BOOK REVIEW - RESCUE MISSION (ROCKY MOUNTAIN K-9 UNIT BOOK 8) BY LYNETTE EASON

 

What missing memories does Katie have about the night when she was in an amnesia-causing accident and a baby had been kidnapped? Can Lucas Wilson and his K-9 Partner Angel keep her alive until she's able to help them find the infant?

Rescue Mission by Lynette Eason is the finale of the Rocky Mountain K-9 Unit series. (Okay, there's a pair of novellas following this, but this novel completes the unresolved story-lines the previous volumes established.) Katie Montgomery is introduced (comatose) in the first novel, and the following books follow Katie's coming to and the few clues they have to what happened.

If you like exciting romantic fiction, especially with a helpful and trained K-9 assistant, you'll definitely love this story. Since it's the last one in the series, I'd advice reading the other books first, but more so to be able to enjoy the stories that set up for this one than to not feel lost reading the last book first. 

MEMORIES OF NORTHSIDE BAPTIST'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AND ALSO OF MY DAD.

 

 I've been a part of other anniversary celebrations for churches (though, amusingly, none before we moved to Indianapolis). I was there for the 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversary of Arlington Avenue Baptist Church. But each of those were a one day celebration. It took a whole month to celebrate Northside's 60th.

One thing they did was focus on the eras - '63-77 the first week, the '80's the next week, the 90's for week #3, and the 2000s today. Before each week, they mentioned the fads of that period in case you wanted to dress that style. I debated doing that by investing into 4 new shirts - a 2nd Chapter of Acts T-shirt, a Daniel Band T-shirt, a Beracah T-shirt, and - you guessed it - a Divine Martyr T-shirt. They did mention for the first week gloves and buttons. And me unable to find my Thurmon Munson catcher's mitt and my "Carter for President" button!

Picnic, Northside Baptist Church, Indy

Each week, the worship consisted of songs we'd sing from that era. Nobody mentioned it, but it did show a reflection of the hymn vs. chorus debate. The first week we sang hymns ("My Tribute" and "Sweet, Sweet Spirit" being the more contemporary ones for that time. The next week, we sang choruses, three of which we sang through twice. Interestingly, contemporary worship songs have more verses again, and often a bridge! Bottom line - each era has God honoring songs.

We also had greetings from several individuals, such as missionaries, that were shown on the video.

Pastor Jeremy Couture started a series on the book of James the first week, but the anniversary colored this week's sermon, based on the vision of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. He also presented his vision for us to reach 500 people the next 3 years through Evangelism, Worship, Family Ministry, and Leadership.

Yesterday, we had a church picnic. It included one person playing the #1 songs of each year up till '80 and then Christian songs after prayer. Hey, any day I get to hear both "Sugar Sugar" (the Archies) and "Beyond Belief" (Petra) is a good day! 

KVIO, Cottonwood, AZ; not my dad in picture.

During the first part, we got candy if we knew the song and artist. When he announced the year '76, I was already on the way, because I knew it was "Silly Love Songs" (Wings). It helped having a father who was a DJ during that era, and listening to the songs on KVIO, 1600am, Cottonwood, Arizona.

Picture of Dad and Becky.

I'll admit - I was starting to get emotional during that point. The day before (Sept. 22), I saw a memory post from 9 years ago, where a high school friend posted a picture of the radio station and mentioned my Dad working there. The following day, the memory posts included one I did mentioning my Dad's passing. I realized the station picture was originally posted 5 years and 1 day before Dad went to heaven. Then, hearing the songs Dad played on the radio...

A lot of fond memories from this past month.

 

SUNDAY PSALMS PART 38 OF 48 - PSALM 122:1

 

Christians United Church, Indianapolis

I was glad when they said to me,
"Let us go into the house of the Lord."
Psalm 122:1, New King James Version

Aren't you glad when people say to you, "Let's go to the house of the Lord?" If so, why not?

Yes, unfortunately there are churches who love hurting people while others love hurting people. Wheat and tares are gathered together in the same sanctuary, and it's often there that the tares become recognized. When that happens, it's understandable why they don't want to darken the door of the church. 

However, does our experience take precedence over the words of the author of Hebrews: "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembly of yourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhort one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:24-25)? Because of the sin of others, are we granted permission of living in disobedience ourselves?

Is part of the problem that we're focusing on our own interests and ignoring the interests of others, contrary to Philippians 2:4? We're expecting others to love us, but are we loving each other? Maybe if we are treating each other as we should, they would be built up. Likewise, maybe we're called to stand up to those who are hurting others.

