Outlive your life – Max Lucado

The book is focused on the question of whether God uses simple, ordinary people to advance his Kingdom.  Of course we know this is true, but sometimes it helps to be reminded.  One of my favourite lines is “We do not hear ‘I was sick and you healed me’ or ‘I was in prison and you liberated me.’  The works of Mercy are simple deeds. And yet in these simple deeds, we serve Jesus.”

The book has 16 short chapter, of about 5 or 6 pages each.  Each chapter focuses on a simple aspect of service to others, and out own attitudes towards Christ and his call to change the world.  As always, Max Lucado makes it all seem to straightforward.

I like the structure, which I think, lends itself to use in a Bible Study group, or for a teaching series.  I read the book in one sitting, so it is quite light, but I think it should probably be savoured, and I will definitely be re-reading it chapter by chapter to re-examine some of the lessons.

What didn’t I like about it?  Nothing much springs to mind.  He fictionalises a number of biblical stories, and adds certain elements which might jar with certain readers.  But nothing that bothered me, or detracted from the message, so it’s all good.

I received this book for free as part of Thomas Nelson’s BookSneeze programme.
Learn more about the book here. 

 

Review : Mystically Wired

We are designed to make connections to God through prayer in more ways than we can imagine.

Prayer can be so much more than a simple conversation. It can be a wordless connection with God, a step beyond the boundary of the separated self. It can be a way to listen to the silence. And it can be learned.

Click here to learn more.

 

I was looking for a book to help me deepen my prayer life, so when I was given an opportunity to review this one, I jumped at it. It says “Mystically Wired is a practical guide to cooperating with your brain’s innate capacities in order to experience a richer, fuller prayer life. Your brain is wired and waiting to pray in new ways, enabled by a fresh understanding of some ancient prayer disciplines.”

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

I have to admit the book didn’t do a great deal for me. The second half had some useful prayer techniques; and they are summarised nicely in the annexure, which is very useful. However the first half was focused on convincing us that our brains are scientifically wired to respond to activities such as prayer in a certain way. It felt at time as if the writer was trying to convince me that prayer was “scientific” and that our religious response is in fact a physiological response to the meditative aspect.

This is not what the writer was getting at, as he has some very real spiritual insights. But it felt a little apologetic at times, as if prayer needed to be explained.

I received this book free as part of the Booksneeze programme at Thomas Nelson.  I was not required to give a favourable review.

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