Saint by Ted Dekker; 2006; WestBow Press,Brentwood, TN; 353 pages; Fiction Dekker/978-1-5955-4006-5;1/23-1/26

Carl Strople awakens tied to a bed with his wife tied beside him. He is told that he has one hour to carry out an assassination or his wife and son will be killed. As he carries out this assignment successfully he returns to find out none of it was real. As the story goes on Carl finds out that most of what he thinks he knows about his life is questionable. He is repeatedly tested as he finds out what parts of his life are real and how he has lived and what is important in his life. This book ties in to Dekkers’ circle trilogy and is one of the best suspense novels that I have read in quite awhile. I went and put several more of his books on hold. RRRR

1. Why does something always go wrong with your car just before you go on a trip?

2. How can Keith Urban sing songs of complaint, when he makes millions, has thousands of fans and is married to Nicole Kidman?

3. We all need some time on our own. Ruth Ann is going to Central Point to spend a week with my Aunt Sara. They will probably spend lots of time in fabric stores and quilt stores.

4. I can’t believe the stuff that is on cable TV. We just got Direct TV and watched Trick My Truck on CMT and Hogan Knows Best on VH1.

5. I am making a covenant to not eat out while Ruth Ann is gone.

Peace, Out

Mourning Wood by Daniel Paisner; 2004; Volt Press, Chicago, IL; 362 pages; Fiction Paisner/1-56625-209-1; 1/17-1/23

It was a dark and stormy night on the coast of Maine, when actor Terrence Wood decided that he wanted to forgo his celebrity and become someone else. He leaves behind three wives, a son and a movie in preproduction. Boston Register-Ledger obituary writer Alex Pimletz is tabbed to ghost write Woods autobiography and he is pulled into the orbit of Terrence Wood. Wood disappears into rural Maine, where only one person knows who he is. Out of all the people in this novel only one has any idea of what a real life is. It is sad to watch all of the characters view their own lives through the lens of a movie script. It all comes to an end when one of the supporting characters encounters a crisis. RRR

Since I failed to post my Friday Five, I decided to make it a Saturday Six.

1. I got an ipod shuffle this last week and it is so cool. Makes me feel older though, I can remember carrying a walkman and only being able to listen to a CD at a time. The shuffle is about an inch by an inch and it can get 250 songs on it.

2. We are getting Direct TV this week so that we will be able to watch all of the NASCAR races this year. And of course all the educational shows like American Chopper, Monster Garage, History Detectives, Mythbusters and Monday Night RAW.

3. It seems that the weekends are almost as busy as the weekdays anymore. From 8-2 today I am working at church, then come home and help the boys exchange rooms, tomorrow right after church going to lunch at some friends house and then tomorrow evening getting together with part of our fellowship group.

4. Daniel is moving home. He is 20. I am looking forward to it and have some apprehension about it.

5. I read a really good book this week, CROSS SHATTERED CHRIST. The review is right down there, yeah just below these six things.

6. The thing I am looking forward to the most this weekend is my date this evening with my wife.

Peace, Out.

Cross-Shattered Christ, Meditations on the Seven Last Words by Stanley Hauerwas; 2004; BrazosPress, Grand Rapids, MI; 108 pages; 232.963 H368c/1-58743-131-9; 1/15-1/17

A powerful book meditating on the last seven sentences that Jesus spoke on the cross. Hauerwas writes powerful meditations on these seven sentences, some of which will rock your world. Read slowly and savor what you are reading, think on it and it may change the way you look at your relationship with our Father, Brother and Guide. The only complaint I have is that at times Hauerwas gets to scholarly and flowery. RRR