Loving the Way Jesus Loves, by Phil Ryken (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012) 222 pp., paper $14.99
In Loving the Way Jesus Loves Ryken does a fine job describing love as taught in 1 Corinthians 13. The uniqueness of this book is, after dealing with each facet of love as found in the Pauline epistles, Ryken then illustrates it with an episode from the life of Christ as found in the Gospels. […]
Leading with Love,by Alexander Strauch (Littleton, Colorado: Lewis and Roth Publishers, 2006) 201 pp., paper $10.49.
The title of this book is actually “A Christian Leader’s Guide to Leading With Love” but with few exceptions it is a guide to any believer seeking to walk and serve in love. After demonstrating the indispensable nature of love in Part One (the first three chapters), Strauch dedicates Part Two (chapters 4-9) to an […]
Golf’s Sacred Journey, by David L. Cook (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009) 126 pp., e-book $9.99.
This is a novel about golf with a message about living. The storyline concerns a young pro-golfer wanting desperately to make it to the big leagues (the PGA tour). Thinking he is closing in on his goal, he has a classic meltdown in an important tournament. At the end of his rope, he wanders to […]
One Thousand Gifts, A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, by Ann Voskamp (Grand Rapids: Zondervan 2010), pp. 237, Cloth $16.99
Ann Voskamp writes this bestselling book from an educational background in psychology and as a mother of six and farmer’s wife. But her life has been shaped largely by the accidental death of her sister when the author was four (pp. 10-13). Whether this tragedy was the main cause for Voskamp’s other emotional and spiritual […]
The Liturgical Year, the Spiritual Adventure of the Spiritual Life, by Joan Chittister (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009) 217 pp., cloth $17.99
The Liturgical Year is part of the Ancient Practices Series published by Thomas Nelson, which, according to Phyllis Tickle (the General Editor of the series) involves seven ancient practices that inform all the Abrahamic faiths (p. xviii). This volume is devoted to the liturgical year and the liturgy presented from the framework of the Roman […]
Jesus – Safe, Tender, Extreme by Adrian Plass (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006) 290 pp., cloth $23.99
Adrian Plass is a Christian author who has written many books detailing his experiences as he navigates through life. His writing is humorous, vulnerable, refreshing and enjoyable. He does not pretend to be a theologian (something he would not want to be anyway, see pp. 142, 145); he is “simply allowed to be a man […]
Invitation to Solitude and Silence, Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence, by Ruth Haley Barton, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2010), cloth, 164 pp., $11.49.
Two of the essential spiritual disciplines within the Spiritual Formation Movement are the overlapping ones of solitude and silence. Ruth Haley Barton, who writes extensively on such subjects and is the founder of the Transforming Center which is devoted to spiritual formation through the means of contemplative practices, does a good job in this volume […]
A Quest for More, Living for Something Bigger Than You, by Paul David Tripp (Greensboro: New Growth Press, 2008). 210 pp., paper, $17.99
If you are familiar with the writings of Paul Tripp, the subject and emphasis of this book will be what you would expect (see my review of Instrument in the Redeemer’s Hands for a fuller understanding of Tripp’s key ideas). Tripp wants to expose his readers’ hearts. He wants us not to be content with […]
The Peacemaker, A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflicts, by Ken Sande (Grande Rapids: Baker Books, 2002), 281 pp., paper $14.99.
The Peacemaker Ministries, and its flagship book under review here, is too well known to need much by way of comment by me. Sande has provided the body of Christ a great service by thoroughly presenting the teaching of Scripture on the subject of unity and peacemaking. This is a marvelous source for personal use […]
Satisfy Your Soul, Restoring the Heart of Christian Spirituality by Bruce Demarest, (Colorado Springs: NavPress 1999), 312 pp., paper $10.50.
Dr. Bruce Demarest, longtime professor of theology and spiritual formation at Denver Seminary, offers this book as a polemic for what is commonly called spiritual formation, a method of spiritual development created and promoted for centuries within Roman Catholicism. Demarest assures us repeatedly that he is evangelical in doctrine (see p. 10) but discovered something […]