The Return

Review: Worth Living: How God’s Wild Live for You Makes You Worthy Mary DeMuth Baker Books 2016 This book works on many levels and fails on only a few.   The few for me is the repeated references to a poor childhood life, and I don’t mean poverty.   The author reminds the reader about it more than necessary in the early portions of her book.   Yes, it lends credibility and demonstrates openness, but is it not possible to write this book without it?   OK.   There’s my nit of this book right off the top.   I nearly put it down because of that one repeated reference, though.   She speaks to this issue toward the end of the book.   “If I am telling you my issues for the sake of gaining your empathy, it’s an empty pursuit.   My fulfillment must come not from your sweet empathy but from being Jesus’s beloved daughter…. Slay the drama queen.” (191)   So, if that sort of thing bothers you too, persevere, she knows how we feel on t...

Review: No Fear in Love: Loving Others the Way God Loves Us Andy Braner Baker Books 2015 What do love and fear have in common that they end up together in a book title?   Yes, you know the verse from 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”   But what about ridding yourselves of the fear that keeps love from acting and being complete?   That’s pretty much what this book is about. Braner looks at overcoming that fear through examples from his own life.   He never professes to be perfect though and tells his readers how that worked out for him.   And could also work for you and me. Divided into three sections Braner’s book the basic fear package that most of us haul around, then drills down more looking into world views that are different, and finally cultural factors that can cause fear.   The first section covers some...