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.”

Review: Plugged-In Parenting by Bob Waliszewski

As a child, I never understood why my parents cared so much about what music I listened to or the shows I was allowed to watch. Now that I’m a parent myself, I get it.

For me, Bob Waliszewski’s Plugged-In Parenting has particular resonance as my wife and I are in the process of creating a playlist of all the music on our computer that is “safe” for our kids’ ears. The boys are less than 3 years old, but we’ve already started to see the impact of media on them. As we’ve been putting it together, we talk about whether just music with cursing or graphic sexuality is out or if we should exclude any music that has lyrical content that we don’t agree with. What’s horrifying about it to me is how much of our music doesn’t make our cut.

The Twitter² Summary:

Bob Waliszewski’s Plugged-In Parenting asks parents if they are plugged-in to what your kids are reading, watching, listening to, viewing online, or playing these days? Or are they plugged-in all the time while you are tuned out? Waliszewski hopes it is the former.

The Low-down:

Bob Waliszewski is the director of Plugged In Online, a site that covers current media with reviews and other tools for parents. His book, Plugged In Parenting, attempts to help parents chart a course of media discernment. What I most appreciate about Waliszewski’s book is that it doesn’t present media as inherently evil. Sadly, this is rare in current discussions of media by many Christians.

Waliszewski divides Plugged In Parenting into three sections: 1-Deciding Where you Stand as a Parent, 2-Making Rules without Making Enemies, and 3-Keeping the Peace and Passing it On. The overarching principles that Waliszewski focuses on are easily applicable for parents to use in guiding their day-to-day decisions. This will allow Plugged In Parenting to hold up longer than other media guides that focus on specific examples. It also creates space for parents with a wide range of sensitivities to embrace the principles in the book.

Plugged In Parenting is a worthwhile read for parents of kids at any age. It can help you develop media discernment for yourself and encourage that development in your children.

The Rating:

4 of 5 Stars (An interesting book that kept me turning the pages.)

The Links:

The Author’s Website

The Publisher’s Website

Disclosure of Material Connection:

I received this book free from Focus on the Family. 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 and Giveaway: Healing Your Church Hurt by Stephen Mansfield

I've attended half-a-dozen churches in my three decades and I've been fortunate to leave each on good terms as the circumstances of life moved me on. This is clearly not the case for everyone. Many people have been hurt by the place that they expect to be the most safe. It is to these people that Stephen Mansfield has written Healing Your Church Hurt.

The Twitter² Summary:

If you’ve been part of a church, you have probably been hurt or know someone who has. Stephen Mansfield knows how it feels, but he also knows how to dig out of that hurt. If you’re ready to choose the tough path to healing, Mansfield will walk you through it.

The Low-down:

Mansfield immediately sets the stage for how he will address the topic with a story of a little guy named Timmy. Timmy gets his arm stuck in a vending machine. Crying and bleeding, the boy begs for help, when all along, the boy was clutching onto a Snickers that kept his arm pinned inside. Once he let go of the bar, his arm was set free. Mansfield compares Timmy’s story to the experience of people hurt by the church, but who hold on to the “Snickers” of hurt and anger. While Mansfield doesn’t go so far as to say that the reason for the hurt is irrelevant, but he does stress that our healing can’t begin until we choose to let go.

He stresses that we often have unrealistic expectations of the people we find in church. We expect people to be broken and flawed in the world around us, but for some reason, we expect the people we find in church to have everything all together. With this understanding, Mansfield encourages those wounded by the church to overcome their own hurt and come through their trial with stronger faith on the other side.

Healing Your Church Hurt has previously published as ReChurch. Although it's well written and its content is solid, it just didn't connect with me. I imagine if I'd been through a church hurt, it would be much more impactful.

The Rating:

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

The Links:

The Author’s Website

The Publisher’s Website

The Contest:

I’m giving away a free copy of Healing Your Church Hurt.There are two ways to enter: either comment below with your thoughts on how to overcome a church hurt and email me at perplexedpastor@gmail.com or comment below, follow me on Twitter and included this link (http://bit.ly/H7RwzY) in a tweet.

Enter by 11:59 PM Central Time, Friday, April 13 for your chance to win! (Winner will be chosen from all entries by The Little One grabbing your name out of a hat or fishbowl or other suitable item.)

