2 comments about Angel Among Men: Impressions from the Life of Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook Zt""L.

1. This inspiring and moving volume contains stories and anecdotes about the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Abraham Yitzhak Ha- Kohen Kook. Rabbi Kook was one of the great Torah teaches of the generation, and one of the most important Jewish thinkers of modern times. He was too was a great example of living in according with that most fundamental of all teachings, loving his fellow Jews and human beings. His love of the land of Israel his generosity and openness and help and trust to others in helping build the land and state of Israel are a legacy which lives in and through many of his students and students students today. In this wonderful volume by Simcha Raz translated by Moshe D. Lichtman we see tens of incidents in which the special power of Rabbi Kook is felt . He was one of those rare human beings that brought a sense of holiness to all those who approached him.
   This is a most inspiring volume for all who love Torah, the land of Israel and teachings of human goodness.
   I would also add that one of the very special features of this volume is that it contains the accounts of many different individuals in regard to what their meeting with Rabbi Kook meant to them.



2. it is very difficult to review, since i never received the item

5 comments about Love Won Out.

1. This is not a true story. I have met John Paulk. He is still very much gay. I've also learned that Anne was never a lesbian.
   
   It makes for interesting reading if you're one who gets caught up with a cheap, romantic story. Just remember that it's pure fiction and you'll love it like any other fictional romance with a Christian bent. John and Anne are the only characters that are developed in the story. The other characters are like passerbys on the street.
   
   It's obvious that this book was written to create another ex-gay ministry. It's offered as proof that someone can change their sexual orientation. Don't fall victim to this deception.
   
   Rest assured--your sexual orientation is a gift from God. It is neither a sickness nor a sin. It cannot be changed. The worst thing you can do is try to suppress your sexual orientation because anything that is suppressed becomes an obsession. The next worst thing you can do is to live the rest of your life in celibacy. The best thing you can do is to embrace your sexual orientation and live your life to the fullest as God intended. You will have peace beyond understanding.



2. My cousin bought me this book after I came out to everyone that I know. She thought it was proof that you can change and that homosexuality is a choice.
   
   I did read the book, but what I found most fascinating, is that AFTER they claim to be converted, they were still having sexual fantasies and attractions for members of the same sex. That tells me that it is so deeply rooted in the psyche, that there is nothing that can be done to change it permanently.
   
   The brain is a powerful thing, and you can convince yourself that you are straight, marry and even have children, but if you're truly gay in the beginning, you're gonna be gay in the end.
   
   I have come to accept my sexuality as something that I was born with, and I refuse to try to change myself just so I am more in line with what society says is "normal".



3. I'm another one in the "yuck" column. I couldn't read this entire book (testimonials like this become a bit too sappy and sanctimonious, in my opinion), but what I read was not terribly convincing (it seemed almost that the two were trying to convince themselves of what they were writing).
   
   I like the idea of homosexuality as a choice (not for the opportunity to castigate those who choose homosexuality as sinners - I simply am comforted by the fact that I choose my partners for myself, rather than have it wired in my brain). But THIS book fails to be a convicing argument for my theory. I would recommend staying away...



4. Why do I keep subjecting myself to this stuff?
   
   It is the same junk over and over. As a survivor of "reparative therapy", I know the harm it does. I can tell you from personal experience that there is no true love involved, only people that are afraid to really listen to homosexuals for fear of challenging their own ignorant beliefs.



5. This book was great because they are very open about just about everything--before their breaks from homosexuality and after. Paula is very endearing and honest and John, a different personality, more outgoing, is very honest and articulate. This book gives a lot of hope to those with any sort of same-sex issues.

1 comments about Harvest Glory: I Ask for the Nations.

1. I have so enjoyed this book. I have been to some of the places Ruth talked about. To see how God suppled the funds and sent her all over the world to minister shows me what an awesome God we really serve. As I saw Ruth and Jane in May 1999 and got to sit under there teaching and annointing for 4 days, it was a life changing experience. To experience the Gold and have Gold appear while I`m worshipping the Lord has been awesome. I would recommed Harvest Glory to all who can get there hands on the book. God bless you

5 comments about Christ Is My Life.

1. The story of Fr. Maciel and The Legion of Christ is inspiring and beautiful. Despite trial and long odds, faithfulness and courage triumph. Fr. Maciel's reflections on his childhood, his vocation and the growth of The Legion provide great insight into the future of the Church. Untiring determination mixed with a strong faith in the Church's timeless teachings, rooted in love of Christ is a powerful combination.



2. When I first heard that the new Christ Is My Life Book was going to be in an interview format, I was not expecting it to be very long. I was surprised to find that the book was actually 267 pages with 152 questions covering topics such as Fr. Maciel's childhood and call to the priesthood, the Legion of Christ, Regnum Christi, the Catholic Church, and the world of today and tomorrow.

