Avery Evans

Definitely a page-turner. More than just a “health” book, it's the story of Rich Roll's life. Beginning as a very active collegiate swimmer, Rich then spends a decade as an alcoholic. He finds his way to sobriety, and eventually back to his former active lifestyle as a ultra-endurance athlete fueled completely by a whole-food, plant-based diet. Great read.

Incredible book that has helped me understand so much surrounding politics and government in a deeply biblical and clear way. There is both rebuke and encouragement here for Christians of all political leanings. I'm tempted to immediately reread this book as there is so much wisdom to glean.

Such a delight to read. Full of wit, fun stories, observed life lessons, and wisdom from the life of this young veterinarian in the Yorkshire Dales of 1930s England.

Wonderful read. Like skipping a stone across the ocean, this book glides across the surface of church history stopping at only a few places and briefly summarizing many overarching themes. This is by no means comprehensive, but a great intro to church history.

Wonderful little book. I hope many read it. Family worship (or more simply: reading the Bible, praying, & singing in the home) is a force that God has used for centuries in church history to mold marriages, children, homes, and the people of God more generally. A practice of piety that must be reawakened in the modern church.

I've had a lot of people inquire about my low rating for this book, so I wanted to give a bit of clarification. For some background, I'm very familiar with John Mark Comer and have found a lot of his teaching on living as a Christian in a post-Christian culture to be extremely helpful; he's got a great podcast with [a:Mark Sayers 1281199 Mark Sayers https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1496173486p2/1281199.jpg] called This Cultural Moment and another book I'd highly recommend called [b:The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World 43982455 The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World John Mark Comer https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1550193763l/43982455.SY75.jpg 68379348]. I think he's super wise and looks at topics from perspectives I never have. So onto the book:The GoodThe whole book is a commentary and deep look at Exodus 34v6-8, one of the key points in the Old Testament where God first reveals the core of His character and being to Moses. I think for most of the passage he does a great job of helping us as 21st century western residents of a technological age to understand some of the often misunderstood phrasing of a passage written by the hand of an ancient near eastern man who lived over 3,000 years ago. I'd say a majority of the book is Comer helping us get a better grasp of the passage in it's original context and this is very helpful. The BadMy first (and less serious) complaint about this book is it seemed somewhat irreverent at times for weighty and heavy topics. Since the audience for this book is everyone (not just Followers of Jesus), it seems that Comer attempts to keep the narrative playful and energetic, tossing in quips and witty remarks. I enjoyed this, until he continued to be the same way amidst talking about very serious theological concepts. Wasn't helpful, and quite distracting. My second (and primary) problem with this book is the low view of God's sovereignty, power, and control. Here's the crux of what he argues near the end of the book:“God doesn't always get what he wants ... So many people are hyperfatalistic in how they think about life, constantly dropping the cliché ‘God's in control'. But is he? Of everything? Even evil? Are you sure about that?”It seems here that Comer claims two things, 1) God is not in control of everything 2) God is not in control of evil. Now it doesn't seem like a claim he's making because it's formed as a question. He could have very well gone on to show why these things are not true. But he doesn't. He proceeds writing based upon the assumption that God is not in control, not even of evil. This is problematic, and goes against historic , orthodox Christianity. If you're going to make a major claim contradicting orthodoxy, you need to back it up with Scripture (Comer doesn't). Heidelberg Catechism question 27 states:“God's providence is his almighty and ever present power, whereby, with his hand, he upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things, come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand.” What is this saying? God is in control of all things, from blades of grass to sickness, all things are under his sovereign rule.ConclusionThere's much to be learned in this book, and I think there's value in reading it, however, read it with discernment and an open Bible. Don't take Comer's words for truth, always trace it back to God's word, the final source of truth.For more information on the subject, I recommend the following articles:Is God in Control of Everything? by R.C. Sproul (Short)Understanding the Sovereignty of God by Antonio Copolla (Short)The Comfort and Security of Knowing that God is in Control by Sam Storms (Medium)God's Sovereignty in the Old Testament by Ray Ortlund (Long) God's Absolute Sovereignty by John Macarthur (Short)

This book is edifying, concise, and deeply theological. I'm sure i'm not the only one who sometimes struggles to reconcile pursuing a ‘secular' career with living a life honoring to God. It's easy to think careers doing worldly work are less God-honoring than ministry, however, Jim Hamilton in this book shows our God-given design as workers made in His image to rule and subdue the earth. At only 100 pages, I'd encourage anyone looking to understand their work better as an avenue for glorifying God to give this short treatise a read

Wonderful: Convicting and Edifying.

Concise. Biblical. Practical.

Could not recommend this book enough. Wonderful advice, both truthful and practical, that I certainly will look to heed, and habits I will look to prune and develop. This book you will spur you to look to Christ and treasure Him daily above anything else through Scripture, Prayer, Memorization, Silence/Solitude, Fasting, Fellowship, Preaching, Corporate Gatherings of the Church, the Sacraments, Discipleship, and so much more!

