Mark's #2: The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (243 pages)

For book number two, I finished reading The Silver Chair to my daughters.  This is the sixth book in the Chronicles of Narnia Series – a must read for all ages.  I’ve been reading the series to my daughters (ages 6, 4, 2) before their bedtime – which is a real pleasure and privilege for me.

Like the whole series, Lewis does a masterful job of intertwining deep theological truths with the adventures of Narnia.  In this book, a boy named Eustace and a girl named Jill have been swept away from our world into Narnia to search out the lost Prince Rillian.  As they arrive, Aslan The Lion, meets them and instructs them on their journey – which they continuosly botch, but in Aslan’s Sovereign Grace He leads them to the underworld to free Prince Rillian from an evil enchantment by the Green Witch.

Here’s a brief sample of the good theology:

(Prince Rillian before their escape attempt) “Aslan will be our good lord, whether he means us to live or die” (pg. 191)

Mark's #1 - A Million Miles In a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

So for the first book of 2010, Ron gave me a copy of Donald Miller’s book – I’m glad he did.  Given the ‘emergent church’ affiliations of Miller, I probably would have avoided this book if I came across it in a bookstore or on amazon.com.

This is the first book written by Miller that I’ve read.  He’s a very good storyteller, which made the book very enjoyable to read.   This book is about the importance of living your life with an awareness that your life is a story.   How compelling would a movie of your life be on the big screen?  Would it be worth watching? Do you live with compelling goals, adventures, risks, and dreams?

I would recommend this book with one caution:  As my friend who gave me the book said, “Donald Miller would really benefit from a basic systematic theology course.”   What I like about the book is that is serves as another reminder to “not waste your life."  What I don’t like is the man-centered narcissism prevalent throughout the book.

Here’s the link to the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Million-Miles-Thousand-Years-Learned/dp/0785213066/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262410836&sr=8-1