Book Review: The Boy Who Changed the World
My thanks, once again, to my friends at Book Sneeze (Thomas Nelson Publishers) for providing me with a free copy of The Boy Who Changed the World to review.
This is one of a pair of books by the author, Andy Andrews, following a very similar theme, both reviews will appear on the blog, hopefully if I get things right, on the same date, 7th Sept, at the request of the publishers although as I write this review (2nd Sept) I have not read the 2nd book so have some serious reading to do over the next week, I say serious but it actually doesn’t look that heavy a read.
Anyhow, both books are, from what I can tell very similar and have a very similar theme to them just this one is written as a children’s story the other is for adults.
But enough on the other book I will say more once I have actually read it!
I read this book to my daughter, 9 y/o with Downs Syndrome, and she got really excited by it, so much so that it has quickly become her favourite read, its clearly designed to reach that kind of age of child, and perhaps younger, I guess that the average 9 y/o would be able to manage to read it, with some help, on their own, my daughter, due to her learning difficulties, cant read it but certainly enjoyed it being read to her.
the basic plot of the story is about how a young boys dream to help save lives gets fulfilled, in his adult life, and really shows how each one of us makes a difference in this world, just by doing what we are here to do, and we can not really guess at exactly what the results of our own actions, right here right now, will have on the lives of others in years, even perhaps generations, to come.
This book really does dare kids to believe that they could be that boy/girl who really could change the world, if they could only grasp hold of their significance and importance in life.
I personally found the message a challenge to me and am convinced that the depth of message would/will challenge most parents who read this to their kids as well as sow a seed in the heart of the kids themselves.
The book is beautifully illustrated throughout with paintings/drawings to fit in with the words and is beautifully presented, it would make an excellent gift to children (and their parents) and has space on the first page for writing the names of the recipient/giver on it, a bit like some ‘gift’ bibles have.
This book is obviously written by a Christian but its message transcends religion and would be suitable for people of any religion or none, it does not specifically mention God or the bible and I am convinced that no one could be offended at receiving a copy.
I would highly recommend this book and am convinced that it wont be long before it becomes rather tatty and dog eared in our house.
As I have said on here before I am a slow reader yet I found it a comfortable read for my daughters bedtime story, completing it in about 20 minutes, and that was with stopping to chat about the pictures and what we had read as we went on.
Book Review: Missing Andy
T
his is the 2nd book from Author Lori Moore, who sent me these 2 books personally to review, for which I am very grateful.
this book, Missing Andy (The Journey from Grief to Joy) tells the story of grief from Lori’s own personal experience of losing her former husband at the age of 49, she has a unique and very different relationship dynamic, at the time that Andy passed away he and Lori had already divorced and indeed Lori had married her current husband, Michael.
You may think it rather unusual but up until shortly before Andy passed away Lori had a very good relationship with her ex husband, she considered him to be her best friend, but if it works for them who are we to criticise this? Certainly I know that it is perfectly feasible for a married person to have very good, best, friends of the opposite sex, most of my very close friends are women, indeed my best friend is my wife but the person I would consider to be 2nd best friend is also my wife’s best friend and a woman. So there is no way that I would want to pigeon-hole relationships, if you have already read Lori’s first book, then you will be aware of some of the dynamics at work in this relationship because she touches on it there, this book goes into far more detail.
This book, similar to her last one, will not take long to read, I sat down and read it in an hour and a half, in 1 sitting, and I am not, as I have already said, the fastest reader, so the time commitment to read this book is negligible, this makes it an excellent book for those who are not that into reading.
I was moved by the depth of feeling and the level to which Lori opened up in this book, I felt that I knew and understood Lori far better from having read this book than I did her first book, this is an excellent work covering the whole issue of grief and some of the dynamics involved, such as family & friends and their relationship to and understanding of the situation, I would highly recommend this book for anyone who has recently lost a loved one, especially if the loved one isn’t what some would consider to be close relatives, this book addresses the whole issue and problem that people consider unless your a close relative then you shouldn’t feel the loss too much, interesting when I know from my own life that some of my friends are closer to me than some of my own flesh & blood, so I would naturally miss these friends more than I might some of my relatives.
This is a book definitely written for the Christian and seeks to bring comfort to those who have lost a loved one through telling her own story, with much humour and blunt honest words, she doesn’t dress things up or pretend to be what/who she isn’t she tells it as it is, the good the bad and the ugly, I love this reality and honesty.
so in conclusion, a real book dealing with a real subject in an honest yet humourous way from a very unusual and different perspective.
