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.

070 - A Year with God

I don't think that I read the part of the summary where it described the devotional as a completely Old Testament Devotional. I was incredibly confused as to why there were no mentions of the New Testament (until I read back through the introduction and the author clearly states he only wanted to use the Old Testament). I love the concept of this book. Too many times, we neglect reading the Old Testament because we feel that it is unrelatable or has nothing to do with today's problems. Through this Devotional, the author makes it clear that the words the Lord spoke throughout the Old Testament resonate with Christians today.

The book itself is very attractive- the cover was well done and the devotional is well organized and labeled. I found this devotional to be great for both beginners and as a reminder for more experienced Christians. The set up of the book is a tradition devotional. The top of the page has the Day number (from 1-365). There is a passage from the Bible at the top of the page and a short 2-3 paragraph devotional at the bottom.

I was provided this book for free to review by booksneeze.com. The opinions in this review are my own and do not reflect those of booksneeze.com or Thomas Nelson.

065 - On this Day in Church History

This book is part devotional, part eclectic fact book.  I prefer to use it as a fact book and occasionally get the wild hair to go read what happened today in church history.  The facts are interesting, and the stories are brief, yet complete.  The reader can use this book to impress friends, or just to learn more about church history.  It's well written and includes a great deal on fairly unknown heroes of the Christian faith.  The book sparked ideas several times and made me want to pursue a handful of the individuals it mentions.  Robert Morgan is an excellent writer and has presented what is normally considered boring in an excellent way.  His presentation is more like youtube than an 18 week class on the subject.  I would highly recommend this book.

063 - I Lift Up My Soul

Recently I've gotten a bunch of devotionals to review.  This devotional seemed to be a lot like many others.  Short clips from other books compiled into one devotional.  Unfortunately, for many readers these books feel like you can get a little of everything and nothing all at the same time.  The devotions range widely in topic, can be read through in about a minute, and somehow fool people into thinking that they've spent time with God.

However, if the reader uses this book in addition to a normal quiet time with God then it could be quite helpful.  I love Charles Stanley's writing and would assume he too would want his readers to first spend time with God, then spend time with his book.  In the right context this book can be a great tool, in the wrong hand it can be detrimental to spiritual growth.  If you buy this book for someone make sure to let them know it shouldn't replace reading their Bible.

Also, I’m supposed to let you know that I was given a free review copy of the book, but that has nothing to do with whether or not I liked it.

062 - Living Life in the Zone

I'm not a huge fan of specialized devotionals.  I actually hate anything that too pointed.  This book comes across a little too pointed.  A 40 day Bible study for men who enjoy sports.  While that is a large demographic, I wonder why they couldn't have just written a men's devotional or just a devotional?  I thought the writing was average and the content was pretty typical.  Nothing groundbreaking, nothing too oooh and aaah over.  The book is packaged nicely, but that doesn't make up for the average work.  I'd recommend this book if you've never read a devotional before, if you have then it's just more of the same.  You could buy this book for your husband who isn't interested in church, and try to see if he'd get interested in the Bible through a sports devotional, but I'm not positive it would work.

058 - A Leader's Heart

I recently received A Leader's Heart by John Maxwell to review. I read through several days worth of devotional thoughts on several different occasions before offering this review. I thought the book was excellent. Perhaps I like it because of the manly look to it, or the manly illustrations, or the fact that it's a journal/devotional, or maybe just because John Maxwell is a great writer. Regardless, the book was excellent and I'd recommend picking it up for a man in your life that you love. It'd make a great gift this coming holiday season since it starts on January 1st and could serve as someone devotional for 2011. Maxwell makes his points clear and precise only taking up one page a day, with at least half of it being space for notes. The only drawback to this book is the 18.99 price tag. A little steep considering the fact that there’s lots of blank space for journaling.

Also, I’m supposed to let you know that I was given a free review copy of the book, but that has nothing to do with whether or not I liked it.

056 - One Year Book of Encouragement

Normally I don't really like the page a day type book.  I get bogged down and forget about it for a month or so and then just finish the whole book because I'm tired of remembering to read it each day.  However, recently I received The One Year Book of Encouragement and was very surprised at how easy it was to remember to read it.  Perhaps it has something to do with the devo for each day being an insightful and encouraging word.  I tested the book out for a few days and was blown away by how I remembered each morning what I had read the day before.  I'd highly recommend this book to anyone seeking some additional insights each day.  Don't let it replace your time in God's Word, but it would be a great addition.