Category: Book Reviews

  • Self-Discovery

    “There is no true life apart from relationship to God.”

  • Book Review: Surrender to Love by David Benner

    I received Surrender to Love: Discovering the Heart of Christian Spirituality by David Benner from IVP. It is part of a trilogy of small books Benner has updated. The foreword by M. Basil Pennington has this sentence: “It took me several weeks to read.” The volume I as holding in my hands was slender. The text itself, subtracting discussion group…

  • Four Lines to Wreck My Day

    I have found culturally these days that words have duel, and opposite, meanings. When I’ve heard something or someone described as “sick,” I think, “Oh, that’s too bad. What’s wrong with them?” Then, I find out the word meant, “Awesome,” or “incredible,” or something opposite of what the word used to mean for me. So, I use the word “wreck,” or I…

  • Book Review: My God and My All: The Life of St. Francis of Assisi

    The Feast of St. Francis was this past Sunday in many liturgical churches. On the heels of Pope Francis’s visit to the U.S., it seemed a bit more meaningful, I am sure. I also was finishing up a reprint and updated edition of My God and My All: The Life of Saint Francis of Assisi by Elizabeth Goudge. The book was initially…

  • Book Review: “Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times”

    I received a copy of Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times by Soong-Chan Rah from IVP. It is a part of a new series called “Resonate” that looks to engage books of the Bible through a current theological lens and the study of culture. Rah’s book focuses on the Book of Lamentations. It’s not a book I’ve readily studied…

  • Book Review: Eldership and the Mission of God

    J.R. Briggs and Bob Hyatt have teamed up to write a book on elders in the context of being a “missional” church. (I am not even going to pretend I know what that word means. I’ve tried. I’ve failed. Just go with it.) The book is Eldership and the Mission of God: Equipping Teams for Faithful Church Leadership.  Alan Hirsch writes…

  • Book Review: Christ-Shaped Character: Choosing Love, Faith and Hope

    In Christ-Shaped Character: Choosing Love, Faith and Hope, Helen Cepero begins with her story. And story is what this book is about. It is seeing the activity of God in our own story. It is about experiencing the presence of Christ in very real, tangible ways. We can take our life’s journey and follow Christ. As Cepero states, “The journey…

  • Book Review: Eternal Living: Reflections on Dallas Willard’s Teaching on Faith and Formation

    I received a review copy of Eternal Living: Reflections on Dallas Willard’s Teaching on Faith and Formation from IVP. I am under no obligation to give it a positive review. But let’s be real, how would I NOT give a positive review on a book that celebrates a man who gave me the very idea for this blog? IVP knows I’m…

  • Book Review — Spiritual Theology

    I have been working my way through Spiritual Theology by Simon Chan. IVP sent it to me as a review copy, but I’ve been lost in this marvelous work so much, I’ve lost sight of a “quick read” for a review. Simon Chan is a Pentecostal in Singapore who makes a call for the Church to return to its roots, which in…

  • Book Review — Living in Christ’s Presence

    Living in Christ’s Presence has Dallas Willard as the author, which is appropriate. It is more a collaboration. The book came to me with a DVD of the sessions given by Dallas Willard and John Ortberg not long before Dallas passed away. The book is a transcript of those lectures by Ortberg and Willard, along with the transcripts of their conversations.…