i appreciated the easy to follow writing style, however, i felt like through much of the book that i was sitting in a church on a sunday morning. it seems as though Wright has simply taken a 3 month long sermon series and plunked it all together in the form of the book. the casual presentation of the book was refreshing and brought some much needed clarity for me on the conflict of the sons of Abraham. i give this book a 4 out of 5.
disclaimer: i received a copy of this book for free through the Booksneeze blogging network in exchange for a review of the book. this means i get to say what i want about it.
every day’s reading starts with a name. really. and it follows the same basic pattern. so-and-so said this in a particular year. so-and-so said this in the psalms. so-and-so had a great point when they wrote this. this devotional is quick and to the point. which is good for a devotional that aims to have you done your reading in 5 minutes or less. i appreciated that the thoughts don’t “beat around the bush”, but did you really have to use the EXACT SAME FORMAT FOR EACH OF THE 365 DAYS IN THE YEAR??? great for the person that requires patterns of repetition day after day, but at 2 weeks in, i need to change things up a little.
well put together thoughts throughout, good attempt at offering clear and concise “focus for the day”, and i appreciated having a small written prayer to finish the reading off. all in all – 3.5 out of 5 if for no other reason than i’d like something that changes up its format a little more day to day.
Tyndale gave me a free copy of this book in exchange for a review, which basically means i get to say what i want about it.
The Revolutionary Paul Revere, by Joel Miller is an interesting, slightly fun read through a portion of history.
initially i decided to read this book because i wanted to know a little more about Paul Revere. i’d always heard about the man and usually it was with regards to riding through towns shouting that ‘the British are coming’. admittedly that is all that i knew of Paul Revere and so i was surprised to find out more about the goldsmith that he was. its interesting to me that the author almost seems to attribute the simplicity of being in the ‘right place at the right time’ as a very large part of the success of Paul Revere.
the author also does a great job of illustrating the circumstantial events surrounding Paul Revere in the lives of his contemporaries, explaining with some clarity who was doing what and when and how it (may have) affected Paul and his family.
finally, i couldn’t help but read this book with a bit of a grain of salt. i couldn’t help but wonder just how much creative liscence had been taken in the writing and presentation of who Paul Revere was, what kind of a family man was he, the more intricate details of life that are presented here. all in all, the author does write a decent book. it was an interesting way to learn a little more about early American history, however, i’m not sure that the next time i’m going to learn my history through novel form. i give this book a 3 out of 5.
disclaimer: booksneeze.com gave me a free copy of this book in exchange for a review, and they didn’t pay me, so i will say what i want to about the book and what i think it has to say.
my own experience of serving in churches over the last decade has been that there is little growth in terms of numbers, but there’s also been little decrease too. the churches that i’ve been a part of have been more split between two different groups of people: first, there’s the group of people who have ‘been around’ for what seems like forever, people who have committed to the church and love being in that particular community for whatever their reason may be. second, there is a group of folks who are more transient, moving between churches (sometimes in new towns due to work changes) as they get ‘bored’ or complacent or downright offended in their experience as they look for a place to call ‘home’.
i’ve always been of the opinion that if you’re going to get hurt as a Christian, it’s probably going to be in a local church. and its probably going to be in a group of people that you’ve grown to love. it’s going to happen because the Church is made up of a bunch of people just like you and me – hurt and broken. and when hurt and broken people get together, its inevitable that they will hurt and break one another.
the thing i loved about this book is what it had to say about both the local church or people doing the hurting as much as it said about the people being hurt. Mansfield did a great job of saying that both parties are part of the hurt and both parties need to commit to each other to grow through the hurt. being part of the church isn’t about what we ‘get’ from the church, it’s about what we ‘give’ to it. as we give, we find that we have strength given to us by God, and as we live our lives honestly with the people around us (even when we inevitably hurt them) we begin to find that God uses our little communities to do far greater things than we could ever imagine.
i give this book 4 out of 5 stars, and i definitely recommend it to anyone who’s been around any church for any length of time. church leaders should especially be reading this.
disclaimer: i was given this book in exchange for a review by the Tyndale Blog Network, and i haven’t been paid for this review, which means i get to say what i want to about it.
'Wilson points readers to the cross as not just the starting line but the centerpiece of our story with God and shares that it is there we turn in our Plan B and find the undeniable relationship between crisis and our hope followed by true spiritual transformation. "God wants to live inside the questions" says Wilson and then reminds us that "the cross is proof that He does not always change the circumstance but that He always has a purpose in every circumstance. He will never let go of us. He will hold us and His cross will be an anchor for us."'
and to be honest i'm looking forward to it. i've never heard much more about Paul Revere other than the Longfellow poem, and i enjoy history, so we'll see how this goes. You'll notice (if you visit the blog site) that i've also added Tyndale to my book reviewing 'shelf'. so far though, i'm still waiting to see what books become available to me. there's been nothing added yet, and i've given them a pretty broad range of book categories to work with.
