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<![CDATA[Tracey added 'The Treasure Principle: Discovering the Secret of Joyful Giving']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78871055
to: The Treasure Principle: Discovering the Secret of Joyful Giving (LifeChange Books)byRandy Alcorn
I had a hard time getting through this book because I strongly feel that the author, Alcorn, has taken Matthew 6:19 ("Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth...") out of context for his own purposes. Alcorn interprets "treasure" to solely mean "money" and the entire book is essentially devoted to why you should give money to the church. (I also can't help but feel a bit, um, wronged perhaps, by the fact that my church gave this book away in conjunction with a major giving campaign.) While it is certainly true that properly stewarding the money that God has entrusted to us is a stumbling block for many, I personally feel that it is deceptive of the author to lead the reader to believe that the verses and quotes he uses can only mean "give money to Christian organizations." A word study of the greek word for treasure, "thesauros," shows that it means "good and precious things" which certainly extends beyond just money--life goals, careers, relationships, etc.
On that same note, Alcorn quotes the martyred missionary Jim Elliot's famous words, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose," and again uses it in such a way to lead the reader to believe Elliot is talking about money, when in fact Elliott was talking about giving the whole of his life for the cause of Christ.
Someone had recently recommended a different Randy Alcorn book to me, but I now feel quite wary of ever reading another book by this author.
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http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/47633436
Tracey
is on page 216 of 640 of
Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Hands-On Training
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<![CDATA[Tracey added 'Epic: The Story God Is Telling and the Role That Is Yours to Play']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76274896
to: Epic: The Story God Is Telling and the Role That Is Yours to Play (Hardcover)byJohn Eldredge
Have you ever heard someone refer to the Bible “God’s love story”? Sure it sounds good, but what does it really mean? Eldredge does a nice job describing exactly why the Bible IS, in fact, God’s love story: how a God who was already in perfect relationship chose to create people who are free to rebel against Him and through time God continues to love, pursue, and rescue these rebellious people.
However, the full book title is “Epic: The Story God Is Telling and the Role That Is Yours to Play,” and I think Eldredge fails on conveying “the role that is yours to play.” He devotes a paltry six pages at the end of the book to suggest that the reader embrace his/her role in God’s story, without really explaining what that means. If the reader is interested to find out more, they are directed to read “Waking The Dead,” written by, you guessed it, John Eldredge, or go to a website (which I didn’t bother to do.)
The gimmick of this book is that Eldredge pulls together a variety of cultural references (mainly recent films) and uses the scenes from these films to describe the "epic" story of God. To a certain extent, this is an effective literary device, but after a while gets a bit annoying when there is reference after reference to Titanic, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc, etc, etc. It felt amost as if Eldredge has elevated these films to be somehow "Christian." I do understand that he intends to use these scenes as archetypes to demonstrate that there is in every person some kind of innate longing to be a part of the story of God. But I did particularly bristle at the fact that he uses scenes from "Titanic" and "Lord of The Rings" (pp 48, 70) to describe God's wooing and rescue of humankind, when the characters are actually engaging in sexual sin and not according to God's standard of "not even a hint of sexual immorality" (Eph 5:3).
I felt quite engaged upon reading the first half of this book, but the second half fell flat. Overall, the impression I am left with a day after reading this book is one that is quite forgettable.
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<![CDATA[new comment from Tracey]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/225444-what-books
Tracey made a comment in the Gospel Centred group:
Interesting you mentioned those two books (Martin) because I only recently purchased both and hope to get to them soon.
I have just started reading "Finding Joy: A Radical Rediscovery of Grace" by Marcus Honeysett which was recommended by a friend, and seems very good so far.
Two books which I have not read but which have been recommended to me on more than one occasion are: "A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers" by D.A. Carson, and "The Reason For God" by Tim Keller. I think these would probably be suitable for this group's bookshelf.
