You can pretty much look at my 'currently reading' shelf to know what my TBR for this month is because I have way too many books in progress. A few of these are slow reads that I had no intentions of getting through in a single month, others are just suffering from my recent distractedness. Hopefully, I can get through more than four of them this month.

 

I also think I'm going to start doing something new, maybe a 'Books on my Radar' post or something instead of a TBR because it's kind of boring to create a post of what's already on my currently reading shelf.

 

Anyway, happy reading to all!

Most of these books I have already started, & I don't really know where I'm going to go from there. I downloaded Buried in a Bog because I wanted a simple cozy mystery to listen to, but this is bland and I don't like the main character. I also thought about a light Christian fiction book, but I don't know why all my library's Christian audio books are Amish stories. What I really need is the rest of the Three Pines series on audio! Anyway, the rest of this list will probably be filled out by whatever I find to listen to. I'm not a good planner this month.  ;-)

Growing Up is the first in what will be a series of books aimed at being used as a resource in discipleship groups - Gallaty's church calls them D-Groups.

 

As I was reading the book, I couldn’t help feel like I was actually reading a compilation of many different, time-tested and well-known discipleship resources, quotes and tools. From Jerry Fine’s One on One with God to Avery Willis’ MasterLife to Navigators materials to Fighter Verses, Gallaty creates a one-stop guide.

 

One reality is for Growing Up is that it may have helpfully compiled discipleship processes from across the past 30 years and congealed them into this series of books.

Using the acrostic CLOSER, he helpfully instructs those who wish to be disciple makers in ways to help their disciples grow in their faith in God and practice of spiritual disciplines. Putting my quick synopsis in parentheses out beside each letter, CLOSER stands for:

 

• Communicate (Prayer)
• Learn (Study the Bible)
• Obey (Do What It Says)
• Store (Memorize and Meditate on Scripture)
• Evangelize (Share Your Faith with Others)
• Renew (Daily Quiet Time)

While GU has some great quotes to amplify the above, the person looking for new material or models should look elsewhere. The book doesn’t chart any new territory. It does offer some helpful and simple ways to teach things such as basic hermeneutics. Even so, it reads like it’s condensing and borrowing from other sources, such as Grasping God’s Word by Duvall and Hays.

 

See more on this on my blog: http://www.journeyguy.com/review-growing-up/

Bonhoeffer, who takes his inspiration from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, makes what I would call the ultimate challenge for Christians. Nobody can live up to this, just like no one can ever achieve Christ's perfection, but Bohoeffer challenges us to get as close as we can get.

The book can be kind of a downer at times since we all can see how short we come of the goal. Bonhoeffer would have (did?) freely admit his own shortcomings, but that's not the point here. If we do evaluate ourselves then we are seeking out of our own ego, not Christ's, so the effort is pointless. By keeping your eye constantly on Christ you will achieve the most you can, as long as you do freely repent of those times when you did not keep your focus there.

Dense in theology and philosophy the book is not an easy read on an intellectual level. I wouldn't recommend for novice Christians but only for so-called "mature" Christians.

The Discipleship Series - Taka Sande The Discipleship Series is a series of lessons, all in this one book, about the fundamentals of Christianity—specifically, Pentecostal belief. Although it’s only 90-odd pages, it’s not a quick read. There is some real meat in here.The strength of The Discipleship Series is that it is written in conversational English, using extensive Bible quotations to back up its arguments. It’s not an incomprehensible theological treatise. It’s simple , just like the gospel is meant to be, and reflects his view that “the decisive qualifications for profitable Bible study are spiritual rather than intellectual.”There is nothing new here, but that’s the point: it’s an explanation of the central views of Christianity (albeit from a Pentecostal viewpoint). Sande’s not trying to lead the church into a new revelation, but to solidify our understanding of our faith, and reignite (or ignite) our passion for worship and fellowship (I found those sections particularly inspiring). Importantly, I didn’t find any areas where it misrepresented or twisted Christian belief (which is more than I can say for some ‘Christian’ books I’ve read).The weakness of the book is that while it is a solid discussion of belief, it’s not really clear who it is aimed at: the non-believer, the new believer or the Christian who is more established in their faith. There are also occasional typos or misused words, and some formatting bugs in the ebook, but these do not distract from the central message. Overall, this is a very readable work which would make an excellent Bible study for young adults, new Christians, or those who would like to understand evangelical or Pentecostal Christianity better. Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.