shelfreflectionofficial's Reviews (844)

“The entire Bible is a vast library, written by over 40 authors over 1,600 years. You can explore the nooks and crannies for a lifetime. But the amazing thing is those 66 books tell one seamless story about the God who made us, loves us, redeems us, and has a future for us.”

A lot of people like to brush past the Old Testament (save Psalms) and spend most of their Bible reading time in the New Testament. It feels more accessible and applicable. But if we do that, we miss out on the broader picture of what the Bible is. The Bible is not firstly a story about us and how we should live. It is firstly a story about Jesus. And the Old Testament paves the way to his birth.

Angie takes us through the Bible, following the threads that weave the story of Jesus, and shows us connections that describe and point to our Savior.

She covers 66 books in 7 weeks, so if you’re looking for an in-depth study of Scripture, you’ll want to supplement with other studies.

Here’s the breakdown of chapters:

- The Beginning
- The Patriarchs
- Exodus & The Promised Land
- The Kingdom and the Prophets
- The Messiah
- The Letters

Each week you have 5 days of homework (3-4 pages, very short) and at the end of the week (theoretically) you would meet with others, discuss the review questions, and watch a video. I did this study by myself. I think doing it as a group increases its value because by myself, I’m more likely to skip over questions or not really meditate on the material like I would if I were to discuss it with others. I also did not watch any of the videos, as you must purchase access to those separately.

Based on the design and writing voice, this study is marketed for women. I’m not sure if there is an equivalent male-targeted comprehensive study of Scripture somewhere, but if men can look past the femininity, the content here is universal and applicable to their faith as well.

I also saw this same study but noted ‘for teenage girls.' I don’t know what, if anything, is different about it, but I think teenage girls would get a lot out of this (or that) study and would find it very engaging! At that age, the concept of viewing the Bible holistically probably isn’t even on their radar and this would be a great primer and framework they can organize new information the older they get and the more they learn.

As to the layout and design and to give you an idea of what the homework looks here are some descriptions. To see the corresponding pictures, visit my full review here

- Some days have fill-in-the-blank sections. Some have charts, maps, or graphs. There are also short answer questions or copying verses in the margins. The answers are all very straight forward and do not require a lot of thought or study. I think part of that is just a way for her to get you familiar with your Bible- looking up verses, etc.

- I think one of my favorite/useful parts is the book summary in the margins. As she progresses through the Bible she will add each book of the Bible as it comes up and gives the general point of the book. I think copying these down in order they are in the Bible would be a helpful resource to refer back to or even memorize.

- Angie provides icons for each week to depict a part of the story and to help us remember the progression. I think this is a big strength in this study. You can practice drawing out the icon map and labeling each part. If you can memorize the pictures, you’ve got the general Bible story completely memorized!

I would say Seamless is probably MOST useful and targeted for new believers or believers who feel unfamiliar with their Bible. It’s for people who view their Bible more as individual books than one comprehensive story. I think that is going to be where the most growth happens.

I am neither of those and I still found value in this study. I’ve done a lot of study of the Bible and took a class similar to this (though more expansive) in high school so the content was not new for me. But it’s always good to be refreshed on how connected the Old Testament is to the story of Jesus. To be reminded of how purposeful, inspired, and intentional all of Scripture is.

I love how she points out patterns and fulfilled prophecies, emphasizes where people exemplified incredible faith, explains word meanings, and presents a clear gospel message. While I mentioned I “knew” all of this already, I did learn or catch a few new things or saw them in a new light after doing this study.

Here’s the thing. I can understand other reviewers’ criticism on her writing style and humor attempts. I think that type of writing voice is very engaging for a lot of women/readers and helps them connect more as they’re reading, but can be a turn off for others. I tend to be more critical of those types of books, especially if I think their content is shallow or misfocused. I am not a fan of ‘fluffy’ books and prefer my devotionals to be meaty and deep. I don’t really need to feel like I’m friends with authors of my devotionals.

HOWEVER. I find that this book is an exception for me. I’ve read other books with far more annoying ‘we’re totally best friends, cry on my shoulder’ vibes than Seamless. And this book has really good content.

It’s truthful, helpful, and not often written about. It’s a topic that too many Christians don’t care about or don’t know they need to care about.

God gave us the entire Bible because we need the entire Bible. If you don’t know why, then this study is for you! You can look past the colloquial verbiage and absorb the biblical meat that will beef up your faith and understanding of God’s word. It lays the essential framework into which all other Bible study fits.

For more in-depth, topic-specific, or book-of-the-Bible-specific reading check out my book review blog at www.shelfreflection.com! You can search by genre or author.

This is one of the best books I’ve read on social justice, and I’ve read several!

[FYI- I had to cut a lot out- Goodreads didn't give me enough space for all my thoughts so check out my full review here.]

There is part of me that was hesitant to read another book by a white person, but as soon as I read the foreword, written by civil rights activist, John Perkins, I knew I was in good hands. Thaddeus J. Williams did not write this book in a vacuum. It was written from much research and many conversations with people of all colors. Also each chapter contains a corresponding personal story from diverse authors that add to the truth and authenticity of this endeavor.

I wish I could copy verbatim, John Perkins’s foreword but I know my review is already going to push advisable length limits. While you wait for your book to arrive in the mail, I will add one quote from his portion here and continue forth.

“We are in the midst of a great upheaval. There is much confusion, much anger, and much injustice. Sadly, many Christian brothers and sisters are trying to fight this fight with man-made solutions. These solutions promise justice but deliver division and idolatry. They become false gospels. Thankfully, in these trying times, new conversations are happening, and the right questions are beginning to be asked. I believe the twelve questions Thaddeus raises in the book are the right questions we should all be asking in today’s troubling world.”

I believe another thing we must establish here before we go any further is that if you come away from this book thinking Williams was advocating that injustice doesn’t exist or that Christians are not responsible to fight it, then I doubt you actually read this book. He reminds us many times that God doesn’t just recommend that we do justice but he commands it.

Referencing Jeremiah 7:5, Williams emphasizes that we are to “truly do justice” which “presupposes there are untrue ways to execute justice, ways of trying to make the world a better place that aren’t in sync with reality and end up unleashing more havoc in the universe.”

Determining this true justice is the foundation of this book.

Integral to understanding his conversation regarding social justice is the recognition of two terms he has coined: Social Justice A and Social Justice B. Both sides believe they are doing justice. No one is anti-justice. We just have different ideas of what social justice means and entails.

Social Justice A: biblically compatible justice-seeking
Social Justice B: social justice that conflicts with a biblical view of reality

The distinctions are made as we ask and answer each of the 12 questions (some paraphrased):

1. Does our vision of social justice take seriously the godhood of God?

When we view creatures (namely humans) above the Creator, our reality is blurred. Our sin nature is rebellious towards God, desiring to be our own gods, to make our own rules, to determine our own morality. If we don’t have a proper view of who we are in comparison to our Creator, our form of justice will be selfishly skewed.

2. Does our vision of social justice see everyone as an image-bearer of God?

If we are just bodies and nothing more, where do we find the basis for human equality? What gives people dignity or value? We must have something ‘outside of the box’ of our bodies to declare human dignity a truth. McLaughlin’s newest book ‘The Secular Creed’ is a short book proving how all elements of human equality come from the Bible. “Size, shade, sex, or status” are not what gives us value, it is our God-given identity as image-bearers.

I found this particular quote very convicting and one I plan to use going forward to maintain a godly perspective when I interact with people I disagree with.

“Picture someone specific who you see as the living, breathing antithesis of everything you believe to be true and just… Now think this true thought toward that person. “Image bearer.” Then treat that person as an image-bearer because this is who they were long before you found yourselves on opposite sides of a culture war.”

3. Does our vision of social justice idolize self, state, or social acceptance?

It’s another convicting statement when Williams (quoting John Calvin) calls our hearts “idol factories.” It is again, our sin nature, that has an innate ability to turn any thing (good or bad) into an ultimate thing. And our idols dictate what we view as just or unjust.

How do we know we are doing this? Well, one way we can ferret this out is to see where we seek justification. The Bible is clear that God is our justifier. Our belief in Jesus’s death on the cross for our sins means God declares us, ‘Not Guilty!’

But what do we see today? If we remove God from the discussion, we try to justify ourselves. And we try to seek justification from the government and others. Our salvation is then in our self-created identities.

“We turn to society, Government, media, law, education, entertainment, the local business owner- everyone must declare us, in unison, ‘not guilty!’ We must silence anyone who fails to acknowledge and celebrate our guiltlessness… We must use the power of law to squash those who dare question our self-defined selves.” 

“What happens when we sacrifice the truths of God’s Word on the altar of cultural trends? We tell the lie that Jesus is not worth it. We bow to idols. We do not give the Creator his due, and that is not justice.” - Becket Cook 

4. Does our vision of social justice take any group-identity more seriously than our identities “in Adam” and “in Christ”?

