William J. O'Malley writes from his own experience - with which most of us can identify. Speaking from the frustration spawned by the frenetic pace of life, the unending demands, the gut-wrenching sorrow of another's pain, he reflects confidence that God will hear, and the generous response of a loving, understanding God. His little books are a gift to all who scrabble for words to express their feelings and their needs. They provide the words, but they also inspire our own expressions.

I will be short. "You can not fight something that you don't know". Read this book to get a glimpse on masonery.

I have to say, this book he wrote with his wife is as informative as his lectures.
While the events described in Murdered happened prior to the end of the Cold War, the story gives us pause-we really HAVE to start thinking about what our tax dollars are supporting-dictators and death squads are the same whether they are on the right or the left-to support them in the name of fighting communism or terrorism is immoral.

This book gives background information for many of the songs that Laura quotes in her books. Music was an important part of Laura's family life, and if you always wondered what those tunes sounded like, this book and cassette are for you!

Dan Thrapp is best known as a Southwestern historian and authority on the Army's campaigns against the Indian people of New Mexico and Arizona. (His 'Conquest of Apacheria' remains the standard book on the Apache Wars).
'Mutiny's Curse' is a 180-degree turn from this classic historian's work: a novel, to begin with, and -- of all things --a novel about the aftermath of the 1789 mutiny aboard H.M.S. Bounty. This, as every reader and movie-goer knows, was the incident that gave us Captain William Bligh and his nemesis, Fletcher Christian.
Thrapp, during his service in WW2, visited the Isle of Man, Christian's birthplace, and became fascinated by the legends that Christian survived his self-imposed exile on Pitcairn's Island in the remote South Seas, and actually made his way back to England. Such legends were (and presumably still are) active among Manxmen Christian's descendents.
Thrapp has Christian escape from Pitcairn's to the west coast of South America where, in his harrowing travels down the coast he becomes involved in the wars and battles of liberation from Spain, and eventually finds his way to London where, in a magnificent, gripping, scene he encounters the man who ruined his life -- Captain Bligh!
Thrapp was a magnificent stylist, even in his historical books, and 'Mutiny's Curse' is a showcase for his great gift as story-teller.
This splendid novel takes a rightful place beside Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall's 'Bounty Trilogy' -- and that is very high praise.

This book is warm, gracious, and funny. There is a tremendous amount of wisdom in John Smith's stories. You'll laugh, cry, think about your past, pray for your future! Enjoy!

One cannot help but be more in touch with God when reading Father McNamara's work. It is a commentary on the lack of passion in secular society, as well as, or even especially, among Christians; it is also a call to rediscover the passion that exists in us all. Edifying, humanizing, Mystical Passion makes the reader open his/her eyes to amazement with life and love.

Here is book for preachers who are frustrating with the lifeless sermons they were taught to preach, but uncomfortable with glib preaching that neglects the Bible by treating it superficially. You can bring the Bible to life--in all of its literary, historical, and religious dimensions--and still interest your hearers!

Here are some reviews of this book:

"In his very readable book on biblical preaching, William Shepherd pays exquisite attention to the four things on which a preacher's life depends: language, scripture, the congregation and the grace of God. Through his careful reading of each one, he develops an approach to preaching that respects both the sanctity of everyday life and the profound "otherness" of the divine which turns a sermon into an experience of the holy. Shepherd is a scholar who knows what hard work a deft sermon requires. He is also a disciple who understands that, in the end, the effective preaching of the gospel is always God's surprising gift."-Barbara Brown Taylor

"Since preaching lies at the intersection of many disciplines, so a text on preaching should do the same. There is no "ministerial ghetto" talk here. Experience, scripture, theology, literary theories, performative views of language, and understanding the difference between written and oral communication, all meet in this book and talk to each other....It is quite evident that here is both a teacher and practitioner of preaching. He respects the task of preaching and the reader who is someone called to preach....Shepherd begins with the most basic raw material-a word-and gradually works toward the final goal-the delivery of the sermon. Such a movement in a text could not be improved upon."-Fred B. Craddock

"Bill Shepherd has written a book that delights as it profits. He knows preaching and he knows the Bible. He shows how to think about each in a way that is fresh and engaging. He makes such good use of contemporary theory and theology that it seems like just plain good sense. If you care about words and care about God's Word, this book will help you appreciate them more."-Luke Timothy Johnson

"Bill Shepherd has written an immensely practical book about how to think about preaching. Anyone who has the task of proclaiming the Gospel today will find renewal in reading and reflecting on this jargon-free and thoughtful approach to the problems and possibilities of our task."-Geoffrey M. St. J. Hoare, Rector, All Saint's Episcopal Church, Atlanta GA

This is by far Craig's most basic book. It was geared to lay people who are possibly suffering or at least asking questions such as, "Why is there suffering and pain?"

