Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The Gospel of Yes: We Have Missed the Most Important Thing About God, Finding It Changes Everything



WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, 2012 228 pages
When I read the title of this book the first thing I thought of was the movie Yes Man. Although I really enjoyed the movie I just felt that it wouldn’t make for such a great “Christian Living” book. Once I actually opened the book the introduction actually drew me in and I finally realized that this was not based off of the movie Yes Man…

So I kept on reading and to my surprise I actually agreed and enjoyed much of this book! I’ve read much of the skeptical reviews about this book and yes I have a complaint to make as well, but overall I enjoyed what Mike Glenn had to say. Based on some of the negative reviews I’ve read I think many did not give the author a chance and probably gave up reading this book a few chapters in. My complaint is similar to what many others have expressed which was the constant use of the word “yes”. I’ll be honest I was so sick of reading that word; by the end it seemed to appear ever other line (it didn't, but sure seemed like it). Some of the statements would actually be profound but are simply ruined by this word “yes”. It seems to me if the book were re-written without the whole concept of “yes” it would be much more powerful and beneficial to readers.

Excluding the whole “yes” business Mike Glenn did a fine job discussing subjects ranging from forgiveness to marriage, child rearing, and pretty much anything else you can think of. It was an all-encompassing book.

One other point that I’ve read from other reviewers as well, we should be carful to know when to say “no” and when to say “yes”. Mike Glenn does not talk about the “no” although I will give him credit that he encourages reading the bible and praying, and through that w are able to find out when to say yes and when to say no. If nothing else this book teaches people to be more receptive to the concept, if they don’t agree with what Mike Glenn has said at least they go search for it in the gospels for the right guidance for themselves.
Thank you to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

These Are the Days of Elijah: How God Uses Ordinary People to Do Extraordinary Things



Chosen BooksApr 15, 2013 - 189 pages
Spectacular book. These Are The Days Of Elijah by R. T. Kendall took me completely by surprise; I’ve never heard of R. T. Kendall before but love the story of Elijah so I decided to check this book out. It completely exceeded my expectations. I’ve read the story of Elijah for myself dozens of times – not to mention how many times I’ve heard it! But this book has taught me so much more and opened my eyes to so many insights into the story of Elijah.

R. T. Kendall takes the story of Elijah from beginning to the end, breaks it down into 21 chapters, and does a fantastic job offering his insights and years of study on Elijah. Before each chapter begins there is a passage to introduce what the chapter will be about, in almost every occasion I thought to myself  ‘Oh I know where he’s going to go with this’ – I was wrong every time. I am so impressed with Kendall’s wisdom, the simplicity in which he is able to take difficult passages and make them so easy to understand.

Seriously, I loved this book, when I started reading it I couldn't put it down – I would read 50+ pages in one sitting and HIGHLY recommend it. It’s simple, very interesting, and profound.
I want to thank the publisher, Chosen Books, for a copy of this book. I absolutely loved it.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

New Spirit-Filled Life Bible - Kingdom Equipping Through the Power of the Word (NKJV)


I’ll begin by saying that I am not reviewing the translation of the bible itself (NKJV), which is my favorite of all bible translation, but instead I want to focus on the content itself added throughout the pages of this bible. I have read many bibles of all sorts from cover to cover and I’ve never come across a bible like the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible by Jack W. Hayford.

I have to make another disclaimer and that is I am neither a Pentecostal nor a Charismatic, nor do I hold the belief of speaking in tongues. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I ordered this bible and to be honest I approached it with some skepticism that I would like/agree with the added information inside. I was gladly proven wrong when I opened it and began reading the added content throughout.

I mentioned that I do not believe in speaking in tongues and was worried that this would be a rather large theme that the authors would pound in, but on the contrary other than two “Kingdom Dynamics” sections inserted in Acts 2:4-13 and 1 Cor. 12:10 I found little mention of the gift of tongues inserted inside the bible. Of course at the very end of the bible the authors go much deeper into spiritual gifts, especially the gift of tongues, but I felt that because it is at the very end I did not feel like the authors were pushing their belief on me and could have easily ignored these sections if I wanted to.

So why did I enjoy this bible so much and recommend it to anyone I know? Well I like the fact that it takes the things mentioned in the bible as literal facts. What I mean by that is take Genesis 1-3 for example, in the “Personal Application” section preceding Genesis it specifically mentions that these chapters should be taken as actual history, not some allegory. I love that, considering the last study bible I read, in it’s preceding to the book of Genesis it said the exact opposite stating that chapters 1-3 of Genesis should not be taken literally as science today disproves the literal creation story –- I was outraged.

I’ve already mentioned the “Personal Application” part preceding each book but I also loved the “Christ Revealed” and “Holy Spirit At Work” also preceding each book of the bible. It truly opened my eyes to see things as I have not understood or saw them before. Eye opening and profound many times, I loved these sections and have never seen them in other bibles.

This bible has simple but easy to understand charts, timelines, study notes, truth-in-action charts which allow you to see a particular truths in each book and the actions we can take to walk in the way of that truth. There are also “Kingdom Dynamics” boxes, as I’ve already mentioned, all throughout the bible also offering incredible wisdom and insight that I have not thought of before on my own. I know I’ve had a lot to say about this bible but one of my most favorite features is the “Word Wealth” boxes throughout the bible which take words from the bible and using Strong’s concordance discuss he word and its real Hebrew/Greek meanings. I always love to get to the bottom, the actual meaning of things and this feature in the bible allows me to do just that. I love it!

There are simply to many features that I love about this bible, and true I do not agree with all the interpretations, beliefs held by the authors, or all the study notes but those are honest beliefs and interpretations of Pentecostal/ Charismatic denominations and just because they do not fall into what I have been taught does not make them wrong or this bible any less holy than one that does not include these beliefs. I highly respect the Pentecostal/ Charismatic people and am very grateful for this bible. I was able to learn much about their beliefs and respect them very much.

Having said all this, I recommend this bible to everyone, study it, learn from it, and although I especially recommend this bible to Pentecostal/ Charismatic believers, I see no reasons why other denominations cannot also read, enjoy, learn, and grow deeper in whatever their beliefs are using this bible.
I want to thank Thomas Nelson for providing me with this copy of the bible for an honest review. God bless you all.