Book Review: The 4 Wills Of God

I recently received a copy of "The 4 Wills Of God" by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs from B&H Publishing to look over & give my review. Dr. Eggerichs is both a pastor & a conference speaker. He & his wife, Sarah, have developed the Love & Respect Conference focusing on teaching men & women how to pursue God-honoring, loving, healthy biblical relationships. Much of the insight that is shared in this book is built on the 30+ years of pastoring & counseling.

The basic premise of this book is that so often we want to know God's unique will for our lives without examining whether we're being faithful to God's universal will for us. Dr. Eggerichs rightly asserts that as we pursue faithfulness to the 4 universal wills, God's unique will become easier to discern in particular situations.

So what are the "4 Wills Of God" & where does Dr. Eggerichs find them?

1. Believe In Jesus Christ (John 6:40)
2. Give Thanks In Everything (1st Thessalonians 5:18)
3. Submit In Doing Right (1st Peter 2:13-15)
4. Abstain From Sexual Sin (1st Thessalonians 4:3)

These passages literally say something like, "This is God's will..." Therefore, there is some solid biblical foundation here that Eggerichs can build upon. He devotes a couple of chapters for each of the "4 Wills" using one chapter to lay the biblical foundation & another to flesh out practical application & tell stories to illustrate those points. For me, there were a few too many stories, but that's just me. Other readers will likely love the numerous stories that help illustrate the author's point. 

This could be a really good resource for counseling, small groups, or for individual growth as long as those using it don't reduce the "4 Wills" to some legalistic grid for morality & instead realize they are more of a road map to living the life that God desires for us of growth in Him & impact in our relationships.

Book Review: Becoming A Welcoming Church

I recently received a copy of Thom Rainer's new book: "Becoming A Welcoming Church". Dr. Rainer is the the President & CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources. In recent years, he has a produced a series of short but powerful books focusing on specific issues of church membership, church decline, & church leadership. In this new book, Rainer focuses on years of research in the area of church guest experience & follow up with those guests. In just 100 pages, he is able to identify some specific issues in how congregations minister to their guests & how to move toward a more effective ministry to newcomers in our churches.

One overarching principle in this book that most churches & church members need to come to grips with is the fact that our churches are not as friendly & welcoming as we think we are. The research shows that guests perceive our churches as friendly...if you already are a part of that church. In short, church members are welcoming to one another, but when it comes to guests, we're not as warm & friendly as we think we are.

This general lack of self-awareness should move church members & leaders to reexamine this aspect of our congregations' ministry to insure that we are as effective in our ministry as possible when it comes to welcoming & caring for the guests who worship in our church this weekend. In order to equip congregations to look in the mirror, Rainer gives not only some ideas but also resources in his book to help our churches see themselves with fresh eyes. Those resources are available in the book & on Dr. Rainer's website. Church leaders would be wise to take advantage of them.

The meat of the book tackles the particular issues of websites, signage, security, cleanliness, & greeters. Rainer gives helpful insight into how to leverage these items in a way that connects with our guests & encourages an atmosphere of authentic, gospel hospitality. One issue that I found somewhat surprising is that research shows that guests feel the most uncomfortable in the minutes prior to the worship service begins. In many places they've been warmly greeted as they arrived, but then they find a seat & are practically ignored until someone stands up & tells everyone to greet each other. Then they're "warmly" greeted again. The problem is that it all comes off as artificial. It's not enough to have a good welcome team. The whole congregation has to see themselves as the welcome team.

The book closes with a great reminder that if we want to be welcoming churches we must be going churches. Our hospitality ministry should really function as an extension of our Great Commission ministry. We reach out to people in our everyday lives. We share the Gospel with them. We share how Christ has changed our lives. We invite them to join us for worship on Sunday. Then the hospitality ministry at our church takes on a greater urgency. It's not just about making sure people get a bulletin. It's about making sure that each person that is a guest in our church feels just as welcomed as they would in our homes or by our Savior.

