"Tech Titans of China" (Rebecca A. Fannin)

TITLE: Tech Titans of China: How China's Tech Sector is challenging the world by innovating faster, working harder, and going global
AUTHOR: Rebecca A. Fannin
PUBLISHER: Boston, MA: Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2019, (256 pages).

Those of us who live in the West would be familiar with the Tech Titans of America, in particular, the Silicon Valley of California. At the end of the Millenium, there were the AOLs, Blackberrys, IBMs, the HPs, the Ciscos, the Dells, Yahoo, and so on. Today, these companies have been eclipsed by Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, and so on. Like the common saying that the big will eat up the small, the new threat to these Western Tech Titans are coming from East Asia, namely, China. Calling them the BATs of China, these rising tech titans of China (Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent) are challenging the FANGS (Facebook, Amazon/Apple, Netflix, Google) in the search, e-commerce, social networking, and many other technology domains. WeChat's userbase has surpassed WhatsApp. China's Silicon Dragon is China's emerging equivalent of Silicon Valley. In fact, China has grown from copying to innovating. If imitation is the biggest form of flattery, the successes of many Chinese tech firms have been validated with Western firms doing the copying instead. Facebook imitates WeChat's messaging features. Amazon has to play catchup in some areas too. Even the giant Apple are copying some of Xiaomi's business model. It is not just the speed of innovation that is catching up, it is also about the super-quick time that these Chinese corporations need to overtake their Western counterparts. Like the words of Gary Rieschel, "China is going to eat Silicon Valley's lunch." While it is true that some areas of advancement are due to government protectionist measures, a sizable chunk of innovation is due to the relentless entrepreneurial spirit and hardworking culture so synonymous with the Chinese. Not only that, the work rate of the Chinese is unmatched. Working over 12 hours per day, six days a week, and having meetings on weekends. Many of these are all-nighters that reflect a workaholic culture not often seen in America. With an enormous domestic market, a relentless entrepreneurial spirit, a workaholic culture, and a protectionist government, all signs point to inevitable domination within China first, and the world next. 

"Glimmers of Grace" (Kathryn Butler, MD)

TITLE: Glimmers of Grace: A Doctor's Reflections on Faith, Suffering, and the Goodness of God
AUTHOR: Kathryn Butler, MD
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway Publishers, 2021, (224 pages).

Faith and Fear; Hope or Despair; Health or Sickness; Life and Death. These are the daily issues that plague hospitals all over the world. As a critical care surgeon who sees patients experiencing struggles of life and death, author Kathryn Butler has seen a wide spectrum of human ups and downs.  As a Christian, she has also questioned why God had allowed people to go through pain and suffering. Where is God in all of these? What happens when one does not see the promises of God fulfilled in their lives? How do we locate our feelings in the field of grace? This is what this book is about. Seeing God's grace in the midst of medical calamities. Written in three parts, Part One shows us how medical situations could challenge our faith. Part Two looks to the Bible for insights into who God is and how we can find comfort in God. Part Three moves forward to show us how to live with hope based on the Resurrection Promise. 

Butler shares many stories about the amazing grace in the hospital room. She sees how a dying man was able to hang on to his very last breath until his wife arrives. She marvels at how one Christian by the name of David continues to minister to his Church members in spite of his health condition. She remembers a strong and independent friend who just needed prayer even in the midst of discouragement. She notices how the best of medical sciences cannot measure up to the miracle of God's design. God heals from the inside out and the outside in when humans can only apply a band-aid. Each chapter comes with reflections about various medical situations and assurances from the Bible. Readers can sense quickly that the author needs the assurances herself too. Recognizing the limits of science and medicine propels her to embrace the mystery of God's assurance and eternal comfort. Science might define life as a beating and death as flatlining. Faith enables one to go beyond these parameters into the mysteries of the afterlife.

"Talking with Teens About Sexuality" (Beth Robinson, EdD; and Latayne C. Scott PhD)

TITLE: Talking with Teens about Sexuality
AUTHOR: Beth Robinson, EdD; and Latayne C. Scott PhD
PUBLISHER: Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2021, (208 pages).

