"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." -- 1 John 2:15

It's the balance that every Christian fears. One the one hand, we are to go into the world and speak to it, which cannot be done effectively without an understanding of the world. On the other hand, we must not fall in love with the world and its lures. Where do we go in between, when there seems to be no medium?

More than that, it's a balance that I fear. Determining what to read and what to watch that will help me grow without jumping me too far over the edge into a place where I can no longer distinguish the Christian from the worldly is terrifying enough, but the desire to make recommendations to my friends, family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and even some people I've never met and probably never will, is excruciating in its persistence. What should I say? Could one tenative part cause someone else to stumble? Or is the book (or movie, or song) as a whole worthy enough that that one problematic incident should be walked past in an effort to glean the greater good from the book?

This is my quest this year, and I invite you to join me as I struggle along my way. For some, this will seem worthless; for others, trite; I can only hope that I myself will grow enough through it that I will eventually be able to distinguish my own level of tolerance, my own balance of the worthwhile and the questionable, as I seek to enhance my knowledge and inspire those around me. Bear with me; this is a work in progress, just as I am a work in progress.

Beginning today, this website will seek not to select only the "best" books, but instead will strive to find the questioning books, the ones on the borderline, and discuss and analyze them as well. Certainly, I intend to keep and update my lists of good and "must-read" literature, but thise will be secondary to my mission. From here on out, this is a personal growth as well as a website growth. Anything less just wouldn't be my full potential.

God bless.

~the Bookworm