4 comments about The Fifth Week.

1. this book is really great it helped me find my place with the almighty i really recomend this book to the people that are really religious



2. The Fifth Week is meant to be a book to inform those who are interested in becoming Jesuits. However, I feel that this book is meant for anyone at any level of spirtuality. This book provides examples of heroism that anyone can look up to and become inspired, I know that I was. The heroic Jesuits portrayed in the book were real men, with real weaknesses, with real strengths. This authenticity is further strengthened by Fr. William O'Malley's own vocational story, which entailed struggle, hardship, love, and peace. These are realities that we all face, so the book has the ability to coincide with some of our own experiences and trials. The most important thing that this book offers the reader is "the hope for man." We may have hope in the fact that The Society of Jesus will set the world on fire by living out the Good News.



3. After my son had studied "The Fifth Week" in his high school religion class I told him to retain it at the end of the class for my reading. It was one of the best literary decisions I ever made.

   "The Fifth Week" is divided into three sections: Jesuits of the Past; Jesuits of the Present; and Jesuits of the Future.

   It was the first two sections which primarily attracted me to this book. Jesuits of the Past and Jesuits of the Present consist of brief biographies of Jesuit heroes. As a product of Jesuit education, I had heard many of these names, either in sketchy legends or on the nameplates of schools or buildings. This book put stories to these names.

   The first and longest biography belongs, fittingly enough, to St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society. During a forced convalescence from battlefield wounds, a reading of the Lives of the Saints transformed this servant of the King of Spain into one of the most illustrious servants of the King of Heaven.

   Other biographies bring the brightest stars in the Jesuit sky to life. St. Francis Xavier, after whom my College Church is named, was the great missionary who took the Faith to the Orient. St. Edmund Campion had to me been merely the patron of a building at college. From this book I learned that he was a 16th century Jesuit who trained in Prague before returning to his native England to minister to Catholics during the height of the Reformation persecution of the Church until his martyrdom in 1581.

   Another interesting English Jesuit of the Reformation era was St. Nicholas Owen. St. Nicholas was a Jesuit brother who's main ministry was the building of priestly hideouts in the great houses of English Catholics until he was captured and tortured to death in 1606.

   One of the most notable exemplars of the Jesuit charism is Matteo Ricci who followed in the footsteps of St. Francis Xavier in bringing the Gospel to the Orient. In keeping with the Jesuit theme of using all things to bring people to God, Matteo followed St. Paul's entreaty to be all things to all men. Immersing himself in Chinese culture and adopting Chinese dress, he obtained acceptance into the Chinese Imperial Court. From this position started a movement which in 50 years was to include 150,000 Chinese Catholics.

   Among my favorite heroes are the North American Martyr, St. John de Breboeuf, and Peter DeSmet, the St. Louis based western missionary and patron the high school at which my son studied this book.

   The explanation of the suppression of the Jesuits occurring in various places from 1759-1814 was a movement of which I had heard and read but which I did not understand until reading this book..

   The Jesuits of the Past section concludes with the biography of Blessed Miguel Pro, "Jesuit Clown.". My family and I had first heard of Miguel Pro during a passing reference in a homily to "Viva Christo Rey-Long Live Christ the King!", his last words while facing a firing squad. His story was, actually, similar to that of St. Edmund Campion. Driven from his native Mexico by anticlerical persecutions, Pro studied in California, Spain, Nicaragua and Belgium. Sneaking back into Mexico after ordination, his skillful use of a series of disguises permitted him to minister to the faithful for 2 years during which he avoided capture by the authorities.

   Section 2 highlights contemporary Jesuits. Daniel Lord used teaching, writing, theatre and social action to bring God to his people. World War II made heroes of Carl Hausman, a prisoner of the Japanese in the Philippines and Joseph O'Callahan, a chaplain aboard the U.S.S. Franklin during a devastating Kamikaze attack. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a paleontologist who brought the faith to the world of science.

   Fr. O'Malley begins the transition from Section 2 to Section 3 by introducing the story of his own vocation.

