I was given by Zondervan Publishers a copy of Charles Swindoll’s “Insights on John” in return for a honest review of what I thought about it.  I am not one to turn away a free book and give my opinion on something, so I gladly agreed.

Here are some strengths that I saw from this book…

• Good charts. Who doesn’t like a visual aid to assist you in studying?  I sure do.  This book has a bunch of them to help put the information in a visual form to easily understand.
• Very devotional. Swindoll’s use of the narrative is a style that does well in helping people understand the truth’s of God’s Word.  This style of writing helps the sometimes confusing language of interpretation more clear.
• Notes from the author’s journal. It was neat to see how different passages have spoken to Swindoll over the years.  It made the resource more personal and seem like you were sitting down to share thoughts on a passage together with a friend.
• Application sections. Having a little review at the end of each section helps to pull together the different points that you have studied.

I think that Swindoll’s work in Insights on John is a good tool to help people to get a better understanding of the Bible.  I don’t think that it should be the only tool that a person uses, but it is definitely a good one to use.

Searching For God Knows What is the first work that I’ve read by Donald Miller.  I’ve seen some of his stuff before but never taken the time to sit down and read it all the way through.  This book seeks to show that “relationship is God’s way of leading us to redemption.” Miller seeks to deal with an issue that in today’s world many have just taken a formulaic view of God, and this is not good.

I personally thought that this was a pretty good read.  Miller does have a humor about him and can easily bring that out in his writing.  Who doesn’t want something that can make you chuckle every now and then?  I will say that this book seemed to be a slow start for me.  I appreciated the stories and all that were contained in the first few chapters, but it didn’t seem to kick into gear until you almost got to the end.  When it did kick in, Miller had some great things to say.  One of my favorite quotes from the book was…

“It would be most tragic for a person to know everything about God, but not God; to know all about the rules of spiritual marriage, but never walk the aisle.”

If you are looking for something that will entertain you and give you a few things to really think about and ponder, I would recommend checking out Searching For God Knows What.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I received a copy of this book by Dave and Jon Ferguson from Zondervan in exchange for my honest thoughts about it.  Sweet deal, huh?  I thought so too… until I read this book.  It was then that I realized that it was a VERY sweet deal.  Dave and Jon Ferguson planted a church (Community Christian Church in Chicago), and it has quickly become one of the models for reproducing churches around the world.

In “Exponential”, Dave and Jon Ferguson lay out the principles that they have felt called to in forming reproducing fellowships of believers in Christ.  They break it down into four parts:

1. Movements Start With 1
2. Reproducing Tribes of 10-100
3. Reproducing Communities of 100-1,000
4. Reproducing Movements of 10,000s

I really enjoyed reading this book.  It was great to see the strategies laid out by these men in reproducing communities of faith.  What made it such an easy read was that it had the real-life experiences weaved through it from the life of Community Christian Church.  It’s nice to read something that not only sounds good on paper but comes from a source that has seen it work.

I would highly recommend this book to all leaders in Christian ministry.  This work does a great job of encouraging and challenging us to be faithful to reaching the nations with the Gospel.

Note: I would have had this blog post out a lot earlier, but the birth of our second child kind of took first place in my mind.

“The Vertical Self” by Mark Sayers was a very interesting and refreshing read. Sayers is the Senior Leader of Red Church in Melbourne, Australia. He uses his experiences and wisdom to show that in an age of social networking that our identity can and often does get built by unqualified sources. “The Vertical Self” pushes back to the foreground the truth that our Creator is the only One who can show us our true selves because it was He that created us.

I wondered how much difference there would be since Sayers is from Australia, and I am in Alabama. It was amazing to see that though we are separated by thousands of miles, we struggle and face many of the same temptations and frustrations.

If you are looking for another self-help book that will help you “do better”, then this book is not for you. If you are tired of the struggle of trying to create your identity, then pick this book up and be reminded (maybe for the first time) of the you that you were created to be.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I recently received a copy of Scott Wilson’s new book, Steering Through Chaos: Mapping a Clear Direction for Your Church in the Midst of Transition and Change from Zondervan Publishers.  I was asked to give it a read and share my thoughts with everyone I knew.  That is what I look to do in this post.

Steering Through Chaos is a book for those in leadership positions in ministry who have to deal with the “chaos” of different seasons of ministry.  Whether you like it or not, in church-life, change is a part of life.  Seasons of change can be very scary and intimidating.  Wilson does a great job in sharing some of the wisdom that he has learned in his 20+ years of ministry.  He shares 9 key elements to steering through the chaos of changes in church-life: Vision, Timing Change for Growth, Authenticity, Corporate Prayer, Recognizing & Avoiding Obstacles, Celebration, Finding a Great Coach, Keeping the Vision Fresh, and Endurance.

Personally, I found the book a very good read.  It didn’t take me long at all to work my way through the entire book.  I really liked how he tied in personal stories to help illustrate points.  Another great feature that this book had was the questions at the end of each chapter.  These help to chew on the content of the chapter more and drive it home.  The articles from other church leaders in the trenches were scattered throughout and helpful.  The chapters on Celebration, Finding a Great Coach, and Endurance were the ones that stood out to me most because of where I am in ministry right now.

