Burden of Proof

 

BOOK REVIEW:   A few months before his twenty-first birthday, Ethan missed the chance to save his brother's life. Adrian was murdered on the steps of the courthouse in Jacksonville, Florida. Ever since that fateful day, Ethan has sensed a deep disconnect between the man he should have been and the one he has become. His days play out a beat too slow, his mind rehashing the scene of his failure again and again. 

     When Adrian's widow appears, asking for his help in uncovering what was really behind his brother's death, Ethan is stunned. The legal case they were pursuing was more far-reaching than he could have imagined---it could even threaten the global power structure. 

     Ethan joins the search for answers at the ultimate cost. As he enters into his own past, will he discover a means to redeem the future?

     MY REVIEW:   The option to go back and redo life, to have a second chance and make things right is one that many of us would like to have. But truthfully, it just can't happen. I found this story line entertaining---searching for Adrian's killer and discovering why they were after him. But the unrealistic aspect rather threw the book for me. 

     As Ethan goes back into the past, he is struck by how different his life is this time around. He remembers how it was the first time, but now that he can base his current decisions on that, the results are drastically different. Entire relationships are changed and people he never liked become his closest friends. But his time is limited, and he won't have another whole lifetime with them. What really stood out to me about this is how a single first impression can form a prejudice strong enough to destroy our relationship with that person. Our choices impact our lifetime, and we need to take care in forming them. Unlike Ethan, we can't go back and change things. 

     Davis Bunn's books tend to have a deep political/economic/scriptural theme, full of detail requiring the reader to pay close attention as they read. The deep theme of this book is time and the quantum time field. Someone who enjoys this subject will likely enjoy this book. But as I prefer to live in the realistic realm, it disappointed me. As far as the writing and the story it was well done, but not my style. 

   I received a copy of this book from REVELL and was not required to write a positive review. 

Workplace Discipleship 101

 

     Workplace Discipleship is a primer on living and sharing Christ in our everyday workings. I was expecting a workbook, and am afraid that lent disappointment to the book. And rather than ultimately devoted to searching out practical ways of witnessing to co-workers etc, it focuses mostly on maintaining Christian principles and ethics in the workplace. Both of these rather threw me off, and I found the book hard to get into. However, it is filled with good advice and applications, some that were new thoughts to me. If one were struggling to keep their Christian ethics/morals while in a non-Christian workplace, this book could be very helpful to them. Many relevant subjects are addressed, such as: remaining constant in prayer throughout the day; being aware of current events to know how to respond to them; realizing that we are here to further God's work, not our own gain; finding ways to bring goodness, wisdom, productivity, etc into our workplace; being an example of an upstanding, honest worker; bringing light to those around us; accepting diversity and building on the strengths of it; finding appropriate ways to share the Gospel without pushing it; dealing with conflict; and so on. 

     An excellent approach in this book is its focus on the whole day, the whole week. Bring these principles home and apply them with your family. The application that stood out most to me is on rest and keeping Sunday to refresh and revive. Even if your church duties, or whatever it may be, keep you from having a day to rejuvenate, make it up somewhere. David speaks from Marva Dawn's book, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly, to say: "Sabbath is about ceasing---stopping from our work, from productivity and accomplishment. It is about trusting that God will take care of the world and our work while we let go for a time." pg 216  It is also a day to worship God and delight in His Word. When we begin to take this wholly, it will positively impact our entire week. The book is divided into three sections: Getting Ready For Our Work / Impacting Our Workplace / and Moving Beyond Our Workplace. While self is not to be the focus, we do need to be in the right place before we can properly impact those around us. And when we have done this we can move on to our workplace and family. 

     All around I found this to be an informative guide (though possibly a little slow), and if I had read it with better expectations I think I would have gotten more from it. It is well-rounded, covering many spheres and applications, and is well-based in Scripture. 

   I received a copy of this book from HENDRICKSON PUBLISHERS and was not required to write a positive review.