Man, Myth, Messiah by Rice Broocks

For those familiar with God’s Not Dead, a new book by Rice Broocks titled Man, Myth, Messiah goes into the historical foundation for belief in Jesus. In this book, Broocks details how many non-Christians agree that Jesus existed and that he had a following. While not adhering to the teachings of the New Testament, these secular historians agree that to deny the existence of Jesus is academic fallacy.

Using this as his foundation, Broocks then goes into more of the historical Jesus by observing his teachings and miracles. Broocks proves that Jesus is who He says He is. He leaves the reader with the option: accept Him or reject Him.

I found this book to aid me in my personal understanding of Jesus. I enjoyed the section of dispelling the correlations between Jesus and other “gods” of other religions. I often heard that Jesus is just one story of many that use the same narrative to propagate their teachings. Broocks shows that this is false and that Jesus is the only one who is God. 

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for my honest review. 

The Last Days According to Jesus by Dr. R.C. Sproul

The last days according to Jesus by Dr. R.C. Sproul is a book that I have read in the past. However I wanted to go over it again to give myself a fresh perspective on what Dr. Sproul has taught.

One thing that is definitely prevalent is that this teaching shays away from a popular teaching, set out by the Left Behind series, call the pre-tribulation rapture. Dr. Sproul teaches that most if not all of what has occurred in Revelation as well as some other texts was fulfilled in AD 70. This is known as preterism and it is a popular teaching particularly among some very reformed and also some very Calvinistic teachers.

While I disagree, because I'm a millennialist, this is a very good book in terms of making sure that the individual reader does not simply glance over the material presented because of predetermined biases but at least looks at, and hopefully learns something, with the information provided therein.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review from Baker Books

PrayerPoints

This little book has prayers that are arranged by subject for various topics in a particular person's life. For example one of the prayers the book contains is regarding dieting and what they post there are several scriptures related to the proper care of a human body. By doing this the individual reader can go to various subjects and find a prayer or some information about that subject that comes from Scripture.

I must admit that I found this particular book very helpful in some areas however I also feel that well that is good information it is very brief. While I enjoy prayer books and devotional books I would definitely recommend that the reader of this particular book use this as a map but not necessarily as a personal guide.

*I received this book in exchange for my honest review from Tyndale Blog Network

Jesus Speaks by Steven K. Scott

When I started to read this devotional I was not sure how I would enjoy the paraphrase of various Scriptures for each day. Scott take a passage from Scripture (which he also discusses in his book The Greatest Words Ever Spoken) and then paraphrases to add a personal flavor.

I found these paraphrases to be quite encouraging. They were not over the top but succinct and organic. There are times that I forget God is my Heavenly Father and these paraphrases remind me of fatherly wisdom that is needed often in life.

Is this the best devotional I have read? No. However, it may be the most father-like. In this respect, it is worthy of reading.

*I received this devotional in exchange for my honest review from Multnomah Publishing.