The Daily Devotional Series: The Gospel of John by Kristi Burchfiel

The Daily Devotional Series: The Gospel of John by Kristi Burchfiel

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars


I suppose I could only give this one 3.5 stars, because each day's devotional focus is so short.  I think that's an advantage for readers who want something really quick, but I think I like a longer reading for my devotionals. Thus, I was a mite disappointed. I do have to say that the Gospel of John cannot fail to inspire believers with the majesty and power of the deity of Jesus, and his profound love for everyone.  John called himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved." That man was so tapped into the love that Jesus has for us that the Romans couldn't even kill him when they tried boiling him in oil.   That's a lesson for every believer to learn right there.  So I was thrilled to get a copy of this devotional for free on Amazon Kindle.  I have been specifically meditating on God's love for me (right believing leads to right living), and I already feel it has changed my life profoundly.  John's gospel is required reading for believers who are on the same path for that reason stated above.  I loved the prayers at the end of each devotion, and they definitely packed a punch for their short length.

So even though I didn't give this one a higher rating, I still feel it is a very worthwhile daily journal for less than a month of study.



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My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

My Utmost for His Highest: Traditional Updated Edition by Oswald Chambers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In order to have written the most successful review for this book, I should have started with Day 1 and wrote something about each entry every day. Sadly, I didn't do that.  So I'll just do my best to write a summary of my thoughts of this devotional over the year-long experience of reading it.  I hope that any reader of this review finds that helpful.

Oswald Chambers is a man who definitely had an ongoing encounter with God.  His thoughts tap into every aspect of the experience of following Christ and having communion with the Spirit of God.  His words are at times an incredibly profound comfort to a broken heart.  At other times, they are a prod to one's flagging determination to fight the good fight and continue that daily walk with God in a meaningful way. Other times, they convict the reader in the best way. The way that the Holy Spirit convicts a believer of complacency or willingness to settle for a life that merely pretends belief in God as opposed to a life-changing, ever-evolving relationship with God that affects every aspect of that person's life in the more meaningful ways.  I do believe that God used Mr. Chambers powerfully in writing this devotional.  I cannot count how many times I read an entry and I felt that God was talking directly to me.  A person once said that we don't read the Bible, but the Bible reads us. I believe that Mr. Chambers was prompted by the Holy Spirit to write something that does exactly that.  I found that questions I was struggling with that week were addressed so many times in the entries I read, and I saw the lightbulb go on inside my mind.

I would recommend this devotional to every believer in Jesus, and even to people who seek to know God in a deep way.  I believe that the reader will feel touched deep inside and it will make them desire for more of God in their life.  The good news is that God wants to walk with each and every one of us in that way and relate to us in a truly real way. God always rewards those who seek him.  And "My Utmost for His Highest" is a good tool in that journey of discovering who God is and how intimately we can relate to him everyday.  Definitely worth getting a copy of this and spending a year with Oswald Chambers.



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The Real 12 Days of Christmas by Helen Haidle

Real 12 Days of Christmas by Helen Haidle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was having a discussion with a church friend about whether it was valuable to enjoy Christmas on a spiritual level with all the commercialism and pagan connections of the holiday. I love Christmas, and I have sense I was a child. It isn't even about getting gifts for me. It's about the wonder of the season. As a believer of Jesus, I think there is pressure going both ways for you as far as Christmas.  One one hand, you are encouraged to like the holiday season but give no relevance to Christmas or its origins. On the other hand, some Christians reject Christmas as a pagan holiday with no significance to the actual celebration of the coming of the Messiah as a human baby.  It makes you feel kind of squeezed from both sides at times. Honestly, though, I will continue to be a Christmas freak until I leave this earth.  So I appreciated when my friend loaned me this book to read about one of my favorite Christmas songs, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." 

It's a short, easy read, since it's actually a children's book. Short but very meaningful for those who profess faith in Jesus, and even to those who wonder what Christians believe.  The song dates back to a time in England where there was much religious persecution and people weren't allowed to express beliefs that didn't go along with the official state church.  People used songs to teach about their faith in code  (coincidentally, this was also done with Negro Spiritual sang in the field during the American slavery period to communicate about the Underground Railroad to escape to freedom). This code is spelled out in the song.  I won't go into that because it would spoil the joy of reading the book, since each day is explained as far as its spiritual relevance. However, I will say that this song will now mean so much more to me now when I sing it. 

