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Like other reviewers have said, in reading this book, you will be able to see Paul's unquenchable thirst to see the word of God preached to the Gentiles. At times, I, myself, wonder if the Gospel was ever meant for non-Jews and Edwards revealed (through Scripture in this book) that Paul truly was called to preach the Gospel of God to the Gentiles.
I am telling you, get this book!! It will so enrich the way that you understand the way the early church came into being - especially in Galatia. Even though this seems trite, Paul's first missionary journey literally comes alive in the writing style of Gene Edwards! I read this book in one sitting because it gripped me so much. I got it for a present but I would definitely buy it with my own money. Peace. ~ajm
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As Christians we are called to strive to be more and more like Christ (sanctification) and this book sets up a fine example of how that can be achieved. Unlike a how to book this book shows you that growing in the knowledge of God is a process that does not happen over night. I highly recomend this book. Just one word of caution...do not read this book with the idea that it could never happen today. It will only never happen if we don't make the attempt. May we all joing Brother Lawarenc and Frank in the Practice of HIS Presencs!
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The message of this book will grip your heart and pull you closer to Jesus Christ. If you are struggling as a Christian, whatever your circumstance (be it sickness, emotional pain, depression, discouragement, or just feeling and wondering if God has forgotten about you or that He has not lived up to your expectations of Him... If you've ever cried out to God and asked Him, "why? Where are you? Why are You silent?") this is a remarkable book you need to read. It may change your entire perspective on suffering and give you strength and hope when all seems to be crumbling around you. I wish I could have shared this book with my father before he passed away. This book is not what you expect and it is not typical. Some people who have read through it have commented that it ends a little "dark." After reading it myself, I understand to some degree what they mean (though I wouldn't use the term "dark" at all myself), but sometimes life doesn't always have such a simple, happy resolve (at least to our human way of thinking). Sometimes we just have to bear our crosses and trust in a God we don't always understand completely.
Prisoner in the Third Cell is about a mind-renewal process concerning how we approach suffering. Sometimes this story gets a little deep and you have to think about it. When you're "going through it" it makes a lot more sense! Probably one of the most difficult lessons to learn through struggle and pain is that God's grace is really sufficient. In a world where so many televangelists tell you that all you have to do is give money and have faith and everything will be perfect, this book is a refreshing insight into the reality about suffering and true faith and how God's grace really is enough. In truth I have seen more people who have tried so hard to reach some high "position" of health, wealth and success by quoting this Scripture verse and that one and practicing positive confession until they're blue in the face and only wind up more discouraged, depressed, confused, angry and weary in the battle. This little book will open the reader's eyes in a new dimension of God's grace, love and purpose through enduring hardship and those seasons when we just can't understand why, and the heavens seem to be silent.
Gene himself is no stranger to suffering and brokenness and God has revealed much to this brother. Gene has such a tender heart for the Lord and this element of his life is so beautifully sensed in his writing. Highly recommended reading. In fact, all of the books by this author are quite good. Other good titles I found to be really a blessing were "A Tale of Three Kings" (get the video version of this book - much better seeing Gene himself tell the story) and The Highest Life.
4 Stars is my high grade for this title. I think I did not regard it as five only because it did kind of leave me hanging a bit at the end, but I suppose this was the point. Rather than just seek a simple answer, I need to learn the suficiency of God's rich grace. It's a contemplative resolve that's not so easy to swallow. I confess I wanted a brighter, simpler answer myself. I was left wondering, could there be more to it than this? But if you're going through some struggle or have a friend who is, this is a book that will be identified with and point you in the direction of grace. It's a great title, worth reading. It's relatively short and can be read in an evening or two.
What do you do when God doesn't live up to your expectations?
John the Baptist knew who Jesus was. They were cousins, acquainted with each other, maybe friends. Certainly God revealed Jesus in His glory when John baptised Him! Father, Son and Holy Spirit converge in a moment of spiritual manifestation.
But sitting in the third cell of Herod's damp, dark prison, day after day certainly didn't feel like deliverance. Where was this king? The powerful one? Where was the fire? Where was this Jesus?
