"Six Hours One Friday" Max Lucado

I recently finished reading the book "Six Hours One Friday" by Max Lucado. Max has such a way of making the life of Christ relevant to today. In this book he goes through the six hours of Christ's death hanging on the cross and in each chapter he eloquently articulates the pain and suffering that Jesus went through both before and leading up to his death on the cross. He is an artist at revealing how much Jesus' love for you and me was at the forefront of his sacrifice. There are two particular chapters that stood out to me. First, was chapter 10 "The Golden Goblet". Lucado, in this chapter, is able to lead you from the beginning to the end of the narrative that is the Bible. He connects the fall of man and the restoration and redemption of man together in this chapter. He shows in a beautifully crafted chapter how the King was there in the beginning fighting for us and how on one terrible friday to redeem his fallen children he drank the cup of sin and shame that the whole world had accumulated and shattered the hold the enemy had, he redeems humanity by taking there place on a cross. The second is chapter 13, "The Eleventh Hour", Lucado presents this chapter from the view of the thief who repented on the cross. He shows the mercy and grace of Jesus threw the eyes of a man who in his last moments comes to understand who he hangs next to. The Son of God unjustly accused of a crime he didn't commit and crucified with no fault of his own. Truly the man they mock as king, must be king, otherwise why would they need to kill him. "Could it be?" That this man is who he claims to be? That this man is the Son of the living God? He has done nothing good with his life up to this point but it is in the final moments of his life that he finds the most important decision looming over him. He has the opportunity to change everything in a glimpse and he does and Lucado takes you through his journey up to that moment and the conversation with the King that changed everything.

Going Deep

I just finished reading Going Deep by Gordon MacDonald. In this book MacDonald uses a fictions church and congregation to try to explain what it would look like for a church to "go deeper" in their discipleship. His primary focus of the book was to help the reader to understand that the process of discipleship should be the primary focus of every pastor and teacher. It is not about the number of people in the pew it is about the depth of their spirituality.

The first half of the book is MacDonald's conquest in trying to figure out just what this process of "going deeper" would look like in a structure of the church. What kind of programs or structure would be best suited to fulfill the needs of the congregation and help them grow in their relationship with God. In my opinion MacDonald does not necessarily ever give a concert answer on how to accomplish such goals, and never gives any real solid advice on how to grow each person individually, which is what I was hoping for in this book.

Overall I was not satisfied in reading this book. It was not that it was not well written but I just felt lost at times (maybe it is because I did not read his other books) and did not feel that the book was very applicable to any solid growth. Certain chapters seemed wordy and repetitive at time.

A Year With God

I recently finished reading the devotional A Year With God by R.P Nettelhorst it was a fantastic devotional that was relevant to daily life. It gave a short Scripture to read and then combated that with a story from the author weather it meant a personal, historical, or just interesting story. It goes through 365 days of devotional each rich with information and substance that will aid in spiritual growth. While going through this book you will not be disappointed in the depth that it brings to your life. Each entry is fairly short and should not take any more than 10 minutes to go through, however, there is more than enough material to reflect on if you choose to spend a significantly longer period of time in the devotional. The author does a great job at bringing the Scriptures alive and presenting them in a way that is culturally relevant and interesting. It is also a great resource when looking to share with others. It does a great job of expounding on the Scriptures and bringing light to the sometimes bleak passages of the Bible. This is not to say that the Word is confusing but Nettelhorst brings the context out in a simple and profound way. A great overall devotion.