Review:The Good News about Marriage

Many of us have heard about the depressing 50% divorce rate for marriages outside and inside the church. But Shaunti Feldhahn believes the rates are actually much lower! After years of investigative reporting and research, she offers paradigm-shifting, rigorously supported information that reveals marriages as stronger, happier, and more committed than most people think. 

I read, and loved The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages, so when I saw this book by Shaunti Feldhan, I was keen to read it.  The premise sounded interesting; that the state of marriage is not in as much trouble as we are led to believe.

This book was just as interesting as the last one, but in a different way.  While the last one focused on how couples have happy marriages, this one is full of facts and statistics to tell us just how many marriages are happy. 

This is a very important book, for a number of reasons.  Firstly, if marriage is not the doomed institution we often believe it to be, maybe couples who were considering marriage will be more likely to actually get married, and not just live together.  Secondly, it offers hope.  Hope to couples already in a marriage that (1) their chances of success are better than they think and (2) if they feel like things are going badly, a lot of couple feel this way for a while, but manage to make it work.  One of the statistics that the book quotes is that couple who feel like their marriage is doomed, and yet persist, often change their mind within 3 years.  This means that if you feel like there is no reason to carry on, there is a light at the end of the tunnel that it might not last forever.  

The book relies very heavily on statistics, and quoting reports and explaining why research and figures might not mean what we think.  If you are not keen on that sort of technical information, this one might be too heavy for you.  There are a lot of tables and lists, and each point is repeated a number of times.

I will probably not be returning to this book to read it again, because it is not that sort of book.  However I will probably be pulling it out to quote and look up facts and figures in future when I have discussions with people about the implications.

You can learn more about the book here, or download the first chapter here.  I received a free e-book copy from WaterBrook Multnomahin exchange for this review.  They are currently running a promotion where if you purchase a copy of this book from anywhere, they will send you another copy for free.

Review : The Solomon Seduction – Mark Atteberry

Have you found yourself in circumstances you never envisioned, tangled up with people you never approved of, and doing things you never imagined?

… Solomon was better equipped to see through Satan’s deceptions than any man who has ever lived, other than Jesus. But in the end, he became just as blind to them as everyone else. 

As you may recall, I was a huge fan of Mark Atteberry’s earlier book, Free Refill.  It is one of my favourite books, and one I go back to often.  So when I found this e-book, I downloaded it immediately to see what it was like.

The Solomon Seduction, from Thomas Nelson, is subtitled “What you can learn from the wisest fool in the Bible,” and the premise is simple:  Solomon was one of the people best equipped to deal with temptation, and to keep it at bay… but he allowed sin to creep into his life by compromising his beliefs, giving in to pride and lust, and just generally making trying to fool himself into believing he could handle it.  The book switches between examples from the life of King Solomon, and real life examples of how we too can know when we are being seduced. 

In fact the book is divided into 10 chapter, each called a Wake up Call, and each beginning “You know you are being seduced when…”
… Sin seems like a good idea.
… God’s commandments seem out of touch.
… etc.

I particularly liked the section on how we often try Sin Management as opposed to Sin Avoidance.  Where we try to manage our sin by saying “I can hide this”  or “I can handle this” or “I can stop this from affecting me/my job/my wife by…” as opposed to saying “How can I deal with this and get it out of my life?”

As with the previous book I read, there is nothing profound or new in this book, just honest truths.  It is presented from a Biblical and Christian perspective, but it is also very seeker-friendly.  It is not too heavy, but rather offers good and practical ways to deal with sin and seduction.

I did find it a little less gripping than Free Refill, and I think I am probably less likely to come back to this one again and again. It took me a while to read, which is strange for me, and it did seem a little like they were trying to stretch out less content and make it go further.  There were lots of lists and sub-lists, which made it hard for me to remember where I was and what point we were looking at.

However this could just be because I am not used to reading e-books, so I will give it the benefit of the doubt. 

Not the greatest book I have ever read, but still theologically sound, and extremely relevant.

I received the e-book free from Thomas Nelson Publishing in exchange for an honest review.  Click here to learn more about it, or click here for a sample.

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.

Visit Thomas Nelson.

Review : Free Refill – Mark Atteberry

If you feel empty and your faith has run dry, don't panic...you're not alone! Some of the greatest heroes of the Bible had the same experience. They saw their faith dwindle down to almost nothing. They found themselves questioning beliefs that once seemed unshakeable.

The great news is that God gives free refills.

Thus promises the back cover of Free Refill – coming back for more of Jesus.  This book was given to me a few years back for a birthday present.  The givers knew how much I liked coffee, so they bought this, thinking I would like the theme.

They were right.  It is awesome.

The book is divided into 8 chapters, each one focused on realising how Jesus refills our faith in Him: through his understanding of us; his presence in our lives; his love for us; and much more.

It is really a wonderful book, and I can honestly say that each chapter touched me.  There is nothing new in this book, nothing groundbreaking – Just some honest truths that really make you stop and think.

I have read it about 5 times, and am currently adapting it for use in my Bible Study group.  So if you can get your hands on a copy, I can highly recommend it.

It might not change your life.  But it might just change how you feel about it.

Click below for an excerpt from the introduction, and judge for yourself.

Book Review - The Voice

"The Voice™ is the product of the best minds in this emerging generation of Christian leaders. Together they are helping young people fall in love with the Scriptures. Instead of confining God’s Word in the framework of biblical criticism, The Voice™ highlights the beauty of God’s communication to His people"

So says the blurb for this New Testament translation I am reviewing today. 

I agreed to review this book in exchange for a free copy from Thomas Nelson through their Booksneeze programme.  As always, they took a huge risk, because I am not easily impressed.

I was not too sure of this one when I first saw it; I have always believed that we should adapt ourselves to the Bible, not the other way around, and thus am very wary of anything 'new' or 'relevant' in a Biblie.

This is a translation/interpretation of the New Testament, putting it into more poetic language. Don't be fooled into thinking it will be like The Message. The language is still pretty biblical, and not very "slangish" as in some other interpretations. I liked the fact that when words were added in, they were done so in italics, so that it was clear this was an amplification/explanation and not part of the biblical text.

I enjoyed it actually, and could not find anything heretical or blasphemous about it. Just don't treat it as a bible, treat it like a bible companion, and you will be fine. I would still recommend to readers to use another version as their main reference bible, but it makes for a good 'story'.

Much of the language is a little repetitive, and theologically biased.  Such as referring to Jesus as "liberator" all the time, and John as "John the immerser".  But nothing struck me as particularly problematic in any of the interpretations, as long as you remember it is only an interpretation. 

Learn more here.