Vince Wetzel. Lose Yourself. OT Press, 2024.

I have to tip my hat to The Twin Bill, the online magazine combining literature and baseball. This publication called my attention to Lose Yourself, which won its annual award for baseball related fiction. Thank you, Twin Bill.

For fans of rap music, the title of the book comes from a song by Eminem with the same title. The song’s basic theme is whether “you” are going to take advantage of your big opportunity or choke. It includes a subplot that includes a young daughter you hardly know because she lives with her mother in another state.

So with Brett Austen of the Oakland Athletics. Set in 2022, the fans all know that the team will be leaving town for Las Vegas soon (2024 was their last year in California). Still, there is great excitement among the fans because of Austen who is flirting with a season’s batting average of .400—an achievement that has not been attained since Ted Williams did it in 1941.

Anyone familiar with baseball history knows that Williams had .400-even secured going into his last game of the season. He was encouraged by many to sit out the games (it was a doubleheader, a twin bill) on the last day, but he refused. He ended up getting six hits in eight at bats, so he finished with a .406 average.

Austen is faced with a similar situation. He has a .400 average also going into the last game. The A’s are playing the Seattle Mariners. The Athletics are out of any playoff race, but a win for the Mariners could mean home field advantage for the Wild Card playoffs. No one would blame Austen for sitting out the game, though he then would always be unfavorably compared to Williams.

Readers who are baseball fans recognize the author’s likely deliberate choice of names for the star. One of the last two players who almost reached .400 one season and actually was over .400 as late as early September was George Brett. The naming convention reminds us of The Art of Fielding’s shortstop Aparicio Rodriguez, from shortstops Luis Aparacio and Alex Rodriguez.

Now, if this were all there were to the story, it could be an entraining one, like many sports stories written for kids. But Brett Austen’s story is just one of six different story lines in Lose Yourself.

So, yes, Derek Nguyen has a daughter he does not get to see much because his wife divorced him. She divorced him because of a gambling problem—which currently has him behind on his child support. But he’s made some sure bets today, mostly on football, so he will be able to catch up…Derek also is a lemonade vendor at the Oakland Coliseum. He gets to see the game and relate to the fans.

Derek has also placed a big bet that Austen will finish the season under .400. He thinks it is a sure bet because the Mariners are starting veteran journeyman lefthander Clint Shakely, the one pitcher who has gotten into Austen’s head.

It so happened that in Austen’s very first minor league game Shakely was on a rehab stint and pitched against him and struck him out. For reasons that become somewhat clear, Austen never got over it, and in spite of a career batting average well over .300, his average against Shakely is a mere .215.

Also figuring into the drama is the family of Lizzie Hernandez. Her father is a lifelong baseball and Athletics fan. He is at home in hospice care. The whole family comes to her father’s house to watch the game with him, though he seems somewhat comatose. This is complicated by a few factors. Her brother, mother, and adult daughter are all there, but her ex-husband (whom her father really liked) is parked outside the house, too, “in case they need any help.”

Her twenty-year-old nephew Robbie, however, is not there. He is at the ball game. A group of friends are going—though he knows they will probably do more drinking than watching the game. Still, he figures he could honor his grandfather best by going to the game and perhaps see Austen accomplish the near-impossible.

He also has another reason for going to the game. It has to do with Brett Austen. Back when he was ten or eleven, he and his grandfather saw that first minor league game in which Austen played. His grandfather showed him something about Austen that day, and Robbie somehow would like Austen to know how meaningful the insight was.

The family hails from Sacramento, and Austen’s first team was the nearby Stockton A’s. That is how Robbie and his grandfather happened to see that game. Baseball literati might make a connection here. Stockton is Mudville in the classic poem “Casey at the Bat.” Hmm…

We also hear the story of Fred Stephenson, an usher at the Coliseum. Now in his seventies, he is retiring, so this is his last game. He hopes the crowd behaves well so everyone can enjoy the game. His territory in the stadium includes the seating area where Robbie and his friends are. Not only that but Paul Buckley, a former sportscaster and commentator is seated in his section.

People in Northern California know Buckley pretty well, so people say hello to him and even ask for selfies with him. This is awkward for his guest, Will Jensen. Will is the fifteen year old son of Paul’s fiancée. Will is a baseball fan, but he is uncertain about his widowed mother’s upcoming nuptials. At the same time Will has a crush on his classmate Amanda, a long-time family friend whom he recognizes as being “out of my league” in the high school social order. She is at the game with her family, but seated in a different section.

Will, then, is somewhat put out by all the attention Paul gets, and at the same time has agreed to meet up with Amanda. Paul gives some good advice to Will about how to at least get on the good side of Amanda and her family without making a fool of himself. Still, Will gets annoyed at the nearly continuous interruptions by fans who recognize Mr. Buckley.