Book Review: From Zero to Christian in Just 35 Years
I was contacted out of the blue by Lori More, the author of From Zero to Christian in Just 35 Years having picked up my details from a website listing Book Review Bloggers, she asked if I would be prepared to review her books for her.
So she has sent me free review copies of both of her books, this is the first of them that I have now read. Many Thanks Lori for the opportunity to read your books and get to know you a bit better, both through the books and through contact on Twitter.
This book is very easy to read, in the sense that it is very thin, only 88 pages, and broken down into easily digestible chapters.
I am a slow reader but I think I could have read it in just a couple of evenings if I had tried hard enough. So what about the content? Well, I was touched and moved by what she had to say and share about her experiences, its a very moving testimony of God at work in and through her life, and one of the really challenging aspects of her testimony is the way that she has been able to turn her life around from a very rough and difficult start to managing to get senior managerial work and getting a degree, as a mature student, having had next to no qualifications on leaving school.
I enjoyed reading this book BUT did find it rather confusing at times, Lori seemed to jump about chronologically and thi left me pretty confused as to what happened when, there were also significant gaps on her testimony which left me wanting to ask her more about her life, especially her life before she was a Christian, as the holes left me somewhat confused, this beign said it was a good read and I took away some real lessons for myself, about who I am and who I am to be, where I am to turn for the answers and for my affirmation.
I would have loved a bit more of a logical chronological sequence to the book, this is not a simple ‘testimony’ book of before I was a Christian I was like this then I became a Christian and everything suddenly became right, she spoke very candidly about her struggles even once she had become a Christian and this was a real breath of fresh air for this kind of book, also, having said that there were gaps missing in the book and I was wanting more Lori did manage to avoid what is so often seen in books where people give their testimony of almost seeming to glorify in their past sins, Lori acknowledges her past and acknowledges what she has been through is not good then moves on.
Would I recommend the book? The answer would depend on what you were expecting from it, Yes I am sure that most Christians would get something out of this book, it is an easy read and has some real nuggets of truth within its covers so for a Christian read I would recommend it but…..
When I first read the back cover and looking at the book I had expected a testimony type book which would be suitable to pass onto non christians, think Run Baby Run or The Cross & Switchblade, I became a Christian through a Nicky Cruzz crusade so these 2 books were among my first Christian reads, this is what I kind of expected and I guess was disappointed that it didn’t meet my expectations, especially when I feel that Lori’s testimony could be a very powerful one for many non-Christians to read/hear. I think I will need to re-read this book before considering passing it onto any non-Christians but my gut feeling is that it is probably aimed more at a Christian readership than as an evangelistic type book.
All that being said, I particularly liked the thoughts to ponder at the end of each chapter and especially appreciated the last chapter, where Lori talks about what charms she would put on a charm bracelet, to represent something of her life, with God, as it is now, I wont spoil it for those who might like to read the book for themselves. I think that Lorri is the kind of person I would get on well with and feel that her book gives a real insight into who she is.
As I said at the beginning of this review Lori sent me 2 books I will be reading the second one shortly and will post a review once that is complete.
Book Review: Friendship for Grownups
You will by now be well aware that I regularly receive free books to read and give an honest review on, this is one such book, I received from Thomas Nelson Publishers. the book is called: Friendship for Grown-Ups: What I Missed and Learned Along the Way by Lisa Whelchel.
As with so many of these books, it is an American book written by an American Christian Author but then what would be expected from an American Christian Publishing House?
Anyhow, the way these blog reviews work is the publishers list books they have for review, usually brand new just released, or pre-release, books, then as a blogger reviewer I can simply request copies of books that look interesting to me, so it is with this book, I signed up to be a reviewer and then waited for it to arrive.
I have to say I signed up to this book because the subject matter looked to be one that interested me and one I needed to explore, as I have some issues in that particular area, for a number of reasons I struggle with relationships/friendships. It was with some disappointment then that I read the cover page and inside sleeves (yes as with most books I get for review it is a hardback copy, never had so many hardback books in my life!) to find out that this book was really aimed at a female audience, it is written, as I already knew, by a female but very much with a female audience in mind!
EEK, Now what? Well I had no real option, I still had to honour the commitment and read and review, I thought about asking Joy to do the review but then decided that was out of the question, there was no way I would get her to agree, for a numebr of reasons, so ball back in my court!