Many studies highlight that human beings have a desire to belong and be part of a group. We live longer, healthier lives when we are in community. But our sin nature twists this into an us vs them scenario. We view our own groups superior to others.

Another convicting and hugely significant thought: if we want to find a common denominator between all of humanity, look no further than our depravity. The Bible is clear that no one is righteous, not even one.

“the same human nature in the Aztec slayer, the Atlantic slave trader, and the Auschwitz executioner resides in us too. If we don’t seriously reckon with that uncomfortable truth, then we can all too easily become the next round of self-righteous oppressors.”

This cuts through the rhetoric found in Social Justice B that tries to divide people into oppressor vs oppressed groups based on physical characteristics. Logic found in words from James Cone, the father of black liberation theology follows: Sin=oppression and oppression=white people; therefore sin=white people. But sin knows no racial boundaries.

5. Does our vision of social justice embrace divisive propaganda?

“Social Justice B attempts to explain the world’s evil and suffering by making group identities the primary categories through which we interpret all pain in the universe.”

He talks a little about revisionist history here. That narratives and edited histories are used to paint a condemning picture of a particular people group which is then applied to all individuals of that people group. Then all the bad, hardship, and pain in the world is blamed on this people group. This folks, describes the main markings of propaganda.

6. Does our vision of social justice champion suspicion, division, and rage?

“Instead of being love-filled, we’re easily offended, ever suspicious, and preoccupied with our own feelings. Instead of being filled with joy, we’re filled with rage and resentment, unable to forgive. Instead of striving for peace, we’re quarrelsome—dividing people into oppressed or oppressor groups instead of appreciating the image-bearer before us. Instead of having patience, we’re quickly triggered and slow to honestly weigh our opponents’ perspectives. Instead of being kind, we’re quick to trash others, assuming the worst of their motives. Instead of showing gentleness, we use condemning rhetoric and redefined words to intimidate others into our perspective. Instead of showing self-control, we blame our issues exclusively on others and their systems, not warring daily against the evil in our own hearts.”

7. Does our vision of social justice prefer damning stories to undamning facts?

The main question we are considering here is:

‘Disparities= Discrimination’?

Ibram X. Kendi, a leading antiracist scholar says, “When I see racial disparities, I see racism.” 

Jonathan Haidt and Gregg Lukianoff explore this concept of equal outcomes in their secular book ‘The Coddling of the American Mind’. Disparities that Kendi is referring to involve what is perceived as unequal outcomes- a gap in racial representation at a school, in a group, at a job, a gap in pay, etc. If the outcome does not appear to be equal, some assume the cause had to have been discrimination— whether of age, gender, race, etc.

But one must remember what is preached to no end in psychology- Correlation does not equal Causation.

Haidt says, “Unfortunately, when reformers try to intervene in complex institutions using theories that are based on a flawed or incomplete understanding of the causal forces at work, their reform efforts are unlikely to do any good—and might even make things worse.”  

Williams gives several examples of what appear to be unequal outcomes that can actually be explained when looking into the facts. Sometimes the more ‘boring’ explanation tells the actual truth about the disparity. Different personal preferences or priorities can easily account for a lot of disparity we see in the world.

8. Does our vision of social justice promote racial strife?

“The Social Justice B story tells us that American systems are so thoroughly racist that dark skin makes it virtually impossible to escape poverty.”

There are also lots of stats and studies in this chapter I can’t list here, but the facts presented show us a different picture of America than what is portrayed in the media. It tells a different story of policing and poverty. It questions what “voices” are really being heard— considering the damning and widely applied terms “whiteness,” “white privilege,” and “white fragility,” were all coined and popularized by white liberal women.

It considers the possibility that continually telling black people that their future is dim because of the color of their skin, could unintentionally have a “dream-crushing effect” that just perpetuates the cycle of poverty when actually studies show that if a kid grows up in poverty but finishes their education, finds a job, gets married, and then has kids (in that order) only 6% will end up in poverty. There is more hope than we are told.

9. Does our vision of social justice distort the best news in history?

“If we make social justice our first thing, we will lose not only the real first thing—the gospel—we will lose social justice too.”

Social Justice B can easily become its own gospel, its own religion or ideology. If social justice is placed above the gospel, we have strayed from biblical teaching.

We hear the phrase “social justice is a gospel issue.” But if we view social justice and the gospel as the same thing, we have heavily edited Scripture to include our political ideology. The distinction must be made that the gospel (“Good News”) is declaring what is already done (by Jesus). It is not something we do, it’s something we receive. Social justice is something that must be done. Social justice comes from the gospel, but is not the same as the gospel. (He provides biblical basis for this from Jesus and Peter) We would be in trouble if fighting social justice became part of the equation for salvation— being good enough or doing enough is never something we can achieve.

10. Does our vision of social justice ask ‘is there oppression?’ or does it ask ‘what kind of oppression?’

“Caring about justice requires a commitment to truth.

Williams lays out an acronym— TRIBES— with each letter representing a different kind of oppressor. When our thinking stems from this viewpoint, we stop seeking truth and we start assuming oppression.

“Concept creep is particularly common in Social Justice B. It assumes that questioning sexism, racism, or any other evil ism as the best explanation is to side with the oppressors against the oppressed. This is exactly backward. If we care about ending actual sexism, then we should welcome the question of how much of the gender pay gap can be laid at the feet of actual sexism. Otherwise, we aren’t fighting the real problem, but shadow boxing our own ideological projections.”

11. Does our vision of social justice turn the “lived experience” of hurting people into more pain?

Social Justice B elevates lived experiences to a place of authority, an authority that should dictate policies and systems and supersede objective truth, facts, and evidence. Lived experiences matter, and we should listen compassionately and genuinely without immediately seeing their story through our own political ideology. But we are doing more harm than good if we respond to lived experiences with fear-driven encouragement to see more oppression everywhere they look. Is this not psychological oppression?

12. Does our version of social justice accept ‘truth’ only from certain identity groups?

The popular book, White Fragility, grounded in Critical Race Theory, leaves no room for anyone to challenge her (Robin DiAngelo) view. Anyone who presents counter arguments or evidence is seen as an oppressor. This turns Social Justice B into an unfalsifiable belief system.

“Do arguments magically become true or false by putting them in someone else’s mouth? No. Writing off someone’s viewpoint because of their melanin levels makes us actual racists. Dismissing someone’s argument because of their gender makes us actual sexists. Silencing someone’s ideas because of their sexuality, their economic status, or any other quality of their lives rather than the quality of their ideas does not make us a voice of justice for the marginalized; it makes us actual bigots.”

Honestly guys, I know this review was insanely long. But that’s because this book has so much truth and has really addressed so many of the concerns I’ve been feeling as tensions surrounding the concept of social justice has increased— in the world and in the church. A book that defends the gospel above all, defends the pursuit of truth above feelings, AND defends the command to love the oppressed and fight injustice is a book that I can whole-heartedly get behind and share with the world.

(Again- click the link at the top to see the full review and more quotes from the book)

(3.5 rounded up to 4)

“There can be no justice without the truth.”

[FYI- I had to cut a lot out because Goodreads doesn't give me enough space. Check out my full review here]

I knew reading this book would be a struggle for me. I would have to come face-to-face with the atrocities done to black people in America’s past, largely based on a gross misuse of the very Bible that would eventually free them. I love the church, the bride of Christ, and my first reaction is always to defend God’s people. But the church is not a museum for saints. It’s a hospital for sinners. And the church is not immune from sin. I hate that the church strayed so far from God’s heart and his Word in relation to slavery, segregation, and racial inequality. There is no acceptable excuse.

‘The Color of Compromise’ was written to expose the reality of the church’s complicity in racism and I think it did that pretty clearly. I will say that there are parts of this book that concern me and I will discuss those in the second half of this review. (Regardless, please consider pairing Tisby’s book with Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth for a fuller picture)

But first:

“The failure of many Christians in the South and across the nation to decisively oppose the racism in their families, communities, and even in their own churches provided fertile soil for the seeds of hatred to grow… Indifference to oppression perpetuates oppression.”

I think what made this book so effective, at least for me, was the chronological structure and the emphasis on the theme of missed opportunities. With each era Tisby addresses, he points out that things could have been corrected here and turned around. People could have repented and acknowledged their sin and moved in the right direction. But with each opportunity, the people double-downed, whether from pride, fear, sin, or likely a combination of all three, I don’t know, but they refused to allow progress. Each era of missed opportunities compounds on each other, which is what I believe the claim of ‘systemic’ racism refers to.

“At a key moment in the life of our nation, one that called for moral courage, the American church responded to much of the civil rights movement with passivity, indifference, or even outright opposition.”

I think for a lot of people, slavery, segregation, and racism are all kind of balled up into this one big ‘event’ (for lack of a better word). We see it as a combined thing in history. Laid out like Tisby did, to start with the Colonial era, then the Revolution, Antebellum, Civil War, and then Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, the formation of the Religious Right, and then into the era of the Black Lives Matter movement, it forces us to recognize in a more concrete way the span of racism in its different forms. It takes away our ability to view it as ‘that one time history when slavery happened.’