Finally, we follow the trajectory of Dana Peck, the sideline television reporter. We get an idea of what such a job would be like, especially for a woman. She gets to interview Austen before the game and make commentary during the game with broadcaster Dan Muir and former ballplayer Tyson Porter. She may have a chance to become a broadcaster for a major league team next year if she plays her cards right.

Alas, almost as soon as an opportunity comes for an interview, Dana gets a phone call from her mother. Dana has no siblings, and her mother in Chicago is a widow. Her mother has just been fleeced of much of her life savings by an online pig butchering scheme. In addition, she has been hospitalized for some heart surgery. Dana realizes she should take a red-eye to Illinois that night, but it could mean the thwarting of her professional dreams.

Still, there is an interesting and perhaps historically significant ball game going on. We begin to see how everyone acts and reacts. Wetzel takes us into the minds of each of the six main characters as we see the personal drama and the game drama from each perspective.

Wetzel gets it. Certainly many of us can identify with Will and his crush and the awkward feeling of getting a stepparent. Even those of us from intact families know people in such situations whether it is from death or divorce.

Wetzel was a sportswriter, so he understands something of what it is like work in the sports media like Dana or Paul. He also has a good sense of what a gambling addiction can be like with Derek.

I recall once reading about a study done with a group of men in the UK. Their heart rates were monitored during times that people generally consider exciting. That “high” can become addictive. One, if I recall correctly, was during and after an exciting amusement park ride, probably a roller coaster. The second was, to put it politely, watching exotic dancers. The third was playing bingo for money. The consistently highest heart rate was recorded when the bingo players were within one square of winning the game. Gaming does excite us, and that “rush” can addict us.

We understand Fred the usher if we have ever been to sporting events. Also we understand a few big changes taking place in his life: the death of his wife, retirement, moving to a new city. And Lizzie’s life certainly has gotten complicated with her father on his deathbed and her broken family somehow trying to stay together. Even her nephew Robbie seems to be on some kind of mission.

These lives all intersect at the game. The story builds very effectively. There is a prologue from that early minor league game, and a number of events titled “Pregame”: Will texting, Derek placing bets and getting his lemonade ready, Fred getting situated in his section, Dana and Brett’s interview, Robbie at the game, and Lizzie watching it on TV with the rest of the family. Once the game starts, each chapter is half an inning. And the suspense builds as we follow the game’s action and different goings on in each scenario.

One technique that works well here are the “voices” different characters hear. Readers understand that these are simply the characters’ thoughts, but they may have their origins in past events. For example, Fred often hears his late wife speak to him. But they were married for nearly fifty years, so most decisions they made involved the two of them. He still sees himself thinking what her opinion might be before taking a big step like retiring.

We also begin to realize the source of the critical voices that Brett hears. Yes, there is always a lot of trash talk on the field, and Brett and Tomlin, the Mariners’ catcher, both seem to enjoy it, but this is something else.

To say much more would spoil things, but Lose Yourself is well written, creative, and yet at the same time very realistic. I suspect that even people who are not baseball fans would get a lot out of it. There are times we should all “lose ourselves.” Sometimes it happens when reading a book.

N.B. Some the characters are trash-talking athletes, organized criminals, high-powered business people, or drunkards. There is some foul language that might offend some readers.

Robin McMillan. Harbinger of Hope. Emanate, 2018.

Robin McMillan recently spoke at a church I happened to watch online when I was sick. The pastor put in a good word about Harbinger of Hope. It was definitely worth reading.

As readers can guess from the title, its subject is hope. To organize his thoughts, McMillan tells us of five things that bring hope. He uses the image of five wagons, taking the idea from the story of Joseph in the Bible. Jacob had lost hope when he thought Joseph had died. His hope was restored when his sons returned from Egypt with wagons of food and goods from Joseph, now a leader in Egypt.

It is easy enough to sum up McMillan’s five main points, but it is worth reading the book. He uses many different Scriptures to illustrate and prove his points. It all has to do with one’s relationship with God and what one can expect. In other words, what hope God has for us.

First, he calls our salvation in Jesus the first—and probably most important—thing. This includes, as he puts it, deliverance from consequences we deserve. “All have sinned” (Romans 3:23) the Bible tells us. “There are none righteous.”(Psalm 14:1-3, 53:1-3) We all deserve to reap what we sow from our sin. But Jesus paid the price on the cross for that. That, folks, is the Gospel in a nutshell. “Whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (See John 3:16)

The second may be the most challenging in our everyday life: “Deliverance from criticism and a critical spirit.” Criticism works both ways: we are hurt when criticized and can be hindered when we criticize. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” says Proverbs 18:21. Harbinger of Hope encourages us in how to deal with criticism while at the same time warning us about how we lose blessings when we criticize others.

