Longing For God A Prayer and Bible Journal: A Review

Longing for God A Prayer and Bible Journal is authored by Frank Hasel, who is an associate director of the Biblical Research Institute and previously served as an ordained pastor in Germany and Bible teacher and dean of the theology department at Bogenhofen Seminary in Austria. Since the death of his wife in 2009, Hasel has practiced and prayed the content of this Bible-prayer journal for himself.

In other words, the thoughts of this book have been tried and tested in his own life. They have opened up new horizons for his own personal quiet time with God.

Taking God at His word is fascinating because the Bible is full of surprises. It describes God in unexpected and unique ways. The encounter with God in the Bible has the power to transform your life. It challenges you in many ways to deepen your thinking and to change your living for the better. It is worthwhile to engage in a study of the Bible. It pays to diligently search the Holy Scriptures. In the living Word of God you find more than interesting information about God. You may encounter God Himself. But in order to discover what the Bible really says, you have to read it for yourself. This book is intended to stimulate such personal Bible Study.

If you follow the exact suggested reading program outlined in the book you would read through the entire Bible in one year.  But be of good courage, Frank Hasel says “It doesn’t matter how much you read every day. To read just a little in the Bible is better than to read nothing at all!”

The book provides space for journaling about what you have read.  It also strongly encourages making prayer an important part of your Bible Study time and includes space each day to journal your prayers

Many people can be truly blessed with the methods and suggestions contained in this book.

For more information and to read the first chapter for free online please click here. 

500 Years of Protest and Liberty: A Review

500 Years of Protest and Liberty-From Martin Luther to Modern Civil Rights by author Nicholas P. Miller is a lively and intensely readable contribution to the debate over the intersection of America’s two most radioactive issues: religion and politics.

Miller brings balance, thoughtfulness, and a great deal of insight to a discussion often marred by fierce polarization and simplistic generalizations. He provides a consistent historical overview, reaching back to the Protestant Reformation itself and moving forward to the founding of America and on into the twenty-first century.

The question is raised if we hope to make America great again, isn’t it important to know what made it great to begin with? Nicholas Miller asserts that the answer to this question involves an understanding of America’s Protestant backgrounds and the source of its ideals of representative government and civil and religious freedoms.

The 500^th anniversary of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 is a perfect time to reflect on these critical issues.

I found this book carefully written with concisely presented historical information showing how America developed its form of government and its civil and religious freedoms. Reading the book also helped me to understand better how complicated and complex these issues can be.

Click here to read the first chapter of the book online for free.

Stewardships Motives of the Heart: A Review

This new book by John Matthews has been specifically written as a companion study guide to be used along with the first quarter 2018 Adult Bible Study Guides. It’s an excellent study on the subject of stewardship whether or not you are following the Adult Bible Study Guides.

As all-encompassing as the topic of stewardship is, there is one common denominator in all its subtopics: stewardship touches everything we do, and everything we are, and everything we have.

Someone has said that material things are God’s only competitor. Jesus described it this way, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

Money has always been a problem for God’s people, and modern consumerism isn’t helping. This book is about the management of our possessions, about our relationship with money, and about the ways we relate to God as the Owner of all we have.

The book helps us remember that we do not own anything in this world. We are merely stewards of what God has given us.

You can read the first chapter of this book on line for free by clicking here.

Here We Stand: A Review

Here We Stand: Luther, the Reformation, and Seventh-day Adventism. This monumental book just off the press is edited by Michael W. Campbell and Nikolaus Satelmajer. Altogether there are 28 separate authors of this new book. Although separated in time by centuries, Seventh-day Adventists see themselves as heirs of the Protestant Reformation started by Martin Luther King 500 years ago. This monumental volume explores the various faces and contours of Luther and compares them with Seventh-day Adventism.

George Knight, professor emeritus of church history, Andrews University says there is nothing like this book in Adventist literature.

For his part, Shawn Boonstra, speaker/director of Voice of Prophecy says, “Half a millennium after Luther, Christians are not as clear as their forefathers on some of the most important developments in sacred history,” adding “much of the twenty-first-century Christian world struggles to remember exactly what Luther’s contribution was” and goes on to conclude this volume “offers a golden-and comprehensive-opportunity to understand where we came from.”