And as a Christian, it was very eye-opening and disheartening to see the complicity Tisby has disclosed. Christian figures like John Newton, George Whitefield, and Jonathan Edwards all owned slaves at one point. Many Christians saw black people with spiritual equality— meaning they needed to be evangelized and saved and thus were spiritually equal— but somehow did not think they deserved equality in any other manner.

Lynchings happened on church grounds. The KKK contained 40,000 ministers as members and preachers encouraged from the pulpit to join it. Churches maintained segregation and even created Christian schools to keep out black children. Tisby acknowledges that there were many Christians who opposed slavery and segregation but did not do anything about it. Churches split and whole denominations were founded based on differing viewpoints of how black people should be treated, and people refused to see it any differently.

I think before reading this book I would have conceded that there were probably some Christians that got it wrong and supported slavery but that most Christians throughout history were abolitionists and fought for racial equality. It was disturbing to find out how wrong I was.

“American Christians at this time chose to turn a blind eye to the separation of families, the scarring of bodies, the starvation of stomachs, and the generational trauma of slavery… preferring the political and financial advantages that came with human bondage instead of decrying the dehumanization they saw.”

What was most frustrating to me was that the biblical defense Christians used at the time to support slavery and a ‘superior race’ is wack: According to Tisby their main passage they referred to was when Noah’s son walked in on his nakedness and so Noah cursed Canaan, Ham’s son; therefore, they reasoned the different races descended from these 3 sons and that black people, supposedly descended from Canaan were to ‘serve his brothers’, aka other races. (Gen 9) And somehow this apparently made more sense to the people than the opposing interpretation which required, Tisby said, more ‘explanation’ about the difference between the slavery in the Bible and what Americans were doing, the lack of evidence in a racial genealogy from Ham, Canaan’s curse was already fulfilled, etc. That it was letter of the law vs spirit of the law.

“Christians in the South believed the Bible approved of slavery since the Bible never clearly condemned slavery and even provided instructions for its regulation.”

But the Bible does explicitly addresses slavery. For starters (though Tisby did not include these in this book):

1 Timothy 1:9-10- “the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners… the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, and liars, perjurers…” (emphasis mine)

all of Philemon- a letter Paul wrote to Onesimus’ slave owner calling on him to consider Onesimus a brother and calling Onesimus “my very heart.”

And to think somehow Christians justified what they did to black people, not just enslaving them but the violence, is absolutely insane. I do not understand it. Some of the accounts Tisby tells are very hard to read. You’ll probably fluctuate between rage and sadness.

Another theme I found throughout this book that I found to be quite powerful, was the recognition of black people’s faith in the same God that enslavers and racists claimed to worship. What a powerful testament to the perseverance and endurance that Paul talks about in his letters. When they are given every reason to reject the God used to justify their despair, they clutched the true hand of God and His Word, trusting God with the outcome. We would do well to learn from their incredible faith.

“Despite the racism black Christians experienced they did not abandon the faith. In fact, the decades before the Civil War served as an incubator for a newborn black American Christianity. Black Christians began developing distinctive practices that would come to characterize the historic black church tradition… The faith of black Christians helped them endure and even inspired some believers to resist oppression."

“One of the primary reasons black people showed so much enthusiasm about reading was because they were finally able to read the Bible for themselves.”

It was humbling to be reminded that white evangelists were arrogant to think that they were the saviors of black people when we see in the Bible that black people had long before been introduced to Christ. Fervor for evangelism is admirable, but if it’s disconnected from humility, compassion, listening and discernment, we could be doing more harm than good. Christianity is found in many different cultures and we must recognize that people don’t worship God in the same ways, and that’s a beautiful picture of God’s diverse family, not a distinction that needs to be remedied.

The strength of this book is in its exposure and recounting of the injustices done to black people in American history and connecting the church to direct and indirect historic complicity. For that reason, I believe this book is worth reading. It will change your understanding of the past and better inform your truth. Truth that is essential to justice.

However, I did find some things that were problematic and hinder our pursuit of truth: inklings of Critical Race Theory (CRT), using false equivalence, lack of clear problem-identifying, a seeming downplay of the gospel, attributing motives where we can’t, including ‘power’ in a definition of racism, and using buzzwords that mean different things to different people and cause a discussion to be more convoluted than clear. Let me explain.

He claims numerous times: “Racism never goes away. It just adapts.” This was my first red flag among many subsequent red flags (mostly in the last couple chapters) that seem to align with a lot of CRT ideology. A main pillar of CRT is that oppressors (white people) will always be racist; they can progress along a spectrum, but they can never escape their privilege and oppressor status. The world is always divided between the oppressed and the oppressors.

I find this to be a little alarming. While I don’t believe it discredits his historical account and facts regarding the church in the past, I do believe it taints his perspective on racism in America today and how he believes the church should be responding right now. CRT is really an entire worldview in its self, attempting to answer questions about who we are, what our purpose is, where our identity lies, and where morality is founded. And their answers do not line up with Scripture.

Another tell-tale sign of CRT is the claiming that there really is nothing we, as white people can do.

Can we apologize?
“Reparation is not a matter of vengeance or charity; it’s a matter of justice… saying “I’m sorry” is not enough. Expressing remorse may begin the process of healing, but somehow that which was damaged must be restored.”

Can we read and learn more to become more aware?
“But awareness isn’t enough. No matter how aware you are, your knowledge will remain abstract and theoretical until you care about the people who face the negative consequences of racism.”

So we also need to invest in relationships and hear people’s stories?
“To be clear, friendships and conversations are necessary, but they are not sufficient to change the racial status quo.”

But aren’t we seeing progress and changes in people’s attitudes toward black people and their tragic history?
“Certainly, changing attitudes can be viewed as a form of progress, but it is also helpful to remember that such positive perspectives on the [civil rights] movement have not always been popular.”

Okay then, we won’t get too excited by signs of progress. Can we work towards changes in legislation to try to correct systemic and institutionalized racism?
“Though it was necessary to enact civil rights legislation, you cannot erase four hundred years of race-based oppression by passing a few laws.” 

Okay, then. So we can apologize, learn, care, change our attitudes, and change the laws, but it’s not enough. Because remember, racism will always exist.

“In previous eras, racism among Christian believers was much easier to detect and identify. Professing believers openly used racial slurs, participated in beatings and lynchings, fought wars to preserve slavery, or used the Bible to argue for the inherent inferiority of black people. And those who did not openly resist these actions—those who remained silent— were complicit in their acceptance. Since the 1970s, Christian complicity in racism has become more difficult to discern. It is hidden, but that does not mean it no longer exists...we must remember: racism never goes away; it adapts.”

So to paraphrase that quote: “We can clearly identify racism in the past because it was public, violent, and overtly expressing ideology of inferior people based on race, but now people don’t do these things. But don’t be fooled into thinking we’ve made progress. I just can’t see it or hear it and can’t identify it. But we all know it’s there. Because it has to be. And it’s because of Christians.”

Thaddeus J. Williams, in his book Confronting Christianity without Compromising Truth, calls out this redefinition of words that has come to be attached to social justice. In this quote we are seeing a new definition of racism being applied. As Williams says:

“Advocates of [unbiblical social justice] say violence doesn’t go away; it morphs, it adapts, it shape-shifts into new forms. Any Christian who stands condemned under the new definition [of racism] is then saddled with the blame of those who were guilty under the old definition, and are called to repent for their ancestors’ violence and their complicity with church-sponsored “violence” today… we are told that this sin [of racism] is the same old sin; it just looks different today than it did in the 1750s or the 1950s. In this way, we can use the new definition to heap historic guilt of racism under the old definition on our Christian brothers and sisters in the present tense. This leads to the body parts of Christ’s church turning to scratch and beat one another instead of celebrating together that “there is now therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

This particular paragraph of Tisby’s gave me pause:

“Christian complicity with racism in the twenty-first century looks different than complicity with racism in the past. It looks like Christians responding to Black Lives Matter with the phrase all lives matter. It looks like Christians consistently supporting a president whose racism has been on display for decades. It looks like Christians telling black people and their allies that their attempts to bring up racial concerns are “divisive.” It looks like conversations on race that focus on individual relationships and are unwilling to discuss systemic solutions. Perhaps Christian complicity in racism has not changed much after all. Although the characters and the specifics are new, many of the same rationalizations for racism remain.”

Tisby seems to uphold this new definition of racism and is applying it to all Christians. The moral difference between these, somewhat unfair statements, and what occurred during slavery and segregation is vastly different.

[Click the link at the top for the large chunk of review missing right here-- and sorry for the inconvenience!]

The Color of Compromise is worth reading to increase our awareness and understanding, but I would implore you to read MORE than this book. The pursuit of justice is a pursuit of truth, and we must be willing to ask hard questions of complex issues.