   Section 3 is the story of the Jesuits of the Future. An inquiry into the Society of today, the challenges of the world and obstacles to a religious vocation are viewed reflectively. The book concludes with the questions a man must confront in discerning whether he has a vocation to the priestly or religious life. The final pages are devoted to the practical steps one must take in order to explore the possibility of living the Jesuit life.

   I began this book I with high expectations. At its conclusion my expectations were fulfilled. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the stories of Jesuit heroes as well as anyone who wants to understand what has attracted so many outstanding men of the past to the Society of Jesus and what continues to attract the Church leaders of tomorrow.




4. Since the founding of the Society of Jesus by Ignatius Loyola, the Jesuits have been a powerful force in the areas of missionary activity, teaching, and preaching. In THE FIFTH WEEK, Father O'Malley writes of renowned Jesuits in the past, and also describes the Jesuit training process. For anyone seeking general insight into the Society of Jesus, THE FIFTH WEEK is a very apropos introductory survey.

5 comments about Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible And What He Wants to Do With You (Walker Large Print Books).

1. It helped me so see and understand how important these women really were in the lineage of Jesus. How God can change the seemingly impossible. Wonderful book!



2. I have led numerous Bible studies, and this book has been a real disappointment. The writing lacks balance, is often disorganized, and even has an "anti-women" tone to it. I find myself having to work all week to plan our study, to supplement what he's written. I would not recommend this book.



3. We have been studying this for the past few months slowly due to only meeting once a week. We have discovered fascinating new details about some of the women of the Bible that we did not know. While we have found a few discrepancies, they are minor and we talk it out as a group. Overall, we are finding this study to be enlightening and are looking forward to the rest of it.



4. This book is phenomenal and is filled with scripture. John MacArthur does a great job of making these women's lives parallel to our current culture and easy for anyone to relate. Each woman has her own personality but all have lessons to learn from. I have just started the book and am about half way through already and each page has spoken to me that most of the book is underlined and commented on. If you're looking for God to move in your life and teach you some great lessons pick up this book!!!



5. I could only get through the first two chapters before I had to put it down. I sought this book out for inspiration, but found it was sexist and insulting. I write this not because I one of those "new fangled feminist types", but because I posses a brain - a God given one. What I glean from the way the stories are presented is that the author's belief is that women exist only through men and have no real intrinsic purpose or value to God or the world, except through men.
   
   Eve is portryaed as a pathetic figure, the author writes patronizingly about Eve's sin: "As the weaker vessel, away from her husband, but close to the forbidden tree, she was in the most vulnerable position possible..." and "...Adam's sin was deliberate (when he took the apple) and willful in a way Eve's was not. Eve was deceived". So, the author doesn't even think she deserves equal billing in the "downfall".
   
   In chap. 2 about Sarah, when explaining how Sara and Abraham lied when they entered Egypt, saying that Sara was his sister so other men would not kill Abraham for her the author concludes: "...Abraham's motives were selfish and cowardly, and the scheme reflected a serious weakness in his faith. But Sarah's devotion to her husband is nonetheless commendable, and God honored her for it..". So, she is not a whole person in this author's view - they both lied, he calls it "cowardly" on Abraham's part, but believes God commends Sara, because she it was good she supported him - EVEN when he did something "selfish and cowardly".
   
   As a Christian I found the simplistic and ridiculous for the 21st century.
   I cannot recommend this book to anyone with a brain.

3 comments about Well with My Soul: Four Dramatic Stories of Great Hymn Writers (Heroes of the Faith).

1. Barbour Publishing's "Heroes of the Faith" series found an able storyteller in Rachael Phillips, a Christian writer and humorist whose talents as a researcher and biographer are clearly on display in the book, Well with My Soul. This work, suitable for preteens on up, gives vivid life-portraits of four of Christendom's most colorful and prolific hymn writers.
   
   Phillips, as she did so well with her "Heroes" treatments of Billy Sunday, Frederick Douglass and Saint Augustine, once again weaves historical and personal details together to give us very human characters. Horatio Spafford, whose intrepid efforts for Christ and His church during the era of D.L. Moody and the Great Chicago Fire, suffered the dark tragedy of losing four young daughters during their Atlantic crossing with his wife in the Ville du Havre disaster of 1873. Phillips delves into the wells of Spafford's emotions as he wrestled with this and other spiritual challenges that resulted in such important hymn poems as "It Is Well with My Soul."
   
