Therfield, Near Royston, Herts, United Kingdom

TC Book Reviews - November 2007

FRIDA - Chosen to Die, Destined to Live. A miraculous escape from the Rwandan genocide.

Channel 4's programme ‘Unreported World' this week indicated an upsurge of the Hutu militia, who, in 1994 were responsible for the genocide of many Tutsi tribespeople.   Frida was 14 then, and was one of those hunted down by the Hutu and, along with her family and friends, clubbed and knifed to death - only she survived!   Read her amazing story in this moving book.   This is truly a miracle story of courage, faith and eventual forgiveness.

DISCIPLES & CITIZENS - A vision for Distinctive Living by Graham Cray

How should we live as dual citizens: citizens both of the kingdom of God and of our nation?   How much should we involve ourselves in society and public life? Many of us find integrated, whole-life discipleship very difficult. It is easier to live, not so much a double life as a dualistic one, where faith is a personal matter with little impact on work and other spheres of life. Graham Cray shows that there are profound gospel reasons for taking seriously both our national life and our call to be Christian citizens.   A nation's social health is a matter of Christian action and concern because it matters to God. (from the cover blurb)

SECRET BELIEVERS - What happens when Muslims turn to Christ? by Brother Andrew an Al Janssen

Although the action of this book is laid out as a novel, the people are real Muslim converts whose identity has had to be hidden for their protection. We touched on the issues of Muslims and Christians in one of our Sunday Breakfast discussions recently - this book reveals the everyday problems faced by Muslims in Palestine when they convert to Christianity.   Here are the terrifying true stories of men and women - born Muslims and still living in strict Islamic states - who have chosen to convert to Christianity: rejected by their families, silenced from speaking out, threatened, beaten and even killed by extremist Muslims. (A fascinating insight into another world which is impinging more and more onto ours)

Totally Forgiving Ourselves by R T Kendall

I really have problems with this book.

I first came across it a month or so ago, when Christianity magazine published an extract from it in their October edition, and I was aghast at the deceitful way he used Scripture to support this idea of forgiving ourselves.   And now, having had the opportunity to scan through the book itself, I am even more sure that he is wrong.

He talks a lot about the forgiveness of God, and our duty to forgive others, all of which is very scriptural and absolutely fine, but the leap to us forgiving ourselves is totally unsupported.   It simply is not a Scriptural idea.   It is God who forgives sins and we are exalted to forgive one another.   But we have no mandate to forgive ourselves.   If we did we would be as gods.

Read it by all means, but don't be seduced into believing that we are commanded to forgive ourselves as RT claims, nor into thinking that the idea is Biblical.

As I see it, this is an other example of the egocentric Christianity that is so prevalent today.

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