The Maxson Homepage on the WWW
Posts about books or magazine articles I have read.
According to this article , 25% of Americans read no books last year. I think that is amazing. I don’t get to read as much as I want to (my reading posts on this blog are too few and far between) but I can’t imagine reading nothing.
How about you? Do you enjoy reading? Why or why not? Let me know!
At times I like to listen to audio books. Before my 2007 Thailand Trip, I went looking for audio books online. At that time, I came across Librivox. Librivox provides free audio books that they release into the public domain.
I think I’ll take a chapter a day (or perhaps week) and post as part of my podcast. That way, you can see what sort of literature interests me.
If you are in the St. Louis area this weekend, why not stop by a book signing:
Join us at Framations on Saturday, April 28: 11 am – 4 pm and have the opportunity to meet author Kathy Meyer and artist/illustrator Catherine Mahoney. Their first children’s book together, Daisy and Digger, is a story about two puppies who learn about sharing and forgiveness. The illustrations were created by Catherine from a series of watercolor paintings. The book is brimming with full page watercolor paintings. The paintings were inspired by people and places in Missouri, particularly Hermann where the author and illustrator both reside.
The book is currently available for sale at Framations for $15.
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Come for the book signing, and stay for the ArtWalk!It is a free event along Main Street in St. Charles this weekend Friday 5-10, Saturday 10-8, and Sunday 12-5. More than 80 artists work will be displayed in 19 locations along the street. For a full list of artists and a schedule of free live entertainment, visit http://www.saintcharlesriverfrontarts.com/. If you have questions, call Framations at 636.724.8313. Detailed maps for the ArtWalk, listing the venues and entertainment schedule will be available at all of the locations, including Framations.
Sarah Merideth
Framations Custom Framing and Art Gallery
218 North Main Street
St Charles, MO 63301
636-724-8313 Phone
636-724-8310 Fax
www.framations.com
samerideth@sbcglobal.net
It has been quite some time since I posted about books I have read (probably because I haven't had too much spare time to read). On the trip out, I finished two books that had been in my stack…one for a few weeks and one for several months.
I read Steve Saint's book entitles the Great Omission. This book is a must read for anyone interested in missions. He makes some interesting points that cause everyone to think.
The second book I read (actually finished) was Gordon MacDonald's Order in your Private World. This book is a must read for anyone who feels caught up in life or anyone seeking to balance their life.
It is currently 1:35 am to my body…I'm going to try to go to bed, but hopefully over the next week I'll have time to write some more information on each of these books.
I wish I were in China so I could visit this bookstore. This place looks awesome!
From http://www.thecoolhunter.net/design/HAVEN-FOR-THE-LITTLE-IMAGINATIONS-IN-BEIJING/.
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Recently, Stacy Harp of PersecutionBlog.com in conjunction with Voice of the Martyrs offered a free copy of VOM's new book Iran, desperate for God to members of the VOM Blogosphere. VOM is a ministry I enjoy supporting, so I agreed.
After some issues receiving the book (it sat in my inbox for several weeks before I realized I had actually received my pdf!), I printed it and began reading it. Before I get too far, I wanted to give everyone the stats on the book: |
This was one fast read! I read fast usually; however, the better the book, the easier the read. I printed the book on a Friday and started reading Saturday. By Sunday evening, I was finished! I couldn't put it down. Anyway, enough about me reading the book…let's get to the meat of the review.
At first, I didn't know what to expect. Was this going to be a book about Iranian history? Was this book going to be missionaries to Iran? Would it deal with Muslim/Christian conflict? In short, the answer is yes; however, a better description of the book is found on the VOM website:
An oppressive Islamic state drives its people into the arms of God! Despite the tremendous oppression in Iran, an intense spiritual hunger is breaking out across the country.
The salvation of Jesus Christ is sweeping through one of the most oppressive terrorist nations on earth. How can it be? Read seven testimonies of Muslims who found true freedom.
Iran, Despereate for God tells the complete stories of seven Muslim Background Believers (MBB). The stories where told by these MBBs in their native language then compiled for the book. Each story is unique; however, they all have one thing in common: the people in the story were pushed to accept Jesus as their Savior by the oppressive Islamic goverment in Iran. In addition, these stories should serve to prod us in America to action. Not only do we have brothers and sisters in Iran, we have ACTIVE brothers and sisters in Iran!
Below is just enough about the stories to whet your appetite for more:
Introduction: The six-year-old evangelist
A six-year old wants to witness to his teacher about Jesus, but how? This bold youngster takes Bibles and videos about Jesus to school and broaches the subject with his teacher.
Chapter 1: Searching for the Source of Power
As a fifth grader, a youngster buys a collection of 50 books about history (this was prerevolution). Later on, he received a tract about Jesus. As time goes on, he reads communist literature, Islamic literature, and Christian literature. He searches for answers from these books as well as from Mullahs. As he searches, he finds the answers he is seeking with Jesus. Christianity is more than blind faith!
Chapter 2: Padina in the House of Seinab
As a child and youth, a girl seeks comfort and approval from Allah in rituals. While watching a Christian TV program, she seeks answers. After trying to kill herself with sleeping pills, she accepts Christ.
Chapter 3: Who is Jesus?
This chapter tells the story of a young girl who doesn't grow up in a "good" home. Post revolution, she begins asking questions about rules she has to follow:
"When I was nine years old, because of the Islamic revolution, they forced me not to paint my fingernails or wear any makeup. I thought, Why are they doing this to me? What does this have to do with God–not painting my nails, or having to cover my hear and wear the big blak robe? What kind of help is this to me? What kind of relationship is this to God?"
She was later saved after watching the "Jesus film."