I would encourage every church leader to pick up copies of this for the church staff, those who serve in their church's hospitality/greeting ministry, & for the congregation in general. The insights & principles in this book need to permeate the cultures of our local congregations so that we not only becoming more welcoming churches, but that we also become more faithful going churches.

Book Review: Sing!

I recently had the opportunity to get a review copy of Keith & Kristyn Getty's "Sing: How Worship Transforms Your Life, Family, & Church" from B&H Publishing. In just a few short pages the Getty's remind us of the transforming power of worship, especially through singing. At the heart of the book is the premise that the Gospel of Jesus compels us to worship, to sing. The Getty's go on to lay out the biblical foundations for worship through singing. Not only does the Gospel message compel us to sing because of the work of Christ in us, but the word of God also commands us to sing. So God does command us to sing & give Him the glory He deserves, but then He graciously provides all the motivation we need in order to respond to Him in worship by working out our salvation through Jesus.

In the chapters that follow the Gettys build upon the biblical foundation to then illustrate how worship impacts our own hearts, our families, & our congregations. Worship fuels our faith relationship with God. We pass that love for God on to our children & grandchildren through the songs of God's holiness, goodness, & grace. They also point out that our congregations' singing need to be fueled by a fresh vision of Jesus & His Gospel. Then as we respond with songs of joy & worship, we'll encourage one another, but we'll also serve as witnesses to the world that we're called to share this Good News with.

Overall, this is a great, short read. I would recommend it not just to church leaders but to any believer who feels like they're stuck in their faith. If you're having trouble finding your song on Sunday or if you want to be equipped to pass on the story of God's love to your kids, pick this book up.

The Friday Five

1. Podcast: Keys To A Multi-Generational Worship Ministry. Thom Rainer & Jonathan Howe are providing consistent quality content through Dr. Rainer's podcast. In this episode, long time worship leader, Mike Harland joins them to start a great conversation about how to create an effective multi-generational worship ministry. Multi-generational ministry & discipleship is the norm in Scripture, yet so many times we go directly against biblical teaching & segment our congregations based on generations. Then we complain that there is a generation gap in our congregation. This is a great episode with some great points to consider when trying to bring the generations together in worship.
2. Music: 24 Nights By Eric Clapton. This is a classic live album that too many people don't know about. It was released 25 years ago & documents a 24 night run at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It's an eclectic album because some nights were blues nights, other nights featured a large band, others a small band, & still others featured Clapton's band with an orchestra. This has some of the best versions of some Clapton classics. Check it out.
3. Quote. "God doesn't need you to be his lawyer. He needs you to be His witness." Bryan Lorrits
   
4. Book: Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien
   . This is an interesting little work from Tolkien taken from the letters that Santa (Tolkien) wrote to Tolkien's children every year. It includes those letters & the drawings that the iconic author included in those letters each year. It's a really cool look into the life of this incredibly creative man.
5. Nerd Corner: Elstree 1976 on Netflix. If you're into Star Wars, & I mean really into Star Wars, you should check out Elstree 1976. It focuses on some of the people who had bit parts in the original Star Wars to see what it was like to have a small role or to be an extra in the movie that changed movies & how it has affected their lives 40 years later. 

I'll be taking a break from the blog for the next few weeks as we get ready to move & get settled in back in Jackson. See you here in a few weeks.

The Friday Five

1. Blog Post: 9 Debatable Thoughts About Contemporary Evangelism by Chuck Lawless. This is a great little post to get you & your church thinking about evangelism & what's most effective in your setting. The bottom line is that as long as you're doing evangelism, it doesn't really matter what you're doing. However, it's always wise to evaluate what's effective in reaching our particular communities.
2. 

   Music: Bloom by Audio Adrenaline. This is a classic in contemporary Christian rock, & it's celebrating it's 20th anniversary. This was one of the 1st albums I heard from a Christian band that I actually wanted to listen to again. It's great from start to finish.
3. Quote. "Awake! The shadow is gone and all darkness is washed clean!" -J.R.R. Tolkien (Aragorn in Return of the King)
4. Book: What Do You Think Of Ted Williams Now? by Richard
   
   Ben Cramer. In honor of the Red Sox winning another division title, here's a great, brief read from Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ben Cramer on one of the larger than life characters in baseball history & one of my favorite players of all time. Ted Williams on one level was simple: he hit a baseball & caught fish. On the other hand, he was complicated, & Cramer gives us a look into the man that most of us only heard about through legendary stories.
   