I would recommend this book to any person in ministry.  With “change” being a vital part of ministry, this book is a helpful tool to help “steer through the chaos” of that change.

The latest book that I have been reading from the Thomas Nelson book reviewer deal has been Dr. John Townsend’s “Where Is God?” It has been a pretty good read. It was pretty much what I thought it would be: a Christian psychologist talking about how people ask this question during rough times.

I thought that Dr. Townsend did a good job of bringing both psychological and biblical suggestions to different situations that might cause one to ask “Where Is God?” It did sometimes feel like you were talking to a psychologist and in a session.

Overall: I might recommend this book to someone who might be asking this tough question. I did like how Dr. Townsend gave some suggested works to check out on this subject at the end of the book. I felt that his intention wasn’t to publish another book, but to truly help hurting people find the answer to the question, “Where Is God?”

The latest book that I have read through Thomas Nelson’s book review program was Dr. David Jeremiah’s “Living With Confidence In A Chaotic World: What On Earth Should We Do Now?” I have been a big fan of Dr. Jeremiah and the work that the Lord is doing through him.  Dr. Jeremiah uses some of the most clear speech to bring God’s word to people.  I have read many of his previous books.

This work seems to be a follow-up to a work (“What in the World is Going On?”).  I think that it might have helped to read that book first.  I had a little trouble following Dr. Jeremiah’s line from chapter to chapter.  One thing that I did find still in his work was  the great use of illustrations.  I have always admired Dr. Jeremiah’s ability to illustrate the Word of God and its principles with common everyday stories from our culture.

I would suggest this work to anyone who might be wondering about if God really cares about us and the things that happen in our life.  With the craziness of our culture, this book definitely shows that God is still in control even through the chaos.

Overall Grade: B

Last night, I finished this book from Austin Gutwein about his journey to making a difference in this world.  I was intrigued about this book when I found out that Austin was a young boy who really believed that God could use him to make a difference in the world.  This book was a very quick read for me and easy to follow.  I really liked how it had challenges at the end of each chapter for the reader to put into practice.

This story is amazing and so true as to truly how great our God is.  He took the small efforts of a young boy shooting free throws to change the dynamics of a culture torn apart by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  This book will challenge any reader to search out ways that God may want to use them to make a difference to someone in this world also.

I really liked the layout of the book.  It wasn’t filled with a bunch of facts and reports from what was going on.  It was truly the heart of a child sharing how God had rocked his world, and how that child was being used to impact Africa.  I would highly recommend this book.  I believe that it will get your mind to spinning about what can we really do… one step at a time to make a difference for the Kingdom of God.

Rating: A

This was the latest book that I got from Thomas Nelson Publishers to review.  I had heard about this book from different people that it was a good work on the different needs of men and women in relationships.  My wife had mentioned it to me also, so I decided to check it out.  Here’s what I came away with…

Good Points

• Dr. Eggerichs used some very common language that can easily be understood.  Though there was a lot of psychology in this book, it did feel more like it was you and the author sitting down somewhere talking.
• Great suggestions.  Eggerichs puts forth some great suggestions to help meet the emotional needs of your spouse (both for men and women).  The COUPLES and CHAIRS segments were really good and gives the reader something to put into practice.
• Good use of Scripture.  Throughout the work, Scripture is used (and in context).  It doesn’t surprise me much seeing how Dr. Eggerichs is a former pastor.  It was good to see a work out there that is saturated with God’s word getting so much attention.
• The great motivation.  The principles of unconditional love and unconditional respect are to be carried out not because the person deserves it but because Christ Jesus said that is what we should do.  I thought that this was good (and just like a pastor) to save this little nugget until the very end.

Not So Good Parts

• Repetition.  I thought that I was never going to get through the first seven chapters.  They seemed to be saying the same thing chapter after chapter.  I thought that they could have been condensed into one good chapter and said the same thing.  Once I got passed this seven chapter intro, the rest was pretty easily navigated.
• Infomercial-like at times.  I like the testimonies from people who had been to the “Love and Respect” Conferences that Dr. Eggerichs and his wife do.  But at times there were so many that it started to sound like a late-night infomercial.

Overall

Overall, I thought that this was a good book that really addressed the different emotional needs of men and women.  I would recommend it to couples to help understand why sometimes things are seen differently.  I would give this book a “B”.

Recently, I read a book from Richard Stearns called “The Hole in Our Gospel.”  Stearns is the President of World Vision US since 1998.  The book is both the story of how he came to the position of President of World Vision US and a call to look at the “gospel” that we believe in.

I found this book to be a great read.  The first part of the book takes you on a journey with Stearns as he answers the call to lead the World Vision operations in the United States.  Stearns is very honest about his doubts and trials.  I found it very easy to relate to him even though I have never been a CEO of anything.  The later chapters was a fresh look at the “gospel” and the fact that it is more than just telling someone, “Jesus loves you.”

I would highly recommend you to add this book to your reading list.  I am confident that anyone who reads this book would be encouraged and even convicted on different fronts.