Book Review: Finding Our Way Again by Brian McLaren

Spiritual practices have been around for a long time and McLaren takes a contemporary look at these practices that as Christians we do to try and get closer to God. McLaren likens the concept of Spiritual practices to running a marathon or speaking a language or even playing an instrument. In order to do well at these things you have to train, train, train, practice, practice, practice, do it, do it, and do it. Unless you do this you can’t get the true benefit out of the practices you do.

Like Foster’s classic Celebration of Discipline, McLaren emphasis both person and communal Spiritual practices. He goes through the understanding of practices like spiritual reading, prayer journaling, solitude and silence (which I struggle with everyday), gratitude and tithing and so forth. In essence what McLaren is doing is setting the ground for a series of 8 books that focus on returning to the accident Spiritual practices.

As part of my passion, I have a workplace ministry. As I was reflecting on this while I was reading the book, I realized that McLaren is calling us to do something that I have been trying to convey to folks for many years. That is religion is a life style. We can and should live out our religion in our lives. McLaren even provides some ways to help equip us to do that in our lives in a way that shows love and compassion to folks. McLaren attempts to show us how to cleans our lives and focus on getting closer God.

One of the things that I notice is the McLaren makes references to his own beliefs and concepts that he has outlined in some of his previous books. This can be awkward if you are not really familiar with him and have not read him. While the book stands alone, it does warrant some background on the author to really grasp what he is referring to in this book.

Overall I really liked the book; however, knowing the way that McLaren rubs some people the wrong way, it is possible that this could be a very polarizing issue as McLaren’s beliefs and concepts run deep in it. If you are not familiar with his concepts this can be a difficult read for some.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Book Review Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: Couples Who Pray

I have to admit that I was very intrigued with this book, especially in light of the fact that this is a practice that my wife and I try to commit to doing already. The premise of this book is that couples who pray together have better outcomes than those who don’t. The book suggest that if you spend at least 5 minutes a day for 40 days in prayer with your spouse that communication will elevate, you can reach more agreements, respect rises, satisfaction in your love life and that happiness is a way of life.

I have to say that I do not know about better outcomes since life happens, but I can say that they have better marriages. They are able to deal with adversity better than those who don’t. They enjoy richness in life that is only brought about through prayer. I know having been in a marriage from both perspectives, one that did not pray together and one that does, but with the same wife of course that the relationship is much better with prayer.

The book provides some real life examples of people whose marriage was saved from the brink of divorce through prayer and it provides some real life examples of what prayer can do. Prayer is a door to God and this book concentrates on explaining the importance of that door. One thing I would caution folks about is that this book places a big emphasis on prayer and that it can change things. Prayer can change lives, but prayer is a discussion with the couple and God. Any change that comes from prayer, God deserves the honor for that work in the life of the couple. I think the book comes a little short of being clear in that respect, but it is still a good book and resource for couples.

If you are willing to sit down with it as a couple and spend the forty (or more) days with it. I believe the book as the power to be very impactful. It has the ability to put you on the right path to true Godly change in your marriage. I highly recommend this book for any couple who in any state of marriage. I believe that it can have an impact regardless of what season of life you are in. The book also has an online component that helps to supplement the book and keep you striving to achieve the 40 day challenge.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Book Review Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: Mystically Wired by Ken Wilson

When I first got this book from Thomas Nelson through BookSneeze.com, I remember thinking to myself that this has to be interesting especially with something titled mystically. We do not general accept mystical in the realm of Christianity, so I was intrigued as to what the book would say in respects to this.

What I got out of this book is that the author, Ken Wilson, is trying to prove the point that we are “wired” for prayer. That is as beings created in the image of God, our human instinct is for prayer and something that we need as part of our survival. It is a vital part of who we are and a vital part of how to stay connected to the Creator.

If I am to be honest, the first half of the book is a little tedious. It is written to explain the science behind being hardwired for prayer. It was refreshing from the stance that the author was addressing this, which is generally not what Christians do, but I was ready for and looking for tips and ideas for having a better prayer life. I did get this in the second half of the book, which was basically the handbook to improving your prayer life. The author even proves some simple prayers to get you focused on increasing your prayer life.

This book is not a traditional self-help Christian book. It really focuses on the science behind it and is uncommon in the way that it presents ways for you to improve prayer. This is probably difficult for many Christians who have a hard time intermingling the science and the divine together, but Wilson does provide some solid research and understanding behind prayer. This type of approach could also be very upsetting to some Christians and make it difficult for them to want to read.

The good part about this book is that Wilson really tries to walk you through understanding prayer, his journey with prayer and he really tries to make you understand that it is not about just doing it, but why it is an important part of who we are as a created being. He pushes us to prayer as the importance of who we are and the relationship we have with God, not just because we are supposed to do it. The practical suggestions are also very helpful and I look forward to integrating a few of them in my life.

The negative part about it was that the scientific part could be a little difficult to wade through and hard to comprehend. Even as intriguing as the concept of praying having a physical impact on the brain is, it was still hard to get to that point of understanding it with all the information Wilson provides. I even found myself have to read some passages several times in order to get it.

All in all it was a good book, I might not have picked it up in the book store, but it is worth a read if you are interested in prayer, but if you are not interested in the science you might want to skip the first part.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Book Review Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”