5. Nerd Corner: Pablo Hidalgo Interview At StarWars.com. This is a great follow-up interview to the Dave Filoni interview I recommended last week. Pablo is a part of the story group at Lucasfilm. His job along with the rest of the story group is to work with everyone who is creating & telling stories within the Star Wars universe to ensure continuity across the board. In other words, Pablo knows pretty much everything about Star Wars. Yes, he knows the backstory of that Jawa in the cantina in A New Hope. In this interview, Pablo shares how he became an uber-fan & eventually one of the key folks at Lucasfilm.

The Friday Five

1. Blog Post: 10 Reasons Why Many Churches Aren't Evangelistic. I know, I know, that's not your church, even though no one has been baptized in years. Just for the sake of argument & self evaluation, I would encourage all church leaders & church attenders to read this post. You may not agree with everything Dr. Rainer talks about, or you may not think it applies to your church. However, how can taking a hard look in the mirror in this area be a bad thing? If it gets you thinking about how you & your congregation can be more effective in advancing the Gospel, then it's beneficial.
2. Music: A River With No End by Ghost Ship. This little EP is gem. It's got a very unique arrangement of the classic hymn "Just As I Am" & a great original called "The Revelation Of Jesus Christ." I'm a big fan of pretty much everything this band does & highly recommend it.
3. Quote. "Truth carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation, but confrontation nonetheless." Francis Schaeffer
4. Book: To Live Is Christ, To Die Is Gain by Matt Chandler. I recently started re-reading this one from Matt Chandler. It's a great, fairly quick, read that digs into the book of Philippians. This is a good one to have as a supplement to your in-depth study of Paul's letter to the church in Phillipi.
5. Nerd Corner: Dave Filoni Interview At StarWars.com. If you call yourself a Star Wars fan & are unaware of Dave Filoni, then you may need to question your fandom. Dave is the creative force behind the Star Wars animated shows, The Clone Wars & Rebels. If you're not a big fan of the Star Wars prequel movies, I would encourage you to watch Clone Wars. It does what the prequels failed to do: make you care about Anakin Skywalker. Dave is basically the creative heir to George Lucas. He worked directly under Lucas for years & is creating some of the best content since the original trilogy. This is a great interview where Dave talks about how he became such a big fan & eventually came to work at Lucasfilm.

The Friday Five

1. Podcast: Preaching & Preachers. Dr. Jason Allen at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary hosts a weekly podcasts tackling issues relevant to preaching & preachers. Sometimes he tackles theological issues like the importance of the doctrine of inerrancy. Other times he handles issues like the growing ministry of church revitalization. He & his guests always approach the issues thoughtfully & with a desire to encourage pastors & the church.
2. Music: Music For Two by Bela Fleck & Edgar Meyer. This album came out several years ago, but if you've never heard of it, it's worth checking out. I've been blessed to see a lot of great musicians play live in my life, but this album features two of the absolute best I've ever seen. This instrumental album defies categorizing. It's sort of jazz. It's sort of bluegrass. It's kind of classical. Simply put, it's great music performed by two world class musicians. It's hard to pick a favorite, but one of mine is "Solar", an old Miles Davis tune. Check it out today.
3. Quote. "Abounding sin is the terror of the world, but abounding grace is the hope of mankind." A. W. Tozer
4. Follow: Ray Ortlund on Instagram. Ray is the pastor at Immanuel Nashville. Ray is a great follow because while he's a deep thinker, he seems to be a pretty simple guy too. A quick look at his Instagram will show you he loves 3 things: Jesus, his family, & deer hunting.
5. Book: Here I Stand by Roland Bainton. With October 31st just around the corner, it's not just time for candy. It's also time to remember the Reformation. 499 years ago Martin Luther began the movement to reclaim the Gospel from the traditions of men. If you're into history, biographies, or theology, Here I Stand is for you. It's the gold standard of biographies on Luther. Luther is one of the most fascinating figures in all of history, not just church history. I highly recommend it.