“Memory is a collection of scraps, pieced together one by one. Whether useful or comforting, rough or sharp-edged, combined as a whole they provided a semblance of security. Identity even. Until wiped away.”

The book opens on the island of Alcatraz in 1937. An inmate on work detail in the warden’s greenhouse. An island-wide search party in the middle of the night for a missing little girl.

“The plan could work,” he thinks, “So long as they didn’t find the girl.”


We flash back to 1919 in Dublin, Ireland where we meet a young orphan, Shan, living with his drunk and abusive uncle who uses him to perform comedy acts at local pubs for a little money.

The chance comes for Shan and his uncle to venture to America. The land of hope and opportunity. Shan, armed with a photo and letter from his biological father, sees more than just new business prospects. He sees the potential for a new home— a father who would love him and care for him, a way out of his miserable existence. His uncle dies on the voyage over leaving Shan alone in a foreign country to figure out how to eke out a living.

The lives of the mysterious inmate on Alcatraz and the immigrant boy on a quest for a home in New York are inextricably tied together. As the book progresses we discover how these two people are linked and how the little girl has influenced their fate.

Most of the story takes place in New York City circa the Roaring 20’s—Prohibition, speakeasies, flappers, Jazz, cars, and radio. The author did a fantastic job painting the scene by incorporating references to timely people and events and using era-specific lingo. It was easy to picture Shan discovering the new city and way of life.


A good chunk of the book is more narrative, covering the span of years between 1919 and 1937 as we see Shan grow up and become close to an Italian family with a boy (Nick) and girl (Lina) around his age. The friendship that blossoms between Shan and Nick must weather the storms of jealousy, lies, betrayals, and the dangerous underbelly of New York City club life.

Shan, a boy ever searching for his identity and his home is on the edge of lost. Can he find something or someone who can keep him from going over the edge and living a life of lonely self-fulfillment?

Though I thought it dragged a little bit in the middle, I found this to be an engaging story and very historically interesting. The author did a lot of research on Alcatraz and the time period. The Q&A section at the back of the book provided a lot of insight as to what parts were history or based on historical people/events and what were exaggerated. Alcatraz is a mysterious prison with a lot of intrigue and I thought it was a nice touch to include it in this story!


I would recommend this book if you like historical fiction. There is some nice mystery as you wonder how the prologue connects with the rest of the story, and some suspense at the end as everything comes to a head. It’s hard to see the physical changes in Shan as the story progresses, but you definitely see his character development.

A good, fast, and entertaining read.


[Parental Discretion: There are a few risqué bits as part of Shan’s employment journey involves doing his comedy act as part of the burlesque industry. We learn a little about some of the other acts that take the stage.]

“Prayer is the way to experience a powerful confidence that God is handling our lives well, that our bad things will turn out for good, our good things cannot be taken from us, and the best things are yet to come.”

“You should not begin to pray for all you want until you realize that in God you have all you need.”

There was a time when I refused to pray.

Yes, we all have seasons where prayer is hard to remember to do or feels hard to fit into our day in a meaningful way. I think we will always have these seasons because of our sinful nature pulling us away from our life source.

But there was a time when I adamantly said, “No. I’m not going to pray. What’s the point? I’m mad at God. He didn’t answer the prayer that meant the most to me. If I pray for something, God will twist my words and give me what I want but then take something else away. It’s just a game. And I don’t think God really cares what I want.”

I had just miscarried in my first pregnancy after many hard months of trying to get pregnant in the first place. This miscarriage came between my sister and friend’s miscarried firsts. Why would God do that? All I wanted was to be a mom and God took that away from me. I don’t want to pray to him.

It was during that time of wrestling with God’s goodness and prayer that I read this book.

It is one of the best books I have read that addresses prayer. He answers every question, concern, and objection to prayer. He explains what it is, why we do it, and how we do it.

During my time of pain and struggling, it wasn’t necessarily what I wanted to hear, but it was what I needed to hear. It is a truthful and caring reminder to see God and our relationship to him in the proper standing.

Even as we enjoy intimacy with God, knowing he loves us and desires good things for us, that we get to talk to him as a friend, we must also simultaneously recognize his superiority. He is God and we are not. Our prayers must also be in reverence and respect to his authority, trusting the way he answers our prayers and relinquishing our desire to claim God owes us anything.

[I must disclaim here that my questions of God’s goodness and love were addressed in this book in a small way, but I also worked through them and grew substantially in this aspect of my faith outside of this book that influences my ability to write this review years after first reading it. They are big questions that are worth thinking about.]

You, like me, may have grown up knowing the acronym for prayer: ACTS (adoration, confession, thankfulness, supplication). Keller mentions it as a proper understanding and progression of prayer and, essentially, this book expounds on each of those tenets, going deeper than any Sunday school class we may have learned them in. Whether you think you know how to pray or not, this book will benefit you.

As to the organization of this book, Keller has divided his chapters into five parts:
- Desiring Prayer
- Understanding Prayer
- Learning Prayer
- Deepening Prayer
- Doing Prayer

The first two sections focus on what prayer is, why it’s necessary and great.

In his section on learning to pray he lays out the thoughts of three of the greatest teachers in history of the Christian church— St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Calvin— all of whom have written much about prayer.

The last two sections offer examples of how to structure prayer, ideas of what we can thank or praise God for, and how to use Scripture to help us pray. He fleshes out this table:

Prayer:
What it is: work, word, balance
What it requires: grace, fear, helplessness
What it gives: perspective, strength, spiritual reality
Where it takes us: self-knowledge, trust, surrender

Two particular ways of praying Keller mentioned that I found helpful were:

Thomas Cranmer’s prayer structure:

1. The address- a name of God

2. The doctrine- a truth about God's nature that is the basis for the prayer

3. The petition- what is being asked for

4. The aspiration- what good result will come if the request is granted

5. In Jesus' name- this remembers the mediator role of Jesus

and,

The Lord’s Prayer:

Jesus taught us how to pray in Matthew 6. Keller goes through each phrase of this prayer and expands on its meaning and what we’re saying with each section.

It was this exercise that inspired me to rewrite the Lord’s prayer in my own words, from my own pain and struggle with praying. It was a healing and biblical way to process my feelings.

You can read my somewhat unconventional version of the Lord’s Prayer (from 2015) HERE.

Prayer often seems an inconsequential thing, but it is a vital part to our faith and relationship with God. We must do it even if we don’t feel like doing it.

Keller gives practical examples of how we should properly meditate on Scripture and how that leads us into prayer. He offers suggestions on how to stay in focused prayer. And he centers everything on the gospel and how Jesus’s sacrifice is what has torn the curtain, what has removed the separation of us being able to approach a holy God. That is not insignificant.

This book is a fantastic resource on prayer that I know I will read more than once. The appendix, endnotes and selected annotated bibliography at the end are all helpful and in-depth additions that give credibility and further study on all levels.

Keller references the subtitle of J.I. Packer’s book on prayer: “Finding Our Way through Duty to Delight.” Prayer is, indeed, a struggle and a journey, but the end is delighting in the Lord, honoring the Lord, and trusting in the Lord.

If you have ever questioned prayer or rejected it altogether, this book is for you and I see no other outcome than for it to change you and enrich your life like it did for me. To know our God is to communicate with him. We can’t shut down prayer.

“Meditation is taking the truth down into our hearts until it catches fire there and begins to melt and shape our reactions to God, ourselves, and the world.”

"No matter how much we suffer, no matter our doubts, no matter how angry we get, no matter how many times we have asked in desperation 'how long?', prayer develops finally into praise. Everything finds its way to the doorstep of praise.... It may take years, decades even, before certain prayers arrive at hallelujahs...but prayer is always reaching toward praise and will finally arrive there." - Eugene Peterson

“The teaching is that our prayers matter- ‘we have not because we ask not’ and yet God's wise plan is sovereign and infallible. These two facts are true at once, and how that is possible is a mystery to us… If we believed that God was in charge and our actions meant nothing, it would lead to discouraged passivity. If on the other hand we really believed that our actions changed God's plan- it would lead to paralyzing fear. If both are true, however, we have the greatest incentive for diligent effort, and yet we can always sense God's everlasting arms under us. In the end, we can't frustrate God's good plans for us.”

Further Reading:

The Songs of Jesus by Tim Keller — a year long journey through Psalms, would be a great way to pray through a book of the Bible
If You Will Ask: Reflections on the Power of Prayer by Oswald Chambers
Praying: Finding Our Way through Duty to Delight by J.I. Packer & Carolyn Nystrom

(in regards to questioning God’s goodness:)

How Long, O Lord: Reflections on Suffering and Evil by D.A. Carson
Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of God for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund
If God is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil by Randy Alcorn

[For more reviews check out my website at www.shelfreflection.com!]

“Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to skeptics.”

In The Reason for God, Timothy Keller begins by pointing out that both belief and skepticism are on the rise. We can’t and shouldn’t shy away from hard questions.

