As school picks back up for the boys, I find myself with a few extra moments of reading time. I will pick up larger books during the week and read them over a period of a few days... a few moments here and a few moments there.

I also like to pick up a book on Sunday afternoon, if time permits, and read through it. I usually try not to start on any book that has more than 100 pages or so on Sunday, though, because I'd like to finish it all in one sitting if at all possible.

I've recently read two such short books and thought I'd share my thoughts on them with you. The first book is How The Bible Was Built by Charles Merrill Smith and James W. Bennett and the second is A Little Primer on Humble Apologetics by James W. Sire.

How The Bible Was Built was discovered by Charles Merrill Smith's widow after his death. He had began the book in order to answer questions his granddaughter had asked him regarding the Bible one day -- Where did the Bible come from? Who wrote it? and so forth. There were several drafts found, where Mr. Smith had wrote and re-wrote the manuscript, but he never got around to getting it published before his death. James W. Bennett, at the request of Mr. Smith's widow picked up the gauntlet, arranged the drafts as much as he could, added a bit of his own thoughts, and published the book in 2005.

Using the analogy of building a house, the book covers the creation of the Bible from its foundation up, with each testament being compared to wings of a house being added to the foundation, and the apocrypha as the passageway that connects the two wings. It also delves into the history of the Councils, and the history of the Church to a small degree.

I learned many things I didn't know before reading this book. For instance, did you know that Deuteronomy was the first book to be considered as holy scripture? It was this book that was discovered by servants of King Josiah, which began the process of reformation in the kingdom of Israel. I learned about the different Councils that took place through the years, and why certain books were considered canonical and others were not. I learned who positioned the books of the Bible in the order they are now, and why. I also learned more about the Apocrypha than I had previously read, and about why the different translations were made.

As a lover of history this book was a perfect short read for me. I've read other larger books on this same topic, but this book was very good at putting it all together in a shorter, more condensed version!

A Little Primer on Humble Apologetics is exactly what it says it is -- a primer. Christian Apologetics has gotten a bad rap on so many levels but it isn't because of the Truth of God's Word. It's because Christians forget who they are who they represent when they try to present God's Truth. When we aren't humble in our apologetics discussions, it becomes more about our intelligence rather than God's supremacy! We must always do our best to remember 1 Peter 3:15, which the Amplified Bible (underlined emphasis is mine) words as, "But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy [and acknowledge Him] as Lord. Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully."

James W. Sire breaks the book up quite well into very good chapters. The first chapter defines exactly what apologetics is and why it is even necessary, covering nine very good points. Persecution of the Church in the early NT period made it necessary for Christians to define and defend what exactly it was they believed in. Many died for their beliefs! However, apologetics isn't just for those who don't believe in Christ, or want to persecute Christians. It can also be used to correct believers who have been taught wrong, or have a misunderstanding of what scripture says, with a humbleness and gentleness of course! The following chapters define some of the limits to apologetics (for some people there will always be a "reasonable doubt"), the context of your apologetics arguments (do you try to persuade emotionally, intellectually, or both), how you might address people depending on the type of group you are in (small, large, one-on-one, etcetera), and some responses you might give to questions folks might ask you.

The final chapter asks the question of whether or not YOU are called to be an apologist "professionally". Yes, of course, we are all called to give a defense of our faith but not every one of us has a call to do that on anything more than a personal level, just as not all of us are called to be Pastors, but we are called to minister to each other. This final chapter lists four special Christian intellectual virtues that you must have in order to be an apologist as a vocation: 1) a passion for truth, 2) a passion for holiness, 3) a passion for consistency, and 4) a passion for others. Dr. Sires also lists several spiritual gifts that are central to apologetics, most notably teaching and evangelism.

My husband and I have both read this little book several times. My husband has underlined and written notes all through it. I love when we find a book like this that we both can glean so much knowledge and useful, pertinent information from!

Have you read any good books lately? Have you written reviews for any of them? I would love to read about them so please leave a comment and let me know where to find out more info about the books you are reading and writing about...

Sallie

... in the right season, it pushes all the shrimp further into the inlets!! After church this past Sunday afternoon, one of our friends from the Sunday Lunch Bunch asked if any of the boys wanted to go with him shrimping to see what they could catch. Two of our boys jumped at the chance and the three of them caught about 900 shrimp!!! These weren't tiny, little popcorn shrimp either!

The boys brought their share home and Mike and Jesse quickly cleaned them so that we could get them in the freezer.

I'm not much a shrimp person -- my personal preference leans more toward clams -- but I'll cook them up for anyone, especially if they are free, and someone else does ALL the cleaning ;-)

Caught anything yummy lately?! Better yet, ya got any good recipes for shrimp -- maybe shrimp tacos or shrimp burgers? Feel free to share in the comments...

Sallie

I recently saw several trailers for the movie Bright Star, based on the romance between John Keats -- the poet -- and Fanny Brawne. I instantly decided I must see the movie! I absolutely adored it. It made me smile, and laugh, and cry tears of happiness and sadness all mingled in together. It is a story of love, and even jealousy (but not in the normal sense of jealousy you would expect), as well as sorrow.

During his life, Keats poems were not very well received, but, as with most artists, they became very well known after his death at the young age of 25. He is now known as one of the most brilliant poets of the Romantic Period.

I loved the colors used in this movie. Both the opening and closing scenes were done with a blue coloring that really spoke to the whole feeling of the movie.

Fanny seemed to have a very forward personality for women in that time in history, and Keats enjoyed a sense of humor. One of my favorite clips of the movie is when they are at a Ball and Fanny (who is a fashionista and avid seamstress) is saying that no one else has such as neckline as she has created but Keats tells her he just saw someone behind her with the same one. She quickly turns to find her own reflection in the mirror and smiles as she catches his humor.

Much of the movies scenery is centered around nature: butterflies, blossoms, and the like. Even a small gift of a branch in bloom becomes an excuse for Fanny to speak to Keats as she gives it as a gift.

The lighting used to show how they feel when they are thinking of each other is superb. Scenes prior to this one are drab and rainy feeling while Fanny awaits a letter from Keats. The scenes become bright and airy once the letter arrives, especially as Keats describes the view he has from his window.

As a military wife, who has tucked numerous lockets of hair into my husbands pouches as he has deployed, the following scene really caught my emotions deeply and may very well be one of my most favorite scenes in the movie for that reason alone. Keats friends have paid his way to go to Rome so that he may try and regain his health. You almost feel as he places the hair in the pouch and says they must say their good-byes that he knows he will not see Fanny again. I cried.

The movie closes with Fanny walking in the woods, after Keats death,  reciting the poem from which the title of the movie comes, Bright Star.

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art--
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors--
No--yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever--or else swoon to death.

~ John Keats

In case you are interested, the Keats House in Hampstead, London, where Keats met Fanny Brawne has been restored and is now open as a museum and for tours: http://www.keatshouse.cityoflondon.gov.uk/ If I ever make it to London, it will most definitely be on my list of places to see!

Have you seen any good movies lately? Feel free to share in the comments...

Sallie

 Psalm 73:26 "My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ."

Sallie

Mike, Noah, and Jesse worked hard all morning putting the flyer together! It was a bit tricky at spots, but that just makes for good bonding time :-)

By mid-afternoon they were ready for a few test flights! It was a beautiful sunny day and the wind was just right. As you will see from this short clip, the biggest problem we had was actually keeping the flyer in view of the camera!

Wright Brothers Flyer from Sallie Anderson on Vimeo.

Do you visit the gift shops in museums? What sorts of things do you buy?

Sallie