   Although the book gives ample attention to explaining the role of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi in the springtime of evangelization (excellent for those who are curious or members themselves,) one certainly doesn't need to be affiliated with either to thoroughly enjoy this book. It is filled with spiritual wisdom and practical advice that any Catholic trying to live a holy and faithful life could benefit from. It is also a beautiful and powerful example of God's desire to use lowly people to bring about great works for the Church.

   Granted there will always be hecklers who claim the book is nothing more than a propaganda piece - but that is to be expected. If Christ Himself was ridiculed and maligned, a servant of God should expect no less.




3. I read this book as an after thought, trying to figure out how someone who seemed to be a traditional Catholic could draw as much criticism as he has. I refer the reader to Quesion #49, pages 72-73, where his self-professed style of functioning alone should convince the reader that, unlike Christ himself, Father Maciel's way to Christianity is about as far apart from Christ's way as one can get and still call themselves Catholic. Not a way of life for a person who embraces free will as a God-given right and his Church within the exercise of this freedom.



4. The following "unrefusable invitation" seems to put the author on a level all to himself:
   
   VATICAN CITY, MAY 19, 2006 (VIS) - With reference to recent news concerning the person of Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, the Holy See Press Office released the following communique:
   
   "Beginning in 1998, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith received accusations, already partly made public, against Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, for crimes that fall under the exclusive competence of the congregation. In 2002, Fr. Maciel published a declaration denying the accusations and expressing his displeasure at the offence done him by certain former Legionaries of Christ. In 2005, by reason of his advanced age, Fr. Maciel retired from the office of superior general of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ.
   
   "All these elements have been subject to a mature examination by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and - in accordance with the Motu Proprio 'Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela,' promulgated on April 30 2001 by Servant of God John Paul II - the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, authorized an investigation into the accusations. In the meantime, Pope John II died and Cardinal Ratzinger was elected as the new Pontiff.
   
   "After having attentively studied the results of the investigation, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under the guidance of the new prefect, Cardinal William Joseph Levada, decided - bearing in mind Fr. Maciel's advanced age and his delicate health - to forgo a canonical hearing and to invite the father to a reserved life of penitence and prayer, relinquishing any form of public ministry. The Holy Father approved these decisions."
   
   Christ may have suffered a terrible cross, but you cannot claim to be like Him in any way when you are a child sex abuser.



5. The founder of Legionaries of Christ details the problems and successes of starting a new organization within the Catholic Church. He is a traditionalist who is completely dedicated to the Magisterium. Anyone who feels they are misunderstood or oppressed by opposition should read this book and gain understanding of the peace of Christ even in the face of disappointment and opposition. An inspirational story.

1 comments about The Sawdust Trail: Billy Sunday in His Own Words (Bur Oak Book).

1. Sunday`s autobiography written toward the end of his life, originally published in six issues of Ladies Home Journal from September 1932 to April 1933. Sunday emphasizes his earlier days and provides less detail to his evangelistic career. Includes an 18 page forward by Sunday biographer Robert F. Martin.

3 comments about Yes! I Am Catholic: How Faith Plays a Role in My Life.

1. I enjoyed this book so much. Ms. Brown interviewed people from all walks of life and pulled them together with a common thread-their faith. The lay out and cover are very eye-catching. It was so interesting I could hardly put it down.



2. Although applicable to those of all ages, I believe this book is especially appropriate for teenagers. We all stumble sometimes and need a little inspiration. Beth Brown addresses questions of faith through the short life-stories of others... famous and not so famous. Brown reports how faith, church and prayer can comfort, change and sustains us. She highlights the concepts of "God in our midst," values, community, social teachings and the universality of the Catholic Church. However, her stories are about faith and how good it feels to do the right thing. A message not always clear in today's readings.



3. While clearly oriented toward those who practice the Catholic faith, the inspiring message of this book is not just for Catholics. With a stunning array of accomplished athletes, authors, congressmen and entertainers, author Beth Dotson Brown provides an amazing account of the crushing setbacks of these individuals and how their faith led them to recover and succeed. This book shows that, behind the glamour of Olympic athletic competition, are agonizing issues of poverty, loneliness and heart-breaking injuries. Powerful U.S. congressmen talk about how they weigh decisions about national issues against the requirements of their conscience. Entertainers explain how prayer and meditation keep them centered in the bewildering world of television acting. Yet Dotson also offers the beautiful insights of a house keeper, a truck driver and a retired education - all evidence that profound religious faith serves all. Inspiring as well as entertaining. A must-read.

No comments about Alfred Edersheim: Jewish Scholar for the Mormon Prophets.

2 comments about Before the Flames: Story of David Koresh and the Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists.

1. To be honest, I did not like this book. The printing was filled with errors which really irritates me. I expected the book to spend significant time discussing David Koresh and the events which led to the fire at Waco. However this book spend the bulk of its pages discussing everything that happened before David Koresh. It comes off as a very dry read. The history which led up to David Koresh really is not that interesting. The only good points this book receives from me is for the few pages in which Koresh is actually discussed. Pass this book up unless you want to read up on the history of the Seven Day Adventists.