Having faith with doubts is not a problem—wrestling with hard questions, with personal or cultural objections to our belief system, forces us to seek truth and practice humility. And I can promise you this: God is not threatened by your questions or your doubts. He desires to be in relationship with us, but he doesn’t need it. Our belief does not make God exist. It’s the other way around.

Ask the questions. Truly seek the answers.

Tim Keller is often seen as a modern-day C.S. Lewis. This book is a newer ‘version’ of Lewis’s Mere Christianity or J.I. Packer’s Knowing God (both of which I would also recommend). Structured in two parts, it is a book that seeks to respond to the most common skepticism of Christianity and then provide reasons (truths) for belief.

[I would also recommend Rebecca McLaughlin’s book Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion. Where Keller’s book is a little more simplistic or accessible, McLaughlin’s book is more scholarly and approaches these questions a little differently. Both are worthwhile reads.]

Some of the objections that Keller addresses in ‘The Reason for God’ are: there can’t just be one true religion; how can a good God allow suffering or send good people to hell; the church’s historical complicity with injustice; the tension between science and Christianity; taking the Bible literally [see also Kevin DeYoung’s book Taking God at His Word].

When he lays out his case for belief he includes discussion on the existence/knowledge of God; the problem of sin; the story of the cross; and the resurrection.

I grew up in a Christian home and went to a Christian college, and yet, at said Christian college, I was confronted with some really hard questions. And I desired truth enough to follow through on those lines of questioning and figure out why I believe what I believe. This was a book that helped me do that. And I will say, it was not the ONLY book.

It is not meant to be an exhaustive point-by-point answer to all of life’s difficult questions. But his reasoning is easy to follow and makes a lot of sense. It’s a good starting point in your journey to truth.

I was actually a little surprised by a lot of the negative reviews I have read about this book. Reviewers question his logic or (really) his conclusions, and also knock him points when he is honest about some of the things we just don’t know. But first: that shows humility, which is essential when talking about hard questions especially in regards to evil and injustice in the world. And second: when I read the reviewers’ dissection of his “poor logic” I find their explanations far harder to grasp than what Keller presents.

And then I couldn’t help but remember those who walked with Jesus in the flesh, seeing his miracles, being in the midst of an unexplained disappearance of his corpse, and yet still they rejected the truths it all pointed to.

Only God can open our hearts to hear and see truth. And I pray that if you read this or any of the other books indexed, that God would show himself to you in a very real way.

As a very curious person who’s spiritual gift is asking questions, in all of my reading and wrestling with hard questions, I’ve always found a satisfactory answer. And yes, sometimes that answer has to be- God knows, and I’m not God, but I know who He is; I know His character and his incredible love for us, and so I can trust him with this one. [For more on the heart of God read Dane Ortlund’s book Gentle and Lowly]

I will pass over commenting on some of the topics, including science/evolution (I think I disagree with Keller a bit on that anyway), and touch on the problem of evil, injustice, and suffering in the world.

I think it’s probably what’s really at the heart of anyone’s questioning of God’s existence. We think: either God isn’t powerful enough to stop evil and suffering or that he doesn’t want to and thus is not a good God. Yet, we must not fall into this dichotomous distorted thinking. There are other things to consider.

“If you have a God great and transcendent enough to be mad at because he hasn't stopped evil and suffering in the world, then you have a God great and transcendent enough to have good reasons for allowing it to continue that you can’t know.”

“Why couldn't it be possible that, from God's vantage point, there are good reasons for all of them?”

“It is… a mistake, though an understandable one, to think that if you abandon belief in God it somehow makes the problem of evil easier to handle.”

“Though Christianity does not provide the reason for each experience of pain, it provides deep resources for actually facing suffering with hope and courage rather than bitterness and despair.”

“Why does God allow suffering? We look at the cross of Jesus and still do not know what the answer is. However, we now know what the answer isn't. It can't be that he doesn't love us. It can’t be that he is indifferent or detached from our condition.”

This was something I wrestled with 5 odd years ago when after a long struggle with trying to conceive, I miscarried my first pregnancy. This came sandwiched between my sister’s miscarriage and one of my best friends’ miscarriage. Why would a good God place life in our wombs only to rip them away? How could there ever be a good reason for that? How is that experience showing me ‘love’? If God exists, I thought, he can’t be good.

And I did some real good struggling with that one. Because I knew truth. But I didn’t feel it.

Can something be loving and true if it doesn’t feel loving and true?

As a thankful mother of four, I know now that, yes. Sometimes what doesn’t feel like love can be love. There are plenty of things I do or say to my kids that make them feel utterly unloved: not letting them drive the car by themselves (the oldest is 4), not letting them hit each other, feeding them food (any food), turning Bluey off, saying no to climbing into the oven, etc. Even on a macro/cosmic scale, is it possible that God in his infinite knowledge, sovereignty, and compassion has a reason beyond my comprehension for allowing something to happen that doesn’t feel like love to me? If I believe God is who He says He is, I must believe it.

There is no sustainable standard for morality or truth that can be based on feelings.

What matters is what we know. We know Jesus existed. We know he died on the cross. We know his body was not found. We know he appeared to hundreds of people in various places after his death. And if Jesus really died and rose again, he must be who he said he is. And if he really is the Son of God who believes the truths of the Bible, then we must believe those truths too. And if the Bible tells me that God is sovereign. That he is all-powerful. That he is loving and compassionate. That he is for me. That he is gracious and merciful and long-suffering. Then that is who he is.

And that means that yes, he is powerful enough to stop all pain, suffering, injustice, and evil. And even if he doesn’t, still he is a good and loving God. Though it appears as if Satan is having ‘his way’ on earth right now, the Bible also tells us that sin and death are already defeated. Justice and good will reign. God is in the business of redeeming and restoring. We are not without hope.

That bears repeating.

We are not without hope.

And this is a hope that does not disappoint.

Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.” (John 6:68)

So I’ve now spent the majority of this review sharing my heart with you. Because you may be questioning whether God exists and if he does, does even care for you.

I would be remiss to abstain from this opportunity to share with you that I have asked the questions. I have felt the feelings. And I have found the truth. God is there. And he sees you. And he loves you.

And I can share all the logic and all the arguments and offer all the book recommendations (and I will) but that is all secondary to knowing God, himself.

God tells us, “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” Jeremiah 29:13

So, yes, go read all the things, ask all the questions, but maybe just try talking to him directly.

He is not threatened by your doubt, he is not disappointed in your pain, and if you come to Him, he will never turn you away. (John 6:37)

Because, after all, this is a book review, I will conclude with some more quotes to give you the flavor of the book and give you one last comment: What do you have to lose by seeking truth and reading this book? No matter where you are on the faith spectrum, isn’t seeking truth the whole point?

“When the idea of God is gone, a society will 'transcendentalize' something else, some other concept, in order to appear morally and spiritually superior.”

“All that are in hell choose it. Without that self-choice it wouldn't be hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it.”

“The church will be filled with immature and broken people who still have a long way to go emotionally, morally, and spiritually- ‘the church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints’”

“1 Corinthians 15:1-6- Paul refers to a body of five hundred eyewitnesses who saw the risen Christ at once. You can't write that in a document designed for public reading unless there really were surviving witnesses whose testimony agreed and who could confirm what the author said.”

“Our need for worth is so powerful that whatever we base our identity and value on we essentially 'deify'“

“We must not universalize our time any more than we should universalize our culture; to reject the bible as regressive is to assume that you have now arrived at the ultimate historic moment, from which all that is regressive and progressive can be discerned; that belief is surely as narrow and exclusive as the views in the bible you regard as offensive.”

“We can't know that nature is broken in some way unless there is some supernatural standard of normalcy apart from nature by which we can judge right and wrong.”

“If you don't trust the bible enough to let it challenge and correct your thinking, how could you ever have a personal relationship with God? In any truly personal relationship, the other person has to be able to contradict you; if you pick and choose what you want to believe and reject the rest, how will you ever have a god who can contradict you? You'll have a 'Stepford god', a god essentially of your own making, and not a god with whom you can have a relationship and genuine interaction. Only if your god can say things that outrage you and make you struggle will you know that you have gotten hold of a real God and not a figment of your imagination.”

Other resources:

Similarly structured covering many doctrinal questions and apologetics:

Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion by Rebecca McLaughlin

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (I read this before I wrote reviews)

Knowing God by J.I. Packer

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Quereshi (An attempt to defend Islam leads him to believe Christianity)

Defending Your Faith by R.C. Sproul (On my To-Read List)

More specific to particular topics:

How Long, O Lord?: Reflections on Suffering and Evil by D.A. Carson

If God is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil by Randy Alcorn (I read this before I wrote reviews)

He is There and He is Not Silent by Francis A. Schaeffer (On my To-Read List- may be more 'intellectual')

Taking God at His Word: Why the Bible is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What that Means for You and Me by Kevin DeYoung (Why can we trust the Bible?)

The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (Is Jesus really God?) (I read this before I wrote reviews)

Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund (Does God really love me?)