Chapter 4: Waiting for the Promised Mahdi
"Each week I would ride five hours in a taxi to a mosque, almost 160 kilometers (100 miles)…. I went every Tuesday for almost ten months…. Behind the mosque is a well. People who have requests for Mahdi or some prayers write them on a piece of paper, along with a verse from the Koran, and throw the paper to the bottom of the well…. Once or twice I wrote my request and put it in the well. But I still didn't get an answer. Maybe Mahdi didn't have time to read it."
This brother later got saved. Today he tries "…to grow more in His Word to prepare in case I am persecuted." Even though he goes on to state that people get angry towards them when they try to witness and even though the cell groups cannot sing with a loud voice because of the potential for problems, this brother doesn't think he is persecuted!
Chapter 5: Two Lights in the Desert
This is the story of a doctor and his wife. They and their family are Christian and suffering for Him. The doctor gets poor assignments, and his family suffers their own persecution. He has even been taken in my the police for questioning. In spite of all that, he is strong in serving the Lord!
"Although there are interrogations and warnings, we have an expression in Farsi: 'When you are drowning, it doesn't matter how much the water goes up, one inch or one meter….' Living in Iran, my security is in Jesus Christ."
Chapter 6: Hiding the Dish
Everywhere this lady went, everything pointed her to God. Her sister had become a Christian, and she noticed the difference. At work, coworkers witnessed to her. Her husband encouraged her. Eventually, she became a believer.
Chapter 7: The Fanatic
At a young age, this girl became a baseige (one who is totally devoted to Islam). This means she participated in more rituals and did extra (and special) duty. All along, all she ever wanted was to get closer to Allah. She was even involved in a play where her character wondered why she was there. All the time, she was questioning: "Really–why am I here?" In the end, it was a movie based on the Gospel of Luke. While that was on, she repented and accepted Christ!
Today, as she moves through the country, she caries two things: her Bible and "Jesus video." As she witnesses, persecution causes her to move around the country. In her words, "…persecution … pushed us out into new areas."
In conclusion, this book is awesome! Not only does it tell stories of our brothers and sisters in Christ, it should provide encuragement to everyone else. I would highly reccommend this book to anyone!
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I just wanted to let everyone know that I have given in. When the Da Vinci Code first came out, I said I wasn't going to read it. Why waste my time. Well, over the past couple of weeks, I have decided I'm going to read it and write a review. I'm also going to do some "defense" of Christianity; however, I don't know how much I'm going to do. Basically, doing too much with this is elevating this book above what it is…a work of fiction. Should historians write rebuttals to the fact that Tom Clancy wrote a book where Jack Ryan becomes President of the US? Should they talk about how the plane never crashed into the US Capitol? Clearly not…these events were a work of fiction. Same with Dan Brown's book. I haven't made up my mind how much I will write, but I'm planning to document what I do write well. |
In general, I think I tend to read a lot. I read things on the Internet along with books and traditional sources of information (magazines, newspapers, etc…). Recently, I had someone ask the following question:
I was wondering if you had any predominant reason why you read so many Internet articles vs. books. I was simply interested in your thought process because I assumed that mine was different and was interested in what yours might be:
As a general rule, I do not read articles of any kind (except for the ones you send me, because I typically find them interesting!) (this extends from newspapers all the way to the Internet), except for journals of theology. I figure that I have very limited time to read – if I am to read anything, it will be books on God, theology, or the Bible – books that have stood the test of time, classics, or books by the greatest scholars of today.
When it comes to books, I generally agree. I want the books I buy to be good solid books that either have or will withstood the test of time. Sometimes this works out and sometimes it doesn't. Here was my response:
Basically, I relate reading articles and blogs online to watching the news and keeping up with current events. I would say I have 3 main reasons for reading stuff on the internet:
1)Current events/blogs — I'll skim TONS of these 2-4 times/week. I may spend 5 min at it…I may spend 30 min at it. It just keeps me up to date with lots of different topics.
2)Research — I have something specific I'm looking for or want to learn more about. In this case, I can read lots of things on the internet, get many different viewpoints, then make up my mind. it also lets me research things I would never spend money on (after Cyndi and I went skiing, I wanted to learn a tad more about mormonism. The internet let me learn about it, but I never would have supported a mormon author with money)
3)Yak Shaving — I start reading about one thing which leads to another which leads to another. This doesn't happen often, but mindless surfing of the internet is a BIG BIG waste of time. I try to not do too much of this.
The idea I was seeking to convey was what I have explained above: the books I purchase I tend to be picky about. Reading on the internet allows me to expose myself to many different ideas which I can then use to form my opinion on issues/situations. However, I don't give everything the same weight. An article by someone solid will carry more weight with me than just a general blog post I stumble across. An article by someone who clearly has a wrong slant will get tossed asside without much thought.
Just like in a military situation it is important to know who you are and who your enemies are, it is important I know enough about what I stand on to defend my views, but I also need to be familiar with other's views and what they believe. This will allow us to have a close-to-common base. For example, Muslims believe Jesus was real, believe that Jesus did miracles, and they even believe in the virgin birth. If I wasn't aware of that and simply started talking to a Muslim, I would totally misunderstand what they were trying to say. However, having a basic knowledge of what others think and understanding that the same word may mean something totally different forms a necessary base on which to build.
So, how about you? Why do you read? How are you in critically evaluating your sources? Books you purchase? Articles you read? Things you use to form opinions?
Do you have books or do you have a library? For those who know Cyndi and I know we have a library (last count 5 normal bookshelves chock full of books and that is only half). I came across this library/card catalog site you can use yourself. I'm thinking about signing up for the free trial. If so, I'll let everyone know what I think.
I ran across this site today and thought it may be of interest to my readers. I don't know anything about the quality of the contributors so you'll have to do your own research and decide what to think.