   I think it laudable that this biographer doesn't shrink from mentioning such unfortunate and unflattering details as the petty and uncharitable treatment Spafford and others received from fellow churchmen, as well as Spafford's own idiosyncrasies which surfaced later in his life. But the inclusion of such blemishes is always seasoned by Phillips' compassion and charm with which she sums up her subjects' true greatness, namely their faith in a God of unfailing grace and providence.
   
   Other stories in this very readable volume tell about Phillip P. Bliss ("Hallelujah! What a Savior"), William Cowper ("God Moves in a Mysterious Way") and Frances Ridley Havergal ("Take My Life and Let It Be"). This book would be wonderful as supplemental reading during family times, and both educational and joyful material for hymn lovers everywhere.
   
   Sincerely,
   Mark N. Aikins



2. I never really knew much about the great hymn writers of old, so I bought this book. The stories in this book are both informative and very interesting too. I could hardly put it down.



3. A 2007 summer reading list mini review.
   
   It is well with my soul seems like it is going to be like many other books out there dedicated tothe stories behind great hymns. In reality, however, Rachael Phillips book is conerned more about the great lives behind the great works. She paints portraits of Spafford, Bliss, Cowper and Havergal that expose their strengths but also give even coverage of the difficulties they each faced.

5 comments about Life of A W Pink.

1. The book turned out to be more interesting than I expected, and it was inspirational. The author added useful information in the back of the book about how Arthur Pink's views had changed over time. Additionally, it is an unusual biography from my experience because I didn't expect all of the sermon outline notes that were included in the story line.



2. I've had a difficult time putting this book down. As a reformed Christian, I have heard various reports of A.W.Pink, and was curious to "know" the man through this biography. My conclusion is that Mr. Pink was not a perfect man (who is?), but was very godly and took a courageous stand for the truths presented in the Bible when so many Christian men of his day would not. Mr. Pink was a seasoned Christian full of insight and encouragement for those wishing to grow in the knowledge and application of God's Word. I gave this book a 4 only because I felt the sentence structure of certain chapters could have been better formulated.



3. This is a must read for Arthur W. Pink fans. I couldn't put it down. Pink's letters were a great insight into the struggles that he went through. GOD blessed him and blesses followers of Christ throuth trials. This work was an intimate portrait of one of my favorite authors.



4. Everything Iain Murray writes is good, and the life of AW Pink is no exception. As usual (cf. his bio of Martyn Lloyd-Jones), Murray spends a lot of pages both reporting the events of Pink's life and offering his sound analysis.
   
   Having read and benefited greatly by reading a lot of Pink's work, it was very interesting to learn about the background of how his materials originally came to print (I didn't know most of his books were originally serial magazine articles). Yet in many ways this is a tragic story to see a man so gifted in communicating and teaching the Bible to come to a point where he would withdraw from the church and from fellowship with most believers. Murray does a good job of explaining the lonely latter portion of Pink's life; both offering reasons why Pink did what he did, but also rightly criticizing Pink's perspective.
   
   Anyone who is a fan of AW Pink or Iain Murray, or church history in general will enjoy picking up Murray's Life of Arthur W Pink and reading.



5. This is one fabulous read. It is full of surprises and I found it hard to put down.
   
   Rev G.W.Smith

5 comments about John Calvin: A Sixteenth-Century Portrait.

1. I read the first several chapters of this book and found the author didn't have a grasp of the Calvin's basic theological teachings which plainly contradicted some of Bouwsma thoughts. I do not question his historical expertise, but i doubt very serriously that he knew John Calvin In his book he called Calvin a pagan and anybody who knows Calvin knows he was a man of God. He also took a passage from the Institutes that Calvin was addressing the Catholic church and applied it to Calvin to support his claim that Calvin was anxious. I tried three times to get something out of this book and failed all three times. I appreciate Calvin too much to keep this book in my library.Also I crossed referenced some of his notes he claimed he quoted Calvin from and found discrepricancies. If you want a secular oppion of who Calvin was not based on his Theological mindset, then read this book. Otherwise disreguard it.



