Review: God on the Streets of Gotham by Paul Asay

"I'm Batman." It's a phrase that I'm not ashamed to admit, I've uttered a time or two (each month). At two years and two months the The Little One is potty-training like a champ and I'm certain his new "big boy" Batman undies are a big part of it.

I look forward to the day that both he and his little brother (The Squeaky One) are old enough to watch Batman: The Animated Series with me. (And the movies, of course, but those would be later.)

The Twitter² Summary:
Batman has delighted and thrilled fans of all ages for more than seventy years. In God on the Streets of Gotham, Paul Asay traces the history of Batman in all his manifestations and how we may find something greater than we expect in the story of a Dark Knight protector.

The Low-down:
It was with great excitement that I opened God on the Streets of Gotham. I found myself looking forward to Asay's take on the connection of Batman and faith through the lens of culture. I was not disappointed.

Asay's take on the Caped Crusader is an interesting one. He sees parallels to the Christian faith in the mission Batman chooses, the armor he wears and the support he receives from those with whom he partners. Batman is not portrayed as a Christian by Asay or even as a symbol of the Christian faith. Instead, Asay shows that both we and Batman are facing a world darkened by the damaging effects of sin.

The book is an interesting and throughly enjoyable read. Asay's writing is insightful and quick-witted and the concepts are explored with acute understanding of the faith and cultural lenses we view them through

The Rating:
5 of 5 Stars (An awesome book that I will want to read again and again.)

The Author:
Paul Asay is the associate editor at Plugged In, a ministry that reaches more than 6 million people with movie reviews that help people understand popular cultural trends and how they intersect with spiritual issues. Paul is an award-winning journalist who covered religion at The (Colorado Springs) Gazette and whose work has been published by such outlets as The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Youth Worker Journal and Beliefnet.com. Paul has a special interest in the unexpected ways that faith and media intersect. He lives in Colorado with his wife, Wendy, and two children.

The Links:
The Intro and First Chapter

The Publisher’s Website

Disclosure of Material Connection:

I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC's “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Should One Ministry Control the Internet?

The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers recently announced that they had received 1,930 applications from organizations and individuals wanting to own new specific web address extensions. (Similar to .com, .net and .biz) With nearly half of the applications originating in North America, most are exactly who you'd expect. Apple computer company is seeking to lock down .apple and protect their brand, ABC wants to ensure no one tries to stream their shows on a (perhaps convincing) address and geographic regions look to protect their images for Pr and tourism profits.

Amongst the sea of application is one stream that stands out in this collection of multi-national corporations, governments, and wealthy entrepreneurs: religious organizations. RNS reports that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints placed bids on .LDS and .Mormon and that the Vatican applied for .Catholic in four languages at a cost of $740,000.

Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications has said .Catholic will help his church deliver its message online.

But only entities, parishes and religious orders formally recognized under canon law would be allowed to use .Catholic, "so people online -- Catholics and non-Catholics -- will know a site is authentically Catholic," Tighe told Catholic News Service. 

At a time when the vatican is battling liberal theologians and American nuns over the definition of modern Catholicism, .Catholic would ... allow the church hierarchy to monitor and control its brand...

What I find most interesting about RNS's article, though, is that the LifeChurch.tv applied for the simple extension .church.  LifeChurch has said that they will most likely allow any organization of people who share "similar religious beliefs" to apply.

What do you think about ICANN ceding control over vast swathes of online real estate to organizations with enough cash? Should any one ministry be allowed to decide who has access to .church, .christian or any other religious web address extension?

Review: The Bartered Virgins by John David Merwin

I don't know about you, but I love watching those shows where people are picking a house or apartment from among a few different options. My favorites are when they're set in exotic locales like Hawaii, Fiji or the Virgin Isles. What I doubt I've ever thought, though, is "I wonder. What is the specific history (down to what time a certain meeting on a certain day occurred), of these locations?" If, unlike myself, you are the kind of person who wonders that sort of thing, then do I have a book for you!


The Twitter² Summary:
John David Marwin's The Bartered Virgins is a very brief historical tour of the history of the United States Virgin Islands. Its devotion to the specific history allows this slim volume to claim authority on the history of these small tracts of land.

The Low-down:
Though The Bartered Virgins is generally well-written, it comes across as rather dry in places. In spite of this, I found it to be an interesting read. It is not a long book, coming in at a meager 96 pages (35 of which is devoted to appendices). If you're the kind of person who is really interested in history for history's sake - you will probably like this book. If, however, you are the kind of person for whom history class was a dull slog through dates, names and places - this is probably not right for you.

Merwin's attention to detail is admirable, but occasionally breaks down the narrative approach for which he strives. For scholars of the history, Merwin's inclusion of the text of treaties and agreements in appendices are wonderful.

The Rating:
3 of 5 Stars (A book to check out from the library, but not to own)

The Link:
The Publisher’s Book Page

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Dorrance Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC's “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review: Praying With The Grain by Pablo Martinez

I've never been one to spend a vast amount of time in prayer. I put my time in, but don't often dally when it comes to speaking with the big guy. Is this sad? Yes. Yes, it is. But I've never really felt the loss. In many ways I've thought of it as similar to the "morning quiet time" that I've always been encouraged to have. I don't particularly enjoy it and I wonder if it is really all that honoring to God if I'm falling asleep while doing it.

For the quiet time, I started practicing a constant communication thing throughout the day in lieu of time spent in the morning, but I've never really gotten a handle on whether I'm comfortable with this kind of thing replacing time set aside specifically to pray.

The Twitter² Summary:
In Praying With the Grain, Dr. Pablo Martinez looks at the psychology of how our basic personality type affects our prayers. Martinez helps us to understand and develop our own spiritual path when it comes to prayer.

The Low-down:
Have you ever thought about how your personality might affect how you pray? No? Me either. Luckily, Dr. Pablo Martinez has thought enough about it for the both of us. Praying With the Grain, a repackaged edition of his well-regarded Prayer Life, walks the reader through the many ways that our personalities can hinder and help our prayers.

Let me say that though Martinez occasionally drops psych jargon here and there, he does an excellent job of explaining each term as it occurs. That said, I'm going to drop some of the same without explaining it nearly as well. Here goes.

Martinez examines our personalities through the classic Jungian model of thinking/feeling and sensing/intuiting. This allows for specific address of multiple personality types. Martinez also provides examples form history of individuals who are known or widely assumed to match these types.

What I find both interesting and helpful about Martinez's book is his advice that we accept our personality type and how it affects the way we pray instead of striving in vain after someone else's idea of how to pray. Martinez argues that because prayer should be important and vital to our relationship with God, it is important to understand ourselves in order to help make it so.

Unfortunately though, Martinez doesn't give us much help in this department. Unlike other texts of this type, Praying With the Grain doesn't give us a handy quiz to determine our type. Instead Martinez leaves it up to us to self-identify our type and apply his advice accordingly. If you can self-identify, then Praying With the Grain will help guide you through ways of praying that will likely be better for you than what you've tried before.

Of particular note is Martinez's Q & A section on the most frequently asked questions about prayer. I'd actually start there and then come back to the beginning.

Martinez's heart is obvious throughout the book, that he wants prayer to be an exciting, welcoming, central part of every believer's relationship with God.

The Rating:
3 of 5 Stars (A book to check out from the library, but not to own.)

The Link:
The Publisher’s Book Page

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Kregel Publications. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC's “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”