Humble Roots by Hannah Anderson

Humble Roots by Hannah Anderson ISBN-13: 9780802414595 Paperback: 208 pages Publisher: Moody Publishers Released: October 4, 2016

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
A lot of books these days are trying to diagnose our discontentment and exhaustion. While many of us could do to simplify, peace is not about productivity, saying no, or any other external. It's about saying yes to our dependence on God.

The reason many of us feel so unsettled is that we are attempting to be something we were never intended to be—it's an internal issue. We need to recover a theology of creaturehood that leads to true abundance, and Humble Roots is the perfect place to start. Exploring various texts from the Gospels, Hannah Anderson reveals:

*The cause, nature, and dangers of busyness and self-dependence
*What humility is (and isn't), and why it's essential to our identity
*How Christ modeled humility through His incarnation
*How to learn humility and walk in dependence on God


My Review:
Humble Roots explored how we can find rest for our souls through a humble heart--through acknowledging our dependence on God. The basic idea is that God is God and we're not. She looked at a number of ways we might try to be god and not realize it. Our culture teaches and even glorifies some things that are counter to the understanding that we're not God. She also looked at how humility can be shown in how you care for your body and emotions, treat knowledge, resources, and desires, respond to the brokenness of this world, and face suffering and death.

The author focused on the Bible for answers and provided insights into the verses and our culture. She used gardening analogies to help illustrate certain points. I never felt condemned (like any good Christian ought to have this down), just "Arg, she's right! How have I been missing that?" I have felt more rested and less worried after reading this book. 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.

Crossing Cultures in Scripture by Marvin J. Newell

Crossing Cultures in Scripture by Marvin J. Newell ISBN-13: 9780830844739 Paperback: 272 pages Publisher: InterVarsity Press Released: October 2, 2016

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is a crosscultural book. Scripture is full of narratives of God's people crossing cultures in pursuit of God's mission. Biblical texts shed light on mission dynamics: Sarah and Hagar functioning in an honor-shame culture, Moses as a multicultural leader, Ruth as a crosscultural conversion, David and Uriah illustrating power distance, the queen of Sheba as an international truth-seeker, Daniel as a transnational student, Paul in Athens as a model of contextualization, and much more.

Missionary and missions professor Marvin Newell provides a biblical theology of culture and mission, mining the depths of Scripture to tease out missiological insights and crosscultural perspectives. This text is organized canonically, revealing how the whole of Scripture speaks to contemporary mission realities. Filled with biblical insight and missional expertise, this book is an essential resource for students and practitioners of crosscultural ministry and mission.


My Review:
Crossing Cultures in Scripture looks at the cross-cultural encounters described in the Bible and draws lessons from them for missionaries and those who work in cross-cultural contexts. The author illustrated his points with stories from his own experiences and those of other missionaries. I think this book would be useful for those who are interested in or newly involved in cross-cultural ministry.

The author started in Genesis and worked all the way through the Bible to Revelation. Some of the lessons were about understanding different cultures, like honor/shame societies, power-distance dynamics, and tribe-clan-family groupings. Most were lessons about embracing the culture you're working in and about circumstances you might encounter, like needing a favor (Abraham), the consequences of ignorance (Jacob), multicultural leadership (Moses), leading a despised cultural minority (Nehemiah), cross-cultural conflict resolution (Acts), and preaching to pagans (Acts).


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.

Take Your Life Back by Stephen Arterburn

Take Your Life Back by Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop ISBN-13: 9781496413673 Trade Paperback: 224 pages Publisher: Tyndale Released: Oct. 4, 2016

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Do you have a relationship that leaves you feeling drained? Maintaining and improving this kind of relationship--whether it's a spouse, a friend, or a child--can feel exhausting, fruitless, and toxic to your own health. It's complicated: You love the person, but sometimes you feel as if you're pouring all your energy into holding your loved one, and your relationship, together.

Arterburn and Stoop have helped millions walk the path of health through their New Life Ministries and counseling center--and now they reach out to those who walk the path alongside them. We are called to love one another deeply, but it is possible to support your loved one in a way that honors the relationship, God, and yourself.


My Review:
Take Your Life Back is about no longer "letting the past and other people control you." The first 127 pages talked about the different causes and ways a person can become reactive (unhealthy) rather than responsive (healthy) in their relationships. The authors came at it from several different angles and from a very inclusive mindset so you're likely to see yourself somewhere in those descriptions. The intent seems to be to help you recognize that you have a problem and what's at the root of it so that you can heal from it.

The next 50 pages were about what you can do toward having healthy relationships. While God and Jesus were talked about, it's in a general way. Unbelievers are urged to consider the Bible and surrender to God. I had expected a much stronger emphasis on the truths found in Scripture as the path to healing. Their advice included finding someone trustworthy to talk with and come alongside you and following the 12 step program. The last 23 pages described what the life of someone who has taken back their life will look like.

This book seemed more about encouraging you to recognize the problem and the goal and to make the effort to change. It does a fine job of that, but I expected more on how to "take back" your life. The advice they did give was pretty general and needs to be tailored to your own situation.


