Unstuck by Arnie Cole & Michael Ross

Unstuck: Your Life. God’s Design. Real Change. by Arnie Cole
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For real spiritual growth and maturity to occur, believers need to be not only reading their Bibles but engaging it and reflecting on it. Research done by Back to the Bible research division has shown a difference in the spiritual growth of those who engage with the Bible at least 4 times a week compared to those who engage it less than that.

The book offers practical suggestions for how to get "unstuck", to get going again in the Christian walk. Yet reminding us that we will fail and not to let such setbacks discourage us from continuing on.

I found some of the book to be rather light, not really that "meaty" but overall, with good insights and applications for growing in our Christian lives. The last section of the book is the most practical with questions to reflect on. At the end of each chapter are Scripture verses to read and questions to consider. I would recommend this book for those Christians who feel they are just going through the motions in their Christian life and don't feel that they are really getting anywhere.


*I received a copy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for my review

Taking Back the Good Book by Woodrow Kroll

Taking Back the Good Book: How America Forgot the Bible and Why It Matters to You by Woodrow Kroll
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Read. This. Book! Perhaps it is because this topic is one of my passions that this book resonated so much with me. The lack of Bible literacy or knowledge in America has been declining for years. If we don't address this issue we are going to lose the next generations. Even those raised in Christian homes display a shocking lack of knowledge of what is in the Bible.
We need to get back to reading our Bibles. That's not all we need to do, but that is a start. The average reader can read through the entire Bible in just 72 hours. In just 15 minutes a day, the Bible could be read through in less than a year (288 days). 15 minutes a day! Surely we can log off Facebook or not watch TV for just 15 minutes a day!
This book addresses the excuses that people use for not reading and how to counter these excuses. It talks about the reasons for reading the Bible. It also talks about the effects that Bible illiteracy has had on America - it hinders spiritual maturity and weakens our defense of the gospel. But it also offers hope - that we can recover. It gives ways that we as individuals can get involved, how parents can make a difference, what churches/pastors/youth pastors can do to help recover Bible literacy. There is also a bunch of organizations that address this issue and are working to reverse the effects of Bible illiteracy. The back of the book offers more websites and books that talk about this topic as resources to use in this fight against Bible illiteracy.

A Cross-Shaped Gospel by Bryan Loritts

A Cross-Shaped Gospel: Reconciling Heaven and Earth by Bryan Loritts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The premise of this book is that the gospel is not just about our relationship with God (vertical). It is also about relationship with others in community (horizontal). Thus the shape of the cross - our vertical relationship with God is restored through the gospel - as well as our horizontal relationship with others in community. The danger comes in focusing too much on one or the other instead of both together. The author uses examples throughout Scripture of how the gospel is revealed to be both vertical and horizontal.

Too many times we as Christians focus too much on 1 aspect of the gospel and end up neglecting the other. A focus on the vertical aspect of our relationship with God ends up with a neglect of reaching out to our community and getting involved in changing lives. But a focus too much in the other direction leads to lack of Biblical foundation and a loss of focus on God and who He is.

One of the chapters that really stood out for me is how we in America are comfortable. We don't like being uncomfortable and it becomes way too easy in our culture to coast along and stay in our comfort zone rather than pushing beyond and making a difference in our community. This was challenging for me, particularly as an introvert who doesn't like to be around people for extended periods of time. But we are not called just to be saved and then rest on Jesus' laurels for the rest of our lives. We are left here on earth to live out the gospel in our community. "...the church isn't a country club that exists to cater to its members, but is called to influence its city and country."


I recommend this book - let it challenge you to get off the couch of comfortable Christianity and really live out the gospel.


*I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for my review.

American Idols by Bob Hostetler

An overview of the various things that have become idols in our American culture. We may not have idols of wood and stone like in the Old Testament days, but we still have our idols that we cling to in our modern day culture. This book goes through many of these idols and challenges us to repent of these idols and to put God back into His rightful place in our lives.

I wrote a post on my other blog regarding individualism and how that can be a struggle for me. Some of the other idols that are tackled in this book include consumerism/materialism, celebrity worship, instant gratification, money, comfort and choice. Some of these are not immediately obvious as idols such as comfort and choice. But how much do we depend on being comfortable in our lives? How much do we take for granted and expect that we can make our own choices? We as Christians too easily fall into the culture around us and expect comfort and ease in our lives. We often make a decision based on whether we will be uncomfortable or not. I know I fall into this trap all too frequently, preferring to stay comfortable than have to be out of my comfort zone. Choice is perceived to be a right in American culture. But are we following God's choices or our own? Are we determined to have things our way or submit to what God has for us? This is an easy idol to fall prey to, particularly in the "have it your way" American culture around us.