Book Review: Designed To Lead

There's a new book out that EVERY church leader needs to read. Eric Geiger & Kevin Peck recently released Designed To Lead in the hopes of helping the local church fulfill the incredible potential it has for developing leaders. After all, no other group has a more urgent or permanent mission than the church, but let's face it most churches are not raising up leaders who impact the world for the sake of that incredible mission to make Jesus known.

In Designed To Lead we're reminded not only of the incredible mission we have as believers but also of the necessity to raise up leaders in order to further that mission not just in our church ministries but in our schools, homes, & businesses. The church should be developing & deploying gospel leaders who impact every facet of our world. Geiger & Peck do a great job of outlining what a church who consistently develops & deploys leaders looks like. The crux of the book revolves around the principles of Conviction, Culture, & Constructs. Without all three of these principles in place, a congregation will not develop & deploy leaders for God's glory in the church & in the community. At best leaders will arise accidentally, but the Church is called to be intentional in all that it does.

One final piece I'd like to highlight is for those who shrink back at the idea of the local church being a leadership development machine & feel that it sounds too much like business jargon. At the end of Designed To Lead there is an appendix that reminds us that Jesus' relationship with His disciples was built on Jesus' desire to develop them & deploy them for the advancing of the Gospel & for making disciples. Discipleship & leadership are inextricably linked. Jesus developed disciples/leaders who made more disciples/leaders who made it possible for people like us to hear the Gospel & be changed by it.

Designed To Lead is an essential tool for your church's or ministry's toolbox. Pastors, work through this book with your entire leadership team, both staff & volunteer. Work with your existing leaders to take the principles found in Designed To Lead in order to create a culture of gospel fueled leadership development in your church. Then work together to create a pipeline for identifying, developing, & deploying leaders in your church who will glorify Jesus, advance the Gospel, & make disciples in their homes, their communities, & their church.

The Friday Five

1. TV: Stranger Things on Netflix. One of the best shows I've seen in a long time. Perfectly designed for Netflix binge watching. Excellent acting, incredible writing, & a heavy dose of 80s nostalgia make this a show you can't miss. I describe it as a show that feels like "if Stephen King wrote E.T." The thing that struck me was that the show didn't just take place in 1983; it actually felt like it was made in 1983. Yes, it's got some low-budget special effects you would expect from a TV show, but the story & acting are so good, you don't really think about it.
2. Music: Venus (Acoustic) by Joy Williams. I'm a huge Joy Williams fan, but I wasn't crazy about her 1st solo album post-The Civil Wars. The acoustic version, however, is another story. I don't know what it is, but her voice seems to be tailor made for sparse, acoustic accompaniment. If you enjoyed her work with The Civil Wars, check this one out. It has a similar feel.
3. Quote. "We cannot organize a revival, but we can agonize for one in prayer." Greg Laurie
4. Social Media: OurJacksonHome on Instagram. This is a great little account that helps me keep up with my hometown in west Tennessee. It's cool to see some of the things going on in this growing town between Memphis & Nashville.
5. Bible Study Resource: Exalting Jesus in 1st & 2nd Kings. I did a full review of this earlier in the week, so I won't rehash it here. Needless to say, it's worth looking into. If you want to read the review, click HERE.

Book Review: Exalting Jesus in 1st & 2nd Kings

As a pastor one of the things that I find most disturbing is how many people are so unfamiliar with their Bible. There are a lot of reasons for it, but one is that guys like me (pastors) haven't done a great job of teaching people how to read it. We fail to help people see how everything from Genesis to Revelation has one thing in common: Jesus. It's Jesus & His Gospel that's the lens through which we should read Scripture. Yes, a passage is to be interpreted in its immediate context, but we also have to keep in mind the broader purpose of Scripture: the revelation of God the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit. That means we need to keep the Gospel in mind even when we're not reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.

