129 - Empty Promises

Pete Wilson is a great author.  With his sophomore book he's kept his conversational tone, tightened up his writing, and hits a home run.  Empty Promises addresses the issue of idols in our lives, and why they seem to be a struggle for us.  Wilson talks about the broad topic of idols letting the reader identify the specific ones in their own life.  It was a great read, but a challenging read.  Wilson has done a good job of almost reinventing the Christian Living genre.  His books come across as solid, rather than just another fluffy "read your Bible and pray" kind of book.  This book would be a great fit for a small group study, or just to read on your own.

128 - The Jesus We Missed

Rarely do you find a book that's written on the humanity of Christ is such a way as this book.  Without ever watering down the divine nature of Jesus, Reardon does an excellent job of probing into what it means that Jesus was also fully man.  While approaching the subject from a quite scholarly position, Reardon never talks over the reader's head.  Rather, he makes his points in each chapter as he walks us through the life of Christ.  From his birth to baptism to ministry to death.  Each step of the way pointing out the interesting points of Jesus being fully man.  Great read that I'd highly recommend to anyone studying Christ's life.  Would make an excellent addition to a book on Christ's divinity.

127 - Viral

Could the next revival be based on a tweet? Or a Facebook status?  Or any form of digital media that goes viral?  Leonard Sweet dives into the question of the future of revival in the viral generation.  The book does  an excellent job of laying out how Christians can begin to use social media to build relationships with people, not just post photos of their cat.  Sweet takes time to hit on all the major social media tools, and breaks down how they can be used for advancing the gospel.  His book is well thought out, and isn't just another "Christians should use social media" books but rather a theological defense for using these tools.

117 - With

Skye Jethani's latest book is incredible.  When was the last time and thought about the way you lived your life?  Do you live it for God?  Or under God?  Or maybe even over God?  Well this whole book is dedicated to getting you to begin to live your live with God.  Not just say that's how you're living, but really live your life with God.  You'll evaluate the way you were brought to Christ and what kind of teaching you are receiving on Sundays as you read through this book.  You'll reconsider the attitude you have towards God, is He a police office?  A grandfather?  A genie?  Or is He a friend who you live alongside?  I strongly recommend this book for everyone who calls themselves a Christian.  It's an excellent book for evaluating where you are in your relationship with God, and how you can live life with Him.

I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson in exchange for a fair and honest review.  The opinions above are my own, no one elses.

097 - The Little Red Book of Wisdom

Sometimes we stumble upon a short little read that has tremendous possibilities.  The Little Red Book of Wisdom could be one of those books.  As I read through the book there were portions I wanted to rip out to hand to certain people I know.  The book was an excellent read offering advice on both the personal life and the professional life.  Each chapter offers insights into one of those two categories.

This book is one of those books that you can buy a copy for yourself and a couple copies to give away.  Graduation gifts, when someone is struggling, or just to help someone along in life this book would make an excellent gift.

I'm also supposed to let you know that I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review from Thomas Nelson.

095 - Awakening

How many questions do you have about fasting and drawing closer to God?  If you're like me probably several.  Stovall Weems does an excellent job of tackling how to keep your spiritual life fresh and powerful.  His book breaks down some basic principles that will help you stay aligned to God's will.  His book also coveys all the important information in a 21 day format so that after getting through the first part of the book the reader can practice what they learned for 21 days.  It's a great read and I'd highly recommend it for anyone seeking a bump in their spiritual life.

I'm also supposed to let you know I received this book for free from Waterbrook in exchange for an honest review.

093 - If God, Why Evil?

There are few apologists that are very practical and yet powerfully convincing.  Norman Geisler is one of them.  Geisler has written this brief book simply over the problem of evil.  I've read several of his book, and yet this one is my personal favorite.  The book was short enough to be easily digested, yet long enough to get his full argument.  He didn't cut corners just to make the book shorter.  At 173 pages the book is crammed with information and theological/philosophical thoughts.  I would recommend this book to anyone who struggles with this question.  I would recommend this book to anyone who knows someone who has raised the problem of evil being their reason for rejecting Christ.  Geisler is an extremely intelligent individual and does an excellent job tackling this issue.

