Dr. Eric J. Snyder, Senior Pastor, First Presbyterian Church,

Dr. Marvin Baker has provided an important contribution to the Kingdom and to the spiritual growth of young adults by the publication of his book, Mark's Story. Baker combines sound scholarship and a conversational style to present Mark's portrayal of Jesus in a format designed for pre-teens. For example, chapter 1 begins, "In the Old Jewish Bible, a man named Isaiah wrote that God would send someone to help people get ready to welcome His son who would be coming to earth. John the Baptist was the man God sent to do this."

Baker, of course, desires that young adults study the Scriptures. But Mark's Story gives a delightful and accessible introduction to the gospel message. Prisons have requested copies for inmates. The book will be a valuable resource for Sunday Schools or Vacation Bible School. It will also have an enthusiastic third-world audience.

why has no one else reviewed this book..? a modern-day "double indemnity" is what it is... perfect...

The book offers a critique of the penal substitution model of atonement. Penal substitution is found through evangelical theology, and enjoys wide popularity today (see for example Christianity Today's "Call for Unity" of June 14th for a list of theologians and authors who consent to this view). The book begins with an examination of the various "models" or "ways of speaking about atonement" present in the New Testament. The authors argue that the New Testament writers did not present only one view of the atoning work of the cross, but instead presented a variety of metaphors and models that were rooted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and connected to the specific contexts of the writers.

The book then proceeds to survey some models of atonement from church history, looking at thinkers such as Irenaeus, Anselm, Charles Hodge and others. With respect to Hodge and penal substituion, the authors argue that Hodge's notion of justice is too deeply entrenched in a Western idea of justice, and can lead to a warped view of God. The book concludes with examples of people who are trying to re-articulate the saving significance of the cross today in their own specific contexts.

This book is an important book because it highlights the need for evangelical Christians to think seriously about how to contextualize the message of the atonement. If missionaries in Africa or Japan need to contextualize the gospel, why shouldn't Western Christians do the same? This book is a call for Christians in North America to re-engage their culture with a message of the cross that speaks clearly into their situation.

This book is also important because it offers a balanced, biblical critique of penal substitution. For too long evangelicalism has allowed penal substitution to remain the dominate model, without seriously looking at the implications and consequences of this model. This book opens up the question of atonement in evangelicalism to re-examination, while still trying to be faithful to the biblical text.

Finally, a note to those who might be scared off by all this theological language. Don't be! This book is dense, but also very readable and understandable and would be a valuable resource for anyone interested in recovering the scandal of the cross for their own contexts.

Also, for those of you who have read this book, more of Mark's writing can be found [on the internet].

This book reminds me on how individualistic
many Christians are, and how we tend to add something
to the grace of God. Using his ministry experiences
in Honduras, Dr. Baker explained the necessity to see
grace of God as a sufficient grace, and the importance
of building a community of grace pretty well.
Though I think Dr. Baker needed to write more about
faith, not only as written in the epistle to Galatians,
but I think his book deserves a five-star rating.

If you collect team baseballs, this is the reference book you will want to own. However be aware it only covers up to 1991. It is a great source of who the key players by year and team. It also lists all-star teams and key players. It does, however need to be updated to reflect current values, players and teams after 1991.

I love all of Nick Park's characters in his movies I absolutly love the character Gromit because he aks so civilized. I also enjoy Wallace's loving,care free,and sometimes comical moods.

Baker's book is the definitive work in the growing baseball autograph hobby.

It's too bad his publisher has not commissioned an update. The book is nearly ten years old and as such it's now about 25 players short and the autograph values are now just wishful thinking. Babe Ruth signatures for $495 -- I'll take a dozen!

Regardless of its age spots, if you are considering entering the hazardous world of baseball autograph collecting this book will be your core reference.

This is the best book on the market with regard to baseball autographs. However, this book is almost ten years old and there are a lot of new players to reckon with (Sosa, Garciaparra, Jeter, etc) and the information in the book is in need of total revamping. This book is most helpful in providing pictoral samples of autographs, especially throughout different stages of the players' lives. It would have been more helpful to have forgeries shown side by side with real samples, particularly with those players now widely forged (McGwire, Sosa, Dimaggio, Mantle, etc). This book teaches a lot about the hobby and is almost as good as studying actual samples.

The best part about the book is that the author doesn't look as an autograph as a commodity but, rather, as a form of connection between himself and the signer. He appears to have a lot of respect for each individual he asks for autographs and there is a lot to be learned from his fine approach to this great hobby. I hope that he is working on an update.

This book tells you everything you need to know on autographs. A must buy

This is a book about cops, for cops, and by cops. The author has done an excellent job of organizing their stories about what it means be a member of the blue team. There are over a hundred such accounts compiled, and each one has a ring of authenticity, colored by a layer of humor and cynicism that goes often goes with the territoty. The often raw and gritty language, coupled with their vividly described experiences, gives the reader a birdseye view of the underbelly of the beast.