So I have now read the book and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, the book is basically a bit about one area of Lisa’s life, Americans will be aware that she was a child star in a children’s TV series, so was a household name and one that many Americans of my age will have grown up with, but this early break into stardom wasn’t without its problems, it took its toll on Lisa and her ability to make ‘normal’ relationships and friendships.
All the way through the book I could see so much of myself and my own situation in the book, as well as indentifying people who were so similar to some of the ‘friends’ Lisa mad ealong the way as she made this painful and long journey of self discovery and building relationships on a more secure and healthy basis.
So even though this book was written primarily for a female audience I have received and benefited a lot from reading it, it has also been interesting because, as some of you will be aware, I am undergoing some counselling at the moment, as a result of Depression last year, and so many of the principles as well as much of the language used in this book are so similar to the things that my counsellor has been talking about, its really uncanny.
I think Lisa is well down a journey that I have not yet started walking, I think I am probably too vulnerable at the moment to go there, but a journey that I know I will need to make, in some way, over the coming months, a journey that includes and involves pain and healing as well as discovery and development.
So yes I think it was intended that I read this book, it was tough going in places but well worth the work.
So what are my thoughts? If there is a criticism of the book I think I would say that I struggled reading it with a whole part of Lisa’s life not being talked about, in the context of relationships to not talk at all about her relationship with her husband was really strange, I often felt there were gaps that I wanted filling in, but then perhaps that is because I am a man, and a husband? Not sure but certainly for me it left lots of questions and wondering about things, other than that I felt she struck the right balance between being honest, at times brutally honest, about where she was at, and her own failings and keeping some things unsaid because it wasn’t necessary to give the whole picture, Lisa is an excellent and honest writer, she pulls no punches and doesn’t try dressing things up what you get is the real Lisa warts and all and I for one like that honesty, but then that’s exactly what the book is about so what else would you expect?
I honestly dont think this book hould be marketed as being just for women, I think there are very strong and good principles that can be taken on board by men, I acknowledge that men have very different relationships with each other than women have with each other, and it is these difference that come into stark contrast when reading this book, I suspect that very few men would read it, but dont forget, if you get the hardback copy you can always slip off the cover and replace it with the cover of another, more manly, book. Like the Blokes Bible?
Anyhow, this book includes 3 appendices which are also very helpful, including a set of questions, by chapter, to facilitate group discussion & a list of helpful practical tips for growing friendships, to quote her opening paragraph to the practical tips: ‘I know that I sometimes read a book and thin, OK I know what do do but I don’t have a clue how to do it. It is my hope that God has spoken to you through my personal story and that he is already speaking into your heart about specific steps towards more intimate friendships. At the same time sometimes we need a friend to take our hand and walk beside us, step by step to get started on the journey. With this in mind I have created an appendix in more of a ‘how to’ format. I hope that it is a helpful reference for you as you take baby steps toward mature friendships.’ This appendix is again broken down by chapter.
I would strongly recommend this book for women who are struggling with issues of relationships, knowing how to have real meaningful relationships, as well as for Women’s study groups, I am sure that this book, along with the accompanying quesitons, would be a real aid to building strong and secure relationships with other women within a group study session, but then again who am I to make that assessment? After all I am a mere Man, I shall however be passing this book along to Joy for her to look at and see if she thinks it would be appropriate for the women’s group she is a part of.
I have been challenged by this book and would also recommend it as reading for any guys who are struggling in the area of relationship, as I said the principles and truths are, in many cases, transferable, and certainly the problems encountered are common regardless of gender.
So, go on give it a try, waht have you got to lose?
lessons from a trapeze artist….
As many of you will know, from previous posts, I regularly receive books to read and review, one that I am currently reading (well nearly finished actually) at the moment is Friendship for Grown-Ups: What I Missed and Learned Along the Way by Lisa Whelchel has been a real challenge to me in places, but I don’t intend to go into too much detail on that right here and now, suffice to say a review will be forthcoming in probably about a week.
What I wanted to write about at the moment is a quote she puts in her book that’s obviously impacted her, she got it from Henri Nouwen in a book called Our Greatest Gift: A Meditation on Dying and Caring As you might have guessed I have been as impacted by this illustration as Lisa was so I have decided to dedicate a whole blog post to it.
I am sure it doesnt need any further explanation or clarification from me, it stands all by itself.
Henri had a conversation with a famous flying trapeze artist which went as follows:
One day, I was sitting with Rodleigh, the leader of the troupe, in his caravan, talking about flying. He said ‘as a flyer, I must have complete trust in my catcher. The public might think that I am the great star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump.’ ‘How does it work?’ I asked. ‘The secret’ Rodleigh said, ‘is that the flyer does nothing, the catcher does everything. When I fly to Joe, I have to simply stretch out my arms and hands and wait for him to catch me and pull me safely over the apron behind the catchbar.’
