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Paul, Apostle of Christ – Movie Review

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This movie takes place right before Paul is beheaded. Luke, is writing the book of Acts and is gathering information from Paul. Throughout the whole movie, the infant Christian church is facing unfathomable persecution in Rome at the hands of Nero. We meet Priscilla and Aquilla in their home and see their faith in action. There is also a sub-story of a Roman soldier dealing with the sickness of his young daughter and losing his pagan faith. Also, we get to meet Paul towards the end of his life and see the inner turmoil he deals with from his past life in darkness and the hauntings of violent memories.

I really appreciated this movie. The whole underlying theme of it is the hope only a Believer has which is eternity with our Savior. It is so easy to forget that this is not our home. Life in the USA is so comfortable that we really lack the longing our previous brothers and sisters had under the iron rule of Rome. And even when we do face hardships, Americans are very quick to blame God or to become upset with Him. There is nothing wrong to having strong feelings and moments of sadness when grieving a loss, but our pain should be different,(I Thess. 4:13) and hardships should not surprise us (I Peter 4:12).

The only problem I had with the movie is I couldn’t understand Olivier Martinez who played the Roman. I really had to figure what he was saying and I wished for subtitles (the only way I watch movies). I also hated how Jesus looked, he looked rather feminine. Other than that, I really enjoyed the movie.

The movie is gruesome in some parts. There is a Christian who is burned alive. Paul gets flogged. Christians are rounded up to be fed to wild animals. There are other scenes like this. This movie has a serious undertone, so I believe younger children will be bored with it. The violence is the reason for the PG-13 rating. There is no nudity or foul language. There are some adult themes.

I recommend this movie to all Believers and anyone interested in period movies. Due to the violence, I would only take my older teenagers 13+.

Speaking Truth in Love – Book Review

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The title of the book perfectly sums up what this book is about. In a day-in-age where truth is relative, there is a strong need for such a direct book. This book was required reading for a course I am taking, but it can also be beneficial to all Christians, since we are constantly around our fellow brothers and sisters and should be involved in their lives.

The book gives a lot of examples on how to ask questions, and it also gives a lot of practical advice on what to say. I found it surprising just how much it emphasizes on first and foremost being honest with myself, before I expect anyone else to be honest with me.

There are corroborating verses with everything he says and I was grateful for the challenges Mr. David Powlison presented to the reader. He really lays it on thick on not being a hypocritical counselor. All the advice I give to those I talk to, should also be advise I give to myself. We all have the same sinful nature and fleshly tendencies.

I recommend this book if you plan on discipling other Christians or if you are a pastor or plan to become one.

You can buy this book here.

Lord of the Flies – Book Review

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This review contains spoilers.

Lord of the Flies is a classic. It is a book about a group of boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island. As they struggle to keep some kind of order and establish a form of hierarchy things unravel into a frightful scene of death, betrayal, and depravity.

I read this book when I was in high school and I was amazed at how much I had forgotten about it. Left on our own without law or moral standard, we are just like these boys. Whoever doesn’t believe in total depravity and who thinks that man is morally good, really doesn’t understand how naturally vile we are. This book was horrible. The way Simon dies, I had forgotten and I had to stop reading for a bit because of the violence committed to him. Towards the end Ralph is chased around the island and I was so relieved when help finally came. Also, when the female pig is killed, what a horrendous scene. William Golding is a great story teller. At the beginning of the book he explains that when he wrote about the boys on the Island, he wrote about how boys naturally behave around each other and when adults are not around. I found it very interesting when he writes about the boys forgetting what they were going to say or the inability of saying the right things or having difficulty of explaining what they are thinking. I have four boys, and I have noticed that they often times can’t put into words what is going on in their mind and they do quickly forget their train of thought. This was interesting to me. There were so many thoughts that came to mind as I read. How is anyone good? What keeps us from becoming like these boys? Although I am aware of the atrocities committed everyday, I do live in a country were I am safe. There are people all around me who own guns, who are stronger than me, who have access to cars, shovels, pick axes, bows, knifes and other potential weapons and they don’t kill me even when I anger them. Is it the law? Maybe. Is it their conscience? Maybe. This is why I believe this book has become a classic. It raises a lot of questions about ourselves and it is good to delve into the conundrums, mysteries and philosophies of human nature.