2. This is one of the finest academic historical biographies to have appeared in the past couple of decades, and will provide nearly anyone with an insightful and in depth introduction to one of the most important figures of the early modern age. It must be stressed, however, that Bouwsma will not please everyone. He is a professional historian, and not a theologian nor an apologist. Many hardcore Calvinists might not enjoy the style with which he deals with his subject matter or his theologically neutral stance in discussing Calvin's work and thought. But most students of theology and all students of history will discover in this a study of Calvin that not only discusses his thought, but relates it to the particular period of history in which it was produced. Too many Calvinist treatments of Calvin discuss him in almost ahistorical fashion, as if his thought were developed in a vacuum. As Bouwsma demonstrates, however, the was very much the product of the Late Renaissance as much as he was the Reformation.

   One review below states that Bouwsma claims Calvin was a pagan. This is an important misunderstanding, the correction of which will take us to the heart of Bouwsma's central argument. Absolutely nowhere does Bouwsma assert that Calvin was a pagan, but his central argument in the book is that Calvin was deeply entrenched in renaissance humanism. The humanists went back to the pagan writers of Greece and Rome as literary models as well as alternative sources of inspiration to medieval Catholicism. As Bouwsma quite correctly points out, humanism was in no way antithetical to Protestantism. Calvin was absolutely not a pagan, nor does Bouwsma make that claim, but he did study the pagans such as Cicero and Quintillian, and modeled his writing style on them.

   Many biographers delight in the smashing of myths of their subjects. While Bouwsma might not please hardcore Calvinists, in that he isn't deferential or assuming that Calvin articulated truths nearly as authoritative as those of the New Testament, he also does not try in any sense to defame or criticize Calvin. On the contrary, he goes out of his way to debunk many of the negative myths concerning Calvin. What he does try to do is provide the most accurate portrait he can of a major figure of the 16th century, both his positive and negative traits, and situation him in his time and place. In this he succeeds marvelously. This volume could stand for some time as the premiere biography of one of the two most important figures in the history of Protestantism.




