Love is a Flame: Stories of What Happens when Love is Rekindled
Love is a Flame: Stories of What Happens when Love is Rekindled is compiled by James Stuart Bell. This book is not a biblical examination of what marriage is or even how to grow a marriage. This book is a collection of stories and testimonies on marriage. After each of the stories is a brief application or take-away from the story. This is an encouraging book especially for those whose marriages may be struggling. Often, I have found reading such stories helpful in growing my own marriage. As long as one understands that this book is more testimonial in nature than biblical, I recommend every married couple read this book. Every married couple should learn from other couples and this book does that which is why I recommend it.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Book Review The Lord’s Prayer by R.T. Kendall
The Lord’s Prayer: Insight and Inspiration to Draw Closer to Him by R.T. Kendall is an examination into the teaching of Jesus on what is known as the Lord’s Prayer or the Disciples Prayer. This book will help aid you in your growth in not only understanding the Lord’s prayer but also prayer in general. R.T. Kendall was a protégé of the late Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and the senior minister of the historic Westminster Chapel in London for 25 years. Dr. Kendall grounds his argument in the Scriptures but also uses illustrations to help his readers think through and apply the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer into one’s life. This is a book I recommend for anyone who wants to learn about the Lord’s Prayer and prayer in general.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Book Review The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation
The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation is edited by Alan Andrews and forwarded by Rick Warren. This book contains chapters by a number of theorists and practitioners on the topic of spiritual formation and discipleship. The purpose of this book is to give a broad treatment from various writers across the evangelical spectrum. Depending on where one lands theologically one may find many helpful things in this book. The book seeks to be thoroughly evangelical and most of the authors do a reasonable job explaining the Scriptures. This book was written over the course of many meetings by individual writers. When I originally requested to review this book, I thought it would be better. It’s not that this book is bad but there are many things contained within that I simply don’t agree with. Some of the author’s perspectives reinforced what I already know about the spiritual disciplines. Overall this book is a good contribution from various thinkers cross a wide spectrum. Being that I read widely from various authors and bloggers I appreciated the varying perspectives the authors brought. If one wants to read widely I recommend this book. In fact this book is a good beginning point for the reader to begin to learn the various perspectives in the spiritual formation movement. Yet as with all things- one should come with an open Bible to test to see if these things are so. I recommend this book but I urge the reader to open their Bible as they read this book.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Book Review: Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges
Transforming Grace: Living Confidently in God’s Unfailing Love by Jerry Bridges is a remarkable book that he describes on the back cover, “as a fountainhead of inspiration and renewal that will show its reader how inexhaustible and generous God’s grace really is. The book covers topics on the grace of God ranging from the lie of performance based grace, holiness, sufficiency of grace, applying God’s grace and the garments of grace. Throughout the book Dr. Bridges grounds his explanations in the Scriptures and helps his reader to understand the nature and extent of the grace of God. This is a book I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn about how great the grace of God is.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Review of Trusting God when it hurts by Dr. Jerry Bridges
Trusting God Even when it hurts by Dr. Jerry Bridges is an excellent treatment on dealing with adversity, suffering and trials in the Christian life. Dr. Bridges brilliantly weaves solid biblical exposition with keen theological insight and pastoral sensitivity to deliver a book that has sold over 300,000 books according to the cover. There was no weakness in this book; however there is plenty of strength. The strength of this book lies in its balance of biblical and theological explanations along with the practical. Dr. Bridges appropriately shares his personal experience with suffering and adversity but never to the detriment of the explanation of Scripture. I recommend this book especially if you’re going through a difficult time or know someone who is going through difficulty. Give them this book and get copies for your family and friends. I highly recommend this book!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Review of Christian Coaching by Dr. Gary Collins
Christian Coaching: Helping others turn potential into reality by Gary R. Collins, Ph.D is a helpful contribution from an experience practitioner and teacher of Christian Coaching. The strengths of this book are Dr. Collins breadth of knowledge and experience in Christian coaching. The weakness of this book are many. First, Dr. Collins repeats himself throughout the book, and this often hinders the flow of the book. Secondly Dr. Collins offers brief explanations of the Scriptures he treats and never really examines them. Thirdly, because of weakness number two Dr. Collins work is more pragmatic than biblical. Finally to be fair Dr. Collins does at time engage in explanation and the point of this book is to be more application driven; however, the book’s message would have been strengthened with a greater emphasis on the Scriptures and an explanation of how they relate to coaching. Dr. Collins did offer many explanations of Scripture however they were far to brief which is why his work is more pragmatic in its approach than solidly grounded in the Scripture. Even with these caveats Dr. Collins book is a treasure trove of information on what coaching is, and how to be a good coach. I recommend this book as long as the reader understands this work by Dr. Collins is more concerned with practical outworking of coaching than what Scripture teaches about coaching.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Review of Leaders who last by Dave Kraft
Dave Kraft's book "Leaders who last" is one of the best books on leadership, I have read read. Having read Maxwell and others in this genre this book sets itself above the rest in the following ways: 1) Kraft is a leader at Mars Hill Church one of the fastest growing churches in America, 2) Kraft is actively engaged in pastoral ministry and training leaders, 3) Kraft writes from a biblical worldview, and finally Kraft explains concepts biblically but draws from his many years of experience. Leaders who last is an excellent book for Pastors, but also for every Christian. Every Christian should learn to be intentional in following Jesus in every area of life. While Kraft's aim is to instruct leaders and those in full time Christian ministry, I believe his book is helpful for every Christian, which is why I recommend every Christian leader read it. Part Three on Fruitfulness of "Leaders who last" was especially helpful as I do a lot of coaching of leaders and future leaders in my ministry. This section has lead me to pursue future training in the field of coaching. To wrap up this review, this book is one I will be recommending other Pastors, leaders, and future leaders in the Body of Christ to read, and is also why I gave it 5 stars!