Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Good? News

Author: Paul Anthony Zecos
Description: Just go get it here

Review: 
I don't review religious stuff, and don't read much of it. But this was sent to me to review, so I gave it a shot. Boy, oh, boy.
One of the biggest issues with this book is the formatting. He uses yellow text from time to time, which I can't read very well on screen. Additionally, I really do not like how certain words are highlighted or colored differently. I prefer a nice, clean, stable format throughout. If you want people to take key pieces away form a block of text, there are better ways: Indentation, bullets, etc.
Now for the message itself. Or lack thereof. There are snippets of ideas, some key points at the beginning that can be valid, and a coherent thought here and there.
In the beginning, the author details how God is love, how God expresses and evokes love—and in so doing, he mentions philosophies from other major religions: "Some fail to understand that the ‘Truths’ of their religion such as forgiveness, courage, joy etc. come from love." It was nice to see other religions included and not discounted.
A few ideas could be challenged, but I then one gets into a philosophical argument, and a review really isn't a place for that. Just let me warn you: Setting up a commune or "land of God", won't work—we are humans after all, and invariably a leader will seize and consolidate power and soon you'll all be drinking Cool-Aid. Besides, sequestering oneself away from the "wicked world" does no good if you want to try to be an example to others; show them a higher moral standard. You can't change others, but you can live your life to a standard. Life is easier when you're not trying to force the world to bend to your will.
And there are some big-time rants in here, including almost the last 2/3rds of the whole thing. Font, color, highlighting changes were never-ending and the book look some strange pieced-together story created from magazine cutouts. I'm telling you, you can get your message across without all of this... there are good points in here, at times, but the ranting and raving really doesn't make your case. It was painful to look at, and too painful to read. Re-do this, cut out the raging brimstone, and offer some actionable items that we can use to live our lives.
If you don't read this book, there are two things I thought worthwhile:
* God is Love
* Don't let the media guide and drive you; listen to God, make time for Him.

I was given a copy of this book for review.




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