He Restores My Soul: A Forty-Day Journey Toward Personal Renewal

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He Restores My Soul: A Forty-Day Journey Toward Personal Renewal

by Jennifer Kennedy Dean

3.40 · rating details · 5 ratings · 1 review

According to Jennifer Kennedy Dean, "God's people are 'silver'-they are the most malleable, the most resistant to corrosion, the most reflective, and the best conductors of power." In her 40-day program for spiritual renewal, Dean assists readers in discovering their potential for an inner transformation that will make them sensitive to God's shaping hand. Base...more

Paperback, 177 pages

Published September 1st 1999 by B&H Publishing Group

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Jan 18, 2010

Brett Mclaughlin rated it

I recently heard an interview between Mark Dever and Matt Chandler in which Chandler mentioned he often read "spiritual roughage" (http://ow.ly/VJML). I took that to mean that Chandler (and Dever, who assented to reading the same sort of material) often read books that had a high ratio of garbage-to-sound-theology. There are all sorts of benefits, too long to list here. Suffice it to say, though, all of those benefits were reaped with a reading of Jennifer Dean's He Restores My Soul. ...moreI recently heard an interview between Mark Dever and Matt Chandler in which Chandler mentioned he often read "spiritual roughage" (http://ow.ly/VJML). I took that to mean that Chandler (and Dever, who assented to reading the same sort of material) often read books that had a high ratio of garbage-to-sound-theology. There are all sorts of benefits, too long to list here. Suffice it to say, though, all of those benefits were reaped with a reading of Jennifer Dean's He Restores My Soul.

Intended as a devotional book, Dean provides an introductory section, a lengthy set of devotions arranged around a 40-day "journey" toward personal renewal, and a final section on organizing a retreat. Unfortunately, I spent as much time sorting out the theological problems and confusing non sequiturs as I did thinking and meditating on God.

Dean's consistent use of New Age terminology and style detracts from her central message. Dean insists that her message is not a New Age approach to spirituality in her introductory section (page 8), but her language is more often rooted in modern spirituality than orthodox Biblical terminology. She speaks of the Christian’s “spirit-core” (26), repeatedly calls for "centering prayer" (26, 29, et. al.), appeals for the believer to "surrender to brokenness" (30), and much of her review is centered on the Christian’s own definitions of and feelings about spiritual power, brokenness, and crucifixion moments (42-43). Dean could make her points far more effectively by limiting herself to Biblical words such as "spirit," "soul," "repentance," and "sinfulness," and use Scripture to define terms rather than asking the reader to assess his own definitions and feelings.

Despite this misuse of language, Dean does consistently drive home the Scriptural truth that God Himself must create the new heart: "He inscribed His desires and thoughts on your new heart. He will cleanse your heart and keep it clean" (57). Further, she moves to a more actionable set of meditations, an aspect of her devotions lacking in the first week. On page 54, she asks the Christian to evaluate: "How is He doing His cleansing work? How is he purging His people from... sin?” She then answers immediately, attributing God’s working out of sin to "the blood of the Son." This re-emphasis not just on Christ but on His effective work is both convicting and encouraging.

Most concerning, much of the devotional material is wrought with subtle theological error. From the first devotion of week 3, Dean relates that God’s engineering of salvation is "for the purpose of filling [the Christian:] with Himself" (68). Yet God says in Isaiah 6 that the train of His robe fills the temple. It is instead the Holy Spirit that fills the believer (2 Tim. 1:14). God fills us with joy and peace (Rom. 15:13), but never inhabits or indwells us; that is not His role within the Trinity as revealed in Scripture. Dean often is casual with interchanging God the Father, Spirit, and Son, and this fosters a loose theology that ultimately is incorrect and misleading. On page 69, she says "...the Spirit of God is removing all unrighteousness and all flesh to make room for the presence of the Lord in your heart. He must be your heart's only inhabitant." Here, the Spirit makes room for the Lord, although it is the Spirit that indwells. Further, both of these confuse her earlier statement, which stated it is God that fills the believer with Himself.

Further, there is a conflation between the filling of the Spirit and the indwelling of the Spirit. Scripture does indicate that the believer is indwelled by the Spirit, but that it is also appropriate to pray for a full measure of the Spirit, or a filling of the Spirit (Acts 4:8; Eph. 5:18). However, Dean indicates that God (or the Spirit, or the Lord) "will not share His dwelling place. He will inhabit it alone" (69). The implication clearly made by Dean is that the Spirit will not indwell the believer until sin is removed. This is Scripturally false, and leaves the believer with no recourse for the sealing of their heart in God’s sight (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30).

The core of Dean’s message remains helpful and at least loosely tied to Biblical principles. Throughout the book, though, her tendency to play loose with theology, conflate the distinct persons of the Trinity, and not explain concepts fully weakens her message. Ultimately, only her theme of brokenness consistently shines through other issues within the book.
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