Christmas is a joyful time, and it's also a tough time because of the stress associated with it. The rat race and the focus on buying presents and keeping up with the commercial cast of the holiday can steal some of that joy. However, I believe that there is simple pleasure in celebrating the holiday with songs such as this and  in allowing the power of knowing that light broke into the world in the form of God as a baby who would grow up to suffer and die for the sins of everyone who ever lived, and many Christmas songs convey exactly that. It is wonderful to know that "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is also one of those songs.



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Searching Issues by Nicky Gumbel

Searching Issues by Alpha USA
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's really hard to write a review for this book, because the issues discussed in this 100 plus page book are so huge that I could easily write a 100 page review just telling my thoughts about how Mr. Gumbel addressed these issues. At least the ones I've figured out completely. Yeah, that sounds as confusing as it feels.

I think that it's easy to take a "baby with the bathwater" approach to Christianity. You assume that because you put your faith in Jesus, then all the tough things in life go away. Not at all the case. Those tough questions will always be there. Because we are thinking people, and we are also emotional. God wired us that way, and he gives us the free choice to think and feel as he created us to do. God is good in that he allows us the room to make up our minds, and gives us the information to approach those decisions open-eyed.

So if people ask hard questions like Why does God allow suffering?, you end up either giving answers that over-simplify the question or give an answer that leaves the questioner with more to think about than they had before they asked. The same goes for other issues in the Christian faith. Big huge ones like sexuality, New Age beliefs, the so-called conflict between science and Christian faith, and the Trinity. Overall, I feel that Mr. Gumbel accomplishes what he set out to do. It helps that Gumbel is a lawyer, and he has a way of making clear, concise points. What makes it even better for me is that grace, truth and love always go together in this book. That is essential to the embodiment of Jesus Christ. And anyone who comes in the name of the Lord should always follow this model.

I do have to say that the segment on the Trinity really put my mind in a knot. Well, honestly, that doesn't surprise me. One God, three separate persons. Christians who have grown up in the faith accept this as the intrinsic part of what we believe. But when you sit down and look at it, it's just mind-boggling. Probably didn't help that I read this part at two in the morning either. God is so beyond what my mind can encompass, but I don't want a life without him. He's just part of who I am and I relish the opportunity to walk through this life and have him reveal more of who is is to me with every step I take while I live on this earth, until I am in his presence one day. I am glad that he thought enough to give me a tangible view of him in Jesus Christ. I'm a thinking person and a feeler, and that makes the walk of faith both an exciting one and a confusing one at times. Sometimes heart and head are declaring war against each other, and you don't know which to believe.

That takes you back to the "baby and the bathwater" conundrum. If I find it hard to accept one aspect of my faith, does that devalue the whole thing, or is that where faith comes in? Can I accept that having faith in Jesus Christ gives me the support to walk through life and the power to get through circumstances I don't always understand? As well as accepting that some things are just what they are and I have to accept that and ask him for the strength to do what he requires of me as a follower of him, even if that means going against the crowd or what everyone else believes to be true. Faith is when you take what information you have and keep walking in the direction you want to go. And I want to go wherever Jesus will lead me.

I knew this would be a crazy review. It's just hard to pin these incredible questions down into salient points. Hats off to Nicky Gumbel that he was brave enough and empowered to try.

It's a good book to read for Christians and want to be Christians who have some hard questions about the faith and how certain things relate to the Christian faith.

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Alpha Course Manual by Nicky Gumbel

Alpha Course Manual by Nicky Gumbel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the coursebook for the Alpha course that I attended through my church between September and November.

What is Alpha?

Alpha is a course that introduces people to the fundamentals of the faith of Christianity. It's broken down into fourteen topics concerning the faith, and after a short talk, the members divide into small groups and discuss the issues. It is a way for people who have some tough questions and issues about God, faith, and Jesus to have a safe, non-judgmental forum for this discussion.

