Month: April 2011

Book Review : In a Pit With A Lion on a Snowy Day

/ Steven Ruff / Leave a comment

I enjoy the obscure passages in the Bible. Stories of the lesser-known’s such as Shamgar and Jabez intrigue and encourage me. Whether defeating an entire army with a simple farm implement or verbalizing a prayer that asks God to move heaven and earth, their lives demand attention. The story of Benaiah, told in 2 Samuel 23:20-21 is no different. It is the story of lion chaser. It is the story of an odds defyer. It is the story of a man who chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day, a won.

 In his book, “In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day; How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars”, National Community Church pastor Mark Batterson expands and sheds light on a very obscure passage in the Old Testament. He tells the story of Benaiah, an Israelite warrior who fought Moabite warriors and killed an Egyptian warrior. In this book, Batterson deals with opportunity. Each one of us have to determine what we will do with every opportunity presented to us. Using the phrase “lion chasers’, Batterson challenges each believer to go after and seize every God-given opportunity. He clearly shows there is a difference lion tamers and lion chasers. He skillfully points out that we all face lions of some sort in our lives. These lions come in the form of life-changing decisions, career moves, and economic opportunities. He encourages the reader to jump in the pit with the lion and tackle it head on.

Batterson focuses his writing on seven lion-chasing skills needed to take advantage of every opportunity. These skills are overcoming adversity, unlearning fears, embracing uncertainty, calculating risks, seizing opportunities, defying odds, and looking foolish.

“In a Pit With a Lion on a Snow Day” is not a new book, but I believe it is one of those books that remain for a long time and make an impact for years to come. I greatly enjoyed this book. Batterson’s style of writing is balanced, clean, precise, and inspirational. He mixes scripture, ancient custom, and personal experience artfully in such a way that makes this book an easy and consuming read. The wisdom expressed in this book has the potential to be life-changing. I recommend this book to those who are dreaming God-sized dreams, yet are reluctant to climb into the snowy pit.

Worth Repeating

/ Steven Ruff / Leave a comment

Looking back across the years of my life, I can see the working of a divine pattern which is the way of God with His children. When I was in a prison camp in Holland during the war, I often prayed ‘Lord, never let the enemy put me in a German CC.’ God answered “no” to that prayer. Yet in the German camp, with all its horror, I found many prisoners who had never heard of Jesus Christ. If God had not used my sister Betsie and me to bring them to Him, they would never have heard of Him. Many died, or were killed, but many died with the name of Jesus on their lips. They were well worth all our suffering. Faith is like the radar which sees through the fog – the reality of things at a distance that the human eye cannot see.”

Corrie Ten Boom, Tramp for the Lord

Book Review : No He Can’t; How Barack Obama is Dismantling Hope and Change

/ Steven Ruff / Leave a comment

No He Can’t; How Barack Obama is Dismantling Hope and Change is the newest book syndicated radio talk show host Kevin McCullough. In his book, McCullough takes an honest, factual, and hard-hitting look at the presidency of Barack Obama and how it matches up to the campaign platform of “hope and change” that he was elected on. McCullough, who worked in Chicago at the same time President Obama was just a community organizer, has followed, studied, and wrote about the president’s political career from his early days in Chicago, to the Senate of Illinois, and finally to the White House. Kevin McCullough was the first political pundit to predict, accurately, that Barack Obama would be elected as president. He did so in December of 2006.

‘No He Can’t’ is divided into four sections; Economics, National Insecurity, Erosion of Rights, and Accountability to Caesar. It is in these four sections that McCullough expresses the missteps, mistakes, inaccuracies, and omissions that President Obama has made during his presidency. He demonstrates in a balanced and well-researched way that the campaign promise of hope and change has gone out the window. We have been left with much change and very little hope.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. I appreciate the way McCullough handles this subject. Although disagreeing with the president on many subjects such as human rights, national security, the economy, and other hot topics, this is not a “bash-Obama” book. McCullough backs up his statements with the words of the president himself, all placed in proper context. At the end of every section, the writer gives suggestions as to how the president could regain the support and trust of the American people. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about the current state of affairs in our country.