A Convicting Reminder

The Radical Question is a great spinoff of the original book, Radical. Remember when you were first on fire for the Lord Jesus? This book gives you some thought on what that meant to you and how just because times have changed, that doesn’t mean God has or His Son’s commission on earth is any lesser of a way to live now than it was then.

The book is convicting to a point that you begin to weigh what Jesus means to you in the things you do every day and the decisions you need to make. The American Dream is not in conjunction with the ways of the Lord and this book brings that back into focus.

The second half of this book, Radical Idea, is also convicting in its attempt to explain the importance of the church being the people in it, not the building itself. It’s what we do for each other, it’s how we conduct ourselves before other people, it’s how we take care of each other through the love of God that matters and what God has instructed us to do.

Most people today spend too much time electing others to take care of our problems for us, doctors, lawyers, landscapers, pool cleaners, these are just examples, but why can’t we do these things for ourselves and for each other rather than hire outsiders to do them for us? Where in our lives do we commit ourselves to each other on days other than just Sunday mornings? Radical Idea is, from today’s standards or the norm of this age, truly a radical idea. We have hidden ourselves behind worldly concepts and practices that we’ve lost touch with the church, with us.  

I received this book free in exchange of my honest review from Waterbrook/Multnomah Publishing Group.

Spark – Transform Your World, One Small Risk at a Time

 

I really did not care for this book at all. First off, the author claims to be Christian and seems to know scripture well but takes scripture then attempts to interpret it in a whole new way. I realize that God’s Word can give us different comforts and insights at various times or seasons in our lives but we are not given the freedom to create something new of it. Gospel is Gospel no matter how you try to twist it. If you try to twist it, it’s twisted!

For example, the back cover states, “Partner with God and others to accomplish something beautiful that serves humanity.” Now, true followers of the Lord know that we don’t partner with God and we certainly do not aim to serve humanity. We are followers and believers and doers of God’s Word, we are in no way equal to be partners with Him. We also do not strive to serve humanity in anyway. We are to love our neighbors but our ultimate goal is to serve God, not people. Galations instructs us of that very clearly (Gal 10:1 if you care to open truth and see for yourself).

In this 16 chapter book, even though it’s a quick read, it still took until the 15^th chapter to finally give a pep talk to the readers. However, in the first 14 chapters, the author makes long, drawn out attempts to take scripture and put new meaning into it by giving examples of his own ideas of what it means and how the rest of us seem to have not fully grasped what God has been instructing us for the past 2000+ years. After these useless ideas of self-empowerment, it’s not until the very last chapter that readers are given an actual ‘how-to’ idea of applying his concepts in their lives.

Christianity and most other religions that serve the living Almighty Father, God all include in their basic of basics in theology that we are to die to ourselves and serve Him. We are not to be self-empowering, self-elevating and motivating others to use God as a backup system rather than our main source of comfort, guidance and submitting to His will and not our own. Jaggard writes of God being narcissistic, like a rock star diva and those of us who truly follow Him to have no choices or power in our own lives. I feel that a true lover of God wouldn’t go anywhere near this ideology and certainly would not be teaching it to others.  

I’m a little saddened that I feel the author put many hours of hard work into this book that will do nothing for its believers except draw them into a world of self-centeredness without the total comfort and peace God has to offer us when we allow Him to show us the way instead of taking the reigns ourselves and fighting where I true destiny lies. God is soveREIGN because He and He alone reigns. I do not recommend this book to anybody whose heart is to serve the Lord.

This book was a free gift in exchange for my honest opinion of it provided by Waterbrook/Multnomah Publishing Group.

The God I Never Knew

I was excited about reading the book. When I first started, I got into the book right away and read some great truths that were scripturally sound and backed by the gospel. This is always a great way to get the attention of believers in Christ and even more so of believers of the Holy Trinity.

For those struggling about the Holy Trinity, this book is great because it clarifies in the second half some of what the author is trying to explain in the first half of the book. If you are a mature believer, this book may seem a bit elementary because these are things we learn in our community life groups as you grow in your faith.

This is an excellent book to give to those who may be new believers as well as those who don’t fully understand the role of the Holy Spirit. The Lord, Jesus Christ tells us that when He left the disciples before His crucifixion, we would be left with a helper that would dwell with/in us and people of that time didn’t know what He meant. This book explains that ‘helper’ and how the relationship with the Spirit can benefit us.