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.”

Review and Giveaway: Night of the Living Dead Christian by Matt Mikalatos

When I was young, I loved a good monster story. I watched the movies, read the books and even stayed up late to sneak in creeptacular viewings of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video on Friday Night Videos (ah, growing up in rural America with no cable). Somewhere along the (long) road through college, however, I began to find monster stories less interesting and more disturbing. I can now no longer make it through movies like Se7en or Scream, that I repeatedly watched and enjoyed those first few years of college.

But throughout my love/hate relationship with monster stories, the one type of monster whose story has never really interested me the zombie. I don’t know what it is about zombies, but they’ve never really done it for me, so it might not come as too much of a shocker that a book with the phrase “Living Dead” in the title wouldn’t be at the top of my reading list. But surprisingly, it was. From the moment I first heard about Night of the Living Dead Christian, I found myself excited to get my hands on copy. And I wasn’t disappointed.

The Twitter² Summary:

In author Matt Mikalatos’ second (not-quite-true) story, he takes us on a journey of overcoming the monstrous inclinations within us all. The comedic tale of Mikalatos and his neighbors features zombies, vampires, mad scientists and a next-door werewolf named Luther.

The Low-down:

Mikalatos crafts a clever narrative wherein believers of all stripes are portrayed as monsters straight of the cheesy B-movies of the past. What’s great about Night of the Living Dead Christian is that Mikalatos doesn’t sit on the sidelines lobbing cynical bombs of monster labels at his pet peeves in the church world. Rather, he inserts (and accuses) himself as a character in the narrative.

Although Mikalatos narrates the story, his werewolf neighbor, Luther, is truly the main character as the central plot of the book follows his struggle to tame the beast. Mikalatos even occasionally turns over narration duties to allow Luther to wax theological on the nature of sin, rescue, and redemption.

A story at times both sad and funny enough to elicit audible laughter, Night of the Living Dead Christian forces the reader to examine his or her own monstrous inclinations.

The Author’s Own Words:

watch on tyndale.com

The Rating:

4 of 5 Stars (An interesting book that kept me turning the pages)

The Links:

The Author’s Website

The Publisher’s Website

The Contest:

I’m giving away a free copy of Night of the Living Dead Christian – comment by 11:59 PM Central Time, Friday December 23 for your chance to win! (Winner will be chosen from all entries by The Little One grabbing your name out of a hat or fishbowl or other suitable item.)

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.”

Review: The 21-Day Dad’s Challenge by Carey Casey (editor)

I’m still relatively new to the whole father game. The Little One just crossed the 18-month threshold and I’ve only just come to appreciate that I’m not yet the kind of father I want him to have. I realize that I need to intentionally strive to become the father I want to be.

These thoughts were swimming in the back of my mind as I sat down with The 21-Day Dad’s Challenge. What I wasn’t thinking about was who wrote it. Discovering that Carey Casey was both the editor and a contributing writer was a joy. (It was also a delight to see that his son Marcellus authored a chapter as well.)

I was excited about this discovery for a couple of reasons. First, I worked with Carey, his wife and their daughters over the course of two summers in the National Camp Office of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. As an avid book-lover, it’s hard not to be excited when you pick up a title by someone you know. The second reason is that during my time with FCA, I had the privilege of watching Carey interact with his children during happy and stressful times and his example has long been one I have looked forward to implementing as a father myself.

As far as the book itself, I really enjoyed reading it. Each chapter is a succinct bit of wisdom, transmitted father to father. Each author’s unique perspective and experience as a father underscores the wisdom of their words. Chapters end with a specific challenge to enact and space to detail a plan for how to achieve it.

In a nod to the “always connected” reality of today’s world, QR codes are scattered throughout the book that connect to online content designed to help encourage fathers on their journey. As a father who does not have a smart-phone (mine’s kind of bright, but wouldn’t be close to the top of the class), I appreciate that all of the extra content can be accessed through the web addresses right next to the QR codes.

The 21-Day Dad’s Challenge will push you to become the father you wish you were in a positive, uplifting way. I highly recommend it to all fathers with children of any age.

The Rating: 
 4 of 5 stars (An interesting book that kept me turning the pages.)


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.”