I'm also supposed to let you know that Bethany House gave me a free review copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

092 - Radical Together

Have you read David Platt's book Radical?  The book that took the Christian world by storm as it argued against the consumer mind-set of modern Christianity.  Well, Platt has continued his challenging appeal to be radical by expanding it to becoming a radical community.  Platt's first work was excellent, and his followup seems to be more of the same.  In this short book Platt breaks down the church.  This short book (which could be considered an expansion pack to Radical) is amazing and powerful.  Platt tackles many of the big issues facing our churches today, and not in a political way like so many other writers do.  Instead Platt tackles the issue of spiritual problems rather than just another book on the religious right.  I highly recommend you go pick up this book, it's well worth the read.

I'm also supposed to let you know Multnomah sent me a free review copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

091 - A Conversation with God

A Conversation with God was labeled as a Bible Study on the website I requested it from.  I would say that I did enjoy the book, but that seems to be a misrepresentation of the book.  Gansky's book is written in a letter/conversation style format.  He covers the stero-typical topics that one would expect in a book called Conversation with God.  The book offers very little ground-breaking insights, but does do a decent job of reiterating the answers to many popular questions that many people are probably asking.  I would recommend this book to someone struggling with some of the questions this book discusses that hasn't found satisfactory answers anywhere else.  It might help them.  For those who have struggled with many of the questions of the faith then this book is probably not going to be a great read for them.

I am supposed to let you know I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson in exchange for a fair, and honest review.

090 - Finding Our Way Again

Brian McLaren is a controversial figure in most churches.  I've heard him called everything from visionary to heretic.  But after reading this book I do have more respect for him.  I might not agree with everything that he has to say, or his theology, but at the same time I realize he is a fellow traveler on the road of life, trying to make sense of Jesus, God, the Bible, and the role we humans play.  I highly recommend reading through this book before judging McLaren.

I'm supposed to let you know that I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson in exchange for a fair and honest review.

089 - The Ragamuffin Gospel

Few books have influenced and impacted authors, musicians, and creative-type people that The Ragamuffin Gospel.  Manning has been quoted by nearly everyone at one point or another.  This book is simply tremendous.  Manning digs into topics in such an open and honest way the reader feels like their having a conversation rather than reading a book.  The books itself is a Christian Classic.  The words offer encouragement and conviction, yet always prompting the reader to go on for "just a few more pages."  No review would ever do this book justice, and if you don't own this book I recommend going out and buying it immediately.  If you do own this book I would recommend giving away a copy to someone you know who needs it.

I'm supposed to let you know I received this book for free from Multnomah in exchange for an honest review.

087 - The Global-Warming Deception

Many people over the years have accused Environmentalists of fear mongering.  Many assume that they make up facts and figures about global warming in an effort to gain political power.  However, after reading this book I’ve learned that the Religious Right also does their fair share of fear mongering.  Grant Jeffrey wrote this book in an effort to point out how those who teach Global Warming are essentially trying to destroy America.  Yes, it is as ridiculous as it sounds.  His book comes across as ignorant and sensational.  I am disappointed that Waterbrook would even consider publishing such rubbish.  I thought about selling my copy on Amazon to be done with it, but I decided it was bad enough that I didn’t want anyone to purchase it.  Rather I will keep it around to remind me of how ignorance has run rampant in the church, and encourage me to continue to educate Christians.

I’m supposed to let you know that Waterbrook gave me a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

085 - The Next Christians

Do you care about the future of Christianity?  Do you wonder how the next generation is going to experience Christ and the Church?  Do you see the slow shift in today's churches?  Then this book is for you.  Gabe Lyons does an excellent job of walking his readers through his study to the conclusion that the American church is dying.  He goes on to explain why this is a good thing.  I would highly recommend checking out Gabe's book.  Even if you disagree with him, you'll learn quite a bit about the current state of the church.

I also should let you know I received this book from Waterbrook/Multnomah in exchange for a fair and honest review.