I decided to attend since it was free, and since it sounded like a worthwhile opportunity. It definitely was. I have never gotten this opportunity to sit down and talk about fundamentals of the faith like this course allowed. The book is a good adjunct. I finished the course and a few weeks ago, I read through the book again, referencing some of the Bible verses again. Reading the coursebook again cemented some of the concepts and allowed me to take the time to digest and reflect on the information offered in the weekly sessions.

What I really like about this book is the easy to follow outline style. I like that it's organized and it gives support for the points made with Bible verses and historical references.

I don't think God ever intended for faith in him through his Son to be complicated. He wanted each person to have the opportunity to know him, and that's the model that the writer of this book, Nicky Gumbel follows. Also the essence of Christ's personality, to speak the truth in love, is evident in the layout of this book.

While this isn't a scholarly approach like one would find with something like CS Lewis'
Mere Christianity, it shouldn't be. It's simple and straightforward, well-suited for the course and the group discussion style.

Taking the course was a real blessing, and having the coursebook to go back to, not to mention the notes I took during the talks (because I am a huge nerd), will be very useful and worthwhile in the future.

I am rating this book as I would any coursebook. On that level it's a five star rating. As I alluded to above, it's not written in sentence style, but more in bullet/outlines, but that doesn't detract from its usefulness. I'd recommend taking an Alpha course if you get the opportunity. You don't have to be a believer in Jesus to benefit from it. It's a good place to go even if you have questions about the faith and the idea of God in general.

http://www.alphausa.org/Groups/100006...

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The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel

The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus by Lee Strobel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This review is probably not as well-crafted as I would have hoped, since I am very swamped right now, and unable to do better. However, I wanted to write my thoughts on the book to the best of my ability as soon after I finished the audio version as possible so I wouldn't forget too much. I hope to reread it and analyze it more at a later date.

When I finished this book, I felt that Mr. Strobel tackled the tough questions about Christ that one might ask if they were skeptical about the faith and the person of Jesus Christ. I grew up in a Christian home and I have been a personal confessor of faith in Jesus for well over twenty years. However, it was good to take a hard look at the questions I didn't have the answers for from a scholarly standpoint. And I believe that Jesus wants anyone who chooses to follow him to count the cost and look hard at who he is. He is honest and righteous and doesn't want anyone to be misled about who he is. So I would say that anyone of my bent is encouraged to do the same.

I felt that Mr. Strobel showed his investigative journalism chops in addressing those important aspects of Christ's identity and the reliability of the evidence of his claim as the Son of God who died for the sins of every person who ever lived, and rose again from the grave, and the areas that one might use to discount his message and the affirming power of faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Ultimately, those who choose not to believe will probably continue to not believe (and they have that choice), but those who want to take that step to believe in him and have some factual proof about him and what faith in him offers, they will find enough here to further confirm that faith in Jesus is not blind faith, but a reasonable, eyes open step of faith. What I do not propose here is that this book takes the place of the Holy Bible, but instead, Strobel's investigation shows that the Bible is a reputable historical document and what it says about God and Jesus Christ is historically accurate. And for those who seek further inquiry, one will find a very good bibliographical source of reputable scholars who can offer even more sound information about Jesus Christ, the historicity of his persona, and the proven historical accuracy of the New Testament Gospels and how they relate to the Old Testament. In fact, this was one of strongest elements of the book for me, since it gave me even more books to read as I get the opportunity.

While I have seen plenty of 1 star reviews for this book, I personally feel justified in giving it 5 stars. One might argue that I like it because it justifies what I believe. That's not completely untrue. It does justify what I believe. I'm glad that I walked into this book with my brain prepared to take a hard look at the evidence and that scholarship was rewarded in Strobel's methodical and thorough investigative process. Let me add that I would have believed what I did anyway based on the process of my individual faith walk. Instead, this book just provides more solid evidence to underpin what I already believe.

I am a rational person. Very analytical, and I have never felt that having faith in God requires throwing out the thought processes and rational inquiry. After all, God gave us brains and he expects us to use them. So for me, this book takes a thinking person who values factual evidence and solid inquiry on a logical investigation into the identity of Jesus of Nazareth, who has proven he is the Son of God in so many ways that those who believe in him will not find themselves disappointed with that decision in the long run.

I would recommend this book.

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