Ron’s #43: Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson

Wanting to read a book that explicitly discusses the need for raising boys, I first thought of this volume. I know that raising a boy has specific challenges than raising girls because—gasp!—boys and girls are different. Contrary to what society has to say on the matter, there are differences in gender. Along with these differences come the different needs for these children. James Dobson addresses some of them well.

The part of the book I enjoyed the most is the need for boys to have a father. On many television shows and movies, the father is the dork or imbecile compared to the wise, all-knowing mother. This picture damages what the role of a man is in boys’ eyes. Dobson points out that a boy needs a father in order to grow up as a healthy man in society. With the many fatherless families in America, this results in a problem for all of society, but especially for that boy.

This book reminded me not only what my son needs, but also of what I need to give. He watches me and will become the man that I am. He will treat his wife the way I treat mine, he will talk the way I talk, and he will lead his family spiritually the way I lead mine, and he will trust Christ and pray the way I do. This is a tall order, one that I need grace for daily.

Ron’s #41: What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert

Whether you are a Christian or a non-Christian, Greg Gilbert’s What is the Gosepl? is one of the clearest overviews of what Christians believe. In about 122 pages, Gilbert discusses God, Man, Sin, the Cross, and Redemption. For the Christian, knowing the Gospel is pivotal in one’s sanctification.

Here is an overview of the Gospel and the book using Gilbert’s quotations:

“An emaciated gospel leads to emaciated worship. It lowers our eyes from God to self and cheapens what God has accomplished for us in Christ. The biblical gospel, by contrast, is like fuel in the furnace of worship. The more you understand about it, believe it, and rely on it, the more you adore God both for who he is and for what he has done for us in Christ” (20).

"We are accountable to the God who created us. We have sinned against that God and will be judged. But God has acted in Jesus Christ to save us, and we take hold of that salvation by repentance from sin and faith in Jesus. God. Man. Christ. Response” (32).

"A common view of God is that he’s much like an unscrupulous janitor. Instead of really dealing with the world’s dirt—its sin, evil, and wickedness—he simply sweeps it under the rug, ignores it, and hopes no one will notice. In fact, many people cannot conceive of a God who would do anything else. “God judge sin?” they say. “Punish me for wickedness? Of course he wouldn’t do that. It wouldn’t be loving” (43).

"Ultimately, it means that I’m the one who should have died, not Jesus. I should have been punished, not he. And yet he took my place. He died for me. They were my transgressions, but his wounds. My iniquities, but his chastisement. My sin, his sorrow. And his punishment bought my peace. His stripes won my healing. His grief, my joy. His death, my life” (68).

“Faith is not believing in something you can’t prove, as so many people define it. It is, biblically speaking, reliance. A rock-solid, truth-grounded, promise-founded trust in the risen Jesus to save you from sin” (73).

“Even as we slog through the trials, persecutions, irritations, temptations, distractions, apathy, and just plain weariness of this world, the gospel points us to heaven where our King Jesus—the Lamb of God who was crucified in our place and raised gloriously from the dead—now sits interceding for us. Not only so, but it calls us forward to that final day when heaven will be filled with the roaring noise of millions upon millions of forgiven voices hailing him as crucified Savior and risen King” (122).

Here is a link to Mark's previous review of this book.

Ron’s #40: The Tempest by William Shakespeare

I had to read this again before I taught it this year to my 10th grade Honors class. It is not in the top of Shakespeare plays that I’ve read, but I do like the theme of exile, and the aspect that Prospero is a representation of Shakespeare himself.

Last year at this time, the movie version of The Tempest was released, changing Prospero to Prospera. I cannot figure out the reason for the change, except a political/ideological agenda. The movie was a critical and commercial flop, as it should be. This will prevent future Hamleta and Romea and Julieto films.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdpQcFdfXdY

Ron’s #39: Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov

I need to read more about the art of teaching to help me stay out of the ruts that I often create the longer I teach. Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College is one of these books to help keep my classroom fresh, challenging, and engaging.

As the subtitle states, Doug Lemov collects 49 techniques that can easily be added to a classroom routine or a teacher’s repertoire to engage students in lessons. These are easy-to-implement strategies that will improve student learning. Here are a few examples:

Technique #1: No Opt Out A sequence that begins with a student unable to answer a question should end with the student answering that question as often as possible

Technique #5: Without Apology. If teachers aren’t on guard, they can unwittingly apologize for teaching worthy content (“Sorry, but this is boring but you need to know it.”). Kids respond to challenges, so instead of apologizing, say: “lots of people don’t understand this until they get to college, but you’ll know it now. Cool.”

Technique #22: Cold Call. In order to make engaged participation the expectation, call on students regardless of whether they have raised their hands. Cold calling is an engagement strategy, not a discipline strategy.

Technique #26: Everybody Writes Set your students up for rigorous engagement by giving them the opportunity to reflect first in writing before discussing.

Technique #45: Warm/Strict. Teachers must be both: caring, funny, warm, concerned, and nurturing – and strict, by the book, relentless, and sometimes inflexible. Teachers send the message to students that having high expectations is part of caring for and respecting someone.

I have already implemented a few of these in my class with great success. In fact, my profession goal this year is to try a minimum of ten techniques per quarter, and reflect on the dozen or so that are the ones that work the best for me. It will be a challenge, but I think that trying these can add to my growth in teaching.

The book also comes with a DVD showing the techniques in action. I anticipated that I would enjoy the DVD more than I actually did. It is an added bonus to purchasing this book.

If you are a teacher, I really think that this book is worth a look.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC0ltKOwF_A

Ron’s #38: Lit! by Tony Reinke

“Almost all men are infected with the disease of desiring useless knowledge. It is of great importance that we should be told what is necessary for us to know, and what the Lord desires us to contemplate, above and below, on the right hand and on the left, before and behind.

The love of Christ is held out to us as the subject which ought to occupy our daily and nightly meditations, and in which we ought to be wholly plunged.” –John Calvin, as quoted in Lit! p. 96.

I love books on the power and importance of reading. I saw Lit! reviewed somewhere, and I thought it sounded like something I’d like to read. The subtitle tempered my eagerness to read the book (“A Christian Guide to Reading Books”), but I still bought it, and I was glad that I did.

Tony Reinke focuses on the importance of reading, how to choose books, and how to read books. It is NOT, as the subtitle suggests, a book list of terrible yet “religious” books to read. Rather, he begins with the premise that Christians are to be people of the Word and of words. God reveals Himself through the written word, and we ought to strive to understand what words mean.

I liked his list of the six priorities that decide what books to read:

1. Reading Scripture

2. Reading to know and delight in Christ

3. Reading to kindle spiritual reflection

4. Reading to initiate personal change

5. Reading to pursue vocational excellence

6. Reading to enjoy a good story

He offers ways to increase our reading time, along with a small treaty on how the Internet cripple book reading (chapter 11). Given my heavy reading recently on the problems with my time on the Internet, I especially enjoyed that chapter. He and I seem to be kindred spirits on this issue. Reinke even realizes that his Kindle often interferes with reading time. This is something that I recently noticed in myself, and I have backed off from reading books on screens when a physical book is available.

I highly recommend this book is you want to read more, read better, or read with a larger purpose. I heavily marked my copy of this book because it will be one that I’ll want to review when I forget.

As the ultimate Book in authority and power states, “So, whether you eat or drink [or read], or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). Tony Reinke’s Lit! helped me to see how this is done.