3. William J. Bouwsma considers John Calvin the least known and most misunderstood of all the great figures of the sixteenth-century. Bouwsma's unique attempt to elucidate John Calvin for a contemporary thinker is contextually driven and methodologically persistent. John Calvin: A Sixteenth-Century Portrait aims to read, understand, and interpret Calvin within his sixteenth-century setting.
   In order to give the reader a clear picture of Calvin and through him the mood of his generation, Bouwsma begins with Calvin's anxiety. This aspect of Calvin's life gives the contemporary reader, in Bouwsma's opinion, the opportunity to get a glimpse of an anxiety-filled age. This approach allows Bouwsma, at least in theory, to understand Calvin even better than Calvin understood himself. Taken together, the external influences and internal struggles show Calvin as a man who saw himself in a world on the edge of a great calamity, even divine judgment.
   This aspect of Calvin and his society is the point of departure for Bouwsma's major thesis: humanism is the umbilical cord between the "labyrinth" and the "abyss" in Calvin's thought. Bouwsma uses "labyrinth" to denote the safe, yet problematic philosophical worldview the Europeans inherited from the Hellenistic and Hebraic cultures. While these two worldviews were woven together with relative ease in antiquity, the Renaissance would unravel and lay bare the problem. Bouwsma believes Calvin has but a glimpse of this and knows that his sixteenth-century context is a labyrinth of dangers, but still safer than the "abyss" of doubt.
   Bouwsma asserts that as Calvin tried to alleviate his anxieties he clung to certain assumptions inherent in the labyrinth. The issues brought forth by the labyrinth include the cosmological inheritances such as an intelligible universe, a cyclical view of time, and the imago dei. In addition to this view, Calvin continually strove for order through moderation, control, and high moralism. Finally, Calvin's "cultural baggage" in Geneva was his strict adherence to rational religion (i.e., the mind rules the other human faculties and is capable of grasping reality). Ultimately Calvin was unable find solace in the complexities of his inherited philosophical culture and sought an opening.
   The opening for Calvin was Humanism. Here, Calvin found a way to hold to the eruditio while pursuing persuasio. The task of the preacher is not just to explicate the scriptures; it is also to move the listener to action. Humanistic rhetoric allowed Calvin to do this in a manner he found comfortable.
   In a strange semantic twist Bouwsma's opening for Calvin finds its way into the "abyss" where a rhetorical culture had presuppositions about the human condition, the possibilities of knowledge, human experience of the world, and the organization of life. Bouwsma now uses "abyss" in a manner which left Calvin on the edge of an ambiguous unknown. What is human? What capacity do humans have for knowledge of God? What is God? What is the human role in the drama? Bouwsma treats these questions and more as he moves Calvin through the abyss.
   Bouwsma concludes by looking at Calvin's programs as they appear in society, polity, and the church. Calvin's moderation is evident in his social thought and the power of God places the government in a subordinate position to the church. Bouwsma is aware that those fans of Calvin at either extreme might not be pleased with his account, yet he is quick to point out the complexities in Calvin that are often overlooked by both margins.
   Bouwsma succeeds in offering a unique contribution to the corpus of Calvin scholarship. He takes a serious look at Calvin in his historical context while looking at Calvin's historical context through Calvin's eyes. This is achieved by extensive referencing of primary sources and pertinent secondary sources. Bouwsma weaves the abundance of quotations together in a surprisingly readable manner.
   In light of widespread confusion and misunderstanding over Calvin and his thought, this book offers a "man behind the myth" picture of John Calvin. A related issue stems from the church audience to which Calvin continues to speak. Bouwsma's intended audience is of secondary importance here. The first section, "Quest for the Historical Calvin," is instrumental as a contextual compass. While this book is not intended for a small-group discussion or as a devotional aid, it is accessible to the average reader, thanks in large to the first fifty pages.
   Two words of caution must be added to this review. Bouwsma does an outstanding job of giving a close-up of Calvin and a panoramic of the society, but does he get a glimpse of the local, the towns? What about Geneva and Strasbourg? Bouwsma inadequately treats the immediate physical setting and its relationship to Calvin's thought. He makes use of the events in Geneva and Strasbourg only in passing. It is clear that Calvin was influenced by the world at large. It also follows that he must have been greatly influenced by the events on his doorstep. Bouwsma only uses these events with reference to Calvin's continued struggle in feeling overwhelmed with work and frustration with the local polity. The additional information in this area would strengthen the book as a whole and portray a more accurate scene of Calvin in his context.
   Second, at times Bouwsma's attempt to get a portrait of the sixteenth-century from Calvin's perspective paints an inaccurate picture of the relationship between the two. For example, Bouwsma uses "drama" as a window that the modern reader can see into Calvin and out toward the world. The weakness is that Calvin's relationship to drama was only an ostensible one. Drama, then, is a tool to introduce the role of the believer in Calvin's thought and then becomes a symbolic shape as the drama is "played out." If one is not careful he or she will miss the portrait for the background.
   These two criticisms aside, John Calvin: A Sixteenth-Century Portrait is a great tool for any study of Calvin. One would do well to own it and use it.



4. It is important before committing to this text that one recognizes the author's distinction between a biography and a portrait. If you are looking for a narrative biography (or even a summary of Calvin's teachings) I would look somewhere else. In either of those categories I would have given this 2 or 3 stars. But this Bouswama's work is not intended to be either of these. It would almost be best described as a reflection on Calvin's psychology as expressed in his major themes. The themes chosen are not those that I would have. However, I would estimate that nearly a quarter of this text is composed of direct Calvin quotes, and the author displays a fairly high level of rigor and competence with respect to Calvin's body of work. There were times that I was unhappy with inferences made from some of the reformers statements and tracking some quotes to the source left myself and others I have talked to wondering about the consistency of the author's fidelity to context. However, on the whole it is a helpful text that provides a non-traditional (but not necessarily negative) view of John Calvin. I would not recommend it as an introduction, but it is an interesting analysis for advanced study.



5. This book is organized into chapter topics such as Cosmic inheritances, Being, Knowing, Society, Polity and so on. The value of the book is the extensive quotations he has assembled from Calvin on each of the chapter topics. In that sense, the book functions almost as an index of Calvin's thought, and it's valuable for scholars looking for quotations from Calvin on specific topics.
   
