The Seraph Seal: A Review

My lastest Book Sneeze selection was The Seraph Seal by Leonard Sweet and Lori Wagner.  This is a fictional look at the end times that is radically different from previous books in this genre.  The book is set in the year 2048 and the main cast of characters are on a journey to put together a variety of clues that they have recently discovered.  Little do they know but they are the ones who have been chosen to help humanity follow after God at the end of times.  They are of course opposed by a man who is looking to dominate and rule over humanity.  What unfolds is an adventure that brings together history, religion, philosophy, biology, chemistry, economics, technology, philanthropy and so much more.   I felt that Sweet and Wagner told a good story, but it was a little slow in the beginning and also was a tad bit on the complex side.  But I think that was necessary to fully explain how the world of 2048 is different from 2011.  In order to fully grasp it you almost need to be thinking in terms of science fiction, or just fully engage your imagination.  Overall I enjoyed this book and it only took around a week to finish.  I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars and would recommend it.  Just remember to push out your own preconceptions about the end times while reading this book and I'll think you'll enjoy it for what it is.

The Next Story: Review

The Next Story, by Tim Challies, is a look into the impact that technology has on our lives.  Challies looks at how technology has evolved over the course of time, especially in the last century, and how it has become an integral part of our lives both for the positive and negative.  Specifically he focuses on how we communicate, how our identity is formed by technology, how much distraction we have because of technology, the result of having so much information at our fingertips, how truth is seen and shaped through technology, and how much more visible our lives are with more advanced technology.  In each one of these areas Challies is careful to think critically about how our spiritual lives have been affected.  I appreciated that each chapter is closed with a few questions to think through in reference to the given topic that it covered.

All in all I found this to be a very well written book and would recommend it highly.  In fact, I wish this book had been written a few years earlier when I was still a youth pastor as I feel there is good material to talk to both teens and parents about in the area of technology and what impact it has on our spiritual growth and development.  I appreciated the candid confessions that Challies makes of his own technology consumption and how he has begun to change some of his own personal habits through his research and the writing of this book.  Reading this book has caused me to look at my own personal habits and take inventory of the role that technology has in life.  Here's to trying to break the cycle!

Read this book!!