B&H Publishing is currently producing The Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary Series. In this post I'll focus on Exalting Jesus in 1st & 2nd Kings. These aren't exactly the books we readily identify with Jesus. However, if nothing else the record of the kings of Israel & Judah show us the imperfection that will be replaced with perfection & the divided kingdom that will be replaced with the eternal kingdom when the prophet, priest, & king named Jesus of Nazareth shows up a few centuries later.

In this volume Tony Merida walks us through these two Old Testament books, helping the reader see how the Gospel is woven throughout Scripture & foreshadowed time & time again through the history of Israel. One of the strengths of this series of commentaries is that they don't really read like commentaries. In other words, they're not dry, boring, or academic. This book is the best kind of commentary: approachable & applicable. I would encourage anyone interested in serious Bible study to look into Exalting Jesus in 1st & 2nd Kings or any of the other available titles in this series.

Disclaimer: I received a promotional copy of this book from B&H Publishing for this review.

The Friday Five

I'm back this week with a quick Friday Five after a busy few weeks. So here we go. Hope you enjoy.

1. Music: Poets & Saints by All Sons & Daughters. All Sons & Daughters has a new album coming out in September that you can pre-order now & receive a couple of tracks now. I was able to get a free download of one of those songs, "I Surrender," about a month ago. This is going to be a great album. I'm a huge fan of everything I've ever heard from All Sons & Daughters, & I'd encourage you to go ahead & make plans to check this one out.
2. Book: Exalting Jesus In 1st & 2nd Kings. This book is part of the Christ-Centered Exposition series led by David Platt, Danny Akin, & Tony Merida. Too often when we read through Scripture, especially the Old Testament, we're not reading it through the lens of Jesus or the lens of the Gospel. As a result, we develop a Christ-less interpretation. It's an inadvertent mistake, but it's a real one & an easy one to make. These books may sound scholarly but the team does a great job of making these works easy to ready & accessible for just about anybody.
3. Blog Post: 7 Things Church Guests Are Telling Us. This is a great little post from Thom Rainer that those of us in church leadership or who are actively involved in a local church need to read. Too often we let things slide because we take them for granted & forget to see through the eyes of a newcomer or first time guest. As a result, we create an uncertain or uncomfortable environment for our guests, & I don't know about you, but I tend to avoid uncertain & uncomfortable environments. The same is true of our guests. 
4. Quote. "We want to be known as men & women who love Jesus more than we love our freedoms." -Matt Chandler
5. Nerd Corner: Star Wars Celebration 2016 on YouTube. This weekend the center of the Star Wars universe is London. The folks over at Disney & Lucasfilm host their own huge conference every year to promote upcoming properties like the new Rogue One film or the upcoming season of Star Wars: Rebels. It's also a place where fans get to meet some of the actors & creators of the Star Wars universe. This weekend you can take a look at some of the panel conversations from Celebration through Star Wars YouTube Channel. They're airing the Rogue One panel, the Rebels panel, & panels featuring some of the big stars of Star Wars like Mark Hamill & Carrie Fisher. Not only can you watch these panels live, but they're going to keep these panels up on their YouTube page to view later. This is a great opportunity for uber-Star Wars nerds to hear about the upcoming films, shows, & books without having to spend thousands of dollars to spend the weekend in London.

The Friday Five

This week's Friday Five focuses exclusively on things that would be valuable for the Church. I've listed some music & other resources here to encourage & instruct church members & church leaders as they seek to know Christ & make Him known.

1. Music: Grace Alone by The Modern Post. This is a nice little EP from a Seattle based group led by Dustin Kensrue. The songs are great with deep, rich lyrics & a cool, modern sound. They do a great job reworking classic hymns while also offering great original content.
2. Blog: Vanderbloemen Search Group. Vanderbloemen is one of the premier ministry search firms in America. William & his team provide great resources for churches who are looking to fill a staff role as well as actually partnering with the church in the search process. June is Pastor Search Month at Vanderbloemen. The folks at their blog have already loaded the blog with some great posts about the dynamics of a search process. If your church is in a search process, it would be well worth the search team's time to check out the blog. If not, it would be wise to bookmark these posts because eventually, your church will be looking to fill a staff position & these resources & insight will be at your fingertips.
   
