a whole, but what else is new? After all, we're living in the post-wardrobe-malfunction era. And was picking Madonna as the headliner for Superbowl XLI in Indianapolis a serious attempt to avoid offending people? The reality is that NFL is part of the world (see Matthew 18:6-7; 1 John 2:15-17; 5:19), and the world is acting like you'd expect the world to act. And I have no interest in seeing the world acting like I'd expect the world to act. 

There are two reasons why Turning Point has an alternate half-time show. One is Bad Bunny's selection, the other is, to be honest, Charlie Kirk's death. If Kirk had not been assassinated, there wouldn't be an alternate half-time show. There may have been, as there has been in the past, a Christian program meant to be evangelistic to be shown at church SB parties (I believe it was Campus Crusade for Christ - aka CRU - who did that). But that usually was the local church's initiative with a motive not to compete with the world but to take an opportunity to share the Gospel. I'd be surprised if Kirk, had he still been here, would have put this on.

Which leads me to reasons not to watch the alternative. While the Gospel was preached loud and clear at Kirk's memorial service, is that the purpose of this half-time show? Or is it an organization giving the local church an opportunity to compete with the world? Christian singer and pastor Steve Camp is not at all thrilled, especially with the involvement of TBN (I nicknamed it the Twitty Broadcasting Network, partly because it teaches doctrines I consider a little off, and partly because it's where Conway Twiity's Twitty City used to be). This might be simply a Christian snack food, but will it draw the lost to the Savior or equip the saints for the work of the ministry? Or is it entertainment for a break from spiritual warfare?

So which of the above reasons is my motivation for watching neither? Well, how about none of the above?

I wasn't offended by the 2007 half-time show with Madonna because I wasn't watching Indy's beloved Colts coached by one of my heroes, Tony Dungy (who was born exactly 4 years before me). What was I doing instead? Working on the computer, and then calling it a night. I might have stayed up to see the final minutes and if the Colts won (they did), then to hear what Dungy would say when he had the mike. This year - and most years - I'll just treat the night as if it's nothing special, and wait till I get up to find out who won and then get back to my normal life.

BOOK REVIEW - "LETHAL REUNION (COLD CASE)" BY LACEY BAKER

 

How did the person who murdered Halle Jefferson's twin sister get her cell phone number? What is hidden in a 15 year old time capsule that someone would kill for? Can Sheriff Kyle Brisco - Halle's boyfriend in high school - keep her safe?

"Lethal Reunion: Cold Case", fittingly set in a snow covered Maryland small town, is the first story I read by Lacey Baker, and it's a good one. There are different mysteries, and some very interesting characters as well. 

If you want something to read when it's below 32 degrees - either Farenheit (0 degrees Celcius) or Celcius (90 degrees Farenheit), I would recommend this book.

BOOK REVIEW - "EVERY CHILD EVERY NATION EVERY DAY" BY ROBERT J. MORGAN WITH REESE R. KAUFFMAN

 "Every Child Every Nation Every Day" is the story of Child Evangelism Fellowship (afterward referred to as CEF), introducing us to the founder of the ministry and the person who served as President from 1990 to 2022 (this book was published in 2015), as well as CEF's work around the world.

This volume is divided into four parts. "Jesse Overholtzer and the Message of Child Evangelism Fellowship" gives a  short biography of CEF's founder, from childhood to serving as a minister to being convicted that children are as capable of believing in Christ as an adult. It follows the founding of CEF and how the ministry expanded through the U.S.A. and the rest of the world. The final chapter in this section gives a recap of the ministry from Overholtzer's death in 1955 till 1990.

"Reese Kauffman and the Mission of Child Evangelism Fellowship" tells of Kauffman's early life, focusing on his spiritual and career growth, and his 4+ decade ministry with CEF, from being in a local chapter to being President over 30 years. Among the things it mentions is their goal to have CEF ministry in every country by its 80th anniversary in 2017. As of the book's writing, there were 13 countries left, and it's been down to one since at least 2018.

Part three is "Jesus Christ and the Miracle of Child Evangelism Fellowship, with chapters on Child Evangelism in the Bible, Child Evangelism in the home, and how to lead a child (or adult) to Christ. This is followed by "Biblical Convictions and the Ministry of Child Evangelism Fellowship," we see how this ministry is empowered by leadership, giving, prayer, and enthusiasm. Finally, the last chapter deals with the importance of reaching children through a pair of anecdotes.

I found this book inspiring and encouraging, and I highly recommend it.

BOOK REVIEW - "COLD CASE TARGET" (BOOK 2 OF TEXAS CRIME SCENE CLEANERS) BY JESSICA R. PATCH

 Who was murdering widows whose husbands died in accidents, and why? Can private investigator keep Sissy Spencer, his ex-girlfriend, from being the next victim, or at least earn the respect of Sissy's brother Stone?

Can you judge a book by its cover? Sometimes. "Cold Case Target," book two of the Texas Crime Scene Cleaners by Jessica Patch is an example. There are few covers as exciting as this one (Jodie Bailey's "Undercover Colorado Ambush" is another). The plot is just as twisted and unpredictable as the garden maze pictured.

Patch's characters often stand out, easy to enjoy and fall in love with, whether they be main characters or supporting cast. However, some of her villains can give you the creeps, and this is an example of this as well.

This is the second book in this series, as I mentioned above. Can you enjoy this book without feeling lost or spoiling the previous story? I believe so, though it's easier to keep up if you have read the first one, "Crime Scene Conspiracy," which introduces you to the Stone family. I do recommend this book.