Tag Archives: books

The Man In White

Posted on by
Reply

Beggar's Table Banner

Johnny Cash - Man in White coverSo I have been gone for a while. To my three readers, sorry about that 🙂 I am thinking about transferring all of my blogs in to one spot. Maybe not. We’ll see. But that’s not the reason for my absence. We recently lost my Mother-in-law to cancer. It has been a long, hard, year-long down hill fight for our family. Watching some one slowly deteriorate is a long hard process. Something I could never wish on any one. And something that challenges your beliefs in euthanasia. Maybe someday I will blog more on the whole experience.

While we were in El Paso, I hit the local Family Bookstores for some reading materials. One book that I found in the clearance section was Man in White by Johnny Cash. I’m only about a third in to it, but so far it is an excellent read. Cash is a superb story teller as usually, but the subject matter really sets it apart. He is re-telling the story of the apostle Paul from a cultural and historical stand point. Just getting a glimpse in to what Saul’s living quarters looked like, or what the Sanhedrin might have thought of him, or all the other historical and cultural insights is incredibly stimulating to me.

I haven’t finished it yet, but I can write more when I do. Where I am at now, Paul is still Saul and is chasing after the Christians to persecute and kill them. Cash paints him as one massively driven dude, and I love it.

Trolling the Bargin Bins at Bookstores

Posted on by
2

Beggar's Table Banner

I am one of those people, like many others, that takes a long time to read a book. Mainly because I start one and then forget to pick it up for weeks. So, my readings block won’t change that fast.

I also like to troll the clearance section of Christian bookstores. I never really buy anything from the stores, or even visit much. But the clearance sections are interesting mix of good and bad books.

If a book is a hit in the Evangelipopcology market place, they won’t go into the bargain bin. Which is fine by me – I don’t need to know how to kiss my date goodbye or twist God’s arm to bless me with money. Whenever a book does make a splash, you can usually expect a large number of copycats. The better ones of these make a good splash themselves, but some of them bomb. These end up in the bargain bins. That is the bad – so bad that I get a good laugh out of reading their cover summaries. So, I guess it does end up being 30 seconds of entertainment.

The good is that when a book comes out that is too dense or quirky for the general public, it will also usually end up in the bargain bun. Those are the kind of books that I love to read. I just picked up a book that I am going to start reading recently on Jesus. Crazy, huh – a Christian bookstore book on Jesus? They can sometimes be rarer than you think. I can’t remember who this one is by, but it takes all of the Gospels and combines them, and then the author added notes and side stories about the cultural atmosphere of the time. I’m sure some things will be off or wrong, but I look forward to getting this comprehensive picture. The Bible was written for people that lived in the time that it was written about, for people with a great understanding of the culture. The authors left a lot of explanation of the times out of there, basically because they had no need to explain it to their intended audience. I love reading anything that can restore that lost picture in my mind.