Book Review: My Simple Faith

My Simple Faith is a series of short yet thoughtful spiritual reflections on a diversity of topics from Spur Football Club loving friends, to Ferraris, to a tortoise named Timmy. Most of all, however, these reflections centre on the author’s own personal experience of the love and grace of God. The author, Sean Bastable, writes with clear simplicity, but his book is not simple in the sense of being simplistic or ignorant of deeper issues. Rather Sean uses this series of very personal reflections to describe how faith can continue to have simple yet profound meaning even amidst the more challenging situations faced in life today. In this, Sean writes about the growth of his own faith and how that has connected with the questions, doubts and differing paradigms of those around him, most especially his good friend Dave (who writes the foreword).

Sean makes no attempts to neatly clarify or tie up any of the big faith questions he wrestles with, but rather he holds them in tension, dialoguing with them in a way that is both graceful and sensitive. Sean grapples with questions such as the authority and trustworthiness of Scripture, belief in God, the nature and shape of God’s love, as well as free choice and consequences, and as he does so he invites his reader into the conversation as a way of stimulating their own thoughts and spiritual growth. Sean writes as a fellow traveller in faith’s journey, and I would warmly recommend this book to anyone who has ever grappled with what it means to follow God in his way of love.

(You can order a copy of this book from www.mysimplefaithbook.com).

Book Review: Transform your work life

"God wants to use you – in the marketplace!"

“Most people will spend between sixty and seventy percent of their lives at work. This is an incredible investment of time, energy and creativity and God has a very particular desire for that huge portion of your life. God cares about every part of your life, not just the parts that are spent in church and on church related activities.” (From the back cover).

In ‘Transform Your Work Life,’ co-authors Graham Power and Dion Forster outline their belief that the God-given destiny of each Christ-follower is intrinsically wrapped up in the marketplace, but that many people never take this truth seriously enough. Christians are too quick to limit the idea of serving God to certain times and places (like Sundays and the church) but surely God can use us in wonderful ways between 8 and 5, Monday to Friday? Power and Forster combine creative theological reflection with down to earth practical advice on how to embrace your God-given calling at work. Through twelve chapters they seek to challenge, teach and guide you to “turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling.”

This book is very well written and manages to express deep concepts in an easy to read style. I recommend it very highly to all Christian readers – to pastors who can learn something about developing the workplace as a mission field for their congregation members and most especially to lay folk who live with that nagging feeling that surely God could use them in some way.

The book is for sale at Christian Republic on special for R88. Also on Kalahari.net for R95 and then in Wordsworth books, Exclusive books and CUM books (for between R100 - R115)

Christian Republic: http://www.christianrepublic.co.za/catalogue/Transform-Your-Work-Life.htm
Kalahari.net: http://www.kalahari.net/books/Transform-Your-Work-Life/34923/37717631.aspx

‘Transform Your Work Life’ is published by Struik Christian Books.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Graham Power is the founder and Board Chairman of the Power Group. He is also the visionary behind the Global Day of Prayer.

Dr. Dion Forster is a consultant and chaplain to the Power Group of Companies as well as the Global Day of Prayer and Unashamedly Ethical movements.

WHAT DO OTHER EXPERTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS BOOK?

“Graham Power and Dion Forster have finally brought the role of the marketplace into the prominence it deserves! When you read the Bible, it soon becomes obvious that the focus of the ministry and outreach of Christ was nearly exclusively on the marketplace. If you are looking for the secrets of how to succeed with your faith in your workplace, then ‘Transform Your Work Life’ is for you.”
(Dr. Bruce Wilkinson, author of ‘The Prayer of Jabez’).

Book Review: Now - Refuse to let the moment pass

In Delme Linscott’s first book, Living Oceans Apart, he addressed a subject that touches the lives of everyone who struggles with the pain of living great distances away from loved ones. It proved to be an important message of hope and encouragement for many.

This second book that Delme has authored, however, is perhaps even more powerful because its message is directly relevant to every human being. Seize the day! Live in the now! Live to the full! Delme freely admits there is nothing new about these messages at all, yet at the same time they are both timeless and priceless.

Timeless, because the tendency to thoughtlessly waste our precious God-given moments of life is sadly a universal weakness clearly evident throughout human history, and thus, requires continual challenge. Priceless, because the immense value of hearing and heeding this particular message just cannot be measured, it can only be seen, tasted, touched and experienced in the quality of relational and personal fruit it will inevitably bear.

Yet, the essence of this message, while easy enough to grasp proves far more difficult to hold onto for any length of time, which again, is exactly why the lessons and truths touched upon in this book are ones that we need to be reminded of repeatedly. Delme has taken up the challenge to help us remember that every moment counts and he has produced a book which I believe will prove to be an absolute treasure-trove of inspiration for many.

Delme has a strongly personal and pastoral style of writing that manages to not only convey his message but also carry it home to the heart. Delme shares that the writing of this book was inspired by the tragic passing of a very dear mutual friend (the Rev. Barry Marshall), and somehow the deep emotions evoked in him by this event are carried through in his words. This infuses the overall message with a passion and urgency that proves difficult to resist.

All this and more is why I voraciously devoured this book, and it is why I will be buying extra copies and handing them out to various loved ones, because I so want them to hear and heed its message. It is also exactly why I am encouraging you to not only carefully read this important book but also act upon it. Now!

You can order a copy of Delme's book from his website www.livingingrace.co.za

('So What' will be featuring an interview with author Delme Linscott later this week in our 'What's News' section).

Book Review: Praying With Jesus - A Year Of Daily Prayers And Reflections On The Words And Actions Of Jesus

Eugene Peterson is one of the most prolific and best-loved Christian authors writing today. He is perhaps best known for ‘The Message,’ but has authored numerous other books mainly in the area of Christian spirituality. Peterson is renowned as a scholar and language expert, but also writes extraordinarily well. I remember hearing him say in an interview that he often spends days reworking just one paragraph to get it exactly right. Through the strength and beauty of his words, Peterson is able to open doors for his readers into deeper understandings of God, discipleship and Scripture.

This book is not one of his better known ones, but really should be. It is classic Peterson – beautifully written and deeply profound and because of its nature and style would make a perfect Christmas gift – hence the reason for including the review now. As the title implies, it is a year’s worth of daily readings – both prayers and reflections – on the words of Jesus.

Peterson works his way through the Gospels of Matthew and John, and encourages his readers to remove themselves from the hurly-burly hectic pace of daily life and to read, listen and pray “with the natural, comforting rhythms of Jesus’ own teachings.”

Peterson reminds us that when we read Jesus’ words we are not looking for information as much as companionship and our aim should be to become shaped and molded by what we encounter. Peterson encourages us read with Jesus in a way that “shapes the heart at the same time it informs the intellect, sucking out the marrow-nourishment from the bone-words.”

Thus, the aim of these devotional readings and prayers is to help slow us down – to discipline ourselves to quietly sit at the feet of Jesus and just soak in His Spirit and Nature. And as we learn to pray regularly and frequently as Jesus himself did, it is through this attentive apprenticeship (or discipleship) that we can discover new depths of relationship with God and others. As Peterson himself says, we can discover "a world in which repetitions deepen into intimacies and a long silence is as eloquent as a sonnet."

I have read my way through this little book twice (separated by a year) to aid in my personal devotions, and really cannot recommend it highly enough. It is jam-packed with wisdom to the point that I actually got more out of it the second time round than the first. It would make a fantastic Christmas gift, but be sure to buy yourself a copy at the same time since you will gain personally so much from it (and no, I am not paid to say that!).