I received this book free in exchange of my honest review from Waterbrook/Multnomah Publishing Group.

Thought Provoking Bible Study

The Power of Knowing God by Kay Arthur (40-min Bible Study) Review

True to Kay Arthur’s study material, she probes the reader to dig deep into their soul to get closer to God. She’s an excellent teacher and the material is well organized and thought out as your journey to strengthen a relationship with Him progresses.

However, if I do find Kay’s method of scribbling symbols in your bible a bit over the top. Once you’re finished with her suggested ‘highlights’, your bible is a bit hard to read and not much can be done if you review the same scripture for another topic later because you’ve already marked stuff for that particular study.

I do recommend that if you are going to be as extensive in note taking as she suggests that you create your own journal on the topic at hand and write out the scriptures mentioned for that one study. At least then you’d have topical journals all kept in one place to review for later use without having to search for stuff you ‘knew’ was in there but just can’t seem to find when you need it. Leave the bible writing for simplistic highlighting and more general note taking so you can actually read the words later.

Otherwise, great study, loaded with useful information from cover to cover and plenty of room for small group discussion or intimate private time with God reflecting. Kay never fails to bring key scriptures to the table and she’s true to form in this study as well. Enjoy!

I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review.

The Necessity of an Enemy Book Review

I liked it. I felt the author had a lot of good points to make regarding why we have an enemy and how not to think of our challenges as punishment or in a negative perspective but as opportunities to glorify God and push through them with a different attitude.

I’ve always felt that when people say God won’t give us anything we can’t handle, it was a misquote. What scripture tells us is that He won’t give us what we can’t handle withOUT Him! This book reflects that belief for me.

In all things we are to give thanks and that includes the difficult times because scripture does tell us those are the times He uses to help us grow. We cannot grow if we are never challenged to move forward. Any Christian living in the Word knows and understands this truth. The author sheds new light on how to accept this and praise God while enduring it.

I recommend this book to anybody who finds the difficult times too difficult to see God through it all.

I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review.

Where Lilacs Still Bloom Review

It took me awhile to get through this book. It wasn’t a bad story, but gardening and baking are just not my things. I love to cook but to spend so much time trying to find a product that doesn’t exist and make it come to life in a garden seemed like a waste of time for me when there are so many other things out there to use. This book was not about me though, so for her life, if you’re into that sort of thing, then I’m sure it will be extremely enjoyable for the gardening baker.

I have passed the book on to someone who seems to enjoy it as she does those two tasks in her own life. Perhaps I’m the wrong person to give this review but with so many other things going on in this woman’s life, I felt even though it was a passion, there were other places she could have placed her attention.

This book was a gift and in exchange, I have agreed to give my honest opinion but if I were to browse a book store, I wouldn’t have picked this to begin with. For that reason, for the person who does search this book because it is what they enjoy, I am giving it 4 stars. The background stories were good; I enjoyed that more than I did the main story line. However, the author’s passions and my own do not parallel.

I received this book free in exchange of my honest review from Waterbrook/Multnomah Publishing Group.

The Treasure Principle Book Review

Great Book!

The Treasure Principle was extremely insightful. I was pleasantly surprised at how plainly the Bible explains our possessions on earth and how if we’re willing to accept our tasks and roles on earth regarding our possessions how much more blessed we would be.

Alcorn clearly defines why churches mention the ‘10%’, gives the biblical definition and goes far beyond what we can do with that as servants. There are no miracle solutions to God’s gifts to us or how to get rich quick which I appreciated because I strongly dislike theologians (term used lightly) who try to make us think that if we give, we’ll get while on earth. I feel these are promises nobody on earth can make come true and Alcorn is fully aware of that.

Randy Alcorn helps us understand in this little handbook, how to begin a journey of giving in little step increments so there is no room for misinterpretation of what he’s trying to get across to us. He uses his life examples in certain places and I’ve learned a lot about him and his family that I did not know but have humbled myself to prayer for them.

Read this book with an open heart and pray that God will speak to you through Andy’s text and you will see giving in an entirely new light. Enjoy!

This book was a free gift in exchange for my honest opinion of it provided by Waterbrook/Multnomah Publishing Group.