The third “wagon” is hope itself. Here the author tells us specifically what the Bible says about hope, true hope. And it is not just “pie in the sky by and by.” We note that even in hard times the Lord can give us hope. Joseph was in prison in a foreign country, but he hung onto hope. Jesus faced the cross, but he knew the suffering and torture he would endure would be worth it.

The fourth “wagon” is the closest to the wagons Jacob received: abundance. While the book does address briefly material possessions, it emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 16:11 says to God, “In your presence is fullness of joy.” The chapter is mostly about joy and its relationship to the presence of the Lord. Looking back on my own life, the most joyfully memorable times for the most part have been when the Lord manifested His presence. Let us all seek the Lord and remain in Him and where He is. This section is really profound, and I suspect many Christians miss out on this. I confess that that often may include me. Read the two chapters on this subject. The joy of the Lord is our strength (see Nehemiah 8:10).

The writer of the book of Hebrews encouraged us to be “looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). If we focus on our sinfulness instead of gazing upon the One to whom we turned, our old nature will try to hold us in bondage. (141)

McMillan describes the fifth hope specifically for Americans, though there is no reason why it cannot apply to other nations. With hope from God comes a promise for revival. Revivals such as the two Great Awakenings and even the Jesus Movement had a profound effect on many lives and helped the country to prosper. Let us seek God for this and pray for this. Hope tells us that the best is yet to come. (See, for example, Amos 9:11-15).

Let it be, Lord. And let this book encourage, you, blessed reader.

P.S. As I write this christianbook.com has a bargain price for this book (over 90% off). Now would be a good time to get a copy…


Garrison Keillor. A Christmas Blizzard. Penguin, 2011.

We were big fans of Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion show and even once saw him live. His writing is sensitive, intelligent, and funny. His piece entitled “Aprille” found in his collection Going Home is one of the best pieces of literary criticism ever written on The Canterbury Tales. His writing is usually entertaining. Yes, it may be satirical, but always in a kind way.

A Christmas Blizzard is fun. The plot is fairly light, but we do not usually read or listen to Keillor strictly for the plot. Basically, James Sparrow of Minneapolis flies to his hometown Looseleaf, North Dakota, because he gets word that his favorite uncle, eighty-six year old Uncle Earl, is dying. Much of the family will be there for the Christmas holiday anyhow, so he decides to go there instead of flying to Hawaii. He would rather be in warm Hawaii at the Kuhikuhikapapa’u’maumau resort. (Note the last syllables: Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow.) But he loves his uncle, though he is less enthusiastic about many of his other relatives.

While he is not exactly a Scrooge—he is a loving husband and generous giver—he really does not like Christmas. Yes, some of the endlessly repeated songs drive him crazy, but it is more than that. He is Christougenniatikophobic. He is afraid of Christmas. A Christmas Blizzard, then, describes a series of supernatural (or perhaps magically realistic) events to deliver him of this fear.

Flashbacks to his early childhood tell us that his family life was not that great, and, finally, when he was seven, his father left home for good. But one thing that was ingrained into him even from five years old was that he should never put his tongue on a frozen pump handle! Such a fear became magnified in his young mind, and he never overcame it but associated such a temptation with Christmastime. Somewhere warm like Hawaii sounded nice to him.

No sooner does he arrive in Looseleaf but a blizzard arrives and everyone gets snowed in. He decides it would be nice and less complicated if he camped out at the fish house of a late cousin on Lake Winniesissibigosh (We’re no sissies, by gosh?). For the uninitiated, a fish house is a small cabin placed on a frozen lake or pond for ice fishing. This one has cots, a wood stove, and extra clothing and bedding, so he can comfortably spend the night there.

There are some vague parallels to A Christmas Carol. When he first steps outside the fish hut he meets a talking wolf. The wolf is a reincarnated high school buddy named Ralph, who drowned in the lake. From there it seems each time he enters or exits the fish house he is somewhere else—maybe in the past, maybe in the present, with relatives and other inhabitants of Looseleaf. In the daylight (IRL?) he visits with Uncle Earl and other relatives.

Keillor is known for his characters and caricatures like detective Guy Noir or the many and varied inhabitants of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. A Christmas Blizzard is filled with such people, and that is what makes it fun to read. We hear stories about James’s wife Joyce and especially his wise Uncle Earl. We can see why Earl would be a favorite.

