‘Learning To Love’ Book Review July 28, 2013

Title: Learning To Love: Passion, Compassion, and the Essence of the Gospel

Author: Heidi and Rolland Baker

Date I Finished Reading: July 22,2013

My Rating: 3/5

I have always loved to hear missionaries’ stories. They are always inspiring, encouraging, and enlightening. They always motivate my thoughts and prayers. Which is why I was excited to read this book. I was eager to read and to learn about Heidi and Rolland Baker and their ministry to the unreached people in Mozambique.

I enjoyed reading about the many people who were moved by the gospel through their ministry as well as how God worked in and through the Bakers as they shared his word. From reading of those who were brought to Christ, to the struggles that these missionaries overcame, to hearing of miraculous healings that occurred, I was encouraged by the faith and the love that God grew inside of Heidi and Rolland because of their passion and their ministry.

There were a couple of aspects about this book that I did not like, however. For example, I found that they were very repetitive in their story-telling, yet at the same time, it seemed as though they almost took for granted the miracles and wonders happening. It seemed as though they occasionally would say “many deaf villagers were healed”, “nearly entire villages were saved” or “a lame man walked for the first time” yet they treated it as a common occurrence. They almost seemed as though they were used to, or took for granted God’s miracles.

While I believe that the Bakers had a wonderful heart and ministry, I found the book a bit difficult for me to read due to how repetitive the writings seemed to be. If you can see past that, however, I believe that this is a great book for you to read.

Note: I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. However, my opinions are my own.

Also, if you are interested in, or enjoy reading books on true missionary accounts, I would recommend the book Call of a Coward. You can read my review on this book here: https://innerbeautyforever.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/call-of-a-coward-book-review/

‘Bible Savvy’ Book Series Review

Title: Bible Savvy (4 Book Set)

Author: James L. Nicodem

Date I Finished Reading: July 21,2013

My Rating: 5/5

I love when I come across a book that is just practical, yet still full of truth. I do! They are biblical, easy to understand, and easy to apply. The Bible Savvy Series is one of those reads. Based on scripture, easy to read, and full of biblical, practical applications, I found this series to be very beneficial to me!

Epic: The Storyline of the Bible

In this first installment of the series, NIcodem walks through the Bible, making a brief overview of it’s vast plot. Working his way from Genesis to Revelation, he shows how all of scripture is one common theme. Even though there are 66 books within the Bible, they are all part of one plot: The story of redemption. He discusses the outline of redemption prompted, redemption prepared, redemption prophesied, redemption purchased, redemption proclaimed and redemption perfected. Seeing how all books and divisions of the Bible fit together under one common story line helped me to better comprehend how the pieces fit together as well as to be reminded that each portion of scripture is important and not to be overlooked as unimportant.

Foundation: The Reliability of the Bible

In this second book, we are shown just how we know that the Bible is what the Bible says that the Bible is (comprehend?).  The key topic throughout is how we know that the Bible is truly the word of God? How do we know that it is God-breathed? How do we know it is true? How do we know it is without error? How do we know that we can trust the Bible? Basically, it describes to us why and how we can have confidence in the Word of God. In today’s culture it has become extremely important that we know what we believe, and how to defend that belief. This book proved to be a wonderful tool in answering those questions, and giving me knowledge to pass on to others when this topic arises.

Context: How to Understand the Bible

Out of all of the books in this series, I believe that I found this one to be most beneficial and helpful to me. In this particular volume, Nicodem discusses each genre of scripture and presents you with how to properly read and understand them. He discusses books of poetry, books of prophesy and everything in between. As I read it I was encouraged to better study and search scripture as well as to better utilize outside resources in order to better understand the context under which different scriptures were written, which will help me to better understand the meaning of God’s Word.

Walk: How to Apply the Bible

I feel that this book did an excellent job at wrapping up the Bible Savvy series and showing why this is relevant and applicable to our personal lives. He also walks through the COMA outline and provides wonderful examples that allow you to both learn how to as well as actively practice searching out the context, observations, message and application of scriptures. It was extremely helpful in helping me to comprehend how to better understand scripture as I read and study God’s Word.

I would most definitely recommend this series to you if you desire to better understand, study and apply scripture to your life!

Note: I received this series free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. However, opinions are my own.