Sherman's March

  Summary--Sherman's March is the vivid narrative of General William T. Sherman's devastating sweep through Georgia and the Carolinas in the closing days of the Civil War. Weaving together hundreds of eyewitness stories, Burke Davis graphically brings to life the dramatic experiences of the 65,000 Federal troops who plundered their way through the South and those of the anguished -- and often defiant -- Confederate women and men who sought to protect themselves and their family treasures, usually in vain. Dominating these events is the general himself -- "Uncle Billy" to his troops, the devil incarnate to the Southerners he encountered. (from Google Books)

Pro's--This book was one of the best written history books I have ever read. Burke did a masterful job weaving eyewitness accounts into one large and fascinating story. Sometimes I laughed, sometimes I felt sick. I felt as if I received a balanced perspective of everyone and was allowed to make my own decisions about whether or not they were a noble person.

Con's--Keep in mind this book comes mostly from eye witness accounts. There is a little bit of language, mentions of inappropriate things, and occasionally some gore.

Five stars. Ages 15 and up.

The Next Evangelicalism

It's true I haven't had a whole lot of to write for enjoyment at college, but I have been doing a lot of reading. (and a lot of writing about reading)

Here's a little bit from a book review on The Next Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah:

Content:

Soong-Chan Rah addresses a rather sensitive topic about how to free the Church from western cultural captivity. He tears the veil off of the white church, revealing exactly what is, has been, and how it is affecting other churches and cultures across the world. Rah contends that the next big evangelicalism will be the rise of multi-ethnic churches as immigrants flood the United States and Churches grow in other countries. As the white church conforms with society, it shrinks, becoming less and less like the Church God intended it to be. The question is whether or not the white-church will wake up and embrace this new change.

My Reaction:

I greatly appreciated the above points that Rah made, especially about materialism, consumerism, and individualism. It is so prevalent in our society, yet we are so blind to how it affects our churches. I also greatly appreciated that when Rah speaks of western cultural captivity, he is not just speaking about racism, but a much broader range of problems. My eyes were opened to just how culturally trapped we are in our churches in so many aspects, even in the content of our songs and the architecture of our buildings. It was also very convicting how he pointed out that we try to reach for multi-ethnicity in our churches, but we do not change our leaderships. 

 Near the middle of the book, I began to get a little bogged down. Rah began to get a little repetitive, and I began to feel like he was attacking the white church, and fitting all white churches into this category. However, in all honesty, I think I was just being convicted. I appreciated that at the end he drew lessons we could learn from multi-ethnic and immigrant churches. It does appear that we have a lot to learn from them, even in attitudes of more joy and praise in our music instead of self-focus. In summary, I felt like this book was well-thought out and convicting despite the difficulty I had in getting through it.

Four Stars, Ages 16 and up (based on difficulty of read)