‘You do nothing!’ I said surprised. ‘Nothing’ Rodleigh repeated. ‘The worst thing the flyer can do is to try catching the catcher. I am not supposed to catch Joe it is Joe’s task to catch me. If I grab Joe’s wrists, I might break them or he might break mine, and that would be the end for both of us. A flyer must fly and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him.’
nuff said!
Book Review: NLT Devotions for Lent, from the Mosaic Bible.
My thanks, once again, to Tyndale for provision of not just 1 but a whole pack of 10 copies of Devotions for Lent (Holy Bible: Mosaic) free of charge, for me to review the product.
Well, this may just about be the fastest time from receipt of item to posting the review, basically I opened the pack about an hour ago and am now ready to review.
but first a little background. Some of you may recall my review back in November, of the Mosaic Bible, the review can be read here well hot on the heels of this successful, and in my mind brilliant, product, Tyndale have now published a little booklet with devotions for lent, what I had not realised before signing up to review the product was that it is essentially the whole of the Mosaic devotional material for Lent, with nothing added and nothing taken away, in a pocket sized booklet, complete with excerpts from the relevant scripture readings for the weeks.
So what you get is a weeks worth of devotional material to use and study through the week as you see fit, the reason why I don’t need to spend too long on the material is simply because I am already doing it using My Mosaic Bible.
So, my thoughts, well obviously if, like me, you already posses a copy of the Mosaic Bible this is not worth buying, its not expensive but totally unnecessary as there is nothing that you don’t get with the mosaic bible.
That said, the material is as good as the Mosaic Bible material, I am still enjoying doing the Mosaic Devotional material each week and this material will be no exception.
But, if you have heard about the Mosaic Bible and have been wondering whether it is the right product for you then this is an easy, and cheap, way of finding out whether you will get anything out of the Mosaic Bible, due to the very unique and different way the material is laid out I am not convinced that everyone will enjoy the Mosaic Bible as much as I have, so being able to spend £2.50 on this little booklet to find out whether you would enjoy the mosaic is an excellent option, they do packs of 10 for, available on Amazon for about £15 which is worth considering if you want to try this material with a small group or church Lent Meditations.
The scripture portions have, as you would expect, been taken from the New Living Translation, which is a huge plus to me as this is still my favourite version of the bible and I am gradually working on others in the church to try and convert them over to this particular version of the bible.
As an aside here, if you are in a Christian Bookshop some time, have a look at the bibles and compare the prices of the NLT with other translations, I think you will be shocked and surprised at how much cheaper the NLT is than some other versions, no names mentioned but the version which sells the most copies worldwide is probably just about the most expensive! This alone is one good reason to switch versions.
SO, is there much else to say? other than I love the material, well yes, in the Mosaic Bible one of the features I liked was that the scripture section, the actual bible was left unadulterated, they didn’t mix the devotional material with the scripture text, this made it clear to see what was Gods words and what was Mans words.
Well, in this booklet they have kept the same format, presumably for the same reason as above, to avoid mixing up Gods word and Mans word, in the front, the devotional material, you just find a reference, with page No’s to the scripture portions for the week, I can understand the reason for this, if it is as above, but as it is only scripture portions rather than the whole bible I would have preferred the scripture portions to have been placed in with the rest of the devotional material for the week, would have been a bit easier to use and handle, they could have differentiated scripture with different colours or different fonts, but that’s my single biggest criticism of the material.
the second criticism is the font, they have used a very small font and this couple with some of the fanct fotn styles used as part of the Mosaic trademark makes it difficult to read in places, unless my eysight is failing, which at my age is a distinct possibility, I think that they could consider giving awy magnifying glasses with this product but it might put the cost up a bit.
The other criticism I have is more a criticism of the Tyndale organisation, they only advertised this particular product as being available for review at the beginning of Lent Week 1, and sent the product out in Lent Week 2, this is lousy timing, having now received the material, just in time to start lent week 3, if I had not been using the material already it would have been at least another week before I got My review up and published, so by the time that you, my reading audience were reading this blog post and had got yourself organised to buy the lent material it would be Easter.
It would have been so much more useful to have got the material to reviewers in time to put reviews up before Lent begun, that being said, what I will probably do is to repeat this blog post next year, just before lent, in order to give people a reminder about getting the material for lent, if I remember that is!