Luther’s rejection of the teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic church found resonance Jean-Henri Merle d’Aubigne, the Swiss Protestant and minister whose thinking Ellen G. White embraced and quoted, thus, “Since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses require from me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture or by the clearest reasoning, unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted, and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the word of God, I cannot and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other; May God help me. Amen.”

One may ask the question, why does Luther matter? Or, put differently, is there anything in Luther that matters in the second decade of the twenty-first century?

The short answer is an emphatic Yes! Luther and his message matter today because he was propelled by those teachings that form the very heart of biblical Christianity.

First among those teachings is the issue of religious authority. Heiko Oberman put his finger on the importance of that topic when he wrote, “What is new in Luther is the notion of absolute obedience to the Scriptures against any authorities; be they popes or councils.”

A second teaching at the heart of why Luther still matters is Luther’s understanding of justification, or righteousness by faith. His teaching of salvation by grace alone has stood at the center of Christian history from Paul’s time up to the present.

A third reason for Luther’s relevance for our day is his teaching on the priesthood of all believers. Luther uplifted the fact that every individual can come before the throne of grace without the aid of an earthly priest or other human intercessor.

I personally found this book deep, profound and very readable and highly recommend it. For more information on this book and to read the first chapter for free on line click here.

The Sound of Sleigh Bells: A Review

Cindy Woodsmall is the author of this  book.

Do you enjoy Amish fiction?

Do you enjoy Christmas stories?

Do you enjoy sad stories that turn out fine?

Do you enjoy stories with a romantic twist?

If you answered yes to any or all of these I am sure that you would enjoy this book.

Beth Hertzler works alongside her beloved Aunt Lizzy in their dry goods store and serves as contact between Amish craftsman and Englischer retailers. But remorse and loneliness still echo in her heart every day, and she still wears dark dresses to indicate her mourning of her fiancé. When she discovers a large intricately carved scene of Amish children playing in the snow in an Englischer store, something deep inside Beth’s soul responds and she wants to help the unknown artist find homes for his work.

Lizzy sees the changes in her niece when Beth shows her the woodworking, and after meeting Jonah, the artist, she is determined that Beth come to know this man whose hands create healing art. But it’s not that simple—Beth has cut herself off from any possibility of romance. Will Lizzy’s elaborate plan to reintroduce her niece to love work? Will Jonah be able to offer Beth new hope and a second chance at real love—or just more heartbreak?

I encourage you to find a copy of this book and read it.  My wife and I have read it several times and like to read it each Christmas Season.

Check for this book at your local book store or on line from Amazon.

Christian Standard Bible: A Review

I have been reading the book of Romans this month from this new version of the Bible and have concluded the CSB is a highly readable text which stays as literal as possible to the Bible’s original meaning without sacrificing clarity. The optimal blend of accuracy and readability in this version makes Scripture more moving, more memorable, and more motivating to read and share with others.

This new Bible translation was developed by more than 100 Scholars from 17 different denominations and faithfully and accurately captures the Bible’s original meaning without compromising readability helping you experience God’s truth as never before.

The particular copy I have is a Large Print Personal Size with easy to read 11.25 point type which makes reading very comfortable.

Here are a few sample verses:

Romans 1:16,17: For I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.

Romans 4:3-5: Abraham believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness.  Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who declares the ungodly to be righteous, his faith is credited for righteousness.

Roman 5:1:  Therefore since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:1,2: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 10:13: For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

I personally like using various versions and this new one from the Holman Bibles is one I highly recommend. The texts quoted in this review are taken from the Christian Standard Bible. Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by  permission.

They Called Him Rabbi: A Review

I love biographies and this one of Elder Calvin Edwin Moseley Jr. is exceptional.
Students called him “Rabbi.” His eulogists called him “The Father of Preachers” for having taught and prepared in his day at least up to 90 percent or more of African American pastors and evangelists for Seventh-day Adventist pulpits.

If you ever knew the man, you surely became conscious of connecting with a life rich in honor, homiletics, humanitarianism, heroism, and humor. You also knew that he was all about holding aloft the gospel banner of Jesus Christ and being a “voice crying in the wilderness” preparing “the way of the Lord” and making “His paths straight” (Matthew 3:3)

The first African American chair of the Religion Department at Oakwood College, now University, and first pastor of the Oakwood College Church, Elder Mosely shaped an entire generation of preachers and believers. Later serving at the General Conference, this man of God continued to impact the Adventist Church throughout his life, providing leadership at a crucial time in its history.

