A clear, straightforward, and encouraging work for those seeking to change their point of view to strengthen their faith.
A brief call for Christians to refrain from selfish judgments.
“Are we fulfilling God’s will, or Are we walking outside of his divine plan?” asks church music minister and laboratory scientist Brownlee-Wooley at the opening of this book. “Either way, we should start seeing through God’s eyes, just as we should have the faith of God.” This urging for Christians to move beyond a mundane perspective runs throughout the book. Brownlee-Wooley ranges her narrative over some of Scripture’s most famous stories in an attempt to show that the heart of each story’s failure is a refusal to keep a cleareyed focus on God’s plan. She tackles the story of King David, for instance, and that of Samson, and she often pauses in her retellings to deliver insights on these flawed figures and offer takeaways: “With all our failures, we still must repent and worship our Savior,” she writes at one point. These insights can occasionally wander far afield of her main theme, however, as when she digresses to touch on the Covid-19 pandemic, mentioning that “It is beautiful when we band together to fight against an enemy that knows no boundaries and does not discriminate against race, social status, or wealth”—a nice sentiment, but one that finds little support in actual Covid-19 mortality figures. But although some may question her Scriptural interpretations at times, the central theme running through every story and digression is one that her Christian readers will find uplifting: “If you are already in the light, great. Stay there. But if you have strayed from the light, come back.” In addition, her call to refrain from petty judgmentalism is always welcome, particularly when linked so explicitly to the Bible.
A clear, straightforward, and encouraging work for those seeking to change their point of view to strengthen their faith.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-66421-606-8
Page Count: 114
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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