If the "greatest [man] born of woman" had his questions, disappointments, frustrations, how much more might we have the same today? He knew Jesus face to face, as a man knows a friend.
Yet, his understanding was rocked by the God who answers many questions but rarely answers "Why?".
Edwards answers these issues, sort of, in an insightful, profound way. The book will lead you back to where you began but with a deeper faith and clearer insight toward this powerful, invisible God who will do what He will do.
"His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts." Thank you, Lord.
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Everything he writes is very true historically and that makes the book even more enjoyable. His sense of humor and the story made me feel almost being there with Sir Nigel. The story itself is simple but full of surprises. If you are a kid or if you are one of those grown up kids like me you will love this book.
Or maybe you're a science-fiction or fantasy nut. The books you love best are those in which a very imaginative author conjures up a remarkable, detailed, complex world, puts human-type characters in it, and sets them in motion, reacting to the forces around them. You'd crawl through mud to find a book like this.
So why oh why oh why don't you give this neglected masterpiece, this Sir Nigel--and with Doyle as the author--the acclaim it so richly deserves? No, it's not fantasy or science-fiction, but it begins in England in 1348, and can you possibly imagine a time and place more foreign than that?
To briefly summarize, the story is about a young squire, Sir Nigel, and his quest to perform noble deeds so that he can win the hand of his love, who waits patiently for him to complete them. If you want nothing more than adventure, this book has it. He begins by rescuing a damsel from a scoundrel who would besmirch her honor; there is a small then a large sea battle against the Spanish; there is a journey to a cruel, pirate-infested island, and the revenge exacted on its leader; there are jousts, one on one and thirty on thirty; and in final there is a large, desperate battle between huge armies of French and English where much glory and blood is to be found. Large and small, adventures abound, and I haven't even mentioned half of them. And nothing here stretches credibility. Yes, Nigel is a hero, but he suffers setbacks also--some really embarrassing--and in fact misses most of a set-piece battle he was looking forward to when he almost gets his brains bashed in at the beginning of it.
Like all of Doyle's creations, this novel is rich in small details also. For example, forks hadn't been invented yet. It was considered good manners to hold your meat with your thumb and middle finger while cutting it; to do otherwise was bad form. When you're done with the meat, you toss the bone behind you for the dogs. Once a week, the whole mess was swept out and more hay is laid on the floor. He shows a great knowledge of weaponry as well, talking about the relative merits of the bow and the arbalest, the heavy stones heaved by mangonels, and of course the use of swords and shields and lance. These are just a couple of examples. Practically every page reveals insights as to the way of life in those times, not the least of which is the portrayal of the chivalraic code by which they all lived.
Lastly, it is beautifully written, almost lyrical. Nigel comes upon the fair Edith, "whose face had come so often betwixt him and his sleep." Is there a more economical or descriptive way to put this? And later, marching in war-torn Brittany: "As the darkness deepened there came in wild gusts the howling of wolves from the forest to remind them that they were in a land of war. So busy had men been for many years in hunting one another that the beasts of the chase had grown to a monstrous degree, until [even] the streets of the town were no longer safe . . ." Descriptive? Indeed, chilling.
This is exciting, informative, first-class fiction, and warrants a much larger audience than it has apprarently been getting over the years. Do your part!
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One person among many who was at the center of these topics, events and developments is Dr. Edward Teller. He stands out from the groups he was involved in for many reasons but two are for his longevity in to his 90s' and the participation in the direction of all the associated research his long life has allowed him, and secondly for the controversy he often found himself at the center of. Another book I read not long ago, "Brotherhood of the Bomb", went in to great detail about the very controversial decision to strip Dr. Robert Oppenheimer of his security clearance and the role that Dr. Teller was said to have played in the security clearance not being renewed. In this book of just over 600 pages a large portion is spent on the issue including many pages of transcripts from the actual hearing when Dr. Teller answered questions with Dr. Oppenheimer present.
