The Lightlings

I was given this book by a friend of mind for our kids this past Christmas and decided to finally read it to my oldest son this past week. No reason not to read it before besides the mere fact that I just overlooked it.

The story by R.C. Sproul is an allegory to the creation and fall of man and then the coming of Christ for redemption. The lightlings are a people that were created by the King of Light but they didn't follow His rules and so they were turned over to the darkness. After some time in the darkness they notice in the distance a light shining. The younger lightlings were curious and decide to go check it out and find that it is the King of Light's son to return the light to the lightlings.

My 5 year old son was on top of the story pretty well, understanding who was God and who was Jesus and also the sin of the lightlings. What he didn't understand, and kind of made the story lose focus, was the fact that the lightlings were little fairy creatures that my son thought were angels. I had to correct him and tell him that it was just a story to try and show us who God is, what we have done in our sin and the coming of Christ into the world. He understood afterwards, but that one question for me was enough to question the book as a whole.

I did like the parallel and thought the story was done very well, but I wish that the illustrations of the lightlings would have been more geared to not look like little fairies or little angels. I know that it is fiction and just a parallel but it did confuse my son when he first went through the book with me.

The only other thing that I wish R.C. Sproul would have done was include the actual biblical account at the end of the story. This would have made a complete book. Instead, Dr. Sproul puts a glossary at the end of the book to describe who each person is, but to read that to a child is a little weird. I only say this because there are some Christian parents who need the aid of drawing out the biblical principles of even a children's book. Although, there are discussion questions that will aid in this, I would have rather have had those questions AND the story end with the actual biblical description. This could just be personal preference though.

Overall, I liked the parallel (even more so if the description came at the end) but wish that the illustrations would have been geared to something different (even though the actual illustrations were very well done). Not Recommended

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Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions

This book was definitely different than Mark's previous works. This was Mark's chance to just tell it how he sees it through the Word of God. In just 233 pages Mark and Gerry do their best to give the reader a better or a more refreshing look at who Jesus truly was, is, and is to come and how this should affect our lives.

The basic set up of the book is one of my favorites that I have ever seen. Mark answers a specific question to fill up each chapter (i.e. Is Jesus the Only God?) and then after answering the question, filled with biblical quotes and references, then goes on to answer common objections (usually 3 or 4 questions) at the end of each chapter (i.e. Does the Bible clearly say that Jesus is God?). This was very well thought out and done very well, to help engage the reader to what they might be thinking as possible objections to the original question posed in each chapter.

If you are used to Mark and his preaching this book will be nothing surprising or different than how he preaches every week. If you are not used to it, you might have some initial objections if you are "churchy" or might be surprised to hear such a down to earth approach to theology if you haven't grown up in church. But, I will tell you from experience, once you listen to what Mark has to say, he will allow you to see what Christ's mission truly was and continues to be in our daily lives.

Vintage Jesus tries to tackle a lot of subjects in a smaller book (233 pages), but does a great job of giving the reader something to grasp and look into further study without overloading them with content. I personally enjoyed the book and thought it was a good reminder and add on to Mark's preaching series that bears the same title.

This is a great book to give to someone who is unfamiliar with Jesus and is also filled with great material for those that have leaned too much on traditional views or legalistic ones of Christ. Mark brings every question back to the Word and challenges the readers to do the same.

The book is filled with humor and Mark really just "brings it" and because of this, like usual, he will have some haters that will say that he is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Which would make me laugh if they weren't so serious about it. I do laugh though everytime Mark describes these kinds of guys...cause I used to be one of them...Anyways...great book and look forward to the next title in October. Highly Recommended

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