3. Book: Reclaiming Glory. This is a new book from John Mark Clifton. John Mark is a church replanting & revitalization specialist with the North American Mission Board. He is working with other church leaders to do something about the alarming rate of church decline & deaths. His new book forces us to wrestle with the question, "What about a dying church brings glory to God?" The answer is obvious: nothing. Therefore, what are we going to do about the thousands of churches at death's door? In the book he shares some great insights gleaned not only from his own, hands on experience, but form the stories of other leaders who are doing the work of replanting & revitalizing churches.
4. Quote: "Men's ideas of the wrath to come may be judged of by the earnestness with which they exhort others to fly from it." J.C. Ryle
5. Follow: NAMB_SBC on Instagram. This gives us a great glimpse into what the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention is doing to further the Gospel through church planting, church revitalization, & equipping believers to live life on mission.

Who Moved My Pulpit?

I wanted to give you a quick review of Thom Rainer's book, "Who Moved My Pulpit?". Dr. Rainer & B&H Publishing were gracious enough to get me some advance copies to review & distribute to ministry leaders. If you'd like to enter to win one of those copies, you've got three option. First, visit my Twitter page & follow the instruction in my #WhoMovedMyPulpit tweets. Or you can visit my Facebook page & follow the instructions in my "Who Moved My Pulpit?" updates. The last option is the easiest; you can simply leave a comment here on the blog. However, you need to hurry though because tomorrow I'll be selecting the winners & getting these advance copies out. If you miss out on one of the freebies, you'll be able to find it at bookstores on June 1st.

Dr. Rainer's focus in this book is on leading change effectively in the church. Some of the impetus for writing this book comes from the fact that 90% of churches are plateaued or in decline compared to their community. The overwhelming majority of churches need to change in order to survive & continue to be a viable part of the Great Commission.

In the book Dr. Rainer outlines a roadmap for leading change in the church that would serve as a solid baseline for any leader in any ministry context. In fact, I'm passing on copies of this book to our Church Leadership Team as we work through the process of revitalizing the ministry in our congregation. I'm also planning to get some copies to our local denominational leadership who will be working with churches seeking to revitalize.

If you serve on a church staff or as a ministry lay leader, you should invest in this little book. I finished it up in a couple of hours, so it's a quick but loaded read. If you'd like more information on "Who Moved My Pulpit?" visit the official website.

Book Review: The Heaven Promise

I recently had the chance to get a copy of Scot McKnight's new book The Heaven Promise. Scot is a respected professor at Northern Seminary in the Chicago area. Scot also blogs regularly at The Jesus Creed. Scot is one of the few I've read & heard speak who also sounds like one of us. He has a way of talking about & writing about deep, weighty, philosophical & theological issues in a way that is simple & easy to understand, no matter what level of theological education you may have. That's just one reason why The Heaven Promise is such a great book not only for those of us in ministry but also for the average church member who wants to hear what Scripture actually teaches about heaven rather than what culture or someone who claims to have

been there tells us.

It's that commitment to biblical teaching that makes this a must read for anyone interested in the subject or any pastor or teacher who is preparing to address the doctrine of heaven. There's no need to leave it to pop culture images of endless harp playing, which by the way doesn't sound all that appealing, or to the mysterious visions of people who claimed to have seen something in a near death experience. While I'm not discounting 100% of those stories, I don't really need them, & neither do you? Why? Because God has gone on record about what heaven is like now & what we have to look forward to when the Kingdom is fully consummated in Christ's second coming. 

And here's the good news: our imagination's picture of heaven isn't imaginative or glorious enough to contain all that God has in store for His people.