One thing to remember - the people we're either assembling with in church or avoiding by not assembling will be with us in heaven. Plus, they're all people Christ loves. And didn't Jesus say that if two or three are gathered together in His name, He's in the midst?

I don't know about you, but I'm glad when they say to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."

 
 

BOOK REVIEW - LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES (THE WILLIAM BARCLAY LIBRARY) BY WILLIAM BARCLAY

 

Are you looking for a commentary on the letters to the seven churches of Asia (Revelation 2-3) that is thorough on the subject, but is also short enough not to wear you out and that is easy to follow and understand? 

Letters to the Seven Churches by William Barclay is a short but solid commentary on Revelation 2-3. It has fourteen chapters, with the odd numbered chapters dealing with the geographic, cultural, and historical background of the towns and the even numbered following it with commentary on the Biblical text.

On Amazon, there is currently one two-star review that gave the brevity of the book as the reason. Yes, it's short, but that's not a negative. When I was leading a Bible study on this section of Scripture, I found that if I used this book first, I gained a foundation on which my other research would enhance. Conversely, I did find that if I read other books first, I found this volume to repeat what I already learned from other books. But when I read it first, it laid a very solid foundation. 

One thing I enjoyed is that in his chapter on the faithful church of Philadelphia, Barclay mentioned athlete/missionary Eric Liddell refusing to run on the Sabbath and that before running the 400 meters an unknown person handed him a note reading that God will honor those who honor Him. I don't know when Barclay wrote this book, but it definitely was before Chariots of Fire, my all time favorite movie, came out.

I highly recommend this volume.

AN INVITATION AND CHALLENGE FOR BOTH MUSICIANS AND NON-MUSICIANS

 

 

I would like to invite all my readers (particularly those in the Indianapolis area) to join Becky and I for the annual Fall Dessert Night for Central Indiana Child Evangelism Fellowship on Oct. 12th this year at Castleton Community Church. I'll give you a link for the information below.

Not to exclude anyone - I''d love for all of you to attend - but allow me to focus on one group - local Christian musicians, be they Southern Gospel Quartets, soloists, or rock bands. Let me explain.

A while back, I posted about an idea of a music chaplaincy. One thing I would want to do is encourage Christian musicians to get interested and involved with various ministries. For example, my friends Amy Shreve and Gary Wixtrom are actively connected with Voice of The Martyrs - I've had the honor of hearing them 8 times, 6 of which were VOM conferences.

While there are a lot of great ministries, I believe it's a natural for Christian musicians to get involved with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). This ministry is involved in starting Good News Clubs in Public Schools. But what about Separation of Church and State? Well, in 2000 the Supreme Court ruled that Christian groups have equal access. (Some schools, to keep CEF out, stopped allowing any group to meet at the school.) 

Yes, this is a fundraiser, but that's just a part of it. No less important are their goals to raise prayer support and workers. They especially encourage local churches to be effective in running Good News Clubs, where they can be active in following up on those involved.

I would love to see at least one table filled with some of my favorite local Christian rock bands, and an equal number of Southern Gospel singers.  

For those interested (and I hope that's several of you reading), here is the link:  https://www.cefcentralindiana.com/2023dessert.html

SUNDAY PSALMS PART 37 OF 48 - PSALM 120:6-7

Gibbons at Cincinnati Zoo. (They can be noisy as well.)

My soul has dwelt too long With one who hates peace.
I am for peace;
But when I speak, they are for war.
        Psalm 120:6-7, New King James Version.

Are you aware how few people there are who truly desire peace? They won't admit it. They'll probably tell you their goal is peace. But peace always follows, for them, the unconditional surrender of their opponents. No, no compromise, no win-win solution. They insist on complete victory.

Example one. Did you notice the length of time it took between the SCOTUS decision making gay marriage legal and the focus on transgenderism? Days? More like hours. After all, not everybody agrees with their agenda, and they can't have that. 

Example two. I read a book by a former worship leader who thinks the whole church should go back to traditional hymns instead of contemporary songs. The author pointed out the contemporaries should seek the interests of the traditionals, citing Philippians 2:4. But wouldn't that verse imply traditionals should seek the interests of the contemporaries? Total silence. Until the end of the book where he states going back to hymns is just the start; we also need to go back to hymnals instead of overhead projectors.

Example three. Have you noticed how peaceful pacifists are in speaking out against war? Not always the case. 

But we can spend too much time looking at everybody else without figuring out how we can be a pattern of being at peace with all other fellow believers. Yes, it's easier said than done, but there are times we fight others when we should be at peace with them.
 