I recommend this book to older teenage boys, I don’t think teenage girls will really enjoy a bunch of boys being degenerate with one another. I also recommend it to the adult who has already read it. I think as adults, re-reading classics is very beneficial, now that our brains are a little more developed. If you haven’t read this book, I recommend it if you like books about adventure and/or dystopian settings.

Bible verses that came to mind when I read this book:

  • All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. – Romans 3:12
  • For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries. – Mark 7:21

You can buy this book here.

 

The Rook – Book Review

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The Rook is the 2nd book of the Patrick Bowers series by Stephen James. This book is about a murderer who video tapes the death of his victims. Simultaneously there seems to be an arsonist on the loose and a government secret weapon that has the potential of changing the way wars are fought forever. All this is going on and in the backdrop Patrick and his relationship with his step-daughter is stressed and strengthened. There also seems to be a growing romantic relationship with Patrick and Lien-Hua. We also learn a little more about Lien-Hua.

This book is intense. The author gloriously lead me astray several times and I was sad when the book ended. But I am grateful to know that this is a series, so I am not too sad knowing there are 5 more books available.

I recently learned that the author is a practicing Christian and you really can’t tell. Let me clarify. The book takes the reader to the dark cesspool of human nature. It is grim, and the murderers are vile. The book frightened me at times because of how dark it was, but the author never used cuss words, never depicted sex scenes or gave too much detail of the violence committed by the bad guys. This is what makes Mr. James a great author. He paints a picture just clear enough to allow our own depravity to assume what is going to happen next. He also sprinkles deep theology into his books without being preachy about it. This is so hard to do, but Mr. James does it effortlessly. The story line very well developed and I can’t wait to get my hands on the 3rd book!

I highly recommend this book to those who like mystery, thriller, detective, and suspense books. Also, I really think that any one with a military background will enjoy the Patrick Bowers series.

You can buy the book here

Black Panther – Movie Review

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Black Panther is a Marvel movie that takes place after T’Challa helps out in Captain America – Civil War. In this movie we learn how Wakanda choses its king, and also about its culture and other traditions. T’Challa has to prove to his country that he is the best choice to be their king and leader. Wakanda is a hidden African nation whose massive storages of vibranium allow it to be a very technologically advanced culture.

For being a Marvel comic movie there didn’t seem to be many action scenes. I also didn’t like how the Wakandians called CIA Agent Everette Ross a “colonialist”. I doubt Agent Ross colonialized anything. The acting was okay even for a Marvel movie and I had a hard time understanding what most of the Wakandians were saying. At first I thought it was the sound in the theater, but it wasn’t because I understood all others with no accents with no problem – like Erik Killmonger. Other than these things, the movie was okay. There was a lot of opportunity to take breathtaking scenic shots and the directors blew it. The movie felt long also. There were some funny parts in the movie, but not enough action or mind-blowing scenes.

If you are a Marvel fan, I recommend this movie, but younger Marvel fans may find the movie a bit long.

There are several times were the actors say “sh*t”. Princess Shuri flips off her brother. There is no nudity or sexuality in the movie. There are several fight scenes, but nothing gory. The movie is rated PG-13 for action violence and because of Shuri flipping the bird. .

The Last Tudor – Book Review

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The Last Tudor is about the three Grey sisters during Tudor times, and like all Philippa Gregory book it is written in the first person. The book starts off with Jane Grey, then Katherine Grey and ends with little Mary Grey. Their stories are generally sad and they end up losing to Queen Elizabeth. I am not spoiling anything, because everyone knows that Queen Elizabeth is never usurped and there is reason she stayed on the throne for so long.

Like almost all of Mrs. Gregory’s books, I really enjoyed the read. This one really didn’t stick out  much like “The Taming of the Queen” did for me but it wasn’t a bore either. I was unfamiliar with the stories of these women and I was quiet intrigued by their lives. Mrs. Gregory is a great story teller and it was a good way to end the Tudor dynasty.

I really wish she would write about Queen Isabella of Castile and her family. There is some very interesting drama there!

The book does have about three loves scenes, but they are not descriptive and they didn’t go on for long. There is no swearing and there is some theology in this book about “learning to die”. I would let only my older teen daughters read this book (16+) due to these themes.

You can buy the book here.

Retribution – Netflix Movie Review

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Retribution is a 4 part movie series about two families who happen to also be neighbors in rural Scotland. They are joined forever by the marriage of their child to the other child. The young couple weds and two weeks later they are killed. And that is just the beginning of this convoluted story.