A very challenging book, eye-opening to many of the idols we tend to have in our lives, often without realizing that we have made it an idol.

Read the Bible for Life by George Guthrie

Read the Bible for Life: Your Guide to Understanding and Living God's Word by George H. Guthrie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The importance of reading the Bible. This book reiterates that and then takes the reader through how to read the Bible more practically. Looking at the Bible in its historical and cultural contexts, reading the different books as the genre they are, reading as a family and a church. It also offers a couple different reading plans to read through the Bible. The important thing to remember is that the Bible is about God and it is His story that we are reading. We need to read it in light of that rather than just trying to get out of it what will make us feel better.

Think Biblically

Think Biblically!: Recovering a Christian Worldview by John F. MacArthur, Jr.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a topic close to my heart - developing a Christian worldview and living according to what the Bible teaches and not the culture around us. The book is a collection of articles by different authors, each chapter dealing with a different topic. The first chapters deal with the foundation behind having a Christian worldview - having a biblical foundation. This starts with whether we believe the Bible to be authoritative and sufficient. Another chapter dealt with the importance of what we believe about the world's origins and how a belief in creation is crucial for having a biblical worldview. I never really thought about the importance of that before but his points make sense. If we don't believe what the Bible says about creation and how the world came into being, than how are we going to believe and trust it in anything else that it teaches? Trying to compromise with the world's view of evolution by saying that God used evolution to create the world undermines the authority of Scripture.
Other chapters deal with education, economics, politics, psychology and the arts.
Part of the chapter on creation vs. evolution points out the irrationality that comes with believing that evolution is how the world came into being. The author states this pretty clearly:
"What could prompt anyone to embrace such a system? Why would someone opt for a worldview that eliminates all that is rational? It boils down to the sheer love of sin. People want to be comfortable in their sin, and there is no way to do that without eliminating God. Get rid of God, and you erase all fear of the consequences of sin. So even though sheer irrationality is ultimately the only viable alternative to the God of Scripture, multitudes have opted for irrationality just so they could live guilt-free and shamelessly with their own sin. It is as simple as that.
"Either there is a God who created the universe and sovereignly rules His creation, or everything was caused by blind chance. The two ideas are mutually exclusive. If chance rules, God cannot. If God rules, there's no room for chance. Make chance the cause of the universe and you have effectively done away with God."

Book Quotes

I have a notebook (2 actually) that I use to write down quotes from books that strike me or that I want to remember for later. I know other readers that do this as well.

Recently I finished reading Counterfeit Gospels by Trevin Wax. Here are some quotes that stood out for me:
"Sin is personal. We are guilty of cosmic treason, asserting our own lordship over the lordship of God. We seek worth and value in something other than the Source of all worth. Our hearts are idol-making factories. We seek to worship anything - just not the One who has made us."

"Ironically, when we live as if our personal story is at the center of our universe, we struggle to find meaning and significance. But when Christ is at the center and we are pushed to the periphery, it is then - in that place of seeming obscurity and insignificance - that we find true worth and value, by giving glory to the crucified and risen King with whom we can become united through faith."

I haven't actually finished this book, but I started reading it and plan to go back to it at some point. Gospel-Driven Life by Michael Horton was good but I tried reading during my "not-really-reading-much" phase and ended up sending it back to the library unfinished. Here are some quotes from what I did get read:
"God does not exist to make sure that we are happy and fulfilled. Rather, we exist to glorify God and to enjoy him forever."

"...reserves the right to disturb the status quo whenever his wisdom dictates."

"What does God expect of you?...We are not responsible for knowing things that God has not revealed: like where we should live, whom we should marry...It is not a question of finding the place where God wants you to be, but being the person he wants you to be where you are. He has told you everything for which he holds you responsible...he has revealed his purpose for your life...Is your chief goal each morning to glorify God and to enjoy him or to glorify and enjoy yourself, taking God as seriously as his services justify in your pursuit of happiness?"

Thought-provoking.