JRF's #19 - The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

The 5th installment of the John Carter of Mars series, The Chessmen of Mars follows John Carter and Dejah Thoris' daughter Tara into adventure, romance, and the bizarre.  Tara Carter inherited her mothers beauty and her fathers tenacity.  Yet being the sheltered daughter of the planets most powerful and famous couple has left her character unproven and her judgement lacking.  When a temper tantrum ends with her getting lost in an unknown corner of Mars and subsequently captured by subterranean humanoids with detachable heads and telekinetic powers, its up to Prince Gahan of Gathol, her rejected suitor, to find and rescue her.

Sci fi action, adventure and romance...my second favorite book in the series so far.

JRF's #18 - A Holy Ambition by John Piper

This collection of Missions themed sermons has been thoroughly and excellently reviewed by Ally already here so I won't rehash it.  My only disagreement with Ally's review is to recommend listening to these sermons rather than reading them.  Having heard most of them throughout the years before this book was published I missed hearing Piper's passionate and trembling voice as he points us to the promises of God that must compel us to forsake all lesser things for the global glory of our King.

JRF's #17 - The Pearl by John Steinbeck

The Pearl is Steinbeck's retelling of a Mexican folktale and it is beautiful, engaging, and brutal.  It follows Kino, a poor, uneducated father, fisherman, and husband in Baja Mexico.  In a desperate attempt to earn enough money to save his infant son from illness, Kino finds the "pearl of the world".  The story explores the human heart as greed, the drive for survival, love of family, power, and paranoia bleed from this pearl through Kino's home, village, and out into the desert ending in a brutally devastating climax.

Read The Pearl for its beautiful storytelling.

Read The Pearl to remind yourself of the dangers of giving into the lusts that claw for the affections of your heart.

JRF's #16 - Jesus Himself by Andrew Murray

Andrew Murray was a pastor, author, and missions leader in South Africa around the turn of the 20th century.  In this collection of sermons Murray compels his hearers and readers to move beyond mere knowledge about Jesus to a heart satisfied with nothing less than the living and present Jesus Himself.

The first half focuses on the disciples' encounter with the risen Jesus on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24).  Murray draws out four stages of the Christian life from this account.  The first stage is that of the sad and troubled heart.  This is the heart that sees Christ dead on the cross - and is rightly sorrowed at his death and our sinfulness that required that death - but fails to see that Christ is no longer hanging lifeless on the tree but is risen and living.  Next comes the heart that is slow to believe - those who have heard the Good News about Christ but think they still need to feel something or do something more to be able to fully commit to believing.  They have yet to realize that Christ can not be discovered, but must be revealed and simply believed.  Thirdly, the burning heart.  This is the person who has had one or multiple experiences or tastes of the living Christ, but is trusting and chasing after the experience and not Christ.  They have felt the glow and warmth of Christ's light, but have yet to see Christ Himself.  Finally the true Christian comes to rest with a satisfied heart.  This is the point at which those who have been drawn to Christ finally see Him revealed as the risen Savior and King that He is and find his joy in His presence alone.

Part two exposits Christ's promise to be with His followers "always, even to the end of the age" (Matt 28:20).  Murray declares that this promise "is the secret of the Christian's strength and joy".  He points out that by ascending to Heaven and sending the Holy Spirit, Christ is able to do what He was not able to do while on earth - be in intimate fellowship with every believer throughout the world.

This book makes a good companion to Rick Holland's Uneclipsing the Son which I read earlier this year.  Both books have helped grow and spur on a deep, unshakable satisfaction in King Jesus.

"Oh, the difference between a burning heart, which becomes cold after a time, which comes by fits and starts, and the blessed revelation of Jesus Himself as my Saviour, taking charge of me and blessing me and keeping me every day!"

"Jesus, reveal Thyself that we may know Thee Thyself.  We ask not only to drink of the Living Water, we want the Fountain."

You can get it free for the kindle here

JRF's #15 - Indescribable by Louie Giglio and Matt Redman

 

Anyone who knows Louie Giglio knows what this book is about.  And you know your soul will be blessed by reading it.  Indescribable is Giglio and Redman doing what they do best.  Leading us in worship of our Great Savior and Creator by pointing us to His marvelous creation that screams His praise.

I learned a lot about astronomy from this book.  I even friended the Hubble Space Telescope on Facebook as a result.  So I can recommend it on the basis of its accessible and well researched astronomical information.  But infinitely more important is how Giglio and Redman use that information to stoke worship and wonder in the hearts of those who seek to worship the Creator and not the creation.

Read this book and get lost in wonder at our Beautiful Lord who creates and sustains galaxies with His words.

"Your greatest glory is not a great you, but you radiating more of His great light."  - LG

p.s. I got this book for free on the Kindle (yes I have a Kindle now).  The free part was great but took away a lot from the experience as there are full page pictures every few pages which the Kindle screen just didn't do justice to.  This is one to get in print.

JRF's #14 - Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Book 4 of Burroughs' 11 volume Barsoom series focuses on the adventures of Thuvia, princess of Ptarth and third most beautiful woman on Mars and Carthoris,  the son of John Carter and Dejah Thoris.  If that last sentence was unintelligible to you I recommend you skip this review and start with the first book in the series - A Princess of Mars.  

For the three of you that are still with me, this story is what you have come to expect from one of the masters of pulp fiction.  Romance, adventure, chivalry, sci-fi, treachery, and bloody sword fights.  Like the other books, it is interesting to see how ideas and technologies that were all the rage at the time of writing (like communism, flight, Theosophy) worked their way into the plot.  If you like this series or genre, book four will not disappoint.