 

BOOK REVIEW - EXPLOSIVE REVENGE (ROCKY MOUNTAIN K-9 UNIT BOOK 7) BY MAGGIE K. BLACK

 

Will the bi-monthly attacks on the Rocky Mountain K-9 Unit's HQ result in the closure of this team? Is there a connection between this vandalism and the past of the Unit's director, Sergeant Tyson Wilkes? And will his K-9 partner Echo and local Detective Skylar Morgan be able to help him solve this mystery before their world goes KABOOM? 

Explosive Revenge by Maggie K. Black is the seventh installment of the Rocky Mountain K-9 Unit series. For those unfamiliar with the annual K-9 series by Harlequin's Love Inspired Suspense line, there are eight novels and a double novella written by different authors. While there are usually three overarching story-lines covering the whole series, each have their own story as well, and are written that a person who picks up a book in the middle of the series won't be lost. 

This is true of this volume. The first novel deals with the first mysterious attack, with others  popping up in the series. As director of the Unit, Tyson is a supporting character through the series, and Skylar has a couple of appearances as well. This novel places the spotlight on this storyline and focuses on the couple. (What do you expect? This is a Harlequin imprint!)

I thought this was a well written story. Black manages to keep things moving so you're constantly trying to guess who the villain is. It develops its main characters believably (including Dutch Shepherd Echo). 

Would it surprise you if I recommended both this book and the series so far? I wouldn't be surprised either.

 

BOOK REVIEW - THE SERMONS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF REVELATION: A COMMENTARY AND GUIDE BY JEFFREY A. D. WEIMA

 

You may remember me mentioning I was leading a group on the seven churches in Revelation 1-3. One of the books I used as research was The Sermons to the Seven Churches by Jeffrey A. D. Weima. It didn't take me long to figure out this was probably my strongest source. 

Weima takes an interesting view that the messages to the churches are more sermons than letters. Each chapter starts off with a thorough and detailed commentary, followed by "The Contemporary Significance," which is essentially a sermon on this section. 

One thing I like is that when there is a difference of opinion, he states each major opinion with their strengths and weaknesses before dealing with what he considers the strongest option. One case is with the Nicolatians, where he points out that there is so little written about them (only mentions in Scripture are in Revelation 2; only mentions in church history goes back to Revelation as opposed to an active group) that we cannot make a dogmatic interpretation.

I highly recommend this book if you're studying chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation.

SUNDAY PSALMS PART 36 OF 48: PSALM 119:153-160

Child Evangelism Fellowship Headquarters, Warrenton, MO

153   Consider my affliction and deliver me,
        For I do not forget Your law.
154   Plead my cause and redeem me;
        Revive me according to Your word.
155   Salvation is far from the wicked,
        For they do not seek Your statutes.
156   Great are Your tender mercies, O LORD;
        Revive me according to Your judgments.
157   Many are my persecutors and my enemies,
        Yet I do not turn from Your testimonies.
158   I see the treacherous, and am disgusted,
        Because they do not keep Your word.
159   Consider how I love Your precepts;
        Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness.
160   The entirety of Your word is truth,
        And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
                Psalm 119:153-160, New King James Version

As you'd expect me to say, I absolutely love this section. Allow me to give two reasons.

1. The emphasis on revival. Yes, you probably noticed several appeals in this Psalm to "Revive me according to Your Word or something similar. Verses 33-40 have two. This section has three. Verse 154 asks God to revive us according to His Word; verse 156 asks for revival according to God's judgments (or justice), and verse 159 asks for Him to revive us according to His lovingkindness. We all need to be revived in all three.
2. I also love the concluding verse. What do you think it means to say "The entirety of Your word is truth?" I think it means that the entirety of God's Word is truth. That means Genesis to Revelation. It goes on to add that His righteous judgments endures forever. Now, how long is forever?  Yet I hear people who think our culture knows more than God. :'( I have one friend who believes in the four Gospels, period. Should I take his word or God's Word that all Scripture is truth and endures forever?
   

 

 

ALBUM REVIEW - ASSIMILATION BY CRIMSON OVERTONE

 

Is it that I'm getting old, or just am not paying attention? I'm discovering new groups and new singers and forget how I stumbled on listing them. Are they at a festival I'm following? Did they get recommended by Spotify? Did I just stumble on them? Crimson Overtone is an example, but when I discovered their awesome song "I Stand," I was hooked.

Today, I'm covering their EP Assimilation. No, it doesn't include "I Stand." But it has five other good, hard rocking songs. 

This project is a concept album (I'm finding a lot of good ones recently). The five songs deal a person becoming assimilated into God's plan for their lives. My favorites on this project are "Unbelief," "Severed," and "War Cry".

The interesting thing is that the week I listened to "Assimilation," I was preparing to teach a Sunday School class on Daniel 1, where Daniel and his friends were expected to assimilate into the Babylonian culture, and they had to take a stand on an issue that mattered to them.

