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This is the free audio book for March at Christian Audio.com. Last month I listened to Not For Sale and the free book in January was the biography of Oswald Chambers. The books are very good quality, the audio production is good, and I am doing a good job of building my audiobook listening skills.

The Christianaudio sign up gives you the option to get newletters but it was easy to say no to that. The only email I get from them now is the announcement of the next month’s free book.

This month’s book is a good subject, one we need to pay more attention to. The book is well written and I have enjoyed what I’ve heard so far. I have also been convicted and begun making a few changes already.

Go check it out – you’ll be glad you did.

I haven’t finished yet. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever read it again so I chose to read the unabridged version. That makes over 1200 pages. I have finished volume 1 which is 200 pages.

1. Who are the miserable ones that the title refers to? Who in our society today are downtrodden as these are?
   1. The people who are starting so far down at the bottom that they cannot find a way to help themselves. They are not given opportunity to be members of society, they are unfairly punished with no assistance or even freedom to take care of their daily needs. What they do is so crushing and consuming that they have no time to have a spirit or to experience life, all is drudgery.
   2. The modern-day slaves in the book Not For Sale and the poorest in all societies are the people who experience this today.
2. The characters are complex. Many are likeable, but not necessarily good (or they are good, yet not so likeable). Examine one or more of the characters, looking at his or her choices, and what they represent on a more universal level.
   1. I admit I haven’t read the entire book, but even when I finish I suspect my favorite character will still be Monseigneur Bienvenu. I agree with Carrie’s post on that. I was glad the book started with his character because I was so intrigued and convicted by him. And he lives with such integrity that when Valjean shows up it is no effort at all to treat him the way he does.
3. What do you think that the theme of Les Mis is?
   1. Grace and greed. Either want to protect and keep for ourselves and are jealous of any others (even when they experience good), or able to see that none of it has value unless shared.
   2. I think Valjean shows what the result of grace can be. He was just a young man trying to survive before he went to prison and something worse when he got out. But with the grace and love that he received from the Bishop and the true faith that he received we see he became a successful businessman able to help so many others.
4. How would you classify this novel? It covers so many themes — allegory, suspense, romance, war. Which storyline appealed most to you?
   1. The first volume showed the true life of faith of Bishop Myriel and the conversion and honest life of Jean Valjean. The life of grace and trust in God appealed to me most.
5. The experience: Which version did you read (how many pages)? Did you like it? If it’s not your first time to read it, how did this reading compare to others?
   1. This was a bit difficult. I read the unabridged version (at least 1258 pages). I started with a copy from the library but finally bought a copy so I wasn’t under the pressure of the due date (although I did have a due date for the 5M5B post).
   2. I have never read the book or seen the movie so this was a first for me. I finished volume 1 and loved it. But I did find myself impatient to move along. I finally gave in and read the summary on wikipedia so I could go ahead and figure out what was going to happen.
   3. I will definitely finish the book. I have a better opinion of abridged versions now, I think Hugo is a bit wordy in places.

I joined the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers and the second book I requested to read and review was Christianity in Crisis by Hank Hanegraaff.

It is a discussion of (really an expose of) the Faith movement, the many preachers and authors who belong, and why what they preach and teach isn’t biblical. Here is a comment from his equip.org website: “Hanegraaff is deeply committed to equipping Christians to be so familiar with truth that when counterfeits loom on the horizon they recognize them instantaneously.” He has three goals stated in the introduction: 1. bring the truth to current people who have joined the Faith movement, 2. Clarify the position of the Faith movement for committed Christians, 3. show outside observers how the Faith movement is not biblical.

The book has extensive notes and quotes in the back and these make some of the most interesting reading. It is one thing to see what Hanegraaff describes as the beliefs of the Faith movement, and at times I don’t agree with his interpretation based on a single comment, but the collection of quotes from the cast of characters provide a very good picture of what these people believe, or at least preach.

He identifies belief such as denying the deity of Christ, struggling with death and disease due to a lack of faith, and affirming that we are equal to God and Christ. One that keeps coming up is that God can’t act until we pray or command Him to do something. This is so contrary to the sovereignty of God that it is ludicrous. The positive spin is that this Faith movement puts the individual in charge of their own fate so they can’t sit down and claim victim status any more. The insidious side is that much of what happens in this world is not under our control so then the blame for an illness or setback or death is placed on the “lack of faith” of the individual.

After reviewing the cast of characters and providing an overview of what they believe, Hanegraaff takes each major point and shows how the major Faith movement preachers present their point of view and then contrasts that with the Bible to show how their teaching is unbiblical. He ends with a section reaffirming the way to equip ourselves to be able to discern the truth and a section stating what the Bible teaches are the true foundations of Christianity.

There is some repetition of stories and quotes, but there are enough of them that they seem to provide a good picture of each person’s belief-system. The author also deals with different aspects of some of the issues in different places, so the repetition provides a reminder of the text while he builds a different point. A very good book with a very timely point, drawing people back to true faith.

The Christian Research Institute is based in Charlotte.