Erasing Hell by Francis Chan (Does God save everyone?) (I read this before I wrote reviews)

“Happiness is brief, and history is lasting, and in the end, everyone wants to be remembered.”

Allow me to set the scene:

Addie- Ugh, I totally don’t want to marry that guy. He’s not even cute. And he has kids and being a mom is like a waste of life. Eat my dust as I dramatically flee into the dark forest of doom.
Devil- Oh hey. I know you already asked all the ‘good gods’ for help and none of them got back to you about your hopes and dreams, but here I am, now that you’re good and desperate, how may I help you today?
Addie- My life sucks and I don’t want to end up like the village people. (non-YMCA reference, this is 1714) I want unlimited time and freedom!
Devil- That’s a no for me dawg.
Addie- But I will give you absolutely anything, and you know I mean it because I’m admitting it to you in a dark forest of doom. Literally anything. I’m 23 and I know exactly what life is about and how to live it successfully. Give me unattached freedom and take my life and soul when I’m done with it. I know you’ll be nice to me!
Devil- Deal. kthanksbyeeeee
Addie- I don’t think I should be friends with that guy but my life is immediately the best. #noregrets
5 minutes later:
#alltheregerts
Addie is forgotten by everyone as soon as she is out of their view and can therefore have no relationships past a few hours (less if anyone has to go to the bathroom, which amazingly doesn’t ever really happen). Also she can’t really live anywhere. Or own anything. Or write anything. Or be painted. BUT she has ultimate freedom, is not ‘owned’ by anyone (ha…right…), and has no responsibility to anyone but herself.

Commence Addie ‘invisibly’ living for 300 years in many a time and place.

Intrigued?

The possibilities are endless, right?

This 448-page book could take us on an interesting and exciting journey through all kinds of historical events that Addie gets to be part of and changed by. We could be taken over the years as Addie finds love after love— one love for each of her seven famous freckles we are told in the beginning they are for. We could be audience to her life-changing and long-suffering voyage to discover how love must be selfless.

I mean we have 300 years worth of stuff to choose from.

Okay, Schwab, hit me with the story of a lifetime.

**Crickets**

Nope.

She says, how bout we just see how each era can show a different facet of Addie’s selfishness and stubborn rage. And also, let’s have her fall in love with the devil. I think that would be rad.

So let’s be clear. The only reason I read this book was because it was nominated on Goodreads for best fantasy novel of the year so that seemed like kind of a big deal and it seemed generally loved. I’ve never read Schwab before. I’m not into ‘make a deal with the devil books’ and I don’t get excited about books where the a good guy (girl) falls in love with the bad guy. I come to this book with no real expectations or comparative books— I just want to enjoy the story and love the characters. Or at least the message.

But I am not impressed.

Lots of potential. Lots of waste.

Its one and a half saving graces is that the writing is very beautiful and engaging. I loved the voice and the style. It was poetic and pretty. The half is part of the ending which I don’t want to spoil too much, but she wrote it brilliantly, and in such a way that I almost believed it was what I wanted to happen.

Let me discuss this book in three parts: Addie’s existential crisis, her relationship with Luc (the devil), and her relationship with Henry (the one human in 300 years who can remember her).

Addie

“If she must grow roots, she would rather be left to flourish wild instead of pruned, would rather stand alone, allowed to grow beneath the open sky. Better that than firewood, cut down just to burn in someone else’s hearth.”

Okay, Addie, I get the sentiment. 1714 is not a great year to be a woman. Arranged marriages are the pits. And you can’t go clubbing in your village. But you’re only 23 so you have no real concept of what’s important in life.

Even after living 300 years with no one to have a meaningful relationship with (other than the devil), you say you would still do it all over again.

You are asked, “Were the instants of joy worth the stretches of sorrow? Were the moments of beauty worth the years of pain?” And you say, “Always.”

Yet never once do you consider that maybe getting married and having a family, raising kids (and possibly still being able to travel somewhere, you’re not chained to a house) would have been worth the days of sorrow and pain. You’re telling me those moments of joy and beauty would not have been worth it? Are you just too stubborn to admit you done boofed it? I see no character growth in you.

I still see a selfish woman who only cares about herself and her own “freedom.” Which essentially in this book looked like mostly just sexual freedom. Schwab skips over sharing your historical endeavors (other than name-dropping) and spends the majority of the book detailing your sexual exploits and weird attachment to Luc.

Schwab’s inclusion of Addie attending a party with Rosseau is very telling. Rosseau’s philosophy is based on the idea that humans are intrinsically good. When we act out of our own nature, we are truly our good selves. Any sin or wickedness we have can be blamed on society and external forces that corrupt us. I think these ideals are embedded in Schwab’s character building and treatment of their sexual lifestyle.

I am making assumptions here. I don’t really know what Schwab’s purpose for this story was. It’s one of those books you can read very surface-level, just for the narrative, or you can really analyze the elements and figure out what message she is sending. To me, it feels like she is making the case that Addie is a brave hero making a way for herself by doing whatever feels right in the moment, by following her true nature. I’m still trying to decide if she was making it into a good thing or a bad thing.

One thing I thought was really clever and fitting was the Sisyphus reference. In Greek mythology he cheated death twice and his eternal punishment was to endlessly roll a heavy stone up a hill and watch it roll back down. Addie’s ‘invisibleness’ creates this Sisyphean existence of building a relationship or attempting to create a life only to have it start over, be forgotten and lost. A repetitive and lonely existence. And that would be torture.

Luc

Enter Luc, Addie’s torturer. Addie describes Luc as “feral magic in a lover’s form.” (Is this a good thing?)

Many pages are devoted to watching their relationship develop. Luc intends to break Addie down so that she will surrender her soul to him. And after a horrific first year, she contemplates it. But his gloating is all she needs to fuel 300 years of stubborn rage towards him, refusing to give him what he wants.

“‘But now, no matter how tired I am, I will never give you this soul’… the darkness has given her the one thing she truly needs: an enemy… this is the beginning of the war.”

But as the years pass, she becomes weirdly anchored to him. He is the only one who remembers her, who can say her name. He is her only true relationship.

Theological plot holes aside, Luc loves Addie, protects her from danger, and provides for her. We come to anticipate that Addie must somehow choose Luc in the end—despite their “falling out.”(*sigh*… don’t we all just sometimes have a breaking point when we try to be lovers with the devil….?)

Good girl choosing the bad boy over the nice guy is a popular trope. But believing in a love with the darkness that cursed you and blatantly takes other souls in front of you… I don’t know, man. I just can’t get there. Even if he claims he was not pro-Nazi… It’s just really not enough. #niceguys4lyfe

Henry

Poor nice-guy-Henry.

He, though matched in stupidity, is the antithesis to Addie. She wanted to live and Henry wanted to die. Feeling worthless, unloved, and inadequate he trades time for love. Well. Not really love. His curse is that everyone always sees in him what they want; they don’t really see him. And so they love him. And it’s actually the opposite of what he wanted because he knows it’s not real. Ah, the irony.

But it is this very deal that he has made with Luc that has enabled him to say those three coveted words to Addie: “I remember you.”

Cue love affair.

But I wasn’t fooled. Henry is being used by Addie. They believe Addie is immune to Henry’s curse. That she really sees him and loves him. But then she says this:

“What I want, what I’ve always truly wanted is for someone to remember me. And that’s why I can look at you, and see you as you are. And it is enough. It will always be enough.”

Whoops. Guess you’re still not enough Henry. She doesn’t really love you. She just loves that you can remember her. She needs you for her own vanity. So she got out of you what she needed and will have no qualms moving on.


As an art major, I was intrigued a little with the exploration of art, history, and influence in this story.

“Art is about ideas and ideas are wilder than memories.”

Addie discovers a way to weave herself in history. Though her photograph can’t be taken and her face can’t be rendered, her seven freckles take center stage in art all through history. She becomes an idea.

And I guess, to her, that was a satisfactory legacy to leave behind. Well, plus she gets the book we are reading which is actually Henry acting as Addie’s scribe to write a book about her life. Which again, is mostly just a bunch of one-night stands, a love/hate relationship with a devil, and a boy who is dying for love. I would still question the value of this legacy.

Is a life really only meaningful if it is remembered?

That is essentially the question this book is exploring.

It sounds noble. We want to make a mark on the world and change it for the better. But is the only way to do that to be remembered? You’d be living an entire lifetime trying to make yourself great and important in some way. Is that the best we can do? Make our name or our face or our brand known?

That doesn’t sound selfless or sacrificial to me.

And speaking from personal experience in interpreting art, becoming an idea in artwork isn’t really a clear path to acknowledgement either. Artists are often (trying to be) too profound to be understood. So yeah you’d be an idea, but no one could articulate you.

“What is the point in planting seeds? Why tend them? Why help them grow? Everything crumbles in the end. Everything dies.”

Well everything but Addie.

Cheers.