Not only does Craig cover the issues and questions surrounding suffering, but he discusses doubt in the life of a believer. He uses certain Scripture references to explain why doubt, while not necessarily a good thing, is not always a bad thing if we hand it over to God (Mark 9:24).

In the chapter titled "Failure," Craig tells the story of his second doctorate, under Pannenberg, where he initially failed his oral examination. The story itself is a very humbling story and actually encouraging in many ways. It is encouraging in the sense that here is a man (Dr. Craig) who is a great thinker in the area of Christian philosophy and apologetics, and yet he too has been confronted with failure. Which demonstrates that failure can happen to anyone, it is how we handle the trials of failure which make the difference in our Christian walk.

This is a nice change of pace from Craig's other more technical and scholarly works. The book itself is fairly easy to find in the used market, so Amazon should not have trouble tracking it down for you. It is well worth the search.

This remarkable book needs to be set in context, it was written almost 500 years ago, during the brutal persecution of those who believed the simple Gospel and in the absolute authority of "Scripture alone".

William Tyndale, a gifted scholar educated at Oxford and ordained a priest, saw at first hand the widespread corruption within the Roman Catholic Church.

Roman believed that it could not err and it held ultimate power even over the king and government. A core believe was, and still is, that "Church Tradition" holds equal, or even more authority than the Bible. The Church went to extreme lengths to prevent the ordinary folk from having any independent understanding of the Bible, particularly in what it said regarding, purgatory, confessing sins to a priest, selling of indulgences, praying to Mary, praying to Saints, salvation by works and money payments etc.

In defiance of the Pope's law Tyndale laid the foundation for the English Reformation when he completed the very first (from original Greek) English translation of the New Testament. This translation differed sharply from the Church's official Latin version, particularly as to how six key words were translated. From the Greek Tyndale translated, "congregation" instead of "church", "elder" instead of "priest", "repentance" instead of "do penance", "love" instead of "charity", "favour" instead of "grace" and "knowledge" instead of "confess".

Tyndale's unique gift cut to the bedrock of Papal authority. Matthew 16 v 18 now read, "That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my congregation". One word, congregation, had at a stroke demolished the Pope's claim to be the head of Christ's Church and brought into sharp focus the contradictions of the Papal system, its customs, its practices, its friars, its priests, its bishops and its Pope. Taking his cue from Matthew 7 v 15 & 16 he is scathing with righteous indignation when comparing the life and Gospel of Jesus Christ the very Son of God with that of the Pope - "Christ's vicar on earth". This unleashed the full might of the Papacy, Tyndale was hunted across Europe, his New Testament translation and books were burnt, as were people caught holding similar beliefs.

In this book Tyndale systematically examines English social and political life; he examines the relationship between church, and state; he sees one social structure created by God and the Christians responsibility within it. He examines the responsibility and obedience of children through to subjects, "what to do if the king, prince or ruler is evil", what to do with "the Popes false power" and how those in positions of responsibility and power ought to rule.

Tyndale writes with authority, he knows his Bible intimately, he has an unshakable confidence in the promises of God's Word and he knows with certainty that Truth will triumph regardless of a bleak situation. Tyndale's is not an historical faith rooted in an ancient story, nor was it a dead faith; this is a living vibrant feeling faith firmly rooted in the power of the Living Word of God.

Tyndale knew many of his readers would be tortured and burnt; he starts the introduction bringing them comfort. Constantly echoing Scripture, the simplicity of the Gospel and New Testament doctrine he shows how adversity follows Gods chosen people and how God uses this adversity to purify His people, to strengthen their faith and to demonstrate that His grace is sufficient to meet their every need.

This book shows a man driven by one desire and one desire only, the desire that ordinary folk should be able, without fear, to read and understand the Word of God; to know that Salvation is a personal matter, justification is by faith alone in the finished work of our Lord and Savour Jesus Christ and His Redeeming Blood and that the fruits of this faith are good works. Christian living is a life of service according to the New Testament and not according to the Church.

Even in the 21st century this book brings the challenge of the Gospel - do those who claim to be Christian truly know the joy of this vibrant living feeling faith; are the fruits of this faith a life of service and giving?

In May 1535 William Tyndale was caught, interrogated for 16 months, defrocked as a priest and burnt as a heretic.

Today most who read this review will be privileged to enjoy freedom of worship, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of the press and freedom from fear; we cannot even contemplate the conditions that Tyndale and his fellow labourers endured. We owe them all a great debt of gratitude for their faith courage and determination.

David Danell has done an excellent job in, modernising the spelling, adding end notes and in his introduction.
© roy.elliot@btinternet.com