Wednesday, December 16, 2009

NKJV Greatest Stories of the Bible


Thomas Nelson’s the “NKJV Greatest Stories of the Bible” starts by delineating that the book is not a Bible, but is designed to be a compilation of the most well-loved and impacting stories from the Bible. In short I would agree with this description. However I would say that the cover of the book is a bit deceiving as it does look like a Bible. If you read it with the hope that it is a Bible you will be disappointed.
As with any book that bills itself as containing the best of or most beloved stories in the Bible, one might ask who decides what stories are the best. While I feel that the book does include a great many of the most loved stories in the Bible, I found myself thinking of stories that I would have included.
Nelson gives each story a title and for the most part I found them to be simple and accurate. Too often a title for a passage will influence and predispose one’s thoughts on a story. Sometimes this was ok, but often times I would prefer to simply read the passage of scripture and let it speak for itself. Nelson did a good job of making the titles to be simply descriptive without adversely affecting the passage for the most part.
The layout was simple and easy to navigate while using both the table of contents and the index. Also I was pleased the see the scripture references under the titles and the verses marked throughout the stories. I found this a helpful feature to use when comparing it with an actual Bible. Keep in mind while you are reading that it is in the NKJV translation and may differ from your normal Bible if you read another version.
In conclusion, I can see this book being a nice addition to one’s library and fitting in with books of a devotional style.

Note: I am a Nelson Book Reviewer: http://brb.thomasnelson.com/

Monday, November 23, 2009

The Language of Love & Respect


Dr. Emerson Eggerichs’ book, “The Language of Love & Respect”, is a continuation of Dr. Emmerson’s book, “Love & Respect”. If you liked Love & Respect, you will probably like “The Language of Love and Respect”. He starts with a brief review of the principles of “Love & Respect”, but then dives into further clarification regarding communication as this is where he has seen couples struggle the most.
What I like about this book is that it is based on the Biblical principles. You won’t find 10 essential steps or some new doctrine, but you will find his exposition of what the Bible says about husbands loving their wives and wives respecting their husbands. He sticks to God’s Word and expounds on it while in the end still keeping it simple and pointing couples to Ephesians 5 and other scriptural principles the Bible lays out regarding love and respect.
As with his first book, “Love & Respect”, I find it to be redundant and some of the scripture quotes he puts in the boxes I feel are taken out of context and are hard to apply on their own to a successful marriage out side of the story or example he put them with in the book. While he does give examples of couples he has worked with or those that write in to him, I would like to see him refer to more examples that are in the Bible.
Overall I would recommend this book to couples. It is a good reminder of Biblical principles that will help husbands love and wives respect each other and should encourage couples to apply God’s Word to their marriages.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Covering the Basics


Keep flipping back for my latest book review.