To me a fantasy novel should create an extraordinary world, extraordinary characters, and/or an epic journey or adventure. The only thing that made this book a fantasy was what the Bachelor calls ‘the fantasy suite’ and one character with special powers- the devil. Am I just illiterate to this genre?


In case you skipped past all my inspiring opinions, here’s my briefest synopsis:

This is a very long book that you will read and you might enjoy but when you try to explain what happened you will think, “Well, I guess not a whole lot.” When you try to explain the beauty of it you will think, “Well, I liked the words. But I guess none of the love was real and there’s actually no real hope. Addie thinks she has a plan but let’s be real, Addie’s track record is pretty terrible.”

And after all, you will realize, I guess it’s not that great.


Language and sexual content rating: Whatever the step above moderate is… Pre-Spicy?

For more stellar reviews follow my book review blog: www.shelfreflection.com!

[Fulfilling “A book with a number in the title” as part of the 2021 Spring/Summer Reading Challenge]

True to form, Jen Wilkin delivers a gut-punch of conviction in this meaty, but short, look at the Ten Commandments. Not only does she expound on each command, showing us they’re not as simple and ‘easy to keep’ as we thought, but she flips the negative to a positive and helps us see the beauty of the Ten Words when we view them as a gift, helping us love and honor God and our neighbors.

The Torah and the rabbis called the Ten Commandments the ‘Ten Words.’

This famous list means different things to different people, but overall the general vibe of these commands is negative. ‘Thou shalt not…’ They are the party-stoppers and the killjoys. Restrictive to our freedom.

Yet, we think, they are the rules we must obey to keep God happy and to get our ticket to Heaven so have to acknowledge them.

Jen Wilkin describes it like this:

“They are seen by many as the obsolete utterances of a thunderous, grumpy God to a disobedient people, neither of whom seem very relatable or likeable. Because we have trouble seeing any beauty in the Ten Words, forgetting them comes easily.”

I think a broad stroke puts us in one of two camps-
‘These don’t apply to me and I don’t care’
or
‘They apply to me, but I pretty much do them. Well, at least better than that guy over there. So I’m good.’

I’ve been a Christian my whole life and I thought I knew what these were all about. But with every Word I was convicted in new ways. She gives so much insight on the commandments per the time they were given and what it means for us today. She also shows how they build on each other—if you break one, you’ve almost certainly broken a few more.

At the end of each chapter Wilkin asks the question, “Before reading this chapter, how would you have rated your obedience to this commandment? After reading it, how would you rate yourself?”

Yes, you will feel convicted, as we should be, but Wilkin believes in Jesus Christ, and so we are not pummeled and kicked in a ditch for all our sinful ways. We are reminded of Christ paying the price for each and every one of our Ten Word failures.

In the introduction she quickly points out the important difference between legalism and lawfulness.

“While legalism builds self-righteousness, lawfulness builds righteousness. Obedience to the law is the means of sanctification for the believer… There are good works to be done by the people of God, not out of dread to earn his favor, but out of delight because we already have it.”

She straightens us out when we use the phrase ‘Christianity isn’t about rules, it’s a relationship.’ We say that phrase like we have to apologize for the Ten Commandments. ‘Oh, sorry our God keeps telling you not to do stuff, he doesn’t really care about that, he just wants to be your friend!’

Wilkin tells us that law and relationship are not at odds. They are companions:

“Christianity is about relationship with God and others, and because this statement is true, Christianity is also unapologetically about rules, for rules show us how to live in those relationships.” 

We don’t need to say sorry for God’s commands. We need to delight in them, knowing we are free from having to perfect them, and they are given to us as a gift that we might love and honor God and our neighbors and live in right relationship.

The Ten Commandments were given to the Israelites right after God delivered them from their slavery in Egypt. This deliverance came partly in the form of ten plagues— each one of which “was a symbolic defeat” of a particular Egyptian god. So when God declared ‘You shall have no other gods before me,’ he had essentially just declared every one of Egypt’s gods as worthless. Have no other gods because there are no other gods.

He asks them to remember their “costly deliverance” as they pledge their allegiance to Him alone.

“To obey the first word establishes the proper posture before God that enables the proper motives and behaviors to obey the other nine.”

There is so much to be learned and taken to heart in this book. I highly recommend you read it for yourself.

To give you a little picture of how she rewords the Ten Words, here is the chapter outline:

- Undivided Allegiance
- Undiminished Worship
- Untarnished Name
- Unhindered Rest
- Honor Elders
- Honor Life
- Honor Marriage
- Honor Property
- Honor Reputation
- Honor in the Heart

One thing I liked that she pointed out was the feeling of contempt. She first brings it up in the ‘Honor Life’ chapter, but tied it into the following four that have to do with how we relate to other image-bearers.

“First, I am angry with you in response to a hurt. Next, I begin to question your character with an insult. Then, I begin to question your worth as a person. As anger degrades into contempt, the personhood of another is devalued.”

Contempt leads to violence in the sixth word, adultery in the seventh, theft in the eighth, false witness in the ninth, and coveting in the tenth. We are devaluing the personhood of the one we are dishonoring by justifying any action or word we take against them.

This brought to mind a quote Jonathan Leeman referenced in his book, 'How the Nations Rage’: “We don’t have an anger problem in American politics. We have a contempt problem in American politics.” The value of the Ten Words goes way beyond politics so I don’t want to put it in this box by any means, but in the cultural climate we are in today, I think we must recognize that how we do politics (which is pretty life-encompassing right now) is reflective of our character and can be a barometer of our keeping or not keeping God’s commandments.

With every interaction we have with one another, we must never find ourselves believing in the worthlessness of another image-bearer of God. It not only dishonors the person, it dishonors their Creator. As with each of the ten commandments, any breaking of the Word is altering our posture before our God and is an act of rebellion against his authority and sovereignty.


Read this book and let it recalibrate your knee-jerk ‘judgement’ reaction when you hear the Ten Words. They are not just for the wayward Israelites, they are for the wayward us. They are not a condemnation if we are in Christ, but a gift. The law cannot save us, but it shows that we need a Savior, One who has done with the Ten Words what we could never do—fulfill them.

“Ten words to convict us, shape us, and to give us hope. Ten Words that Jesus came not to abolish, but to fulfill…Ten Words to put to death our sin. Ten Words to herald abundant life. Ten Words to steady and strengthen us on the narrow path that leads us home.” 

**Received an ARC via Amazon**

[Sidenote: This book would be a great Bible Study option. It would be 10 weeks if you did a chapter a week and there are a few discussion questions after each chapter. I haven’t read her Sermon on the Mount book but she does reference it here so I can’t speak to whether or not there is repeated content. It’s possible those two books would pair nicely together.]

For more reviews check out my book review blog at www.shelfreflection.com!

(2.5 stars)
“You said in Monaco you had an interesting woman with an intriguing problem.”

I have a knack for picking up series in the middle instead of the beginning. If you plan to read this from book one then be aware that I will probably be giving away some things in this review.

What drew me to this book was Sherlock Holmes (obviously). I realized I don’t know if I’ve ever read any of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes books, but I’ve seen all the Sherlock movies (both the Downey Jr. and Cumberbatch versions) and I love a good detective book. Magpie Murders or the Charles Lenox books (of which I also started in the middle) are in the same vein as Sherlock Holmes. I figured I would like this as well.

I’m not a Sherlock superfan so I have no idea if the way she wrote does justice to Doyle’s characters, but I didn’t particularly feel engaged with this story.

As soon as it started I felt lost. It took me a bit to get my bearings. I even went back to read the summary and a few reviews of book one to figure out where we’ve come from. Both the setting (place and time period) and characters required quite a few pages to get a handle on.

Here’s the sitch: We are in the 1920s near Transylvania. Mary Russell, who is now 25, met Sherlock back when she was 15 and became his apprentice. At that time he was 60-something. Apparently she is super smart and good at everything and somewhat similar to Holmes’ personality. But, as of this book, they have been married for 5 years. I find this to be an odd and slightly disturbing pairing.

Not only is the age difference strange, but they still call each other by their last names and frankly, I had to keep telling myself they were even married. It felt more like just the partnership you would expect— not much romance to speak of. Maybe that’s how a marriage with Sherlock would function? They’re just ‘fond of’ each other? I don’t know. I just know that I didn’t like it. Plus they were just generally written blandly.

[Watson did not make an appearance in this book, but based on many reviews of the first book, readers did not like the author’s handling of the Watson character—not treating him as an equal but like a pitiful dimwit.]

So now that we’ve established our boring protagonists, let’s talk setting.

Sherlock has been summoned to help the Queen of Romania at Castle Bran in Transylvania. Cue visions of vampires.

First of all, this is a real castle. (My blog review shows a picture the author posted on her website of a replica used to help her write the story.)

This particular castle was often said to be ‘Dracula’s castle’ but it sounds like there is no evidence to support this and may have just been some sort of PR campaign to get the castle more recognition.