Crimson Overtone are on my list of bands I want to get to hear and meet someday. I highly recommend this EP.

BOOK REVIEW - LETTERS FROM JESUS: STUDIES FROM THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF REVELATION (GREEK FOR THE WEEK) BY CHRIS PALMER

 

Several weeks ago, I stated leading a men's Bible study on the Seven Churches of Asia Minor (Revelation 2-3). One of the books I read to prepare for the study was Letters From Jesus: Studies from the Seven Churches of Revelation by Chris Palmer. 

One important thing in looking at this book is that this is more of a devotional than a commentary. You may have noticed it reads "Greek for the Week;" the Greek refers to Palmer getting into the original languages, while the week points out that it's a weekly devotional, divided into 52 parts so it can last a year. Each chapter is four pages, starting with the verse in both English and Greek with the focal thought highlighted, an anecdote that goes through most of the second page, the Biblical thought for the third, and the final page including a prayer, projects for the week, and some cross references. (Since I was using it as research, I treated it as a daily devotional.)

Sometimes I think of devotionals as being a lighter study than a sermon or a commentary. This is not true of Palmer's approach. He tries to get into the meaning of the original Greek (I shouldn't assume that it's common knowledge that the New Testament was written in Koine - i.e. common - Greek, with the Old Testament written primarily in Hebrew with a few Aramaic segments). He succeed in getting into what the text is saying to the original audience and how it applies to today.

Following an introduction looking at "why Greek" and "why these seven churches, Palmer spends the first chapter looking at the image of Jesus in Revelation 1. He divides the remaining 51 chapters into looking at the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, with eight chapters each on Ephesus and Smyrna and seven each on the remaining five churches. He gives each basically equal treatment, from the four verses given to Smyrna to the dozen for Thyatira.

I will admit that I was disappointed in Palmer in a couple of points. One is that in he either missed or avoided dealing with Revelation 3:10, where Jesus tells the church in Philadelphia they would be spared from the hour of trial coming on all men. The other is more bothersome. I expected with his focus on Greek that he would give a good explanation of the compound Greek word "Nicolatian", with the Greek words for control and people (laity). But no! Palmer not only takes up the traditional theory that one of the 7 deacons in Acts 6, Nicolas, went rogue and became a Gnostic teacher and formed a false group, but even embellishes what Nicolas thought; other books have correctly pointed out there's no Biblical nor historical proof for that hypothesis other than the similarity of the names (not a strong argument). But remember this book is a devotional, not a commentary.

In conclusion, I recommend this book. Allow me to break said recommendation into two parts: 

1. It is a very useful devotional. If you have the discipline to do it weekly and use it as Palmer designed it, go for it - you'll be blessed. You'll also be blessed if you make it a 52 day study  instead of 52 week.

2. Should you consider using this for research? Yes. There are other books I think are better for that role because unlike this volume, they are written as commentaries. But you definitely will learn more in this book as well.

 

SUNDAY PSALMS PART 35 OF 48 - PSALM 119:129-136

Cool Creek Park, Westfield, Indiana

 

129 Your testimonies are wonderful;
   Therefore my soul keeps them.
130 The entrance of Your words gives light;
   It gives understanding to the simple.
131 I opened my mouth and panted,
   For I longed for Your commandments.
132 Look upon me and be merciful to me,
   As Your custom is toward those who love Your name.
133 Direct my steps by Your word,
   And let no iniquity have dominion over me.
134 Redeem me from the oppression of man,
   That I may keep Your precepts.
135 Make Your face shine upon Your servant,
   And teach me Your statutes.
136 Rivers of water run down from my eyes,
   Because men do not keep Your law.
       Psalm 119:129-136, New King James Version

Once again, another good Psalm, and one I want to focus on one part: the last verse. Do rivers of water run down from your eyes because men don't keep God's Law?

Think about this. How much entertainment reflects men not keeping God's Law? How much has us cheering those who don't keep God's Law? How often are we laughing at disobedience? How often does it grieve us?

Let's look at where we get our information. Is it unbiased? Or does it reflect a heart that does not keep God's Law? Are they sympathetic to those of faith, or do they look at traditional values (aka keeping God's Law) as backward at best and a danger at worst?

What about our relationships? When there is disobedience to God's Word, are we grieved? Or do we shrug our shoulders? Do we tag along when they're going places we as God's Law-keepers have no business?

Do rivers of water run down from our eyes because people don't keep God's Law? Do we believe what Psalm 12:8 says: "The wicked prowl on every side When vileness is exalted among the sons of men."