Living with Teenagers can be quite an enriching experience, educational too. Not just for teenagers but more so for parents. When asked about what their parents needed to know about "teens and sex," a group of teenagers quickly replied: "Everything!" Indeed, there are many, if not everything, that parents need to know in order to relate to their growing child at an impressionable age. The curious thing is this: Parents have also gone through their respective teen phase. What else do they need to learn? It's the "other" perspective. It is one thing to experience the growing-up phase. It is yet another to be on the receiving side of teenager communications. So for many "clueless" parents, they need help, and they need it badly. For the contexts have changed drastically over the years. Compared to many parents' generation, today's kids have smartphones and ready connectivity to the Internet. Many of them are digital natives. They are also becoming immersed in a liberal culture that challenges many traditions of the past. What was taboo then is acceptable now. What seems reprehensible yesterday is embraced openly today. This is particularly true in the area of sexuality, something that teens battle with as they grapple with raging hormonal changes. The authors list some questions to show us the range of issues with regard to sexuality:

"Preaching to People in Pain" (Matthew D. Kim)

TITLE: Preaching to People in Pain: How Suffering Can Shape Your Sermons and Connect With Your Congregation
AUTHOR: Matthew D. Kim
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2021, (240 pages )
 

What type of sermons should pastors preach more of? Should it be more rah-rah "success-driven" high-fives or the more solemn sermons on pain and suffering? Arguing that success only happens to a minority while suffering is universal, author and professor Matthew Kim believes that sermons on suffering are more relevant for our world. Drawing from his pastoral and personal experience, this book shows us how we could walk with people in pain. Through the preaching of the Word, he models for us the way to "preach less pain-free sermons and to preach more pain-full sermons where preachers disclose their own su­ffering and pain." Designed more as a corrective rather than a directive, Kim is concerned about the way many pulpits celebrate sermons about success which in turn could lead to more individualism and materialism. He begins with his personal story that shapes his preaching narratives today. In pastoral ministry, he laments how pastors themselves experience rarely some care from their congregation members. Most care is unilateral from pastors outward. The same thing applies to seminary contexts where students expect their professors to constantly be at a top spiritual and emotional level. For both situations, the fact is that pastors and professors are human too. They need care as well. He shares about the pains some pastors go through. One was battling cancer. Another was going through a painful marriage. Still, another was experiencing unimaginable tragedy. Sadly, the culture we live in chooses to avoid instead of engaging. Suffering is ubiquitous, success is not. 

"The Parables" (Douglas D. Webster)

TITLE: The Parables: Jesus's Friendly Subversive Speech
AUTHOR: Douglas D. Webster
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2021, (352 pages).

Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways of spreading a message. Jesus used lots of them. Parables communicate. They disarm. They clarify. They also rebuke. Used appropriately, they transform lives. There are 2 Old Testament parables and 35 in the New Testament. How and why do we study the parables? For author Douglas Webster, he discovers that the parables are transformative strategies rather than merely an alternative way to teach. After many years of teaching and preaching, while trying to help students make sense of the Sermon on the Mount, he realizes that Jesus uses parables not to teach but to use parables to "penetrate people’s defenses, circumvent the opposition, extend his gospel ministry, and creatively train his followers." In other words, parables are not just another way of telling gospel truths. They are there to prick the conscience and to open hearts up for the message of the kingdom. They reveal the truth that sets people free. Jesus uses ordinary characters from common life. He bridges heavenly truth with earthly objects. Concentrating on the parables in Matthew and Luke, the author deals with each of Luke's parables individually to paint the gospel story. He organizes Matthew's parables according to the Passion Week narrative. He structures the book dealing with the 22 parables in a chronological fashion. Beginning with the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:1-23), and ends with the end of the world judgment parable. 

"Christians in a Cancel Culture" (Joe Dallas)

TITLE: Christians in a Cancel Culture: Speaking with Truth and Grace in a Hostile World
AUTHOR: Joe Dallas
PUBLISHER: Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2021, (208 pages).

Opposition to the gospel is nothing new. It could be direct persecution, like in the Early Church. It could also be indirect insinuation in the form of cynical comments or sarcasm. Both forms of hostility are alive and well today. While physical persecution happens mostly in closed countries like North Korea, open criticism and condemnation occur daily whenever Christians attempt to speak against worldly values. In the 60s, when Christians speak about a Christian perspective of a particular issue, it was generally accepted in a "business as usual" manner. Then comes the 90s culture of cynicism, where the same issues in the past need to be defended. Apologists grew in number as more people attempted to engage a generation of cynicism. Today, the tide has been turned completely around that Christians no longer can speak about such issues freely. Their rights to expressing the same views of the past are increasingly being "canceled." Author Joe Dallas has been observing such a "cancel culture" trend. He sees how Big Tech is playing the role of censorship to "streamline" views they deem unsuitable. At the same time, they are lenient toward those who mirror their views and "cancel" those who don't. While the natural instinct is to fight back forcefully, Dallas gently guides us toward a loving rational response. Convicted that the Bible today is alive, relevant, and potent, the primary purpose of this book is to equip Christians with skills to respond with grace in a hostile climate. The first five chapters provide some background on the formidable challenges of today that tend to blackmail Christians into silence. The second part of the book focuses on the knowledge of biblical truths and wisdom about rules of engagement. For thirty years, the author had encountered countless opposition and he shares from his wealth of real-world experience. 