Some interesting things I learned about Calvin Mosely through reading this biography are:

He was born in Demopolis, Alabama. His father worked at the plastering trade. Calvin learned it too. When he was 15 years old he enrolled at Tuskegee institute.  Calvin came to know, Dr George Washington Carver as much more than a scientist who discovered more than 300 uses for the peanut but also as a man of God. Calvin attended Dr Carver’s Bible study group which proved crucial in a religious way of enhancing and advancing Calvin’s appreciation for Bible and things spiritual.

Later he attended a series of Seventh Day Adventist Church meetings and subsequently became a member. He felt God telling him: “You will preach for me” and eventually he did become a preacher.

While at Emmanuel Missionary College, now Andrew’s University, his experience as a plasterer came in handy and he was able to do a major plastering job that needed to be done. It is an interesting story. He chose to work late one night rather than waste an extra batch of mortar that his helper had mixed up and later that evening the president of the college came by and found him working late. When he learned what had happened he went home and had his wife fix a nice dinner and invited Calvin over for the meal. This was in the days when generally blacks and whites did not eat together—even at the cafeteria at the college which was segregated.

One needs to read the entire book but in the mean-time click here to read the entire first chapter for free.

Never Enough: A Review

Never Enough? Authored by Ron Blue with Karen Guess is one of the finest books I have read on Christian money management.  This book was published in 2017 so is right up to date with useful and current information.

Have you ever worried that doubling down on your debt repayment is robbing your family of memories and fun? Or had a major appliance fail, right after splurging on an expensive purchase or vacation? The tension between giving to church or charity and paying for your kid’s tuition or sports equipment is real.

Money and life are inextricably linked. They don’t run on independent tracks but rather continually exist together, both of them somehow needing to be handled with steady applications of wisdom and biblical integrity, even when they seem in direct competition.

Veteran financial counselor and trusted author Ron Blue helps you navigate the seeming incompatibilities of money management. His liberating, simplifying analysis breaks down all your financial options to a basic four—plus the biblical principal of giving generously, then shows you how to adeptly keep them spinning alongside each other without leaving you consumed by confusion or regret with all your dreams, plans, and principles still intact.

Ron Blue lists these 5 Wise Principles which really is the theme throughout the book:

1.       Spend less than you earn-because every success in your financial life depends of this habit.

2.       Avoid debt-because debt always mortgages the future

3.       Give generously-because giving breaks the power of money

4.       Save for the unexpected/Plan for financial margin because the unexpected will occur

5.       Set long term goals because there is always a trade-off between the short term and the long term.

I encourage you to get a copy of this book whether you are young or older and be inspired and blessed with this wise counsel that Ron Blue draws from the Bible as well as life experiences.

This book is available at book stores or online from Amazon.com.

After God's Heart: A Review

After God’s Heart-A Study in Brokeness- From the Life of David- by Elizabeth Viera Talbot is a new book that I have enjoyed reading.

What is it about Psalm 23 and its writer that ministers to us? Whether we live in green pastures and waters of rest or find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death, we all can relate to the song of this sling-hurtling shepherd boy who cried a lot and whose songs could soothe a crazed king.

David, the only person in the Bible called a man after God’s own heart, inspires us with his vulnerability and his yearning for intimacy with God. Each of us in our own broken way yearn for such an intimacy with God.

I love the way the author goes through various episodes in the life of David and draws lessons applicable in our own lives.

When everything around me seems to fall apart, I need to remember that God has a plan.

The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is we have eternal salvation, not because we are powerful and able soldiers in the battle between good and evil, but because Jesus fought in our place and won.

It is important to remember that there are storms that come with no wrongdoing on our part.

My brokenness can bring glory to God.

God is an expert in being triumphant in the midst of apparent impossibilities.

During his time in the wilderness, David kept talking to God.

God doesn’t abandon us, even when we make wild decisions and take crazy detours.

Regardless of what was happening, David still had his God!

God’s GPS is able to recalculate and reroute your path no matter how deep you may  have gone into the enemy camp.

When we place ourselves under the heavenly Shepherd King, He will provide for our needs.

Click here for information about this book and to read the first chapter on line--here