At the same time each character has one or two stories to tell. Cousin Liz belongs to a radical Republican militia who is convinced Communists are infiltrating the country from Canada. Her husband Leo whispers to James that he is an undercover FBI agent investigating militias. Cousin Faye is a new age type who welcomes him by saying:

We are family. We are interconnected whether we know it or not. We nurture each other with our common myths and rituals, and in each other we find wholeness and wisdom. (115)

When she tells some relatives she is Ojibway, they remind her that their ancestors came from England.

There are many digressions and entertaining side stories, which is what Keillor is known for. Yes, eventually it does appear that James begins to enjoy Christmas a he reunites with his family and faces his fears. Like the ending to many of Keillor’s stories from Lake Wobegon, there is a kind of union or communion as some of the various people in the story come together for a Christmas party.

For any readers who saw the A Prairie Home Companion film, the climax is similar. In the film, most of the people are on stage singing “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” There is a little epilogue afterwards. Ditto with A Christmas Blizzard. Of course, they are singing Christmas carols instead, but you get the idea. It is delightful and tender.

Donna Schlachter. A King for Kinsella. PLS Bookworks, 2023.

A King for Kinsella is a formulaic historical romance of the type that is popular with many readers. The title is a spoiler—the reader knows what will ultimately happen because we can assume that Kinsella gets her king. The path to get to that conclusion entertains us.

Kinsella Jackson was recently widowed. She lives with her four children aged five to fourteen in the Colorado plains in 1878. She loved her late husband, but now has to care for her homestead including crops and cattle with the help of her four children.

Her two older children saw an advertisement in a magazine to place a free classified ad. They acted on that, advertising for a hand to help with the farm. Of course, the ad was placed in their mother’s name.

Unbeknownst to any of the Jacksons, the classified ad was published in an Australian magazine and spotted by Kingston Marchmont. Englishman Marchmont was convicted of crime he says he did not commit and sent to Australia. He sees the advertisement as an opportunity to start over and be free. He writes a letter to Mrs. Jackson to tell her he will be coming. She reads his signature as “King Stan Marchmont” and thinks that he is some kind of king coming to visit. She admits that she never heard of the King of Marchmont, but she has not heard of many places in the world.

That is the basic plot, but Schlachter tells a surprisingly gripping tale. Nearly every chapter has a new conflict or challenge that keeps the reader in suspense and turning the page. There is the shopkeeper who wants to marry Kinsella, but she suspects he is just intereted in the farm. There are floods. There are cattle rustlers. There is an illness. There are unanswered questions.

Kingston’s long journey to Colorado also has its challenges. From Australia to New York, from New York to Kansas City, and even on the local stage to Colorado, there are some men that seem suspicious. They do not appear to be tailing him, but it is seems awfully conincidental that they would all be taking the same route two-thirds of the way around the world.

In other words, in spite of the literal foregone conclusion, Schlachter is a good storyteller. The suspense keeps coming and challenges have to be overcome. (And I have not even mentioned the big ones…) Readers who like and appreciate such stories will not be disappointed.

Peter Hopkirk. The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia. Kodansha, 1994.

From the shores of the Pacific, and to the heights of the Himalayas, Russia will not only dominate the affairs of Asia, but those of Europe also.
   —Count Sergei Witte, Finance Minister under Tsar Nicholas II, (502)

The title of The Great Game comes from a term used by both Russia and England to describe the diplomatic and political machinations of the nineteenth century over political power in central Asia. The origins of the term may be obscure, but it was used certainly by 1860 and made famous in Kipling’s Kim, which was published around the time the Great Game would end in the form it had back then. One could argue that it is still going on today.

Hopkirk does a good job of explaining why Russia has imperial ambitions even today. Russia is somewhat unique in that it has been attacked numerous times by enemies from the East (the Alans, the Huns, the Mongols, the Timurids) and the West (Vikings, Napoleon, and Hitler). By subduing people groups in Central Asia and Eastern Europe Russia would create buffer zones that would provide safety for Russians. Because of the intensity of even small slaving raids from Central Asian khanates, it also may help explain why Russia has always had a much more authoritarian government than most European nations.

It is impossible to summarize the ins and outs of the story told in The Great Game. Basically, after the defeat of Napoleon, Russia realized it needed greater security on its Eastern borders. Except for sparsely-populated Siberia in the north, Russia had little or no influence east of the Caspian Sea. It saw opportunities for trade with the people of Central Asia, but dealings were difficult. The Turkmen and others were more tribal and at least nominally Muslim. From time to time horsemen from the deserts would attack Russian villages for loot and slaves. Indeed, a major justification for Russian annexation of the various Central Asian peoples would be freedom for Russian slaves.

