The Radical Question A Radical Idea by David Platt

Don’t judge a book by its cover or by its size.  This book is a quick read but it does contain a question all churches in America should ponder.  Are we so comfortable in our worship that we have lost the meaning of what being a Christian is?  The author describes a common church setting were we drive up in our cars, sit on padded seats, while sitting in the comfort of conditioned or heated buildings.  On the other side of the world people or sneaking into homes that are make shift gathering places for worship but it is illegal in that country.  They gather, pray and hope for salvation, not to mention survival if they are caught.  Do we need all the fancy buildings, audio video equipment and high paying speakers?  No, we don’t.  What the book does so well is bring us back to reality.  What many of the churches today miss is the ability to prepare their congregation.  The preparation the author refers to is in how to reach out to others about Jesus, about their faith and about what it is to be a Christian.  Most of us sit and listen to the sermon, most not able to recall what it was about, and then we go home.  The book does not give you clear cut answers but it does give you the basic understanding that we need to make changes.

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

Miraculous by Kevin Belmont

Based on the title of the book I assumed the examples provided would all be examples from the bible.  The first third of the book does go into the miracles within the bible and does a good job explaining the details behind each of the examples that were selected.  The author could have easily filled the whole book up in this manner but he did not.  Instead, the author pulled examples of people from all walks of life to show the miracle that occurred and how that one event made a major difference in that person life.  The examples he used were people like St. Augustine, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, and George Washington, just to name a few.  Each chapter is dedicated to a different person in the later part of the book.  Each one is a mini biographical snap shot of that person and the miracle that changed their life.  I found the book interesting because not only did the author select examples form the bible but the background he provided on the others crossed several different life styles and geographical locations.

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

A Sudden Glory by Sharon Jaynes

I ordered the book in hoping to use it in a couple’s bible study class.  The book was written as a women’s bible study tool but not a couple’s bible study.  Men will find it offensive at times.  A good example of this is on page 34, The Relentless Romance.  The question comes up between a couple about how a woman defines romance and how women want to be continually pursued.  The author makes the husband sound as if he is unfeeling, more or less a moron.  In the author’s point of view, the man’s option is wrong so any further discussion is moot.  Very narrow minded thinking.  The basic fact that God created men and women different does not mean one is better than the other.  On page 61, Two Becoming One, she uses the example of the unfaithful husband loving his wife for 360 days and 5 days of the year, he has a thing for blondes.  Seriously, this is the only example you could come up with.  I could see the romance novel style stories would appeal to many women and all the discussions are about women.  If this is what you are looking for this will be a good book, if not beware.

 

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

Wisdom Meets Passion by Dan Miller and Jared Angaza

I have read more books that have claimed they could motive you to new heights, locate that lost talent you never knew you had or follow the books method to success.  To my surprise, this was not one of those self-help books.  The book was balance in a way that allowed you to explore the two different generations of the authors.  You are able to relate to one or the other author for each discussion point and in many cases both.  The book is centered on basic common sense things, many that we forgotten about in our busy life.  The book brings these things back into focus and triggers renewed and/or new thoughts.  Why have I not tried that before, why did I stop doing that or I cannot think of a reason why I should not do that?  Once I got started reading the book, it contained so many inspiration and positive ideas I could not put it down.  This book is not targeting one typical audience like many of the self-help books are but can be applied to students, singles, parents, the retired, etc.  They provide example for all of us that we should still be passionate about something in our lives no matter what that is.  Rekindle you passion, read the book.

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

Rudy by Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger

If you saw the movie Rudy, you will love the book.  The story of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger is an inspirational story, one that most people can relate to at some point of their life.  He may not be the biggest, strongest or the smartest but with sheer determination and the mental attitude not to quit will take him further than he even imaged.  Being a trouble child in a family of fourteen created many unique issues.  What he found was his faith, his family and the positive support of friends could get him through any challenge that he ran into.  The most interesting thing about this biography is he is not special in anyway, life for him was tough and few people early on supported any of his dreams or aspirations.  Self-doubt was one of his biggest hurls but he used his faith to align his life.  The author conveys in his story no matter who you are or what you are you have the final say in making something of yourself.  It all teeters on how bad you want it and how many times you willing to fail before you get to what you want.

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

The Blessed Church by Robert Morris

I admit I was skeptical about the topic of this book.  A mega church is trying to provide instructions to other churches that are struggling or sitting stagnate.  In the beginning of the book, Robert Morris talks about how he talks to God.  I rolled my eyes but kept reading, I wanted to hear how he built his church.  Once I got past that, the rest of the book was good.  I belong to a small struggling church so everything he said I applied to my personal situation within my church.  He talks about churches wanting to grow but explains in order to grow your church has to be healthy.  I researched this again within my own church and found out our health rating would have been considered more like being on life support.  How they built, Gateway Church may not work for you but the common sense approach to the health of the church, the leadership, communication and accountability can work for any size church.  The only stipulation you need to be aware of is the pastor and leaders of the church need to be open to change or approaching things differently.  That is the key to avoiding failure in any church is going beyond their comfort zone.

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



Grieving God’s Way by Margaret Brownley

Everyone handles a loss of a loved one differently.  Through the experience of the author, you can see the mental, physical, social and spiritual roller coaster of emotions that one could encounter.  The author has created a 90 day devotional.  Each day contains a short story, a haiku and a section called healing ways.  The stories help to present the topic of that day of how to explain, explore or just survive the grieving process.   The haiku is a short poem related to that day’s devotion, truthfully after about the fifth day I skipped the haiku, it provided no value for me.  Reviewing the three key areas the healing ways section seemed to contain the most pertinent information.  This section provided helpful tools, reference points and quotes that provided down to earth basic Christian advice on how to deal with and move on from the loss of a loved one.  My suggestion is to focus on the healing ways section.  While it is a 90 devotional, it may be too short for some.  Many of the daily devotional topics in my option could take a much longer period than just a day.  Instead of a 90-day devotional, I see it more as a 90 progressive steps to countering grief.

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