Anyhow, just about the shortest book review ever for me, mind you its a short little booklet so that figures!
I now have 9 copies available to give away, I am not keeping one myself but Joy has taken one, if anyone is interested in any let me know, preference will be given to anyone at our church, especially if they are thinking of using this in a Connect group, probably next year? Just get in touch and let me know how many you might want.
Book Review: The Power of respect
My thanks to Thomas Nelson, the publishers of The Power of Respect: Benefit from the Most Forgotten Element of Success, by Deborah Norville. For giving me the opportunity of reviewing a free copy of this book.
This book attracted my attention simple because of the title, everyone but everyone seems to think they have the monopoly on respect and that it is others who show a lack of respect in whatever area of life it happens to be, one of my pet issues is the way that some of the older generation seem to think that ‘the younger folk of today have no respect’ now whereas this MAY be true it is equally true that respect is earned and not automatic, therefore we have to ask why don’t young people respect people.
I found it intriguing a few years ago in a Q&A session we were asked to name some causes for a breakdown in the fabric of society and I said ‘lack of respect’ the person conducting the session immediately talked about the lack of respect youngsters have for older folk, whereas I had meant a general lack of respect from one human being to another, not specifically young towards old but the other way around too. I felt that his response was actually disrespectful to younger folk in itself.
It is also worth noting that my experience, with having my son in a wheelchair, is that it is, by and large, younger people who are more likely to hold doors open or leap up to help when they see us struggling, not exclusively but certainly we have had more offers of help from younger people, youths, than we have those of my parents kind of age. That is not to criticise my parents generation just to say that our younger folk are not as bad as some might make them out to be, especially when they are treated with respect.
Anyhow, that brings us neatly back on track with this book, the author, Deborah Norville, says several times in this book, that she considers the power of respect to be instrumental and powerful in many areas of life.
to quote from the inside sleeve of the book:
Want to get the respect you deserve? Try giving it. Respect is power – and not just the respect you receive. The respect you give to others i vital to success in every area of life. In Business:- Higher Sales
- Lower employee turnover
- Less exposure to lawsuits
- A stronger marriage
- Healthier family dynamics
- More polite children
- More self respect and confidence
- Closer friendships
- Higher standing in the community
Norville sets out a whole host of work and personal circumstances where the power of respect can be used to powerfully influence the situations and environments in which you find yourself, she cites many examples and testimonies of people who have seen the transformation in work places, in schools & colleges, in personal lives, that can be achieve through exercising the power of respect.
Much of what she talks about I would agree with wholeheartedly although I would not have necessarily considered it to be respect, but she is right, in that if we as human beings had more respect for other human beings the world would be a lot nicer place.
I would certainly recommend this book for anyone who finds themselves in a difficult or stressful situation, where there seems to be a lack of respect, in their own personal or work situation, as it has some very important and powerful principles to impart the reader.
Although this book is published by a Christian publishing house it is not a specifically christian book and people of any faith, or none, would be equally comfortable reading it and get much from it.
Book Review: Welcome Home.
My thanks once again to Tyndale for providing me with a courtesy copy of ‘Welcome Home: Our Family’s Journey to Extreme Joy‘ to read and review.
This book, written by Kimberley Woodhouse, is the story of one families struggle against and in the face of adversity.
Kim’s son was born with various medical issues but her daughter was born with a very rare medical disorder that meant that she didn’t feel any pain, didn’t sweat and had to wear special cooling clothing to go outside.
Kim & her husband, Jeremy, have had more than their share of trials and difficulties in their life but in the face of it all they continue to say ‘Consider it pure Joy’ this is their story, the story of a family who have had to redefine ‘normal’ as it applies to their lives and who have had to undergo so much in order to give their children the best chance of success and anything near a ‘normal’ life.
Moving house and changing jobs, several times in a short time in order to give the children the best opportunities possible.
It seems that just as they get settled into some kind of routine and have an expectation that things are settling down then another trauma or issue occurs that causes huge problems for them.
In the course of seeking the best care for their children the Woodhouse family racked up huge debts and even ended up loosing their house.
Any American’s reading this blog might recognise the family from their apearance on ‘Extreme Makeover: Home edition’ this book finishes with them having been given the opportunity of a lifetime, having a purpose built home made for them as a part of this TV series (for my UK friends think DIY SOS on steroids!) where they see first hand the love and affection of many hundreds of people.
This book is a gripping read but could not possibly have been a work of fiction, there is no way that any author would dream up so many difficulties and trials in the course of one family, it would be just too unbelievable.
