Skip to main content

Review: Awakening Faith: Daily Devotions from the Early Church by James Stuart Bell with Patrick J. Kelly



Review: Awakening Faith: Daily Devotions from the Early Church
James Stuart Bell with Patrick J. Kelly
Zondervan
2013

Who knew?  I certainly didn’t.  What a rich legacy those of the early church have left for us!  And it’s been all but lost to the majority of the believers in modern times.  Lots of reasons for that loss, but this isn’t the place for listing them.

What it is the place for is to appreciate what Bell and Kelly, along with all those that make this sort of work happen, have done for us.  The introduction explains a little about the Church Fathers and what some of their concerns were, how they understood their life and times, and some of the encouragement they offered.  A short biographical sketch of each of them is included at the end of the book.  I found that very helpful in placing them in their respective time frame.  Polycarp was very early and Maximus the Confessor about 500 years later. One of them even had contact with Attila the Hun---in a positive sort of way.   

Although I have not read every entry, I can say that this is definitely a worthwhile book to buy and savor.  I have decided to use it as a devotional for myself.  (Thank you, Zondervan and Booksneeze.) The depth and breadth of these writings is so different from what I’ve seen anywhere else.  And I’ve looked and read a lot lately. 

Only thing that might have been nice would have been to include from which of the volumes the devotional reading was drawn since there are an entire shelf full of the writings of the Church Fathers, but that’s just the school girl part of me talking.  That in no way detracts from what was written.

Yes, I do recommend this devotional book without reservation.  

This book was provided to me by the publisher via Booksneeze in exchange for this review.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: When God’s Ways Make No Sense by Dr. Larry Crabb

Review: When God’s Ways Make No Sense Dr. Larry Crabb Baker Books 2018 I chose this book because the title intrigued me.   When God’s Ways Make No Sense.    There have been plenty of times when that seemed truer than I’d like to admit.   Are we even allowed to say something like that?   Even if we think it.   So, an author willing to take on that topic had my attention. And mostly because I wanted his take on what to do about it? As it turns out Crabb pretty much gave away his case very early on in his book with a single scripture quote.   The basic idea is God is GOD and we are not.   His motives and actions are incomprehensible to mankind and He owes no explanation for them either.   Crabb admits near the end of his book that he is not a theologian which I knew going into this book, but his arguments are theology.   Or at least I think so.   I found his repeated circling the topic a bit frustrating. ...

Buntings and Books

Time to blog says the calendar. So OK let's blog. What about? Oil spills? Court nominees? Euro problems? Weather? The last one is the easiest to go with it looks like. Cold and windy again. What is this about? Not more than a week ago it looked like summer. Even needed fans to cool the place. Well, the fans are off now. Nature has provided some pre-cooled forced air for a few days now, complete with humidity adjustments ie rain. Keeps the ground cold and the urge to garden at bay. Protection for those of us who aren't in the best physical condition. The weather has the birds on the feeder more often and that included a new one in the area. We've decided to call it an indigo bunting. Matches the picture in the book so that's got to be who he is. Pretty little guy, all decked out in his breeding plumage. Haven't seen those colors since the last peacock came around. Just read that cowbirds like to use them to raise their chicks. Yet another reason t...

Review: A Hole in Our Gospel

The Hole in Our Gospel Richard Stearns Thomas Nelson 2010 Disturbing is the best word I know of for this book. There are already hundreds of reviews for this book in its hardbound version and now the soft cover release invites more. The paperback added color photos and a study guide to the text. So for my money that is a plus. Why did I decide to call the book disturbing? I could have called it challenging just as easily but challenging is easier to dismiss. Disturbing gets into your soul and is much harder to root out. If that’s what you want to do after you read this book. Mr. Stearns tells his story to the reader while motivating that person to consider what action the reader could take to join in the world wide efforts of World Vision or another similar organization. For those that believe there’s more to Christianity than staring at the back of someone’s head for an hour on Sunday morning this is a great place to start a quest for whatever that something more might be. On...