The only problem with the book is that policing has undergone a substantial change in the past several years, which is, of course, not reflected in this book, as it was published in 1985. Read in that context, the book is somewhat anachronistic. Still, it is one that will be enjoyed by those with a penchant for police war stories. If you are an avid cop buff, add one star to my rating.

I'm a brand new police officer. Actually I don't even take my oath until later in October. This book is an excellent read, but I also feel like it's somewhat dated. Most of the interviews were conducted in 1983 and 1984. There's a whole new generation of police officer out there now. Attitudes have changed, training has changed, and I suppose society has changed somewhat. When I first read this book back in 1986 my father was still a cop with six years to go before he retired. At the time the book was dead on. Now, though it is still truthful in spirit, I feel like cops have chnged in many respects. It would be nice to see an update. I would also like Mr. Baker to go farther out into this country of ours and speak to cops in the Western U.S., the South and so on. I get the definite impression that many of his interviews were conducted with NYPD officers and Long Island cops. Contrary to what some may think law enforcement is different in various parts of the nation, just like attitudes and beliefs are different in our many regions. It's still a very good book. Don't let my quibbles discourage you from reading it.

As a New York City Auxiliary Police Officer, I am still baby powder-fresh in the world of law enforcement. This book has shown me how to stay on my toes and make the right decisions. An excellent look into what it means to be blue. A must for all law enforcement, a tool for all anti-police. Excellent.

Although it wasn't the greatest comic book story I've read, it's definitely a good first effort by co-writer Mark Hamill. A rather interesting look at the potential of being a so-called superhero in the real world. It's also a story about how certain situations and circumstances can blow things way out of proportion, especially when the news media's involved. This is exactly what happens to a man who's basically a stalker turned superhero, and a notorious media celebrity (allegedly made in the mold of entertainment/media sensationalists like Jerry Springer & Tom Green) takes advantage- and fans the flames- of the craze that follows.

Originally a screenplay for a proposed film, Hamill and co-writer Eric Johnson turned to the original superhero medium- comics- to tell the tale. After reading this mini-series, I saw that a few parts of it would've been better translated part of a movie. But as well, there are several scenes that are pure comic book moments.

My only problem with the trade paperback is that Dark Horse edited a few parts that were in the original mini-series. All of the panels that originally depicted exposed female mammaries have now been covered with brassieres and halter tops. I guess I'll have to read 'The Black Pearl' for more wholesome reasons now...

'Late!

The Black Pearl is an excellent comic book mini-series for the following reasons: it's original, has character depth and exceptional art work. But above all, Hamill himself astounds me; he's multi-talented and for him to be able to pull me into a movie screen as well as a comic book is nothing short of genius. Good job, Mr. Hamill!

mark hamill is soooo talented! he can not only pull my attention into the big and little screens, but also to this comic book. i love the fact that he drew some of the pictures himself. the story is a little awkward. a hero made solely by the media, who in reality is basically a stalker. i love this book, and mark hamill!

Congratulation's to Dr. Mark Baker for recognizing the profound ways in which Jesus speaks to our deepest human needs, wants and desires. I found this book to be a finely crafted reflection on the most complex and congruent person who ever lived. I appreciate the way Baker discusses complex issues without trivializing Jesus or the psychological concepts. Baker does a nice job integrating the timeless nature of Jesus' teaching with the timeliness of modern psychological insights. I see no discontinuity between theology and therapy. In fact, theology is most therapuetic when it is most faithful to Jesus.

This book should be read by every person serious about looking at the quality of life they live. One reviewer has concluded that the "proof-texts fall short...". This is not a book about proof-texts but about looking at the wisdom of Jesus TODAY through the mind of a psychologist practicing TODAY. The people are real, the quality of life issues are real, but the wisdom is from the mouth of one who lived thousands of years ago -- corroborated by current psychological theory.

The effort is not (in my reading) to somehow characterize Jesus as a touchy-feely person, but to reveal the value of what He said to the world in which we live.

The book takes-to-task some traditional Christian thinking (e.g. what about original sin? people are good, people are bad...) and explores some very different ways (from my perspective) to understand addictions. Finally, Part 2 forces one to consider oneself -- very important work.

110 chapters in 281 pages of text -- that's 2.53 pages/chapter (on average). Makes a great way to start the day with some wisdom for the soul.

Before I give my review I would like to breifly respond to the review I just read by Tom Hinkle. I have difficulty understanding why he would write a review like he did, perhaps he had difficulty understanding Dr. Baker's book. For Mr. Hinkle, a self proclaimed "amature" theologian, to insinuate that the biblical Jesus was not represented is completely untrue. I found the book to be honest and totally accurate. Mr Hinkle seems to have missed the entire point of the book. He accuses Dr Baker of promoting a relationship with a therapist over one with Christ. How he surmised that makes me wonder if he even read the book. Judging by how well the book is selling I would say that virtually no one would support his opinion. The book is interesting, and informative. It has great insights into human behavior and the teachings of Jesus. Dr. Baker did an excellent job and I highly reccomend this wonderful book.