The Return

Review: Restore my Soul: A Coloring Book Devotional Journey Ann-Margaret Hovsepian Momentum 2016 Review a coloring book? Look a bit closer at the full title and this is also a devotional book.   I think I’m beginning to understand the coloring book thing more than I have before.   And I think it’s a good idea.   It’s not some idle waste of time.   Away with all those 30 second devotions!   Be gone those 15 minutes with God books!   These are a step toward a devotional time that matters.   Unless you can color bunches faster than I can, of course.   These force you to sit still for much longer than 15 minutes and during that time what goes through your head? They may even take a couple of days to complete.   Eventually after the “Do I use orange or yellow here?” questions drift away the devotion you read on the opposite page begins to echo in your thoughts.   Now you’re getting somewhere.   All those you’s in the bit...

Review: Your Best Destiny: Becoming the Person You Were Created to Be Wintley Phipps with James Lund Tyndale Momentum 2015 It has been several years since I’d seen a book similar to this, and there’s probably a need for it again now.   Phipps discusses eight pillars that support a person’s ethos.   Ethos according to Phipps is “a combination of our personality, character, emotions, guiding beliefs, habits, ideals, attitudes, fundamental values, and lifestyle.” (17)   All that describes who we are and especially who we are when the tough times arrive.   What are the pillars that support that and how can I keep them sturdy?   How does that help me find my best destiny?   Well, that’s what this book is about.     Phipps takes each of the eight pillars and examines them more closely.   Some of the chapters will speak to the reader more directly than others, depending on the individual’s current state of ethos.   Following ...

  Review: Churchless: Understanding Today’s Unchurched and How to Connect with Them Barna Group; George Barna and David Kinnaman, General Editors Tyndale Momentum 2014   This books validates the trends in declining church attendance in a way that I think is helpful.   How so? They spent years investigating the people that make up the unchurched and dechurched groups.   The findings are revealed in this book in simple narratives and graph formats with each chapter concluded with a few questions for the reader to consider.    Probably the most surprising finding for me was that 1 in 6 unchurched Americans is a born again Christian.   Yes, they do give the definition of born again and it is precisely what most believe it to be.   So what is going on?   Why the disconnect?   No spoilers here, but they do explore those questions and reveal some interesting information.   The book also discusses other groups too like th...