Meanwhile, England wanted to insure the security of its domains in India. They were concerned that Russian expansion might be at the expense of English influence. Hopkirk details the various intrigues and attempts of both sides to try to pre-empt the other and whether by force or treaty pacify the various indigenous groups. Looking at a map, one can see that in the middle is the nation of Afghanistan. Both Russia and England tried various means to either conquer or befriend the Afghans. Neither were ultimately successful, but it does make for some gripping stories of political intrigue and heroism in battle. Hopkirk suggests Russia did not learn from what it observed in the nineteenth century when it tried to annex Afghanistan in the twentieth century.

Hopkirk tries to be evenhanded with his analysis. While there are more records and writings extant from the British and Indian side, he includes the Russian perspective as well. Often the interpretations of certain events differ significantly, but that makes the study of history interesting. Because the book came out in 1994, it sees Russia’s future as a European democracy rather than the oligarchy it has become.

Perhaps most striking in this book are the number of intrepid explorers on both sides. Some returned heroes, other died after being taken captive or succumbing to the elements. The geographic area covered in this book contains some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world between the highest mountains and some of the bleakest deserts. To use the words of Conrad, much of the region back then was “white on the chart.” No one in Russia or India knew what the geography was like. Much of the exploration was done simply to map out the region—of course, with military possibilities in the back of the cartographers’ minds.

The British were concerned about unknown passes or routes through the Pamirs, Himalayas, and Hindu Kush that raiders from the North could use. After all, history tells us that armies attacked India from the north eighteen times, and fifteen of those times the attacks succeeded.

Russia wanted to find ways through rivers and deserts that could be used by its army but also by its traders to establish Russian influence and even build Russian railroads. In some cases the surveys succeeded, at least in making more accurate maps with less “white” or blank areas. In other cases they demonstrated impossibilities. For example, one explorer died in the mountains in the north of India. A monument was actually erected at the location, but Hopkirk tells us that no one from any of the region’s people has even visited or traveled by the location since the 1940s. How remote can you get?

There are numerous fascinating details that even put current issues in perspective. Did you know that the Uighurs actually had an independent country called Kashgaria, named for one its main cities, from 1864 to 1877? Because of its remoteness, Russia was about the only country that treated it as a separate nation. Eventually, the Chinese would re-take the territory.

The British thought that the people of Tibet might enjoy more freedom affiliating with India. While some intrepid explorers from India would reach even Lhasa, they never made much of an impression, and at the time the Dalai Lama was willing to continue accepting Chinese suzerainity.

The three powers of Russia, England, and China would meet at the Afghan frontier. The Pamir Gap, that narrow stretch of Afghanistan that reaches the Chinese border between what today is Pakistan and Tajikistan was an agreed-upon zone that buffered Russia from Britain.

We learn for example the city of Abbottabad in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was eventually tracked down, was named for a British officer, James Abbott, who originally scouted the area. He would eventually go to Khiva and arrange for the freeing a the Russian slaves held there and bring them to Russia. He was unsuccessful, but that led to a second attempt by a Lt. Richmond Shakespear who brought 416 freed Russian slaves to Fort Alexandrovsk on the Caspian sea in 1840.

At times, then, Russia and England appeared to be seeking the same thing: freedom for slaves and commerce in Central Asia. But more often than not there was mistrust. Clearly that was exemplified by the Crimean War, though that conflict was about Turkey and the Caucasus rather than territory to the east.

Eventually, another war would put an end to the Great Game. Japan’s surprise attack on the Russian navy base in Port Arthur (Lüshunkou), China, crippled the Russian Navy, and one other big sea battle rendered it nearly useless. (Could it be that Japan thought it would get similar results when in bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941?)

The Russo-Japanese War effected a blow to Russian expansion in the Far East. For all intents and purposes, the Great Game would end in 1905. However, as we know, there have been more contemporary manifestations with the ambitions of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Soviet Union and NATO allies. As Mark Twain supposedly said, History never repeats itself, but it rhymes.

Michael S. Heiser. The Unseen Realm. Lexham P, 2015.

The Unseen Realm’s subtitle reads Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. However, it is not about angelology or demonology per se. It is no Pigs in the Parlor or Wonders of the Unseen World. The author drops hints that he probably believes in such things, but that is not the overall thesis of the book.

The main idea is very simple. God ruled heaven. In heaven he had and still has a group of heavenly advisors or a council. The Bible does not really explain such things but notes that they exist. For example, we see such a council meeting in the beginning of the Book of Job. The prophet Micaiah, when prophesying before King Ahab, describes a council headed by God (Heiser prefers to use His name, Yahweh). Psalm 82 describes a similar council of “gods.” Heiser notes that sometimes the Hebrew word translated “angels” in most translations as actually elohim, i.e., “gods.” Psalm 8:5 is one instance of this.

