http://www.goodreads.com/user/updates_rss/812156 en-US Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:11:47 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 30920270 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:11:47 -0700 Review26941590 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26941590 to: Renewing Your Mind in a Mindless World: Learning to Think and Act Biblically (Paperback) by James Montgomery Boice
bookshelves: read_spirituality-theology
This book does a good job of succinctly defining the basis of Christian faith in areas such as acting as a living sacrifice and the meaning of God's grace, holiness, and mercy. In doing so, Boice unpacks some seemingly simple Bible verses, and this lays the foundation for why Christians want to act a certain way in response to the mindlessness of our culture.

It isn't until about mid-way through the book in Chapter 6--The Pattern of This Age--that Boice gets into the meat of the topic of his book and the reason I checked out this book to begin with. He digs deep into Romans 12:2, which states, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world," and uses it as a catalyst to define "worldliness" and "secularism," as well as several other "isms".

His examination of Romans 12:2 continues into Chapter 7--This Mindless Age--as he makes very compelling arguments about the decline of Western culture--specifically American culture--and how we've gotten accustomed to letting others do our thinking for us. While many people fear a 1984-style Big Brother watching our every move and restricting the consumption of information kind of oppression, we've careless fallen into the Brave New World state in which passivity and egoism are the true threats to our ability to think for ourselves. With such mindless creatures who believe without questioning, there is no need for a Big Brother type figure to keep us in line. We're as passive as possible.

Boice's underlying message seems to be that the central force that drives our mindless acceptance of societal truisms is television media. This makes perfect sense given our addiction to hand-fed entertainment and media-bent news and events.

At this point, Boice offers an almost formulaic approach to continual mind-renewal that keeps one grounded in the base truths that our faith offers. ]]> 32261325 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:15:59 -0700 FacebookUser106901 http://apps.facebook.com/good_reads/ check it out » ]]> 32208399 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:13:48 -0700 Review27940857 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27940857 ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income (Paperback) by Darren Rowse
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> 32207396 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:01:19 -0700 Review27940146 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27940146 The God Who Is There (Paperback) by Francis A. Schaeffer
bookshelves: to-read, to-read_spirituality-theology
]]> 30923594 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:06:09 -0700 Review24640082 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24640082 to: Live Well on Less Than You Think: The New York Times Guide to Achieving Your Financial Freedom (Paperback) by Fred Brock
bookshelves: read_personal-finance
This book has several problems, but two kept me from reading the book in its entirety. I'll discuss those here.

First, it reads like a college paper. This didn't surprise me too much given that Fred Brock, the author, " ... holds the R.M. Seaton Professional Journalism Chair at Kansas State University’s A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications."

I take it for granted that the academia sector isn't real life, so I need to exercise caution when reading works from people whose careers are tucked safely behind the walls of a university.

Since I spent six years of my four-year degree meticulously combing through verbose musings like Brock's, I have little patience to do it today.

Secondly, Brock supports the notion that "not all debt is bad debt." Let me say right off the bat that I can kind of get behind that notion. For instance, borrowing for a home, while not ideal, can be an excusable form of debt assuming a) the loan is a 15-year, fixed-rate loan; b) the monthly payment does not exceed 25% of your take-home pay, and; c) you put 20% down up front.

Brock doesn’t limit his "good debt" qualification to a well thought out home mortgage. He seems to think that other forms of consumer credit, such as credit cards, can serve a purpose. Clearly his vast academic-based research skills missed the fact that consumers spend generally 12% to 18% more when using plastic (with gusts up to 46% at select vendor locations). Yes, credit cards are good for someone; namely the bank that issued the card. ]]> 30920444 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 06:32:16 -0700 Review26941720 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26941720 The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook (Guerrilla Marketing) by Jay Conrad Levinson
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> 30920193 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 06:28:53 -0700 Review26941521 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26941521 Replay (Paperback) by Ken Grimwood
bookshelves: to-read, to-read_general-fiction
]]> 30436720 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:31:09 -0700 Review26567116 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26567116 to: The Millionaire Next Door (Paperback) by Thomas J. Stanley
]]> 30376548 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:47:41 -0700 Review26521616 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26521616 The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas (Hardcover) by Robert Frank
bookshelves: to-read, to-read_personal-finance
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