"Prayers That Rout Demons and Break Curses" by John Eckhardt

This is really two books in one with the first book on prayers that rout demons.  The first book consists of many very short prayers based on familiar Scriptures.  The second book includes more explanation and then suggests longer prayers which are, once again, based on Scripture.

In confess that I am unfamiliar with John Eckhardt though I note from his web site that he has written more than 35 books and regularly does preaching and teaching tours and deals particularly with spiritual warfare and deliverance from demons.  One of the notes refers to him as an apostle.

I used Eckhardt's book for my personal devotions the last couple of months and I found his writings (especially in the second book) to  be very helpful.  The prayers aren't particularly unique but are simply a careful application of Scripture.  He addresses so many issues that are troubling our world and God's people.  What could be better than a book of Scriptural prayers?

I recommend this book (these books) as a fitting way to grow in your prayer life.

Movie Review of "The Odd Life of Timothy Green"

Movie Review of "The Odd Life of Timothy Green," a Disney movie.

This was a very moving and emotional movie, for sure.  The young couple (the Greens) are unable to have a baby and try everything and are very sad.  They accept their fate and go home for one last time and decide to brainstorm what kind of child their child would have been.  They write it on little pieces of paper and bury the papers in a wooden box in the garden.  During a special rain storm which only blankets their area (the rest of the area is caught in a drought) a boy appears and they name him Timothy Green.

They try to be good parents and love the boy but make some common mistakes.  He reaches out to others with a love and kindness and friendship that is so pure that it is somehow refreshing.  He has leaves on his legs and these leaves figure into the whole point of his life.  A slightly older girl befriends him and together they develop a special leaf garden.  The leaves also suggest a special invention that could save the town which is doomed to lose its pencil factory where his parents and most of the town work.

The movie is not meant to be sad or maudlin but it does suggest that even when parents are doing the best they can, their expectations for their children may not always be realistic or be the best.  The parents learn.  The grandparents learn.  The cousins learn.  The whole town learns.  The people at the adoption agency learn.  We learn if we listen and learn to care.

This is a great movie.  The ending is predictable, but oh, so sweet.  We loved it and it reminded us of our oldest son and the heady days when he joined our family by adoption.  You will not be disappointed.

Book Review of Classics Illustrated A Cultural History (Second Edition)

Book Review of "Classics Illustrated--A Cultural History" (Second Edition) by William B. Jones, Jr.

This is a fine book and it brings back lots of memories about my Classics Illustrated Collection.  I started buying Classics Illustrated comics about 1955 or so and ended up collecting about 85% of the 170 or so that were printed.  I really didn't collect them as items to be saved because "we" (my brothers and sisters...especially my brothers) read them over and over again.  For example, hen my brother, Bud, was in the hospital for many weeks after a major injury he enjoyed reading my Classics Illustrated Collection.  I even put them in binders that I created out of large old books.  I cut the covers off these books and put the Classic comics in them.

This book spends a great deal of time on the history of Gilberton publishing and its rise and fall.  It is the story story of the Kanter family's series of comics-style adaptations of literary masterpieces from 1941 into the 21st century.  It is a 70 year history.  Several times the series would end, only to be revived in a somewhat different format.

The book also features information on the careers and contributions of such artists as Alex A. Blum, Lou Cameron, George Evans, Henry C. Kiefer, Gray Morrow, Rudolph Palais, Norman Nodel and Louis Zansky.

There are large appendixes that help collectors to realize the extent of these publications around the world.

The book contains more than 300 illustrations.  I loved the book and it's one of those books that I can't give up. 

Book Review of "Dimiter" by William Peter Blatty

Book Review on “Dimiter” by William Peter Blatty.

I was a little surprised to purchase this book “Dimiter” by William Peter Blatty (Forge Book, copyright 2010) at the Dollar Store but even more surprised that it was far from a horror or demonic book.  Blatty is famous for authoring “The Exorcist” and the movie screenplay of the same book but he is also known for his humorous “John Goldfarb, Please Come Home” and his co-authoring of the Inspector Clouseau movie screenplay, “A Shot In the Dark.” 

This book, surprisingly, is a religious book about an assassin who takes the role of a priest and then finds that the priestly role begins to take over his life.  The narrative begins in Albania with the “hero” (Dimiter) being tortured to tell the truth.  When he, surprisingly, escapes his captors the book turns to Jerusalem and a series of circumstances which bring Dimiter and several other characters together—detective and otherwise.

I found the narrative very engaging and Blatty’s writing style varies from chapter to chapter.  I was especially intrigued by his interview dialogue in several chapters.  I would be interested in trying this style for our annual drama of the Last Supper.

The book grinds to a slow halt and, sadly, leaves the reader wanting more information and a more neat and clean ending.  The assassin turned priest truly has a religious experience but the ending might strain the market credulity of Hollywood film makers.