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LET GO AND LIVE

Name: LET GO AND LIVE
Author: James Dyche
ISBN: 978-1-973600-16-9

by James Dyche ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 25, 2017

Some material here walks a well-trod path, but readers will still find much to discover in the author’s journey.

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A book that’s part memoir and part investigation into personal Christianity.

Debut author Dyche explains that, as a teenager, he yearned for freedom, which resulted in his joining the military. During his time overseas, he says, he “lived a very riotous life” and missed his family dearly. Later, he received a call that his father had been diagnosed with lung cancer and he made the drive from California to visit his family in West Virginia. Although the author would take time to talk with his father about God, his dad’s eventual passing would leave him in a “very tender spot.” Dyche says that he came to realize that “Being thankful for the time you have and not holding on to your true feelings for people—that is what truly matters.” He would also come to believe that his father wasn’t truly gone because “he now has life in God through Jesus.” Dyche follows these personal revelations with biblical quotations and reflections on topics such as faith, sin, and his own numerous tattoos (which he doesn’t describe in detail). The tattoos, he says, often work as conversation starters and tend to lead “into a witness of his testimony”; some people, he says, are surprised that someone who appeared to be a “bad boy” had embraced Christianity. Many other books discuss how “Jesus was the payment for sin” and the significance of Psalm 23, but the author’s personal account provides some engaging insights. Dyche explains his father’s vision of heaven and how “He talked about the grass, warm winds, and the clouds, and the overwhelming peace that resided there.” Another meditation on the author’s relationship with his wife includes how they “live life together even when it is undesirable and messy.” The conversational tone creates a feeling of authenticity and, at less than 125 pages, the book is a swift read.

Some material here walks a well-trod path, but readers will still find much to discover in the author’s journey.

Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-973600-16-9

Page Count: 130

Publisher: Westbow Press

Review Posted Online: March 13, 2018

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION

ROSE BOOK OF BIBLE CHARTS, MAPS AND TIME LINES

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ROSE BOOK OF BIBLE CHARTS, MAPS AND TIME LINES

by Timothy Paul Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2005

Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.

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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 â€œHow 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

Categories:

PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION

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THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS

AND OTHER ESSAYS

by Albert Camus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 1955

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This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.