The Gospel-Filled Wallet

One of my internet buddies has written a book.  And had it published.

It's called "The Gospel-Filled Wallet," and the author is Jeff Weddle.  Read more about it here.

Jeff says you won't like his book, though.  He thinks it will hurt your delicate sensibilities.  I say buy it and find out....that's what I did. 

Plus, I used a coupon from this page, the one entitled "LULUMAIL305" and got free shipping.

-----

"The Last Lincolns" and Books I Haven't Read Yet.

As I mentioned a short time ago, I need a new category tag entitled "Books I Haven't Read Yet," so that I can offer unqualified recommendations and initiate uninformed discussion and opinions on books that look interesting but which I may or may not actually get around to reading.

Here is one such book, entitled "The Last Lincolns: The Rise and Fall of a Great American Family," by Charles Lachman.

Here is a blurb from the publisher:

Most books about Abraham Lincoln end on April 14, 1865, the day he was assassinated at Ford's Theatre. But that historic event takes place near the beginning of The Last Lincolns, a singular title in the vast output of Lincolnia and one of the most unusual books ever written on the sixteenth president and his family. Going far beyond that fateful day into uncharted territory, it's a gripping page turner written by a TV producer with proven storytelling skills. This absorbing American tragedy tells the largely unknown story of the acrimony that consumed the Lincolns in the months and years that followed the president's murder. This was not a family that came together in mourning and mutual sadness; instead, they fell out over the anguished mental condition of the widowed Mary. In 1875, Robert — the handsome but resentful eldest Lincoln child — engineered her arrest and forcible commitment to an insane asylum. In each succeeding generation, the Lincolns' misfortunes multiplied, as a litany of alcohol abuse, squandered fortunes, burned family papers, and outright dissipation led to the downfall of this once-great family.

Charles Lachman traces the story right up to the last generation of Lincoln descendants: great-grandson Bob Lincoln Beckwith, his estranged wife, Annemarie, and her son, Timothy Lincoln Beckwith. Bob, who was according to all medical evidence sterile, believes the son who bears the Lincoln name was the product of an adulterous affair. Annemarie, however, wanted the boy to be a "Lincoln," putting the child in line for a vast inheritance. There's even evidence — uncovered by Lachman for the first time — that a scheme to obtain possession of the Lincoln fortune was orchestrated by Bob Beckwith's chauffeur, who may have been the notorious outlaw and skyjacker, D.B. Cooper.

Published in advance of Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday in February 2009, The Last Lincolns provides an unforgettable glimpse into the personal legacy left by the man who could unite a nation…but not his own family.

What's So Great About Christianity?

Maybe I should start a category called "Books I Haven't Read Yet."

From the recently resurrected Anti-Itch Meditation, there is a pointer to this interview in Salvo Magazine with author Dinesh D'Souza. If, like me, you've heard that name on the TV news, but couldn't quite place him, it turns out he is a card-carrying renaissance man with multiple areas of high expertise. He has written a new book of Christian apologetics called "What's So Great About Christianity?," and has been spending the last year or so publicly debating noted atheists Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. I have not yet read the book, but if this interview is any indication, it would seem he is likely handing them their secular humanist heads on a platter.

Here's one of the best, most surprising bits from the interview, in response to the widely held and oft reported assertion that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world:

"That's actually not true. Islam is indeed growing, but primarily through reproduction. Muslims have big families, which translates into an increase in their numbers. But Christianity is growing both by reproduction and by conversions. The rate of Christian conversions in places such as Africa and Asia is really startling. Even the U.S., which is in some respects more modern, affluent, and technological than any other nation in the world, has also remained perhaps the most religious country in the West."

and

"The truth is, however, that if you go to South America, you will find a huge number of conversions to Protestant Christianity. If you go to Korea, you will find Christian churches with 100,000 members. If you go to China, you will find 100 million Christians. And if you go to Africa, you'll find that countries whose populations were only five percent Christian 100 years ago are now 50 percent Christian. These trends have not gone unnoticed by historians, who are startled by them and have attempted to explain them away, and they are the empirical basis for my claim that God is doing very well in this world."

Interesting.