I don't believe it is fair to judge from a handful of pages culled from over 1,000 whether Dr. Teller alone was the cause of the non-renewal of the security clearance. My impression from what I read was that it was clear there was a strong group that did not want the clearance continued, and to the extent anything negative was said about Dr. Oppenheimer they were going to make the most of it. Unless the pages that are shared intentionally mislead, Dr. Teller repeatedly stated he did not believe Dr. Oppenheimer would intentionally harm the security of The United States. However, if Dr. Teller believed that stating that Dr. Oppenheimer's actions slowed the development of the Hydrogen Bomb development by several years were not going to greatly harm Dr. Oppenheimer, he was either naïve or calculating then, and or now. Only he knows the answer.
There are many large topics this book deals with but one that fascinated me was the perception of Nuclear Power Generation plants for electrical production for civilian use. Unless the reader knows the answer prior to reading the book they may be surprised by what percentage of electricity is still produced by nuclear plants in the USA today. It does not rival France or Japan, but the numbers are still quite large.
In the end perception will carry the day. On average over 50,000 people die every year in The United States in car accidents. An Iranian airliner crashed yesterday killing 307 people, 400,000+ die annually from tobacco use in the USA annually. However, we continue to drive, fly, and about 50,000,000 continue to smoke.
Are nuclear powered plants 100% safe, they are not and the book does not suggest they have been or that they are. The book does discuss the Three Mile Island accident, the incident in England, and the folly that was Chernobyl. Chernobyl must be in a category of its own for the shear scale of stupidity, negligence and intentional harm that was allowed to take place at that plant. To use the former USSR's conduct with nuclear energy as a measure for the rest of the world is absurd.
Despite decades of knowledge that remaining dependent largely on imported oil is shear negligence the reality remains that we as a nation continue to do so. Events are still fluid but we may have a second war in just over 10 years because an individual that controls a nation in the heart of the planet's current oil supply makes us nervous. All the talk of alternative methods of energy have amounted to meaningless practical change, environmental concerns prohibit the pursuit of much domestic oil, so the question remains, what are we going to do?
There are indeed some hybrid cars on the road and there are some that use natural gas, and there is the latest promise of hydrogen fuelled cars that made for a sound byte at the most recent state of the union address. Taken as a whole, their practical impact is nearly meaningless.
Many may not like Dr. Teller's suggestions, and I too would prefer clean production of the energy we need. But the reality is we will change nothing until there is a massive and permanent impact on our economy and or way of life, and then it will be a prolonged painful transition, as opposed to being serious about the issue now and using all talents available to create reliable, sustainable clean energy sources. This man who is in his 90s' has seen decade after decade go by with no change to our consumption of fossil fuels. Those decades are lost, how many more will be?
This book is not an apology for his work in atomic energy, weapons or his testimony regarding Oppenheimer. Dr. Teller goes into great detail to describe his thinking and motives in these areas. Having escaped the Nazi's and communists his right of center views on nuclear deterrence and missile defense are well founded. He discusses being ostracized from the scientific community, views on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, as well as his political and scientific contributions to among others Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan.
The book is extensively footnoted; Dr. Teller uses his teaching skills to describe to the reader the concepts being discussed in the body of the work. A basic knowledge of the terms used in physics is helpful but not necessary. The book is exceptionally well written and doesn't get "bogged down" in scientific jargon.
"Memoirs" is a fascinating documentary of the birth and development of nuclear energy in both its destructive and constructive forms. Dr. Teller is straight forward but modest about his role and generous in praise of his many colleagues.
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I think that Altrocchi created a pretty interesting story. Occasionally the writing is a bit stiff, but overall it is quite imaginitive and believable (if the reader can meet Altrocchi part way and suspend disbelief). The author's own 20th-21st century attitudes definitely infiltrate the story at points, but in other cases he presents ways of looking at events that my "modern" viewpoint would never have thought of. The story flows rapidly and is a quick read. It did leave me wondering what really happened, but we do not know and may never know. Altrocchi leads the reader to imagine.
and interesting, loved it.
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