At the beginning, the movie drags on a bit and it is hard to figure out who is who to whom. Slowly the kinship to each person is figured out, but even in the end, I was left a bit confused. Either way, it is hard to develop sentiment towards the characters when you can’t figure out who is related to what person.

Also, I just can’t stand it when a great plot is destroyed by propaganda. The story line was great, but it was shattered by these inserts of left leaning ideals. The passionate defender husband, in the end is really a boyfriend and she leaves him for his protectiveness. The unforgiving mother forgives no one else, especially the men, but does forgive the woman who did most harm. The compassionate character shows compassionate to all others except towards the religious patriarch.  It was absurd!

The acting was great, the plot was interesting, even the crazy climax was insane – in a good way! But when the killer was revealed, it was such a huge let down!

I recommend this movie only to those who don’t care about some anti patriarchy. anti-religious, feminist leanings. All this was made evident in the last episode.

There are cuss words, one very short love scene with no nudity, and violence. On Netflix it is rated TV-MA.

Ben Franklin Biography – Book Review

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Every year, Tim Challies puts out a reading challenge. Every year, I also set a goal for myself for how many books I would like to read. This year I would like to read 40 books, and I use Mr. Challies reading challenge as a guide to expand my reading preferences. One of those genres in the challenge is to read a biography. So I chose to read the biography on Benjamin Franklin by Maria M. Higgins.

The book was to the point and didn’t drag. I read it in a couple of days and learned quiet a bit about Mr. Franklin. It was a very easy read and didn’t spend too much time with opinions and aggrandizing Mr. Franklin.

Some things I learned from the book:

Electricity has been around a lot longer than I first thought.

Mr. Franklin was the first to write about daylight savings

He never married, but had a common law wife. He really wasn’t too nice to her.

He invented the glass harmonica.

He was the first in America to print and use political cartoons to get across political views.

He had an insatiable curiosity, that was admirable.

 

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about this interesting man who lived a very fascinating life. I love his motto: “Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing. ” He certainly lived up to it.

The Snowman – Book Review

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Summary:

The Snowman is the 7th book in a series with the main character being the tall,  Harry Hole. For several years women involved in adulterous affairs have been disappearing. Sometimes their bodies are found and sometimes only parts of them are. This book takes place in Norway during the first snow – the hunting ground of the Snowman. There are several suspects and the story line twists and turns until it comes to an ending that leaves Harry maimed for the rest of his life.

The beginning and the end were really good in the book, but it did get a little slow and long in the middle. As the book was ending there were several times the author purposely mislead me and that was great! Those twists and word play made this book a good read, but it still could have done without a lot of the long descriptions in the middle.

I have never read this author before and I probably wont again. He used too many cuss words and there was mindless sex throughout the book. Also, the story in itself wasn’t that good. He did do a good job in surprising me who the killer was, but nothing more. I really didn’t like Harry, but this can be because I don’t “know” him from the other 6 books Mr. Nesbo used to develop this character.

I really don’t recommend this book. It was long and Harry Hole was the typical broken, alcoholic detective. I don’t think it brought anything new to the thriller/mystery genre. I did find out the book was turned into a movie. I am still trying to decide if I will see it or not. Probably not.

If you are interested in reading this book, you can order it here.

Peter and the Starcatchers – Book Review

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No Spoilers.

This book is about beginnings. It tells the story about how Peter becomes Peter Pan and sets the stage for many adventures. It also tells us about how Tinkerbell came to be. All the important Disney Neverland characters that we enjoyed in our childhood come alive in this beautiful book.

I began this book by reading it out loud to my children, but it did have a lot of sea jargon and soon the littler ones started to lose interest, so we discontinued the book. The book is probably best for tweens or younger teenagers. My 12 year old really liked it, so he is reading it on his own now.

The book is very well written and is funny. The authors developed the characters very well and the ending comes together with two epic pirate fights. The pirates are just scoundrels (as they should be) and the authors capture the strong female role superbly. I really enjoyed Molly and her sense of honor and strength.  The ending was perfect and I respected the decision made by Peter. His logical conclusion about his situation was exactly what a boy in his circumstance would have done. Peter had to grow up quickly in the harsh world he had lived in, so I can see why his thoughts come with so much maturity. I wanted him to make another choice, but in the end it was for the best.

I recommend this book to the tween, teen, or even the adult who likes fun and adventurous books. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the series. Also, any Peter Pan fan would also love this book. It is a very believable beginning for the loveable characters of the Disney classic: Peter Pan.

You can buy this book on Amazon here