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.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Good & Angry by David Powlison

Good & Angry by David Powlison ISBN-13: 9781942572978 Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: New Growth Press Released: Sept. 12, 2016

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Anger is our complex human response to things we perceive as wrong in a complex world, thus we must learn how to fruitfully and honestly deal with it. Powlison undertakes an in-depth exploration of the roots of anger, moral judgment, and righteous response by looking in a surprising place: God’s own anger.

Powlison reminds us that God gets angry too. He sees things in this world that aren’t right and he wants justice too. But God’s anger doesn’t devolve into manipulation or trying to control others to get his own way. Instead his anger is good and redemptive. It causes him to step into our world to make wrongs right, sending his own Son to die so that we can be reconciled. He is both our model for change and our power to change.

Good and Angry sets readers on a path toward a faithful and fruitful expression of anger, in which we return good for evil and redeem wrongs. Powlison offers practical help for people who struggle with irritation, complaining, or bitterness and gives guidance for how to respond constructively when life goes wrong.


My Review:
Good & Angry provides an in-depth look at anger and what the Bible says about it. The author described what anger is at its core and how anger can so easily go wrong. He also looks at good anger--anger which leads to righting of true wrongs and injustice. He did an excellent job of examining how to do "good anger" with God as our perfect example and by looking at what Scripture says.

The author also looked at how we can deal with anger gone wrong by asking ourselves several questions about the situation. He gave example situations and showed how to work through the questions. He looked at both serious causes and small annoyances that provoke anger as well as anger at yourself and anger against God. Overall, I'd recommend this book to every Christian, but especially those in positions of leadership.


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.

Living Clay by Keith Missel

Living Clay by Keith Missel ISBN-13: 9781625915054 Paperback: 172 pages Publisher: New Hope Publishers Released: Aug. 8, 2016

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
This Bible study illuminates the process of sanctification and transformation in the life of a believer. Filled with theological truth flowing from the context of Scripture, you will see how the Potter purposes to shape you--the clay--into a masterpiece. As Jeremiah was invited to the Potter's house, so you are invited to see how God is shaping you for His glory and your good.


My Review:
Living Clay is an 8 week long devotional with 6 days of devotions in each week. The author looked at how God purifies our lives and shapes us, and he used the biblical metaphor of God as the potter and us as the clay. He provided some information about how pottery is made to help those unfamiliar with the process to better understand the Potter metaphor.

Most weeks started with commentary that used the Potter metaphor. Each day had several verses for you to look up and 4 or 5 questions to answer about those verses. The author also provided some commentary to make sure you understood his main points. He used both biblical and modern people as examples to illustrate his points.

The themes for each week were: how God's hands shape us, hard callings, creating boundaries and rest, suffering and hard times, second chances, finishing well, evangelism, and God's sovereignty. The author has a passion for missions and evangelism, and several of the weeks emphasis those topics.


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.

Cold-Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace

Cold-Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace ISBN-13: 9781434704696 Trade Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: David C. Cook Released: Jan. 1, 2013

Source: Bought from Christianbook.com.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator.

Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity. A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.


My Review:
Cold-Case Christianity looks at the claims of the gospels from the point of view of a cold case detective. The author looked at many "lines of evidence" as he examined the gospels, and I felt he did an excellent job of explaining how he came to his conclusions. He even covered some angles that I haven't read before and which I found very interesting.

He began by using examples of various cases he's worked on to show how a detective examines evidence. He then applied these methods to the evidence surrounding the claims of the gospels. Then he looked at some of the evidence in greater detail. He looked at when the gospels were written, if they are eyewitness accounts, if they are accurate, how well these accounts have been preserved over time, what the motive was behind writing the gospels, and how much evidence is "enough."

I wouldn't hesitate to give this book to anyone who is uncertain about the gospels or who likes to debate these issues. This book will especially appeal to those who are interested in detective work.


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.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Dwelling Places by Lucinda Secrest McDowell

Dwelling Places by Lucinda Secrest McDowell ISBN-13: 978-1501815324 Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Abingdon Press Released: June 7, 2016

Source: Advanced Reader review copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Award-winning author Lucinda Secrest McDowell knows that if you spend a few minutes every day turning to God's Word for wisdom and guidance, your faith can flourish and grow. Through short and inspiring readings, McDowell unpacks a single word--like mercy, beauty, gratitude, or grace--to uncover a biblical blessing or lesson you can act on that very day. Each devotion includes stories and illustrations to foster understanding and ends with a benediction, written as if God were speaking directly to you.

Organized into four seasons--fall, Advent, Lent, and summer--these devotions invite you to discover those "dwelling places" that offer the joy of God's promises and presence.


My Review:
Dwelling Places is a devotional book with 130 days worth of devotions. These are divided into 4 seasons: Dwell (30 devotionals, fall theme), Shine (30 devotionals, winter/Christmas theme, suggested read during Advent), Renew (40 devotionals, for Lent), Grow (30 devotionals, summer theme). Each day's devotion is based on a word, and the author quotes a verse containing that word. She then related a story and talked about the verse. Each devotion ended with a paragraph written as if God is speaking to the reader about what was covered in the devotion. Overall, I'd recommend this devotional 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.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.