AMERICA the STRONG—Conservative Ideas to Spark the Next Generation

Thursday, August 27, 2015

AMERICA the STRONG
Conservative Ideas to Spark the Next Generation
By William J. Bennett and John T. E. Cribb

OVERVIEW: America the Strong shows the next generation five fundamental principles that have made the United States a great nation and why they are worth preserving. It answers more than one hundred questions, from "Do conservatives hate the government?" to "What's wrong with having an open border?" to "Why can't rich people pay all the taxes?"

AUTHORS: William J. Bennett is the former US Secretary of Education and current host of the seventh-ranked nationally syndicated radio program Morning in America. Bill is the author of twenty-four books, including #1 New York Times bestsellers The Book of Virtues and The Death of Outrage.
John T.E. Cribb is an author whose previous work includes The American Patriot's Almanac (co-authored with Bill Bennett) and The Educated Child (co-authored with Bill Bennett and Checker Finn). He has collaborated with Bill Bennett on several books, including The Book of Virtues.

MY REVIEW: America the Strong is one of the best books I have read this year. It is a book that needs to be read by every person interested in conservatives ideals. In my opinion, it also needs to be read by every American. But of course, we know that is not going to happen. Therefore I am just hoping to get this good book into the hands of as many as possible.

William J. Bennet and John T.E. Cribb deal with the distortion that "conservative" means extremist and intolerant. They explain what conservatism really means, using five fundamental principles summarized by the word FLINT:

*Free enterprise,
*Limited government,
*Individual liberty,
*National defense,
*Traditional values

This book explains why conservative ideas are good for our country and supplies clear rationales for taking a conservative stance. It answers more than a hundred questions about conservative positions on issues ranging from immigration to illegal drugs.

(I received this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

THE PART THAT MATTERS

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

I was asked today to name my favorite Max Lucado book.

Easy.

NO WONDER THEY CALL HIM THE SAVIOR was my first Max Lucado book and my favorite.

It was 1986. Stockton, California. I was sitting in my study at the church building going through the mail. I opened a package that contained Max's book and a brief note. The book had been sent to me as a gift from Multnomah Press. I was surprised. But pleased.

I had never heard of Max Lucado. But I soon learned that he was also a member of the Church of Christ. I was interested.

I opened to the first chapter, THE PART THAT MATTERS.

The words I read had a profound effect on me and changed my life.

Max began by telling the story of a young man named Ian who grew up in the church but became disenchanted and quit. He asked Max, "What really matters? What counts?"

Max asks, "What would you have said to Ian? Would you have spoken on the evil of the world or maybe the eminence of heaven? Would you have quoted John 3:16 or Acts 2:38 or maybe read l Corinthians 13? What really matters?"

"Is this all there is? Sunday attendance. Pretty songs. Faithful tithings. Golden crosses. Three-piece suits. Big choirs. Leather Bibles. It is nice and all, but...where is the heart of it?"

Years later Max was still thinking about the question and he said, "Yet now, years later, I know what I would share with him."

Think about these words from Paul in l Corinthians, chapter 15. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.                         "First importance" he says. 

Read on:
That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

"There it is. Almost too simple. Jesus was killed, buried, and resurrected. Surprised? The part that matters is the cross. No more and no less. The cross."