Holy Noticing by Charles Stone

Holy Noticing by Charles Stone ISBN-13: 9780802418579 Paperback: 240 pages Publisher: Moody Publishers Released: March 5, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Social media, TV, work deadlines, and family stress steal our enjoyment and engagement in the moment. Do you want to feel more present and connected to those you love? Do you want to feel less distracted, less busy, and more whole? Holy Noticing will teach you how to become more aware of your thoughts, emotions, and environment, recognize Christ’s presence in the moment, and reduce your stress beveloping the ability to focus on God and people rather than tasks.

Many today think mindfulness is dangerous, unchristian, or associated with Eastern religions—and often it is! But Dr. Charles Stone reveals that the art of holy noticing—purposefully paying attention to God as he works in us, our relationships, and our world—is a spiritual discipline Christians have practiced for millennia. Holy Noticing explores the historically Christian and biblical roots of this lifestyle, as well as Dr. Stone’s BREATHe model, which teaches you to be more engaged with Christ in the everyday moments that too often slip right by us.


My Review:
Holy Noticing presents the benefits of being more present in the moment and seeing the needs around you (rather than rehashing the past or worrying about the future). The author's definition of Holy Noticing is "noticing, with a holy purpose, God and His handiwork, our relationships, and our inner world of thoughts and feelings."

The author talked about how Holy Noticing was practiced by early Christians and pointed out hints of it in the Bible. He then described a 20-minute daily practice that you can do while sitting relaxed, spending about 3 minutes thinking on the areas of: BODY - being aware of how your physical body feels, RELATIONSHIPS - assessing the health of your relationships, ENVIRONMENT - noticing your surroundings (sights, sounds, smells), EMOTIONS - acknowledging the emotions that you currently feel, THOUGHTS - noticing your current thoughts, and SPIRIT - assessing your relationship with God. Then you ENGAGE - paying attention to the people around you and God's promptings throughout the day.

Overall, the book was well done, though some of his examples weren't the best to illustrate his points. For example, he described a test that's used to show how you don't notice other things (distractions) when you're very focused on a task. But he drew the lesson from it that you don't notice the obvious when "distracted" by your task. Okay, true, but that's not quite the point of the test, so maybe something else would have illustrated his point better. I'd recommend this book to those who have been curious about secular "mindfulness" or even meditation practices but who want to stay within more historical Christian practices rather than practices influenced by other religions.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Jesus Who Surprises by Dee Brestin

The Jesus Who Surprises by Dee Brestin ISBN-13: 9780735291805 Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Multnomah Books Released: July 23, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Join beloved Bible teacher and best-selling author Dee Brestin in discovering the surprising places Jesus shows up in the Old Testament and the unexpected ways He speaks into our lives today.

Offering a fascinating perspective on the historic, poetic, and prophetic books of the Old Testament, Brestin draws on her deep understanding of the full scope of the Bible to explore the timeless story of God's quest to rescue each of us. She combines rich teaching, memorable storytelling, and an in-depth Bible study component to create a resource that shows readers how the story began (the books of Moses), how to live in the story (the poetic books), and how the story will end (the prophets).


My Review:
The Jesus Who Surprises is a Bible study that explores the Old Testament for references to or foreshadowings of Jesus. The author pondered what things Jesus would've talked about with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. She started this study with Genesis and then moved into the Psalms (and poetic books) and then the prophetic books. Each chapter started with her talking about a place in the Old Testament that points to Jesus. She'd connect it into New Testament references and then into a Christian living application. She used examples from her life to illustrate her points. For example, she looked at the child of promise given to Sarah versus the child that Hagar bore. She tied this into following religious rules versus having a personal relationship with Christ.

She followed this commentary with five days worth of Bible study on that topic, which can be done individually or in a group. She mainly had you look up verses and asked reading comprehension and personal questions. There were also free videos that can be watched as a part of this study. Overall, I'd recommend this book.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Untangling Emotions by J. Alasdair Groves, Winston T. Smith

Untangling Emotions by J. Alasdair Groves, Winston T. Smith ISBN-13: 9781433557828 Paperback: 240 pages Publisher: Crossway Books Released: March 31, 2019

Source: Review copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Christians often view their emotions in one of two ways: either they don't matter at all or they are the most important thing that defines a person. However, neither extreme is true to God's good purpose for emotions. Written by two experienced counselors, this book sets forth a holistic view of emotions rooted in the Bible, offering a practical approach to engaging with both positive and negative emotions in a God-honoring way. Readers will be encouraged to see their emotions as an opportunity to explore themselves, their values, and their affections, and to move toward deeper worship of God.


My Review:
Untangling Emotions examines why God gave us emotions, what emotions tell us about what we love and value, and how to develop healthy, God-honoring emotions. The authors started by looking at what emotions are, what they tell us, and how even "negative" emotions can be good. It is through sharing emotions that we connect with others. Emotions like anger (in cases like injustice against the helpless) are designed to motivate us to do something and grief helps us see the brokenness of this world and long for God to make things right.

They talked about how the culture tells us to view our emotions versus how the Bible talks about emotions. They provided a list of things you can do to encourage healthy emotions. They talked in detail about how to process your emotions to see what they're telling you about what you value and if your response to your emotions is God-honoring. They devoted time to specifically look at fear, anger, grief, and guilt and shame. The tone was encouraging, and it's easy to understand (not highly technical or scholarly sounding). Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to any Christian.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

A Week in the Life of a Slave by John Byron

A Week in the Life of a Slave by John Byron ISBN-13: 9780830824830 Paperback: 132 pages Publisher: IVP Academic Released: July 2, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
"I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me." These words, written by the apostle Paul to a first-century Christian named Philemon, are tantalizingly brief. Indeed, Paul's epistle to Philemon is one of the shortest books in the entire Bible. While it's direct enough in its way, it certainly leaves plenty to the imagination.

A Week in the Life of a Slave is a vivid imagining of that story. From the pen of an accomplished New Testament scholar, the narrative follows the slave Onesimus from his arrival in Ephesus, where the apostle Paul is imprisoned, and fleshes out the lived context of that time and place, supplemented by numerous sidebars and historical images. John Byron's historical fiction is at once a social and theological critique of slavery in the Roman Empire and an adventure story, set against the exotic backdrop of first-century Ephesus.


My Review:
A Week in the Life of a Slave is partly fiction and partly nonfiction. It read like a documentary show that's primarily made up of fictional reenactments to illustrate the points. The purpose was to educate readers (in an entertaining way) about the social and cultural background to Paul's letter to Philemon so that we can better understand it.

The story followed a week in the life of a runaway slave, Onesimus, as well as details about Paul's life in prison and the people in Ephesus who owned slaves. A lot of educational material was worked into the story, but additional information was provided in "sidebars" (which could take up whole pages) that were placed within the story. The book included some pictures of archaeological artifacts that illustrated information in the non-fiction sidebars or events in the story. Overall, I'd recommend this book to people interested in the insights gained from cultural background information.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.