He posits that when the Lord created the earth, he set up a similar kind of council on the earth. Adam was to oversee it, but God would be in charge. Genesis 3:8 suggests Adam and Eve knew what God sounded like and had met with Him, but in sinning, Adam changed the nature of the council. The serpent in some form was probably also related in some way to the council—if nothing else that might explain why Eve carried on a perfectly normal conversation with it.

Of course, things got so bad that the Lord decided to send a worldwide flood. That turned out to be only a temporary fix. The tower at Babel was a human-driven attempt to duplicate God’s council. After that, according to Heiser’s interpretation, the Lord changed the language and dispersed the people into seventy nations (see Genesis 10-11:9). The gods of the nations were, therefore, rebellious spirits. The Bible notes in a few places in both testaments that the idols or gods of the gentile nations are demons. See, for example, I Corinthians 10:20 or Deuteronomy 32:17.

Eventually, God called Abraham into a covenant relationship with Him. This was the beginning of the earthly council that has continued since. The Bible in places calls angels sons of God. It also in a few places calls human followers of God sons of God. They are to make up His council on earth when all things are restored. In the meantime, there is a spiritual battle between fallen spirits and the Holy Spirit with the human soul being the main battleground.

Loyalty to God and His Covenant is key. Heiser notes that David was called “a man after God’s own heart” even though he committed some egregious sins that are impossible to bring restoration for. Why? Because David was loyal to God. “Personal failure, even of the worst kind, did not bring the nation into exile. Choosing other gods did” (170). Just as in the best human relationships, faithfulness is key.

While that is a brief and oversimplified summary, there is a lot more. Heiser notes that a number of times God Himself appears in human form in the Old Testament. Indeed, until the second century A.D., many rabbis taught that Yahweh had at least two persons, one “like the son of man.” See, for example, Daniel 7:13-14 or Proverbs 30:4. Jesus claimed He was that person. Matthew 26:63-65 shows us that the High Priest understood this to mean that.

As God seemed to yield the earth to the evil ones in the council especially after the Flood and Babel, that was not His final plan. After all, He promised Abraham that through his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. If Jesus’ death and resurrection is a type of the Flood (see I Peter 3:18-22), then Pentecost is the beginning of the reversal of Babel. God’s plan will continue until all the world has heard about the salvation offered by him through Jesus, “and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

From this perspective, Heiser sees some real significance in the story of the Nephilim and Rephaim (or giants) in Genesis 6:1-4 and elsewhere or in the promise of I Corinthians 6:3 that believers in God through Jesus will judge angels. It also perhaps takes on some significance to other end times prophecies.

Heiser notes that most of the prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures about Jesus are somewhat obscure. Yes, they make sense with 20-20 hindsight, but he notes that rather than being linear, they are more like a mosaic. If they were too explicit, as I Corinthians 2:8 notes, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” God’s opponents would have tried to avoid Jesus’ sacrifice instead of promoting it.

Heiser suspects that Biblical prophecy about the future is not that different. Yes, the Book of Revelation does have a certain order in laying out the seals, vials, and trumpets, but there is still much mystery.

He notes, for example, that Revelation 16:16 says that gentile armies that attack Jerusalem in the last days will assemble “at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.” Many people see this as Megiddo, now an archaeological site north of Jerusalem. The problem is that the Hebrew prefix ʽar or har means “mountain” and Megiddo is in a valley and a plain (see, for example, Zechariah 12:11).

Heiser has another explanation which makes more sense if we accept his thesis about the gentile gods and lords. If nothing else, he gives us insight into what typical Jewish beliefs about the unseen world were at the time the New Testament was being written—and what believers can look forward to as the story of the last days is being written.

Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all.…
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:14-15, 24-25)

Alexander McCall Smith. The Great Hippopotamus Hotel. Pantheon 2024. No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

For those who are fans of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency stories, The Great Hippopotamus Hotel will fit in comfortably. In some ways, indeed, the stories of Precious Ramotswe and her Botswanan detective agency are comfort food, like Mma Potokwane’s fruit cakes.

As is typical of these stories, there are actually two plots, one a mystery to solve, the other one simply a problem to deal with.

First, a customer of Speedy Motors has asked Mr. J. L. B. Maketone to import a fancy Italian sports car for him. This is something Mr. M can do well, except that the customer does not want his wife to find out about it. There is a farcical element to this story, with the car taking the place of an illicit girlfriend or boyfriend.

The mystery hinted in the title has taken place at the Great Hippopotamus Hotel. This rural resort has suddenly had a number of strange occurences including scorpions and snakes in different rooms and some guests getting food poisoning. One such event might be simply a accident that could happen anywhere, but with a number coming in succession, it looks like it could be sabotage. Indeed, when Mma Ramotswe goes to the hotel to make inquiries, she comes down with some food poisoning herself.