   The title advertises the book as a biography, but it's not. Bouwsma states that the biographical facts of Calvin's life have been covered elsewhere, and he does not plan to revisit that ground. So we have a biography of Calvin which assumes that you have already read his biography elsewhere! Much of what Bouwsma argues doesn't make much sense without knowledge of Calvin's life and time. Dividing Calvin into arbitrary and abstract topic areas fragments his thought unnecessarily, distorting his life and thought.
   
   Bouwsma sets up a strawman to his position, that Calvin's debt to Renaissance humanism has been ignored. This is not true at all. In fact, Calvin's debt to humanism is virtually a truism of Calvin scholarship. Unfortunately, Bouwsma's approach here is typical of post-modern revisionary historical scholarship.
   
   Bouwsma's interpretation of Calvin is deeply problematic for a number of reasons. First of all, he portrays Calvin's thought as essentially a reaction to the uncertain times in which he lived, and to Calvin's own anxieties and fears. Calvin emerges here as depressed, anxious, and neurotic. That's a very one-sided view, and there's just not enough evidence to support that claim. It seems very reductive to interpret Calvin's theology as just an expression of his personal insecurities. What's missing here is any kind of larger historical perspective that can explore and appreciate the constructive dimension to his thought. Calvin is a hugely influential thinker who contributed to the development of modernity, but to read Bouwsma, one might think Calvin was merely an obscure pastor obsessed with his own anxieties.

No comments about Churched: One Kid's Journey Toward God Despite a Holy Mess.

1 comments about William Carey: Father of Missions (Heroes of the Faith).

1. It will not be an overstatement to call William Carey the father of modern missionary works.
   This cobbler-turned-evangelist showed the slave-raiders of his era that there was a lot to do in foreign lands than to wedge slave-hunts. He truly loved humanity, and persevered in order to expand his apostolic works. He is a true hero.
   This is another fine book from Wellman!

No comments about The Vatican Pimpernel: The Wartime Exploits of Monsignor Hugh O'flaherty.

5 comments about A Diary of Signs & Wonders.

1. Maria B. Woodworth-Etter defied the imagination for women of the latter part of the 19th century and the first 24 years of this century. This book is her own account of preaching long before she could vote, packing out an 8,000-seat tent, resisting opposition from Mass. to Californian. She received opposition not only from the admitted ungodly but also from other Christian groups. When they told her women were to keep silent in the church and learn from their husbands at home, she gave a classic example: "If some women learned from their husbands, they would die in ignorance." The book is well over 500 pages and covers her meetings and quotes newspapers of the day. A companion book is my biography, "The Woman Evangelist." Although I document many of her claims in "Signs and Wonders," I am objective and do not overlook her weaknesses in theology and practices. However, I think you'll consider it a fair treatment. Wayne Warne



2. This incredible book is filled with testimony after testimony of the effectiveness of the Holy Ghost ministry preached by Sister M. B. Woodworth-Etter as she traveled the country. 100 years ago she endured hardship to bring hope and healing to a thirsty America. As she entered city and town after city and town they would be a mighty shaking by the power of God. Never have I read such first-hand evidence of so many humbling, mind-boggling, tremendous miracles as in this large volume. Many accounts are from local hosting pastors and elders; many from the recipients of the miracles; many from the doctors who treated them. One truly needs to set this book down from time to time just to fully grasp the spectrum of God's work through this little woman. I personally know a precious woman, now in her 90's, who at age 15 was healed of a goiter in Mrs. Etter's meeting. And when you get your hands on this volume, you may do as I have done -- gven at least a dozen copies away to friends and family.



3. I have read Maria Woodworth-Etters book A Diary of Signs and Wonders several times. As an evangelical christian reading this book was like reliving the Book of Acts over and over again. Jesus promised His church that He would send the Holy Spirit in power and throughout the whole book on Maria Woodworth-Etters ministry we see the evidence of the awesome power of our almighty God. The book is full of documented supernatural healings and sermons given by Maria Woodworth-Etter. She had no formal theological training from man but she had the best Teacher their is, the Holy Spirit himself. She stayed in the Word of God and used it as the ONLY measuring tool to walk with. God also revealled in her mininstry the importance of the body of Christ working together. Although Maria was the team leader she had many brother(s) and sister(s) in the Lord that worked along side of her.