In the book McKnight tackles the idea of heaven right now & what most of us think of when we think of heaven, which is actually the new heaven alluded to in Revelation. Then McKnight tackles what he calls "God's Six Promises About Heaven" which almost always forces the reader to expand what they had previously thought about heaven, & that's good. It means heaven is bigger, grander, & more glorious than we ever thought, mainly because God is bigger, grander, & more glorious than we ever thought. McKnight's last section focuses on "Ten Questions About Heaven" such as "will there be families?" & "what about children who die?". Most everything he covers in this last section are issues that we've all wondered about & talked about, & he handles them in a biblically sound way.

In conclusion, I would say this is a must have. I thoroughly enjoyed it & went through multiple highlighters while reading it. It challenges your notions of heaven while pointing you back to scripture. So if you read this book & find yourself arguing, you may want to remember you're not arguing with Scot but with scripture.

Disclaimer: I received this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing for this review.

Book Review: The Battle Plan For Prayer

I recently had the opportunity to get a review copy of "The Battle Plan For Prayer" by Stephen & Alex Kendrick. Many people know the Kendrick brothers from their films like Facing The Giants, Courageous, & the recent hit War Room. Battle Plan was released in conjunction with War Room as a practical tool for believers, small groups, & congregation to use to grow in their own prayer life & also to give some guidance in leading prayer strategies with other believers.

The strength of this book is how it points people to the power of keeping one's prayer life or a group's prayer strategy rooted in Scripture. This book does a good job of encouraging people to move beyond a self-centered prayer life that's based on feelings & immediate "needs" & pointing them to build a prayer life that is a response to who God has revealed Himself to be in Scripture & allowing His word to direct our prayer life.

If you're looking for a heady, academic approach to prayer & discussing of prayer, you'll be disappointed. However, I see that as a strength. Prayer should be personal, relational, not academic. If you are looking for something to give your prayer life a kickstart, or if you're leading a congregation or small group through a focused time of prayer, this would be a good resource to use. I used it as a supplemental resource in a recent prayer revival in our congregation, & it was very helpful.

Disclaimer: I received this book from B & H Publishing for this review.

Book Review: The One

Imagine getting engaged & married in the same day. Sound crazy, maybe even a little foolish? Well, that's the story that allows Ryan & Amanda Leak to share the rest of their story. Ryan & Amanda share both their story & the lessons they've learned in the often confusing world of relationships & dating in their book The One: An Amazing Love Story Starts With You. The basic premise of the book is that if you're looking for someone to "complete you" or if you're on the brink of just settling for whatever is available, you need to step back, read this story, & be inspired to look at relationships from a different perspective. 

Ryan & Amanda are both believers & followers of Jesus, but they're like a lot of us: they have some baggage in their past when it comes to relationships. Throughout The One you get to hear some of their backstories & how they got to the place of getting engaged & having full blown wedding all in one day, & get this men, Ryan planned the whole thing & surprised Amanda with it. That's right, he took care of the dress, the flowers, the cake, & the invitations. As their story unfolds, Ryan & Amanda share the important spiritual truths not just about dating or marriage, but about what it means to be a faithful follower of Jesus who loves God & loves others. They share how they learned it was more important to become "the one" rather than spending all their time trying to find "the one."

Perhaps the most important contribution from this book is how it frames being single. The church hasn't done the best job at handling single people or speaking to this season of life. In fact, we've at times been guilty of making singleness more awkward than it needs to be, & at times we've even painted the picture that being a single adult must mean there is something wrong with you, that somehow being married makes you whole. The only problem with that is that it's only Jesus that makes us whole. Not only that but there are many faith heroes that were single as well. Ryan & Amanda do a good job of addressing this season of life in a way that points a person to a greater relationship with Christ in order to prepare themselves for what Christ wants to do now & in the next season.

Overall, this is a solid book with an entertaining, unique story built on solid biblical truth. This could be a good resource for pastors preparing messages on relationships or for high school, college, or young adult small groups. If you want more info on The One or Ryan & Amanda Leak, visit these links to learn more.

The One: An Amazing Love Story Starts With You
Ryan & Amanda Leak's Website

Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.