This book certainly has a lot of helpful tips. A lot of the habits described are ones I already implement, but some of the ideas and suggestions he describes are certainly ones that I do not implement and could be very advantageous. Overall a good read.

If you are a B, C, and sometimes D student then this book will be very helpful for you. If you're a straight A student, but feel like you can never catch up and are always drowning in work to do... then this book is also for you!

This book isn't solely focused on getting straight A's, but being efficient at getting A's so that you have time for other things besides than school.

Really great commentary on Christian-living in the post-Christian cultural west. On being a Christian in the midst of a me-focused, individualistic, hedonistic culture.

Wonderful summary and introduction. Doesn't get caught in the weeds. Convincing and clear.
Here's some quotes I loved:

“If it is the Word of God, it does not err. If it errs, it is not the Word of God.” p.56

“The fundamental loss of a desire for God is the heart of original sin” p.159

“Happily, salvation's sureness does not rest on the believer's sureness of his salvation ... it is critical to maintain that justifying faith and the experience of doubt often coexist” p.241

“His sovereign purpose to save his elect from the foundation of the world is not frustrated by our weakness.” p.245

Exciting tale of war between the Greeks and Trojans, with focus on the mightiest men of the two armies and how the gods intervene to help their respective sides. Good read!

Wonderful biography by George W. Bush of his father, George H. W. Bush. I also learned a lot about this period of presidential history that I'd never known (late 60s to early 90s).

This is a fantastic story of God's faithfulness and of how he revealed the true Gospel to a Mormon family at the highest levels of LDS church involvement. This is a great intro to what Mormonism is and why it's a dangerous tool of Satan to draw people away from the true Jesus who extends salvation by grace through faith alone.

Overall great book! A few sections of Bonhoeffer manditorially prescribing what is his personal opinion, but also some absolutely fantastic sections of insight by Him. Overall, great!

Incredibly insightful book into the truth about how quick fix poverty alleviation efforts only perpetuate the roots of material poverty. This book would be extremely valuable in the hands of every North American church attempting to lift those around them and abroad out of material poverty (which should be them all).

Good stuff!

This is an absolutely incredible book. Very short and very packed with insights. Tim Keller did an incredible job of calling out our narcissism and pointing us to Christ. This is for the person who struggled with “low self-esteem”. This is for the person who struggles with pride. This is a must read for every Christian because we've all fit into one of those two categories and probably both. This book will take you 1 hour to read and benefit you a lifetime if you're paying attention.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27 ESV)

I found this a really convincing and helpful summary of why we can have confidence in our current canon, more specifically focusing on the NT.

The book starts out by critiquing a couple difference models that attempt to answer the question of what books belong in the NT. 1) Community-determined models give full weight to the books that were accepted by the early church. 2) Historically-determined models appeal only to the origins of the books themselves, such as if they are deemed authentic and apostolic. Both of these categories bring positive things to the discussion (the early church's acceptance and the authenticity/apostolicity of the canon are important), but ultimately fail in that they authenticate the NT canon on the basis of something external to it. At first I was hesitant on this point ... don't we always need external validity of the truth of something? But, Kruger points out:

“If we try to validate an ultimate authority by appealing to some other authority, then we have just shown that it is not really the ultimate authority. Thus, for ultimate authorities to be ultimate authorities, they have to be the standard for their own authentication. You cannot account for them without using them.” (Kruger 132)

“If I see a cup on the table, how do I know my sense perception is accurate? How would I test such a thing? I could examine the cup and table more closely to make sure they are what they seem to be (hold them, touch them, etc.). I could also ask a friend to tell me whether he sees a cup on the table. But in all these instances I am still assuming the reliability of my sense perception ... even as I examine the reliability of my sense perception.” (Kruger 134)

Providential Exposure

Attributes of Canonicity

Internal Testimony of the Holy Spirt

... well what about ... ?

“The Church no more gave us the New Testament canon than Sir Isaac Newton gave us the force of gravity. God have us gravity ... Newton did not create gravity but recognized it.” (J. I. Packer)

“Roger Nicole contends that we can know which books belong in the canon by appealing to the ‘witness of the Holy Spirit given corporately to God's people and made manifest by a nearly unanimous acceptance of the NT canon in the Christian churches.'” (Kruger 147)

“Jesus's statement that ‘my sheep hear my voice ... and they follow me' (John 10:27) is not evidence for the authority of the sheep's decision to follow, but evidence for the authority and efficacy of the Shepherd's voice to call.” (Kruger 148)

“The fact that the church was able to reach such unity in the midst of such diversity would indicate that more was in play than just the random flow of history. Indeed, such a scenario gives us good reason to think that the church reached unity on these books precisely because Christ himself was speaking in them” (Kruger 416)

A great book to start the year and one that inspires me to read more, choosing books based mostly on whim and desire as opposed to duty.