"Illusion" by Frank Peretti

There is no author of Christian fiction that I admire more than Frank Peretti. His book "The Visitation" is my all-time favorite Christian fiction novel (I've read it over a dozen times - I lost count). So many of his books are so good, I'm totally convinced that he is incapable of writing a bad book. He first captured my attention when I was a kid - I read the Cooper Kids series over and over and over again. I then determined to buy every single book that he would ever write. And I've never been disappointed. He writes stories that have wonderful spiritual significance.

Peretti takes a surprising turn with this novel - it is a love story and a time-travel story. As I mentioned in my review of "The Skin Map", time-travel books are very difficult. Some authors try too hard to explain the scientific concepts behind the traveling through time and, in the process, lose the power of the story itself. Peretti not only presents a fascinating description of the process of traveling through time, he ensures that the story itself is what keeps the pages turning. And what a superb story it is! Veteran magician Dane Collins loses his wife in an accident, but then he finds a young girl who is EXACTLY like his wife was - 40 years ago. Could it really be Mandy? It is, and she has somehow figured out a way to manipulate time and space. (By the way, every time I saw the phrase "Dane and Mandy" in the book, I couldn't help but think of my old Greek grammar textbook from Greek II in Bible college, which my professor referred to as "Dana and Mantey", after the authors of the grammar book!)
The love story is really tangible. It is refreshing to see an author write a love story that presents the mystery of true lasting love - no sexuality or youthful lusts necessary. Just love. Sacrificial, committed, never-ending, overcoming love. (Like God's love for us...) This gives me an idea of the character of the man who wrote the novel and what kind of husband he might be.
The ending was everything you could hope for a Peretti novel. There were some fantastic surprises that just blew my mind, and I'm still trying to figure out some of them. The last 100 pages of the book flew by so fast...
What great lessons Frank Peretti is trying to teach us! As Christians, we are living in 2 worlds simultaneously. But, we will never be at rest until we are united with the One we love more than anything!
If you have never read any of Peretti's books, I recommend you start with some of his earlier novels and read this one later. You can tell in this book that he is a veteran author who is very comfortable writing - but you have to read an early book to see how much he has grown as an author.
In short, I give this book an easy 5 out of 5 stars! Bravo, Mr. Peretti!
By the way, you can hear Frank Peretti read the first chapter and watch a video of him talking about recording the audiobook here.

"Fyodor Dostoevsky", A Christian Encounters book by Peter Leithart

I must say that I knew very little about Dostoevsky the man - and after reading this biography, maybe that was a good thing. His books are powerful, acclaimed as classics (and rightly so). His influence on Russian culture and literature is undeniable. His life, however, was less admirable than his work.
Dostoevsky was a Christian, at least in one sense. He affirmed that Christ should be the center of life for all men, but I am not sure how Biblical his Christology actually was - and the book doesn't really address that. It does state that Dostoevsky was apparently a part of the Orthodox church, so we can make a few deductions based on that information.
Plagued with bad health for much of his life, Dostoevsky had some vices which were suprising to me for some reason: gambling, drinking, anger, and women. He had at least one very obvious mistress while his first wife was dying. But if there were one, there could also be others not so obvious. He wasted much of the little money he had on gambling. And he was quick to have fits of anger and shouting when conversing.
My review, however, is not about Dostoevsky's life - but about this book. And I must say that the book had some vices as well. To begin with, there were at least four curse words used in the book. This was totally unnecessary. And, I might add, it was offensive to the (supposed) target audience of Christian readers. There was also a scene that was far too sensual in nature - and it, also, was unnecessary. That scene added absolutely nothing to my understanding of Dostoevsky's life. The last negative point I will make about the book was the lack of continuity. The book darts back and forth between different times in Dostoevsky's life, and it was not easy to remember which time frame fit where.
Now for the positive notes. I really appreciated the book being written as an almost fictionalization of Dostoevsky's life. It made it much more interesting than the mere recitation of facts and dates. It also must have been very difficult to write an accurate biography in this way, so my respect goes to Mr. Leithart for his effort. He accomplished this task by basing many of the conversations in the book on actual writings of the people involved in the dialogue, and he footnotes them well.
Because of the "fictionalized" nature of the book, it was difficult to know which parts were absolutely true and which were made up. However, the book did spark my interest in the life of Dostoevsky, and I will read his writings with a new appreciation for the man behind them.
In all, I will give this book  3 out of 5 stars.
I received this book free from the publishers in exchange for my honest review.

"Whosoever Will" by David Allen (editor) and Steve Lemke (editor)

It took me several months to read this book. Partially because it contains some very deep theological information, and my brain could not quite process it all in a quick manner. The other reason is that I got distracted by some other books I wished to read. Needless to say, I am very glad I finished the book - not just because it was taking so long to read. Anyone who is interested in the discussion of salvation as it regards the theological system of Calvinism will find this book to be an invaluable resource.

I love the brutal honesty of this book. The editors state that the official position of the book is neutral. They are neither for nor against Calvinism or Arminianism. They merely wish to contribute to the dialogue with an honest critique of Calvinism from a conservative Biblical and theological perspective. Having said that, the authors of each chapter freely admit that there are inherent problems no matter which theological perspective you are attempting to defend. The only reasonable position to take, then, is the one which does the least damage to the Biblical evidence, the sovereignty of God, and the free will of man. In reading these pages, it is clear that Calvinism (in its traditional sense) is not the best answer.

By far, my favorite chapter is the first one - a sermon transcript from Jerry Vines on John 3:16. (Perhaps I am biased because I am a preacher, not a theologian). But there is not a single chapter in the book which is not thought-provoking and informative. The first part of the book addresses the five points of Calvinism in order. The second part of the book looks at some peripheral (but important) issues. The chapter, "Was Calvin a Calvinist?" was especially interesting. There were also great chapters concerning the public invitation, the existence of evil, and the free will of man.

Any student of theology would do well to read this book, and any Christian who ponders the imponderables of God and salvation should at least attempt to read it.

"A Radical Idea" (Booklet) by David Platt

Well... This was a small (about 60 pages) booklet written by David Platt. I tremendously enjoyed "Radical" and have been looking forward to reading "Radical Together."
Judging from the cover of this booklet, I assumed that the contents might largely be drawn from "Radical Together," but I was surprised to find that much of the content was found in the original "Radical."
I really didn't get the purpose of the booklet... It appears that it is meant to be passed out in order to generate interest for Dr. Platt's other books. If so, it is a good (quick) introduction to the message of the original book.
However, the new point of the little book is fairly obvious: that God intends to use people in the church. I understand that Dr. Platt is trying to draw a distinction between "professional ministry leaders" and "lay-people"...but seriously, where did the professionals come from? We aren't growing them in secret labs in the basement of our seminaries and Bible colleges. All ministry professionals were, at one time, lay-people! Those church members who are content to sit back and not actually do anything probably have a bigger spiritual issue than just an absence of the realization that they, too, can serve in the church.
If the book was intended as an interest-grabber for the other Radical titles, then it hit its mark fairly well. But, as a stand-alone additional concept to add to the other titles, it is rather disappointing.
By the way, I was given 10 of these copies in a bundle from the publishers in exchange for my honest review. If you are a member of Layton Chapel and would like to have one, please email, call, or text me (or you can comment on this review).