The Mercy Prayer by Robert Gelinas

The author's writing is very easy to understand.  The author discusses the most commonly used prayer in the Bible, “Lord, have mercy”. The Mercy Prayer provides an insight that must be studies slowly and deliberately to fully understand everything the author is writing about.  This book is well worth the time and effort.  Do not be fooled in thinking this book is only taking about the Mercy prayer.  The key topic is the most commonly used prayer but there is a great deal more information provided about and around this prayer.  An example would be how mercy is the opposite of justice.  The author writes, “Justice is what we deserve in any given situation. Mercy, on the other hand, is not receiving what we deserve, or receiving less than what we have coming to us." Strive to be on the receiving side of Christ's mercy.  Do not demand justice but see what happens when mercy is given to others.

 I received a free copy of this book from BookSneeze in exchange for my honest review of the book.

This Beauiful Mess by Rick McKinley

It was a struggle getting through this book. Yet another author is a theologian giving his version of what the kingdom of God is along with what it means in relation to us. The author does not present anything new that hundreds of other books have not already provided on the same subject.  I lost interest when he provided too many stories trying to get a single point across.  I also understand he is very proud of the church he belongs to but the constant mentioning of it comes off like an info commercial.  If this is a new subject matter for you then the book does provide basic information but it is not a page-turner.  If you have read books about practicing the presence of the Kingdom of God then hold off on buying this book, it will be a redundant.      

I received a free copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing in exchange for my honest review of the book.