I found myself so wrapped up in the lives of the Woodhouse family I almost feel as if I know them personally.
Kim tells, in unusual honesty and candour, of her own struggles in the face of adversity, she tells it as it is and leaves us in no doubt as to the struggles that she had at times, with accepting God’s will and purpose for her life and that of her family, it is so refreshing to see this kind of honesty and no attempt to over spiritualise their lives, she struggled many times and makes that clear, which gives hope to those of us who have also been through, or are going through, real difficulties in our own lives.
I was moved and challenged by this book, moved by the heartbreaking situation that the Woodhouse found themselves in and challenged by their unswerving faith and commitment to God, and their steadfastness to the principle of James 1:2-4 and continue to say, even if through gritted teeth ‘Consider it pure Joy’
I would recommend this book for anyone who is struggling with difficulties and hardship in any area of their lives, or those who have gone through and know what it is to struggle and face trials, that probably includes you at a guess, it certainly includes me.
Mosaic Bible – Book Review
My Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for giving me a courtesy copy of The Holy Bible: Mosaic
I have the honour of hosting Keith Williams (General Editor of the Mosaic Bible) on my blog, over the next couple of days he will be answering all your queries and questions about this bible, in addition, you have the opportunity to win a copy of the bible, I have a voucher ready to send out to the winner, all you have to do is comment on my blog, ask a question, tell me why you should win, or just make a comment about this review or the Mosaic Bible, to be entered into a draw to win the voucher, this competition is open to anyone who comments before midnight – GMT (UTC) on 18th November.
OK as a Christian the Bible is very important to me so having the opportunity to review and check out a new Bible is pretty cool.
When I say ‘New Bible’ its not a new version or a new translation, the Bible text used, as might be expected from Tyndale, is the NLT, New Living Translation, this just happens to be my favourite version which makes this product even better.
Anyhow, what’s new with this Bible is the material, placed at the front of the Bible, for study and meditation, the material is made up from inspiration writings, readings, poems, prayers & artwork, from a whole host of sources, the publishers claim that this material covers every continent and every generation of Christian History, I have to say that from my reading so far there is a wealth of material from a whole range of church traditions.
The Bible takes its name, Mosaic, from the concept that each item is like a fragment of coloured material, unique in colour, shape and size, of its own it looks lovely but placed expertly together it forms a beautiful Mosaic Picture.
This Bible is designed primarily to be studied liturgically, through the Church Calendar, beginning at the start of the Christian year, which is the first Sunday of Advent (something I only learnt very recently) but there are 2 other suggested methods of using this material, I shall address these 2 first, briefly, before returning to the Liturgy side of things.
firstly, you can study the material by topic, there is a topical index included and you can pick topics in any order you wish to study them.
or you could use the bible with your existing study or bible reading programme/notes, as you do you will find that there are cross references back to material in the front section you can take the opportunity to supplement your own study with this additional devotional material.
Other features of the bible include a Greek/Hebrew word study guide and a theological dictionary combined with concordance, both to be found at the back of the bible.
The bible is also a cross reference bible, with the usual cross references to be found down the centre column of each page, there are also wide margins to the left and right of each page for users to write their own notes.
But returning to the main attraction of this bible, which is the liturgical study material, this is at the front of the bible and is arranged, as I said before, around the main Christian feasts and the Liturgical calendar, coming from a non-conformist background I am not familiar with the liturgical church year but am finding it very interesting, the material is built around weekly themes such as ‘The Wilderness’ ‘Blame’ ‘Service’ ‘Seeking and Saving’ and ‘Gods Holiness & Grace’ the material is not divided into daily readings/thoughts for the day instead you are treated to a fair degree of freedom in how you use the material, each weeks material is made up of 4 main scripture readings, an optional extra reading and a variety of poems, prayers, inspirational work and though provokers, as the reader you are free to choose exactly what you do with the material.
Not being an intellectual type of person I enjoyed the laid back style as it enabled me to take it at the depth I was comfortable with and I found it best to use the material in a fairly meditative way, I have got into getting through the firs treading of the material by about Wednesday, leaving the remainder of the week for me to meditate on specific parts or go back on things that struck with me and re-read that, however I also felt free to stick with one core aspect for a large part of the week e.g. a particular liturgical prayer, there was no compulsion to have to get through the material.
I am pretty sure that this material would appeal to people at all stages of their Christian walk, due to the free style structure of the material.
The bible readings are not reproduced within the study material but are cross referenced to, they include page numbers, which is very useful to those who are less familiar with the layout of the Bible.