"Marriage, Scripture, and the Church" (Darrin W. Snyder Belousek)

TITLE: Marriage, Scripture, and the Church: Theological Discernment on the Question of Same-Sex Union
AUTHOR: Darrin W. Snyder Belousek
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2021, (352 pages).

How do we deal with the issue of same-sex marriage? Should the Church bless same-sex union as marriage? How do we deal with the growing divide between those who support and those who do not? These issues continue to split the Church all over the world. Do we take each Bible verse on the topic and start espousing how right we are and how wrong the other view is? Do we use such passages to hammer down the other party into submission? How is it possible for both sides to say that they are biblical and yet arrive at different conclusions of the same matter? With regard to same-sex union, the debate continues to rage. Feeling the tensions in his own Church as well, author and Professor Darrin W Snyder Belousek re-examines the common approaches done so far and proposes three key thrusts in dealing with these questions. First, he ties the issue of sexuality with marriage. How one deals with the topic of marriage will directly affect our interpretation of same-sex, and vice-versa. He brings in the examples of how Jesus deals with questions about divorce and the "three-faceted reality of marriage." Positively, the Bible sees marriage as likened to Christ as groom and the Church as the bride. Negatively, infidelity destroys such a nuptial union. The author also asserts that all three major branches of Christian tradition: Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant have always taught marriage as man-woman monogamy. He pits the teachings of the patristics and the forefathers of the faith against modern scholars like David Gushee, Dale Martin, Robert Son, James Brownson, Mark Achtemeier, and so on. He brings in arguments for both sides before presenting theological conclusions. 

"Lies My Preacher Told Me" (Brent A. Strawn)

TITLE: Lies My Preacher told Me: An Honest Look at the Old Testament
AUTHOR: Brent A. Strawn
PUBLISHER: Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2021, (128 pages).

What do you mean by "lies?" Aren't preachers supposed to be telling the Truth? How could anyone paint them as liars? Perhaps it is a marketing gimmick or a clever way to capture attention. I suppose that is so. Looking at the content, it is more about misconceptions or misinterpretations over the pulpit rather than flat-out untruths. Thankfully, the author explains right from the beginning that the title was merely to highlight ten controversial Old Testament "mistruths." Mistruths according to Strawn are about the Old Testament as:

1. Someone Else's Mail
2. Boring
3. Obsolete
4. Tales of A Mean God
5. Hyper-Violent
6. Putting David as sole author of Psalms
7. Non-Spiritually enriching
8. Non-Relevance
9. Law an Impossible to Keep type of Burden
10. That only Jesus matters

"Recovering the Lost Art of Reading" (Leland Ryken and Glenda Faye Mathes)

TITLE: Recovering the Lost Art of Reading: A Quest for the True, the Good, and the Beautiful
AUTHOR: Leland Ryken and Glenda Faye Mathes
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021, (304 pages).

When was the last time anyone of us has read a book? From cover to cover? Not many. Does this mean that we have lost the art of reading? Possibly. As far as reading is concerned, most of us, if not all would agree that we all read. The difference is mainly about how we read. In this captivating book about how reading has been lost in a new culture, authors Leland Ryken and Glenda Faye Mathes argue that the kind of reading that we have been doing in the past is now basically lost. People no longer read books. They skim articles. The browse social media. They glance at headlines. They peruse selectively. The art of reading is lost. What they are saying is that we no longer read with delight but as a duty. With the rise of electronic media, traditional books have been digitized. So do our reading habits. A simple test would be this: "What books have you read recently?" Surveys have shown that many wanted to read more but are actually not doing it. Not a single age group who say they read, do so for more than an hour daily. Yet, people spend nearly six hours per day on digital media, mostly cursory reading! A more challenging test would be to read Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" in its entirety. The problems are many. Hyperlinks tempt one to click to go to other sites. Pop-up windows distract. Attentiveness is divided. Digital media are changing our brains. From brain researchers to literary artists, experts are seeing the demise of reading. Plus, our minds get so infatuated with the present that we lose touch with the past. We lose touch with essential human experience. We also lose touch with the beauty of literary art. On and on, the authors give us a compelling case of a growing non-reading phenomenon. They believe that this would lead to a loss of our "mental sharpness, verbal skills, and ability to think and imagine," and many more.