2. This book has much useful information, but the bias of the author shows. Houteff certainly shines in comparison with Roden and Howell/Koresh who led the Branch Davidians to disaster, but Houteff suffered from many of the same delusions as his successors. The book whitewashes Houteff's many problems and only discusses his side of the dispute with the SDA church.

5 comments about On Pilgrimage.

1. Just finished the book and found it very poetic in some parts and kind of confusing in others. There were two errors that I found, and maybe it is nit-picking, but it made me wonder about other information that was given. First, Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitaine in the cathedral at Poitiers, not in Lisieux, and Abelard is buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetary in Paris with Heloise, not in Cluny. Well worth reading, tho, especially if you've been to some of the places mentioned, or plan to visit others. I found it fascinating that she most always found a room wherever she stopped whatever the time. Obviously she spoke French well.



2. Jennifer Lash, who appears to be the mother of the actors Ralph and Joseph Fiennes, made a solo trip of pilgrimage through France in l993 after winning a battle with cancer (for awhile). As a non-practising Catholic in late middle age, she knew her theological territory when traveling from convent to monastery to basilica to pilgrimage camp; but she approached her visits in a determined spirit of not-knowing. I found that intellectually or maybe morally refreshing; it served as a Carlos-Castaneda-like bridge role which helped me, the reader, someone else who does "not know". Her experience of moving on repeatedly reminded her that travel brings us back up against our selves. She feels strongly and works transparently to understand her feelings; the sorting-out process which the pilgrimage crystallizes for this writer can illuminate whatever journey her reader is on.
   
   Her writing is both erudite and humble. She was a sophisticated Briton who had spent much of her life raising her very large family. From miracle site to miracle site on the French trains, carrying her baggage on an injured back, she tells us the stories of the saints whose cults have given rise to these sites, and describes the religious communities which maintain them. In between, she tells us about the people she meets and re-meets. She is often wry, but never sarcastic; describes ridiculousness sharply but never cruelly. She learns as she goes, and as she learns she teaches, in the kindest way. She is a LADY - decent and sincere, and also funny and engaged.
   Her descriptions make the feel of each place most vivid - the baroque, fully alive Santiago de Compostela, the gloomy, cold Rocamadour, the wild emotional Gypsy pilgrimage in the Camargue are all made quite visible, audible, smellable, each entirely different from the others - and there are about fifteen of these places in the book.
   The book is horribly proofread - the commas are in the wrong places, so that Ms. Lash reads like a rather bizarre speaker - a peculiar pauser for breath in funny places. There are outright mistakes that no one caught - the word "paramount" is confused with "tantamount", for example, and a priest is described as wearing a "scapula", the shoulder blade, when she meant "scapular", a liturgical garment. We know what she means, but we have to wade along doing our own corrections.
   This strange aberration makes reading the book feel like chatting with a deeply imaginative, thoughtful, unselfconsciously wacky human being, rather than "a writer". But what a writer, and what a significant story this journey is when told in her voice.



3. It was too wordy and because I don't know much about the Catholic Saints it was very confusing. This was not fun or enjoyable to read. It was more like an assignment than for pleasure, which is why I didn't bother finishing it. There are too many other good books out there to read than to waste my time finishing this one. My book club read this and all of us found it very blah. If you do decide to read it I hope you find it as interesting as the other reviewers did -- but notice that they even found a lot of problems with the prose and editing.



4. My motivation for reading this book was to gain insight into the astounding acting talent and integrity of one of Jennifer Lash's sons, Joseph Fiennes.She was the formative influence in his life and I was curious as to what is was about her that could produce such results.
   She took her pilgrimage as a result of having survived cancer and now questioned some of the beliefs on which she had heretofore based her life, namely her Catholic faith. Non catholics may have a difficult time understanding the significance of the holy sites that she visits on her pilgrimage. However, this is not a syrupy, God is Love kind of tome. She does not necessarily believe in God and is objective about the arcane practises that have grown up around these "holy" places. Women, particularly, will identify with her need to go off on a solo journey at midlife. They also will understand that as she attempts to find answers she only comes up with more questions.



5. ...so comforting. Her tone is so easy to relate with, her writing is prosaic and full of feeling, totally uncontrived. She goes to all these Catholic shrines seeking something she's not quite sure of and in the end we're fairly sure she has found an elusive truce with her God. The characters we meet on the journey range from heartwarming to simply disgusting (like [...]priest and the freak on the train to Spain (just read the book). This book made me very glad to be a Jew. We don't have to traipse all over the globe seeking out Marian apparitions or mythical magical global Christian Hot Spots, all we need is Israel. Anyway, my favorite piece is where she's feeling disconsolate and alone in a café and suddenly she sees an apparition of her husband walk in and she's flooded with peace.
   Here's hoping we get a re-release of Jini's older work an perhaps a new edition of On Pilgrimage with proper copyediting.

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.