4. I bought this book due to my interest in women in ministry, and vastly enjoyed this historic account. While near the end of reading this book, I was diagnosed with cancer. The book had built my faith so much that I decided to ask Jesus to heal me, much as Mrs. Woodworth-Etter prayed for the sick. I was healed, miraculously, no chemo, radiation or surgery, except for an exploratory procedure with biopsies, to be sure the cancer was indeed gone. It is four years later now, I am still healed. I believe it was God who drew my attention to this book so that I might have faith ready for the exact time it was needed.



5. the works that I do shall they do also, and greater works than these shall they do, because I go to My FATHER"
   
   Maria Woodworth-Etter is one of those who Believed HIM...
   and her life proved HIS WORDs are true.
   
   Raising the dead, healing the sick, casting out devils,
   first and foremost, though, preaching the Gospel of the Good News
   of JESUS CHRIST.
   
   YES, this book inspires faith!
   She walked the walk,
   We can, too!

5 comments about Character Is the Issue: How People With Integrity Can Revolutionize America.

1. Governor Huckabee exposes the cruel and inappropriate behavior that faced him as he moved into the Lt. Governor's Office, and then the Governor's Office. It provides true insight into the evil spirited Jim Guy Tucker, and the true nature of the rivalrous relationship of Tucker and Clinton.



2. A sobering expose' of sordid Arkansas politics as seen from the eyes of a Baptist preacher turned Governor of Arkansas. Mike Huckabee is a known quantity, a splendid man of character. Gov. Huckabee sought to serve his fellow man from a larger pulpit; politics. On the journey to the Statehouse he exposes all of the "characters" masquerading as public servants and himself proves that "Character Is the Issue"!



3. Of the countless political books and memoirs I have read in over 25 years in political affairs Governor Mike Huckabee's book, "CHARACTER IS THE ISSUE" is the most refreshing,outstanding and wonderful political memoir I have read.

   Governor Huckabee's book should be read be all who seek and want leaders with integrity,honor and principle.

   President John F. Kennedy wrote that great historic book "PROFILES IN COURAGE" --- Governor Huckabee of Arkansas is truly a 'profile in courage and integrity' !

   God bless Governor Huckabee of Arkansas.

   -------------------------------------------------- Visit my website: POLITICS INTERNATIONAL --------------------------------------------------




4. Arkansas' current Governor Mike Huckabee is certainly not politically correct. He is a man of integrity, convictions, patriotism, Christianity, and honesty-quite a departure from his two most recent predecessors.

   The bulk of this disquisition concerns the attempted hijacking of his first inauguration. The convicted Governor Jim Guy Tucker changed his mind about resigning less than ten minutes before Lieutenant Governor Huckabee was to be sworn in. The State Constitutional Crisis was quickly thwarted by the united outrage of Arkansas' heavily Democratic controlled legislature.

   In relating this tale of public servants putting their honor above their party, Huckabee does not descant on the obvious irony. In this scenario it was the Democratic Party and Arkansas politicians who saw their duty and boldly threatened an expeditious impeachment proceeding to restrain a law breaking chief executive. Not too many years later the National Democratic Party abnegated its duty when an Arkansas-bred Chief Executive contemptuously subjected the country to a Constitutional Crises.

   The governor devotes less time to several other segments of his public life and includes a few biographical sketches. Whatever the subject, he displays a trenchant mind and a true dedication to serving mankind. It is not difficult to see why he was previously very successful as a minister. In addition to the clergy and politics, he may also have a calling as an author. Like his second book "Kids Who Kill," I read this one all the way through in less than 24 hours.




5. Despite Reverend Huckabee's carefully polished air of humility, this book is a testament to his own ego, magnifying Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker's indecision, following his criminal conviction about when and how to resign, into "arguably the greatest constitutional crisis in Arkansas history." (p.13). Never mind his state's secession from the union in May of 1861, the post-war Reconstruction, or that its defiance of federal orders to desegregate in 1957 forced President Eisenhower to send in paratroops. (See Zev Chavets, "The Huckabee Factor," New York Times Magazine, Dec. 16, 2007).
   