Another piece of folklore tied into this story is that of the Countess of Bathory (aka The Blood Countess). Legend has it that she was one of the most prolific female serial killers (circa 1590-1610)— torturing and murdering young girls to supposedly bathe in and drink their blood.

This was particularly interesting to me because Tosca Lee had already written a great duology of books playing off this legend with a fantastical twist involving special powers given to her descendants— would highly recommend.

I love a story that incorporates history and legends into their stories.


So how do these two pieces of google-worthy folklore play into our story, Castle Shade? Well, in case you thought this book was about some really nice elm trees outside a magnificent castle, let me set the record straight: ‘shade’ here is referring to ‘ghost’ or ‘phantom.’

A series of incidents involving young girls at and around Castle Bran and the Queen, have people speculating things about the Queen similar to Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) and The Blood Countess— both of these originate from this geographic area and would thus be significant to the Queen’s village people.

Furthermore, the Queen has received threats regarding her daughter.

Sherlock and Russell must discover who is behind the threats and if there really is some sort of castle phantom with a thirst for blood. What is the purpose and who stands to benefit from these rumors or ‘spooky’ events?

Per Mary Russell: “This tale has everything but a talking cat.”

The last 20% of the book had some suspense, but overall, this book was a tidge bit boring to me. I think part of it was the fact that Russell was narrating and so we were told more than we were shown. Plus the language is at times hard to follow— I’m glad I read a digital version so I could highlight words I didn’t know and get definitions quickly. Your vocabulary will definitely expand while reading this book.

The first half of the book was pretty slow-moving. It seemed like a lot of the book involved giving historical background or detailed descriptions of the castle, the village, or routes from place to place. I don’t think I really knew where the story was even going until halfway through, so I didn’t like that.


Here’s the main question: Should you read this?

Well, if you haven’t read any of these before, I probably wouldn’t start here unless you are really interested in the folklore or location. I think you’d be better off following Russell and Sherlock from the very beginning. But if you’re easily bored with books, probably just pass on this.

If you have already read the first sixteen then you’re— well, you’re probably not still reading reviews for these, but you’re most likely going to like this one, so do it.

BUT AND ALSO… I would, again, recommend Tosca Lee’s books I already mentioned.

**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

“Lament is the honest cry of a hurting heart wrestling with the paradox of pain and the promise of God’s goodness.”

I don’t know about you, but my heart has done that wrestling match.

Mark Vroegop says lament usually asks these questions: “Where are you, God?” and “If you love me, why is this happening?”

Have you ever wondered those?

Vroegop has written this book for us from the depths of his own grief. He has lived in the darkness of pain. His daughter, Sylvia, was stillborn. Before and after this was filled with miscarriages. He has asked the questions. Why? How long must we endure this? And he found something important.

“I discovered a minor-key language for my suffering: lament.”

Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy is a book that will meet us in our pain and offer us a biblical avenue for voicing it to God. It doesn’t rush us through our grief but gives us permission to feel our feelings without wondering if we’re disappointing God. He acknowledges the pain, but doesn’t leave us there; he also points us to truth and hope.

Lament is the process of journeying in pain to trust.

The title of this book comes from two seemingly contradictory, yet true, statements from Lamentations:

“How the Lord in his anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud!” (2:1) 

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.” (3:22) 

Even in our dark clouds, He is merciful.


I shared a little in my review for Tim Keller’s book, Prayer, how I suffered a miscarriage and had a period of time where I was mad at God and I didn’t want to pray to him. Like Vroegop describes, I was wrestling with this tension of pain and God’s goodness.

I would have benefited from this book.

Instead of giving God the silent treatment, I could have spoken with him honestly in the language of lament.

Did you know it’s okay to ask God questions and to complain to him?

A third of the Psalms are laments. David and Job and even Jesus himself (quoting Psalm 22 as he died on the cross) show us that lamenting is part of the Christian life.

Vroegop, in studying these laments, has provided a pattern we can follow:
- Turn (address to God) 
- Complain (a complaint) 
- Ask (a request) 
- Trust (an expression of trust and/or praise)

The word ‘complain’ carries a bit of semantic baggage— as a parent, I know this firsthand. But an important distinction to the complaints we hear from the mouths of our children and what we direct toward God is this:

“I do think it’s permissible to ask pain-filled questions as long as you’re coming in humility. Proud, demanding questions from a heart that believes it is owed something from God will never lean into true lament. Before you start complaining, be sure you’ve checked arrogance at the door. Come with your pain, not your pride.”


What I love most about Vroegop’s ‘course’ in lamenting is recognizing that we need to move from the question of ‘why’ to ‘who.’ As we lament, we are brought back to who God is— what we know to be true of him.

“In lament, we are honest with the struggles of life while also reminding ourselves that God never stops being God. His steadfast love never ends. He is sufficient. Therefore, our hope is not in a change of circumstances but in the promise of a God who never stops being merciful—even when dark clouds loom.”

What helped me through my pain was holding on to the truths of the Bible and choosing to trust God, even when it didn’t make sense. To believe that pain is not wasted. It is purposeful. That because I know God is faithful, he will be faithful even in this. That because I know Jesus died for me, the ‘why’ of my struggle can’t be because he doesn’t love me. That because God is wise, there could be a reason for this suffering beyond my understanding that is good.

Vroegop emphasizes the words ‘yet’ and ‘but’ in biblical laments. Even as we lay bare our hurts and frustrations, even as we call God to action to invoke mercy or justice, even as we question God’s purposes, YET we will praise him and trust him for he is faithful, steadfast, true, wise, and sovereign.

“Learn to live in the tension of pain beyond belief and divine sovereignty beyond comprehension by stepping into trust.”

I didn’t know it at the time, but Keller’s book, Prayer, that I mentioned earlier, inspired me to write a prayer out to God. I believe this was a lament. You can read it here. And it was good for my soul to express my hurts with a right view of God.

“Lament provides a place for both feelings and truth.”

I like these six reasons Vroegop gives us for why lamenting should be part of our prayer life.

Lament is:
- the language for loss. 
- the solution for silence.
- a category for complaints. 
- a framework for feelings.  
- the process for our pain.  
- a way to worship. 

He takes four different lament Psalms and the book of Lamentations to illustrate these, going verse by verse to point things out. He talks about the influence of sin, the dangers of bitterness, the role of idols, the process of waiting, and the value of lamenting for others who are hurting.

At the end he gives many examples of how the church can incorporate laments into their rhythms. He also provides appendices with a lament ‘concordance’ and a worksheet to help structure and get into the practice of lamenting— a lost form of worship.


I’ve mostly honed in on how this book speaks to my personal pain, but what’s great about this book is that it is universal. It doesn’t matter what you are going through, whether it is a personal pain or a corporate injustice, whether it is intense loss or just the daily struggle of raising 4 kids who are under 5 and like to cry a lot and eat nothing (who me?), there is language in the Bible that will speak into it.

I think everyone who reads this book will come away feeling relief, validation, and hope.

“Everyone has a story. Lament is never a song you set out to sing. But in the discovery of lament, everyone can find grace for the pains of life.”

Before my normal list of quotes, here is one that resonated with me.
“When we are battling falsehoods in our thinking, sometimes singing has the power to convince our emotions to change.”

When I struggled to pray, I would listen to music and I would say the words in my head, begging God, “I know this is true, I can’t sing it right now, but help me to believe it.” Here is a link to the playlist I made of songs that spoke truth into my darkness, that echoed the pain in my heart and proclaimed what I didn’t have the strength to. Maybe some of them will speak to you too.

A few more quotes:

“For the Christian, the exodus event—the place where we find ultimate deliverance— is the cross of Christ. This is where all our questions—our heartaches and pain—should be taken. The cross shows us that God has already proven himself to be for us and not against us.”  

“Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief… He knows the sorrows of injustice, hypocrisy, false accusations, physical weakness, temptations, betrayal, and feelings abandoned. That becomes the basis for our bold requests.” 

 “The wonderful news is that you don’t walk this path in your own strength. It’s not simply a matter of your grit and willpower. Instead, God helps you to keep trusting him. As John Piper says, ‘Keep trusting the One who keeps you trusting.’”

“A Christian should understand that beneath every painful aspect of our humanity is the reality of sin. Every death, every war, every injustice, every loss, every hurt, and ever tear owe their existence to sin. It has affected everything.”

“If God can take the most unjust moment in history and turn it into redemption, then surely we can say, ‘You reign!’ Even when we can’t imagine how God might use hard circumstances in our lives, we can still believe he’s in control.”

**Received an ARC via Amazon **

Further Reading:

Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund
How Long, O Lord?: Reflections on Suffering and Evil by D.A. Carson
If God is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil by Randy Alcorn
What They Meant for Evil: How a Lost Girl of Sudan Found Healing, Peace, and Purpose in the Midst of Suffering by Rebecca Deng
Becoming a Woman Whose God is Enough by Cynthia Heald
The Honest Griever: Truths God Teaches on the Journey from Pain to Purpose by Lynne Hoeksema

For more reviews, visit my book review blog called Shelf Reflection