083 - 31 Days of Drawing Near to God

Devotionals are quite often a dime a dozen.  You can find a mediocre devotional just about anywhere.  Unfortunately, Ruth Myers' book 31 Days of Drawing Near to God is just another devotional.  A book that perhaps would be excellent if the reader already loved Ruth Myers, but nothing to make the reader fall in love with her writing.  It offers that same ordinary insights into the Christian life that has been written by hundreds of authors and printed thousands of times.  It might not get me many stars on Multnomah's website, but regardless the honest evaluation of this book, is save your money.  There are much better devotionals out there (some have been reviewed on this blog).

I'm also supposed to let you know I received this book from Waterbrook / Multnomah in exchange for a fair and honest review.

082 - The Quotable Chesterton

Have you ever been working on a lesson or a paper and tried to find a good quote for the introduction or ending?  I know I have on several occasions.  I've always loved quotes.  Good ones normally get written out and stuck on my wall somewhere, great ones get blog posts.  The Quotable Chesterton compiled by Kevin Belmonte is an extremely useful resource to have around for those who like me enjoy good quotes.  Belmonte offers quotes from G. K. Chesterton on a variety of topics.  He even includes endnotes so that it's easy and convenient to cite the original source in a paper.  This book wouldn't be successful if it weren't for Chesterton who said and wrote many inspiring things in his life.  Chesterton's work is broken down and allows the reader to easily locate the subject of their choice and see what Chesterton had to say about it.  I highly recommend this book.

I'm also supposed to let you know I received this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for a fair and honest review.

081 - In Constant Prayer

By now we've reviewed almost the whole Ancient Practices Series.  Here's one of the last remaining ones we haven't gone over yet.  In Constant Prayer by Robert Benson was an excellent read.  He challenges his readers to... get ready for this... pray.  It seems like something so simple, but it's such a beautiful concept.  Something that we all know we should be doing, but at the same time so often forget to do.  How can we make prayer an integrated part of our lives where it becomes engrained in us?  What can we do to "pray without ceasing"?  Benson tackles those questions and more.

I'm supposed to let you know I received this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for a fair and honest review.

079 - Soul Print

I've read several of Mark Batterson's books, so when I saw that one of his was available for review I jumped at the chance.  I've heard Mark speak on a couple occasions and even once he took the time to answer some of my questions at a church planting conference.  You couldn't ask for a better guy.  As for his writing, it too is powerful and inspiring.  Batterson writes in a way that comes across confident, but not arrogant.  His book is practical and simply, yet deep and Biblical.  I couldn't put Soul Print down and if you pick it up, I bet you can't either.  I strongly recommend this book to anyone seeking to know their place in life.

Waterbrook-Multnomah offered me a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

078 - The Sacred Journey

I'm slowly working my way through the Ancient Practices Series from Thomas Nelson and have landed on "The Sacred Journey" this time.  This has been an excellent series thus far, and again I haven't been let down.  Foster writes like a poet with incredible word choices and an excellent topic.  He delves deep into the historical pilgrimage.  An all around excellent book I would highly recommend to anyone seeking to know more about the historical practices that Christians have been using to draw closer to God many years ago.

I'm also supposed to let you know I received this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for a fair and honest review.

077 - The Jesus Inquest

Charles Foster has created an excellent resource for those seeking an apologetic study over Christ's death and resurrection.  The topic is debated from both sides and offers excellent insights into the debate.  The book is written about a heavy topic, but still done in a lighter way.  Foster did an excellent job of taking something that could have turned into scholarly rambling and used it to create a down-to-earth and informative book.  I would highly recommend this book with Easter coming up in the next few months, it would be an excellent time to study up on the subject of the resurrection.  Go pick up a copy for yourself, and your pastor.

I'm supposed to let you know I was provided this book by Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.

076 - Sun Stand Still

Powerful, well-written, and motivating.  I recently read through Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick and that's  the words that came to me when I was finished.  A simply incredible book on prayer.  Furtick challenges his readers to simply have more faith in God.  He encourages us to pray bigger prayers, prayers like Joshua.  I would highly recommend picking this book up today.  It's challenging and engaging.  If you're looking for a light hearted easy read I would recommend something else.  This book is not fluff, it's solid.

I received this book from Multnomah in exchange for an honest review.  My review is my opinion, and was not required to be a positive one.