Since she is laid up for five days, her agency partner Grace Makutsi takes over. Readers understand what that can mean. Grace is perceptive in many ways, but has no sense of what impression she makes on others. Readers are tempted to say, “Grace, shut up!” or “Mma Makutsi, don’t do that!” The author has a great sense of irony; Grace has no idea what irony is. As is also often the case with Grace, her old nemesis Violet Sephoto seems to lurk in the background, another factor that may distort her vision. And I believe few people would anticipate the plot twist that sends the investigation in a wholly different direction.

Still, with the help of some new friends and old friends, the two ladies are able to solve the problem and settle any messes that may have been made along the way. Once again, readers cannot help but smile.

Derek Dunnagan. The Nazarene. Word and Spirit, 2024.

Readers can probably guess from the title that The Nazarene is about Jesus of Nazareth. It is a novel, so it is a fictionalized but respectful account not unlike the film Jesus of Nazareth or The Chosen series.

What makes this story distinctive is its points of view. The story is narrated in the third person but from the perspective of many different people who encountered Jesus such as many of His disciples, the rabbi Gamaliel, Nicodemus, and even Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate. It is as much their story as His story.

Much of the action focuses on John the Baptist and his followers like Andrew and John the Apostle who would become followers of Jesus. We see, then, some things told from John’s perspective and questions that John’s ministry raises about Jesus. For example, John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God. What exactly did that mean? People discuss this. What do the religious authorities like Nicodemus, Gamaliel, and Caiaphas think about John? What are Herod’s and Pilate’s political concerns?

This is very thoughtful and tries to use story telling to give us an idea of the Jewish, Roman, and Hellenistic cultures at the time of Jesus. For example, we see how Pilate has to learn the hard way how strict the Jews are about idolatry in Jerusalem. This is not in the Bible, but we know the basic story from secular history. We also see, for example, how Pilate’s wife takes dreams seriously.

To give an idea of the story, we see things from the perspective of three different members of the Sanhedrin: Gamaliel, Nicodemus, and the High Priest Caiaphas. Each shows a different perspective and curiosity about both Jesus and John the Baptist. We also are reminded of the differences between the Sadducees and Pharisees.

Nicodemus is initially skeptical, but then he witnesses a miracle that Jesus performed and hears about another one. These are not miracles recorded in the Bible, they are fiction, but we know that when Nicodemus meets with Jesus he tells Him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2)

Now up to that point in the Gospel of John only one miracle has been described, the changing of the water into wine at Cana, which may not have even been observed by people who were at the wedding feast. So we know that Jesus must have performed some miracles not recorded that Nicodemus witnessed or knew about from reliable sources. We know that shortly before the meeting with Nicodemus, Jesus was teaching in the Temple. It is easy to imagine Jesus performing one of His signs there. It likely did not happen exactly the way Dunnagan describes it, but it sets the scene well.

The discussion with Nicodemus, on the other hand, is more or less word for word from John’s Gospel, with the addition of a couple more quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures.

That last piece illustrates a recurring image or theme in The Nazarene. Jesus very skillfully quotes and cites Scriptures to make His point and justify most of His actions. Yet the more religious Jews like Gamaliel wonder how He learned them since He seems not to have studied under any particular rabbi or school. When asked, Jesus says in so many words that the Scriptures speak for themselves and if people can read, they can learn what they have to say.

The main question The Nazarene asks is simply “Who is Jesus?” The answer is not in theological terms but the author lets Jesus, His actions and words, and the observations of many witnesses tell us. Jesus still asks the question, “Who do you say that I am?” (See Mark 8:29.)

The fact that the novel ends not with the death and resurrection of Jesus, but only about a third of the way through His ministry, tells us that that is what the author is trying to do. This is what people saw and heard and said. Who did they think He was? Who do you think He is? Read and discover for yourselves.

N.B. There is a fifties bestseller by Sholem Asch also called The Nazarene about the life of Jesus as told from a Jewish perspective. I recall reading his Moses and The Apostle (about St. Paul). Both books made quite an impression on me. I still recall Moses even though I read it about sixty years ago. Reading this has got me curious about taking a look at Asch’s Nazarene.

Donna Andrews. Rockin’ Around the Chickadee. Minotaur, 2024.

Rockin’ Around the Chickadee is the latest in the author’s Meg Langslow mystery series. This resembles Owl Be Home for Christmas in many ways. It takes place at the Caerphilly Inn and Convention Center in the Virginia foothills. The murder victim is attending a convention there and no one likes his offensive personality, so potentially some 200 suspects could need to be investigated.