   Huckabee would have us believe that he saved his state from the greatest crisis it ever faced - by insisting that Tucker should hand the reigns of power to him. The truth is that the Democratic Attorney General, and Democratic leaders in the Arkansas legislature deserve most of the credit for Tucker's resignation - not Huckabee, the Republican Lieutenant Governor.
   
   Though Huckabee portrays himself as a humble, kind, good man, moreover, I think this book shows him to be something else entirely, as he lashes out against Democrats, liberal Christians, and homosexuals, characterizing them as un-American.
   
   Huckabee derides Democrats, for example, as the party of "gay rights supporters, and others who ignore the bedrock tenets of biblical integrity and long-cherished American traditions." (p.50). Gay bashing, I guess, is a long-cherished American tradition for Huckabee's ilk.
   
   Reverend Huckabee even suggests that good Christians cannot be Democrats. He recounts a specific exchange with a fellow Southern Baptist in the early 1990s, when told a churchgoing woman "I also find it curious that we should share the same spiritual roots but that you would believe that men marrying men would be acceptable." (p.54). When she objected, Huckabee insisted: "Your party is advocating that." (p.54). He then "mentioned a couple of other issues that were in the Democratic platform of 1992." (p.54).
   
   In truth, the Democrats' 1992 platform said nothing at all about marriage between two men. But Huckabee doesn't let the truth get in the way of his homophobic rhetoric.
   
   Huckabee makes it very clear that he detests homosexuals and opposes equal protection of the law for gay and lesbian citizens. "Public debate today is filled with arguments that, not long ago, would have been dismissed as ridiculous and insupportable," says Huckabee. (p.98). "Consider homosexuality, for instance," Huckabee continues, "until recently, who would have dared to suggest that the practice should be accepted on equal footing with heterosexuality, to be thought of as a personal decision and nothing more?" (p.98).
   
   My gay and lesbian friends tell me that their sexual orientation is part of who they are, not some decision they made. I believe them. Which, of course, means that Mike Huckabee condemns my friends for who they are, insisting that they should be denied equal protection of the law merely because they are gay.
   
   Democrats come under fire, then, as un-American when they advocate civil rights for all.
   
   But homosexuals and Democrats are not the only threats to Huckabee's America. Reverend Huckabee also places "liberalism" in a category that he designates "cancers to the Christian faith." (p.74). Huckabee brags that during his presidency of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention he oversaw "a dramatic change" in the organization, as liberals were run out of leadership positions and replaced with conservatives. (p.46-47). Huckabee clearly regards religious liberals as an enemy to his faith - a cancer on the body of Christ.
   
   But Huckabee's primary concern appears to be with using the government to impose his own views concerning biblical law. Since 1968, writes Huckabee, "we have lived in the age of the birth control pill, free love, gay sex, the drug culture, and reckless disregard for standards." (p.127). "No longer do we live by the standards of God," Huckabee complains. (p.127).
   
   Would Huckabee really outlaw the birth-control pill and gay sex, given the chance?
   
   His hostility to homosexuals, at least, is striking. "As forces began chipping away at America's public sense of morality," Huckabee writes, "people became increasingly bold about their lifestyles." (p.128). "Gays proudly came out of the closet." (p.128).
   
   Huckabee obviously wants to shove them back in the closet. Or does he want to put them in jail? Or, given his exgtremist interpretations of biblical law, even worse?
   
   Huckabee sure comes across as a nice guy on television. It was hard not to like him when he appeared on "The Colbert Report." But when you look deeper, you find that Huckabee's politics amount to a politics of division, mean-spirited bigotry, and even hate.
   
   
   Eric Alan Isaacson
   
   P.S.: Before you buy "Character is the Issue," please note that Huckabee republished its text in 2007 under a new title, Character Makes a Difference: Where I'm From, Where I've Been, and What I Believe, adding three chapters, each of them recycled from his year 2000 book Living Beyond Your Lifetime: How to be Intentional About the Legacy You Leave. Also, before you write evangelical Christians off as bigots, do check out Jimmy Carter's Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis.