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Showing posts with label reconciliation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reconciliation. Show all posts

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Book Review by Lorilyn Roberts of "A Violent Light," by Jim Baton


After reading the first two books in the Peace Trilogy Series, I couldn’t wait to read A Violent Light.  Sometimes when you immensely enjoy the first two books in a trilogy, you are disappointed in the final book, but A Violent Light is Jim Baton’s best writing of all three books in the series.

Mr. Baton has been an advocate for peace between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia for many years, and his first two books in the Peace Trilogy Series focus on that part of the world. So I was quite surprised AND DELIGHTED when I discovered A Violent Light takes place in my little corner of the United States—Atlanta, Georgia, and the North Georgia Mountains. I lived in Atlanta from age 4 to 22, and spent many summers in the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains attending Girl Scout Camp.



The story grabbed my attention from page one. I was reminded that many people in America oppose all Muslims because of radical Islam, without recognizing that some “Christian cult groups” are as dangerous and as unacceptable as is radical Islam. Not only that, but A Violent Light, vividly displays what happens when “wrong thinking” takes over. 

Hate-filled propaganda will never build bridges. We need to pray for all those who have developed that kind of carnal enmity and who are entrenched in such diabolical thinking. Ignorance and arrogance lead to unachievable dialog.


The eye-opening plot of A Violent Light is riveting and suspenseful. The reader will be confronted with uncomfortable questions concerning relations between Christians and Muslims. I was terrified at times; yet, I could not put this book down. I read it in only two or three sittings.


I highly recommend everyone read A Violent Light if for no other reason than to bring illumination to how God’s Word can be twisted and perverted. 



Only through Jesus Christ can true reconciliation happen. If you want a suspense-filled book that is cutting edge in religious fiction, I highly recommend A Violent Light.

Monday, December 19, 2016

"A Way Out of Hell," by Jim Baton - Book Review by Lorilyn Roberts




A Way Out of Hell by Jim Baton is the second book in the Peace Trilogy Series and picks up where Someone Has to Die left off.

As an American attempting to understand Islam, the series has helped me to understand a side of Islam that is often overlooked: Muslims are people just like me, trying to raise their families, pay their bills, and worship according to their beliefs. A Way Out of Hell shows that radical Islamic groups like ISIS are as much a threat to Muslim society as they are to Christians and Jews.

Can Christians and Muslims live side by side, respect each others' beliefs, share each others' hopes, and even pray together? Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

In a world where there is so little love, so little hope, and so little tolerance, maybe this series offers a glimpse of what is possible. I have many personal questions after reading the first two books. For example, can I love that much? 

In my heart, I want to show Muslims the love of Christ. Jesus Christ died for them too, but before we can expect Muslims to listen to us, or to me, we must love them first. Earn their friendship. I remind myself, Jesus loves Muslims more than I ever could because He loves perfectly. 

Our best ability to love will never be like Jesus Christ, but if we commit our minds and hearts to trying, will that not please our heavenly Father? John 13:35 says: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

The Peace Trilogy Series has shown me some things that aren't always obvious at first. Perhaps one reason why Jesus Christ taught using parables is because stories teach us things we can't learn any other way. When we read stories, we develop an intimacy with the characters. We feel their emotions. 

The scholarship of a nonfiction book remains in the intellect. Stories reach the heart. Love, hate, hopelessness, and redemption, I felt all those emotions in the Peace Trilogy Series. I even felt pity for the antagonists who had become radicalizedThey were misled, perhaps demonically possessed in one instance, but they still had souls. They weren't beyond redemption.  



It only takes one person to make a difference, to bring peace to a village, a community, a school, or a country, and the Peace Trilogy Series provides an example of how reconciliation is possible. I look forward to reading the third and final book in the series, A Violent Light.

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