The Return

Review: The Power of Together: Discover the Christian Life You’ve Been Missing Jim Putnam 2016 Baker Books I wish I had gotten an e-version of this book instead of the print version.   Why?   To see how many hits I would get on the word relationship.   This book delves into that topic from several angles attempting to encourage the reader to become more involved in forming genuine relationships.   Those of us that are older may remember the word friendship .   The real sort, not the sort established on social media with the touch of an icon.    That’s what Putnam feels is missing in the Christian life.   That’s what he spends 245 pages trying to explain, illustrate, model, or extol.   He has diagnosed a major deficiency in current life for many inside and outside the church.      So what is the solution to the problem?   Happily, he offers some suggestions that should be obvious by the time he gets to th...

Review: A Different Kind of Happiness: Discovering the Joy That Comes from Sacrificial Love Dr. Larry Crabb Baker Books 2016 Who doesn’t want happiness, but what makes for our happiness?   Where do we find that happiness? Crabb tackles these questions head on in this book.   But, this is no afternoon read with a few pithy sayings to soothe your psyche.    The Dr. in the line with his name is that of clinical psychology which he practiced as a Christian counselor for a number of years.   He’s most likely to say he’s heard it all.   So this book goes a bit deeper than most.   A lot deeper than I had anticipated, in fact.    I found the book to be one that I had to put down and think about what I had read for a while before going on to the next chapter or even paragraph in some cases.   He has done much thinking about what he puts on the page.   Research too, but not just to have an impressive bibliography or set of ...

Review: Reclaiming Love: Radical Relationships in a Complex World Ajith Fernando Zondervan 2012 This book is a gem among all the Christian literature available, and one of the few that I’ve read that lives up to the endorsements found in the front matter.   It truly is worth the read.   Each chapter opens the idea of love more fully and encourages the reader to look at his own life and to compare where he is now with where he could be.   Nice part---the text that follows will show the reader how to change if change is needed.    Yes, love is a big deal and the love described in this book is so far removed from most of my experience, and I suspect that of others, it seems a dream.   Fernando shows that this love is more than a dream, but a living reality for those who choose to walk that path.    The book is an exploration of the “love chapter” in 1 Corinthians.   Yes, the one used at many weddings.   When I began t...