This time the convention less than a week before Christmas is the Presumed Innocent convention: a meeting for people who have been or claim to have been wrongly convicted of crimes along with lawyers and other activists seeking to exonerate them. We meet a number of different people including the recently-freed Ezekiel, a man incarcerated for nearly fifty years when DNA evidence absolves him; Amber, a woman who admits she killed her abusive husband in self-defense but an enthusiastic prosecutor threw the book at her; an aunt and niece trying to get their sister and mother free from what they say is an unjust murder rap; and two high school friends who are trying to exonerate a third friend who has been in prison for a number of years.

This reviewer remembers hearing a testimony of a man who was imprisoned for over seventeen years for a murder he did not commit. Now free, he admits that he had committed some crimes and was at the crime scene because he was selling drugs, something he did not want to admit in court. He would say that he probably deserved imprisonment, just not for the crime he was accused of. Ezekiel in this story says something similar. He has reformed and is ready to begin a new life with whatever time he has left.

Also attending the convention are a few hard-core law-and-order types including people whose online names are Godfrey Nelson and Scooperino. Their web sites attack people, including some at the convention, who they believe got away with murder or other serious crimes. Nelson, a.k.a. the Gadfly, alienates just about everyone at the convention including Ezekiel’s service dog, Ruth. It is no surprise to the reader that Nelson ends up murdered about a third of the way through the book.

What complicates things is that the Gadfly’s body is discovered on Meg’s property. Her cousin Festus is a lawyer who specializes in defense of those accused of serious crimes and is leading one of the seminars at the convention. Her scientist grandfather operates a DNA lab, and her father is a coroner. Both also are participating in the convention. It seems as though someone may be trying to make them look guilty since the Gadfly opposes what they have been doing.

While he is there, Ezekiel gets recruited for a choir that will be singing Christmas songs at the convention. And Kevin, a Langslow cousin who is the computer guru, has not only been recruited to analyze security videos at the inn and in the Langslow neighborhood but has developed a crush on Amber.

There is lot of action as the police chief and various Langslow relatives help out in the investigation. Even her teenage twin sons contribute in a way that they get excited about. Unlike Owl Be Home for Christmas, there is no blizzard, just a routine snowfall that typifies so many tales that take place at Christmastime. Like most of the Donna Andrews mysteries, the story is told with a sense of humor and enthusiasm.

Chickadees do appear in the story but are not terribly significant other than the fact that the person who discovers the body has gone out to refill a bird feeder that attracts chickadees. In that sense the tale is more like Lark! The Herald Angels Sing rather than Terns of Endearment. There are no actual larks in the former, just a person who may be named Lark, while in the latter there is a tern that does contribute to the plot. As usual, what little this story says about birds is accurate. Ms. Andrews knows her ornithology.

One minor caveat: Some readers may be bothered by a minor character who is involved in the occult. This person does not really contribute much to the story but her behavior could be considered disturbing. The tale may not be for everyone.

Miyoku Chu. Songbird Journeys: Four Seasons in the Lives of Migratory Birds. Walker and Co., 2006.

Songbird Journeys presents much of the latest research on songbird migration in an accessible format. The focus is on the Americas and on songbirds, so there is a lot about Bobolinks and little about hawks or terns. Readers may see this as an update on earlier works by James Baird and others. And we were due for an update.

With continued improvements in radio technology, batteries, radar, and satellite communication, scientists have been able to track even small songbirds on their migrations. Still, much of what we know comes from the dogged observers who track birds across state and international boundaries in all kinds of habitat. The book narrates the adventures of such heroes as Bill Cochran, Richard Graber, and Sidney Gathreaux.

Mostly Songbird Journeys is a fascinating account of numerous Nearctic passerines and their movements. Although the book begins by describing observers on oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, much of the book opens up possibilities for bird observers all over North America—where to go, how to report sightings, and how to predict a “fallout.” The book also brings us up to date on the latest studies on how migrating birds navigate, a far more sophisticated combination of methods than previously believed.

It demonstrates that the smallest migratory warbler in its own way is as tough as any raptor as it runs it biannual migratory gauntlet. It also details recent studies of how territories in wintering grounds (somewhat akin to nesting territories) affect survival rates and how such habitats in the Caribbean and Latin America need to be protected. While there is more about birds that winter in the tropics or South America, it also details the movements of winter finches.

For bird observers, the best feature of this book may be its lists of books and online resources. While we know that some web sites are ephemeral, the book gives good places to start, especially Internet addresses with weather radar postings for reading flocks of “angels.” The color plates by Evan Barbour closely resemble the work of Roger Tory Peterson.

Songbird Journeys tells of the feeding, predation, and impressive survival of songbirds on their annual long distance journeys. Thorough and readable, this little volume is impressive in its storytelling and its scope of information, but the birds it describes are the most impressive of all. (Note to fall hawk watchers—read this and you will see that “dickey birds” can be pretty cool, too!)