I have to say that I did enjoy the material, it excited me in its approach, I am not too familiar with the liturgical style of responsive prayers but have really appreciated the freshness with which it brings some really good material together.
The study material also includes space fro the user to add comments, the reader is encouraged to engage with the material and write their own thoughts and ideas in the spaces provided, to in a sense, add their own pieces to the mosaic.
There is also plenty of opportunity to interact with other users in their on line forum where you can discuss the material, especially helpful as most people will be studying the same material at the same time.
I have a feeling that there could well be regular updates to this study material as ideas and thoughts are collected from people around the globe as they study.
Also, whilst talking about the on line material, there is a helpful study guide calendar so that you can find out where you should be at any point in the calendar, very helpful if, like me, you come in part way through the liturgical calendar, or if you loose your way and need to pick it up again at a later date.
I do have 2 negatives though, firstly, I refereed earlier to the topical index, I have to say that I have found this pretty difficult to comprehend, I just think this could have been made much simpler and more straightforward.
the second criticism is that I cant understand the need to put this material together with a bible, the material stands on its own 2 legs bundling it into a new bible just adds unnecessarily to the cost of the material, one that I suspect will put some people off buying it, most Christians have a good number of bibles, in a variety of translations and, if they were to be honest they would admit that most of their bibles just sit there gathering dust! So why do they need yet another bible?
Having said that though, it is actually the first physical version of the NLT I have had, although I use the NLT for all my own personal study I have tended to use the bible study software and bible notes from my laptop or my smart phone (both of which have the NLT set as my default version. I have to confess that I have realised, in using this material, how much I have missed picking up a real physical Bible.
In all I have found this material to be fresh and exciting, it is a real departure from anything that I have experienced before and I have really enjoyed it, the whole feel, right from the cover design through to the nature of the material and the way it is put together has a very Celtic feel to it, which I really appreciate, I think that I am a closet Celt, I am sure that I would feel really comfortable in the Iona Community, its on my list of places to visit before I die.
I think this Bible would make an ideal Christmas Gift for a loved one or for yourself, especially if you have struggled to get into other more structured material in the past or are new to the idea of studying the word.
One closing plea though, thinking back to my comments about the number of bibles that people do posses, if you do find yourself with a copy of this bible please consider turning out all those unused bibles, if you don’t have a good home for them contact me and I will give you my mailing address, our church has links with churches in Africa who are crying out for Bible’s especially study bibles, Many of the leaders, never mind individual members, don’t posses their own study bible, if you send me your old bibles I can assure you that it will find its way into the hands of African Christians who will really appreciate and treasure them.
OK so now I have had my say, its over to you, I look forward to hearing your questions, comments and thoughts on my review and on the Mosaic Bible, don’t forget that Keith Williams is here to answer your questions and comments and one of you could be the winner of a voucher and obtain their own copy of the Mosaic Bible.
Real Church – does it exist? can I find it?
Real Church
Book Review – Real Church
Larry Crabb
ISBN: 978-0-7852-2920-9
This is a book which was sent to me by Thomas Nelson, the publishers, as part of their book review bloggers network.
This is not the sort of book that I would normally read but decided to go for it anyhow, one good thing about doing these book reviews is that I am getting to read stuff that I wouldnt normally look at.
Anyhow, in this book Larry Crabb outlines what he feels are the errors in the 21st Century western church, essentially he feels that the reasons we meet and the way we ‘do church’ are all wrong! he spends most of the book telling the reader what the church has got wrong and then goes on to explain what we should be doing!
Crabb feels that he and many like him are bored with church and get very little out of it simply because we have got church wrong.
In the process he pulls to pieces recent ‘movements’ of the church, such as the Seeker Sensitive Church & Missional Church in order to illustrate what he considers to be wrong emphases in the church.
OK so you might think, from the way that I worded the above that I disagree with Larry Crabb, well I have to say that I don’t agree with everything he says and did find the book overly negative and some of his assumptions on whats wrong with different approaches and models of church I felt were based on his own interpretation of those moves with little real experience of them.
However I do feel that much of what he says is very valid and he has some very important lessons for all of us, I wouldn’t express them in quite the same way as he does but I share much of his concerns for the direction that 21st century church is taking.
Fundamentally Crabb sets out 3 main reasons why most people actually go to church and sets out why these are wrong motives, these reasons are:
- It will make my life better
- It will show me how to change the world
- It will offer salvation and help for religious living
He outlines these in great detail but in overview his concern is that the church is very good at making converts and teaching converts to conform, outwardly, to a pattern of behaviour or follow a set of rules without them necessarily being an inner transformation of the heart, which is what God really wants.