One book which I myself have read and could recommend for the bookshelf is "Guidance And The Voice of God" by Tony Payne, perhaps less academic than some of the books on this shelf, but helpful (and I think newer Christians would find it especially helpful) in seeing that the Bible has already revealed to us almost all the information we need for knowing what the "right" thing to do is when making daily- and life-decisions.
A second book which I've read and could suggest would be "God Is The Gospel: Meditations on God's Love As The Gift Of Himself" by John Piper. The point that Piper makes is immense: that what we have in the gospel is not just the good things we get, like forgiveness, assurance of heaven, etc. The real point of the gospel is that we get God--that God has actually given us Himself! I only gave it a three in my own review though, cos I found the writing somewhat dry and frustrating, but in hindsight perhaps I should have rated it higher. Currently it has an overall Goodreads rating of 4.17.
By the way, thanks for starting this group! My main reason for being on Goodreads is sharing with my own friends about the Christian books we are reading, so I was delighted to find this group!
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<![CDATA[Tracey added 'Finding Joy: A Radical Rediscovery of Grace']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49387662
Finding Joy: A Radical Rediscovery of Grace (Paperback)
byMarcus Honeysett bookshelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[Tracey added 'The Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72913814
to: The Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit (Paperback)byFrancis Chan
I feel that there are many flaws to this book. Certainly, there are a few gems of wisdom in there. But the thing I found the most infuriating and almost caused me to stop reading was that Chan seems to spend the entire first half of the book questioning the reader's motivation for wanting to read a book about the Holy Spirit. He seems to make assumptions that the reader is probably suspicious of charismatic churches, and that perhaps the reader's motivation for reading the book is that we want the Spirit for personal selfish gain, like Simon the magician in Acts 8 who wished to pay money to obtain the Spirit.
Chan makes a few helpful points. The chapter "Supernatural Church" was one of the best in the book, showing how God-glorifying it would be if we led lives that were undeniably Spirit-led. ("I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn't be doing this by my own power," page 142.) He shows it isn't in what we say that we will convince people but by how we live our lives. He explains further that we as the modern church could learn a lot from the early church in Acts.
Another thought-provoking point was Chan's explanation that if we actually lived our lives in complete submission and obedience to the Spirit, we could not actually sin (see Galatians 5:16). However, "if the Holy Spirit is in you, as a believer, then when you sin you are not listening to the Spirit's leading," (pages 129-130).
I was tempted to give this book only two stars, but overall, there are still quite a few good points in this book for me to consider the book to be "helpful" as a guide for Christian living.
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<![CDATA[Tracey added 'Should We Get Married?']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74351247
to: Should We Get Married? (Paperback)byWilliam P. Smith
This short 23-page booklet gives a list of helpful questions designed to help the Christian couple considering marriage make that decision. These questions will help the readers see if they are "on the same page" in their approaches to inevitable issues that will arise during the course of marriage.
Note: I think that David Powlison's booklet in the same CCEF series called "Pre-Engagement: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself" seems more effective.
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<![CDATA[Tracey added 'How Do I Stop Losing It with Your Children?: Getting to the Heart of Your Discipline Promblems']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74349423
to: How Do I Stop Losing It with Your Children?: Getting to the Heart of Your Discipline Promblems (Hardcover)byWilliam Paul Smith
"How Do I Stop Losing It with My Kids?" by William P. Smith
I don't have kids. But I still found this 19-page booklet to be extremely helpful in realizing what is happening when I fly into a fit of anger with anyone (in my own case, with my mother.). Smith very effectively helps us to see that the cause of our rage likely lies within ourselves, not the other person (which I think is a very important step in learning to control our anger.) Smith helps us to see the right place of God in all this.
Note: I found this booklet to be more helpful than the booklet in the same CCEF series which is called "Anger" (by David Powlison) because this one gets to the heart of the matter much more quickly and effectively.
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<![CDATA[Tracey
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http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72913814
Tracey
is on page 72 of 208 of
The Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit