Saturday, May 3, 1997

A look at recent books, music and audio books

The Dallas Morning News

BOOKS:

"A Journey to the Other Side of Life: Spiritual Companion Guide," by Kevin Lane Turner (Ashley Down Publishing, $8.95).

Turner came out with his "Journey" a couple of years ago. It was his attempt to come up with an explanation for human behavior from, he said, an emotional perspective.

Turner is not a psychologist or psychiatrist. He's a minister. But his book struck a chord, and he's sold a bunch and spent time on various media, including Christian radio and television. And on occasion, he came in for criticism because "Journey" was written with an intentionally secular approach.

The companion guide, he explains, is his reply. Here the interested reader will find the scriptural references for his ideas. Chapter by chapter, he identifies the exact passages from the Bible that are the basis for the theories about human behavior he explores at length in "Journey."

For a reader who liked "Journey" and wants to know - chapter and verse - where the ideas come from, this is a worthy companion.

-Jeffrey Weiss

"Preaching the Just Word," by Walter J. Burghardt, S.J. (Yale University Press, price not listed).

Catholic preaching, the author says, "is not our most successful ministry." Particularly when applied to the social gospel, preaching has not done enough to move listeners into compassion and appropriate action, he suggests.

Listeners tune out the message because the preacher hasn't learned how to deliver it properly, he says.

His solution is to offer the most powerful possible scriptural and historical support for church positions on social issues. He offers definitions for "justice" and applies them to issues including environmental protection, caring for children, charity and welfare for the poor, the elderly, those with AIDS.

He also explores the tradition of social welfare preaching in Catholic and Protestant churches. And he briefly examines such hot-button issues as assisted suicide, the church's approach to gays and lesbians and the role of women in the church.

-Jeffrey Weiss

MUSIC:

"Love & Mercy," by Kathy Troccoli (Reunion, 42 minutes).

Troccoli is not one to shy from controversial topics. The first single from this, her eighth album, is a song dedicated to a national AIDS organization, His Touch Ministries of Houston.

More than 40 artists contribute to the upbeat, mid-tempo "Love One Another," including Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Sandi Patty and Clay Crosse. The second single will be "Baby's Prayer," which considers abortion from the perspective of an unborn baby who prays for her mother's forgiveness.

Heavy topics these, but Troccoli's smooth voice and understated production make "Love & Mercy" a warm, enjoyable project.

-Christopher Ave

"Peace in the Valley: A Country Music Journey Through Gospel," by various artists (Arista, 43 minutes).

Artists such as Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson and Pam Tillis interpret traditional and modern gospel and religious-themed songs. Especially noteworthy is Tillis' unadorned, acoustic version of "Morning Has Broken."

Jackson recorded a new song called "We're All God's Children," a rollicking ode to equality under God. Tammy Graham lends a traditional twang to the title cut, and Lee Roy Parnell's "John The Revelator" is a bump-and-grind, backwoods version of the Son House classic previously explored - in a faster, hard-rock sort of way - by Phil Keaggy.

-Christopher Ave

"Love Revolution," by NewSong (Benson, 56 minutes).

"Love Evolution" would be a more apt title. This release marks the continuing metamorphosis of the 15-year-old band from harmony-laden vocal group to a guitar-based, pop-rock band.

The new sound reaches its peak on "Miracles," a rousing, ascending pop song with outstanding electric guitar work by Jerry McPherson. Whether because of its changing lineup, new spiritual direction or calculated marketing effort, NewSong has become more relevant musically, which should allow the group's lyrical themes - which center on the joy of being a Christian - to reach a wider audience than ever before.

-Christopher Ave

AUDIO BOOKS:

"Ulterior Motives," by Terri Blackstock, a multivoice dramatization (Zondervan Audio Pages, two cassettes, abridged, $14.99).

Part of the author's Sun Coast Chronicles series, "Ulterior Motives" begins like many other murder tales: with a dead body on the floor. But this is a murder with a message, and much of the story centers on Sharon Robinson's efforts to resolve her anger with her ex-husband at the same time she's trying to prove he didn't kill his boss.

The puzzle here is competently crafted, but Christians will especially like the moral fiber of the heroine and the questions of the heart she must answer along with issues of guilt and innocence.

-Kate Seago

"Gift and Mystery," by Pope John Paul II, read by Earl Hammond (BDD Audio, two cassettes unabridged, $19.95).

This account, released late last year, is a memoir of the pope's life as a priest, written out of his musings on the 50th anniversary of his ordination.

"Gift and Mystery" is as much spiritual journey as autobiography, exploring the experiences that influenced the young Polish student to pursue a life in the church and the academic and spiritual milestones that marked his career.

Hammond gently suggests the multilingual pope's accent while giving a clear reading. Side four of the tape set includes a transcription of a recitation of the "Litany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Priest and Victim," the prayer the pope included at the end of the printed text of the book.

-Kate Seago

"Love Beyond Life: Healing and Growing Through After-Death Communications," by Joel Martin and Patricia Romanowski, read by the authors (Harper Audio, two cassettes, abridged, $18).

Is communication with the dead a figment of our grieving minds? Martin admits he used to believe so, before he became immersed in "traipsing through the unseen world" while working on a program about psychic phenomena at a radio station.

He later hosted "Psychic Channels" at a Long Island cable network and wrote "We Don't Die" with Romanowski. They offer argument and case histories in favor of life - and communication - after death.

"Love Beyond Life" is a concise overview of New Age thought about visions, apparitions and messages from the beyond, and ways the bereaved can accept and learn from the death of a loved one.

-Kate Seago

(Writers are staff members of The Dallas Morning News. Write to them in care of: the Religion Section, Dallas Morning News, Communications Center, P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas 75265.)

(c) 1997, The Dallas Morning News.

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