It is possible, crabb says, to attend church week after week, to be heavily involved in the life of the church, even on the leadership team, attend great conferences etc, encounter lively worship, without having that real encounter with God which brings about a hunger for more of him and a transformation of life and soul.
Crabbs heart-cry is for the church in the western world to have such an encounter with God that lives are transformed in a way that programmes and strategies just don’t reach.
Crabb outlines that he believes that every man, woman and child is an addict, addicted to his/her own pleasure, they love themselves and others, including God, for their own sake, they love in order to get.
Crabb says that we need to love others, love ourselves and love God for God’s sake, we need to get God so much that we don’t want to seek our own pleasures but Gods pleasure, in all that we do.
I think that Crabb seeks, in the writing of this book to see churches transformed into real communities of God, I have to say I think I agree with much of what he says but I don’t think that this book can impact a whole congregation, I think the transformation can only happen one member at a time, as people ‘get’ what this book is seeking to give, in a way that impact their lives.
I suspect that many people will read the first 3 chapters and then put the book down, I was tempted to but as I had to do a book review was forced to read it all the way through, for which I am grateful.
I found Crabbs summary about what a real church should be really helpful.
- A real church doesn’t entertain people on a Sunday morning
- a Real church isn’t satisfied when people come to services on Sunday, tithe their income and get invovled in church activities, and live moral decent lives. a real church pleads with Gods spirit to keep spiritually forming its people until they see Jesus as their supreme treasure.
- a real church never values participation in programmes above relating in community
- a real church knows that doing good in this world has no redemptive power unless the do-good-er knows Jesus resembles Jesus and relates to Jesus in the energy of Jesus in their home and church first and then in the culture around them.
I also like the following quote from the book:
Revival depends on prayer for God’s Spirit to let us see and hear what Jesus saw and heard.
I did however agree with much of his concerns for recent ‘moves’ or trends in the church as I have felt for a long time that such moves are just
The heart of the message is, as I understand it ‘Church doesn’t have to be like this, there is more to church and to your spiritual life than just going through the motions, what you, and I, need most, is a real touch of the spirit that makes you hunger after more of him in your life, that pushes you on to pursue his kingdom and his righteousness, in your lvies and in the community.world in which you, we live.
One issue that Crabb tackles, all too briefly for my liking, is one that has been a concern of mine for some time, and its the tension between the ‘social gospel’ of just doing good to/for people and the whole issue of doing good for an ulterior motive, i.e. doing good stuff simply in order to ‘earn the right to preach the gospel, Crabb says basically that as Christians who want to see the answer to the Lords Prayer ‘your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven’ it is a part of our ministry to do the right things, be it simply opening the door for a mum with a toddler & buggy or going into areas of extreme need and poverty in order to reach out to those affected, or engaging with the political powers over issues of justice, we do these things as Christians not to earn the right to preach the gospel but in order to be apart of the fulfilment of that part of the Lords prayer, on other words, in doing good we are bringing a little piece of heaven to earth.
Having said all the above, my biggest criticism for Crabb in wwriting this book has to do with the language he uses, he regularly uses ‘the church I like’ or ‘the church I want to be a part of’ etc, I am fed up with the consumeristic nature that is developing in the church, indeed one of the things that Crabb criticises in this book, and the language he uses indicates a consumeristic type mindset, my mine and me, whereas we should focus not on what I, or you, or Larry Crabb, wants from church but on what GOD wants his church to be like. As I said, on the one hand Crabb tackles this consumer mindset then on the other hand he uses the very language that is central to such a mindset, I get what he means but the language gets in the way.
Anyhow, in conclusion, on balance all this is a good read and I would recommend this book for any Christian to read and be challenged by, but would say that you need to catch the heart of what he is saying not just come away depressed because of the negative portrayal of 21st century church.
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Verse of the day:- NLTverse: I have had one message ... of repenting from sin ... and of having faith in our Lord Jesus. Acts 20:21 NLT http://ow.ly/2zRSe 07/09/2010NLTverse: I have had one message ... of repenting from sin ... and of having faith in our Lord Jesus. Acts 20:21 NLT http://ow.ly/2zRSe […]
- NLTverse: I have had one message ... of repenting from sin ... and of having faith in our Lord Jesus. Acts 20:21 NLT http://ow.ly/2zRSe 07/09/2010
