Elijah

This book is not like you'd guess from the title.
If you're looking for a book to tell you the ways you “must” pray and take all of the personal touches out of prayer ... this book is NOT for you.

The author, Hal Green, finds a way to lead and teach you about different ways to connect with God and engage in prayer, without the patriarcal micromanaging that so many of us are used to in books.
I recommend this book for anyone on their prayer journey: for those trying to start, those looking for something deeper, and those searching for better connection.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received “Pray This Way to Connect with God” from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

A handy resource but I would say it is actually too short and left me waiting for more info.

I love a quick read graphic and this was no different. Though I read this and the first slower than most. It is such a great telling into the real story of the Holocaust and the atrocities people had to survive.
I recommend this book for adults and youth alike. I'm going to read it with my 9-year-old and we are going to talk about the historical nature of the story and how these images and stories reflect real life events.

Burying our history and the damaging and dangerous things that happened will only lead us to repeat them. We must remember, see, discuss, and learn about them so we can avoid that.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. While the philosophy covered was sound, clear, and well-researched, I had issue with some of the language used in the book.
Most theologians and historians can tell you that documents of old speak primarily in masculine language.
For example, a passage quoted by Mize on pg 15 from a book called “Technological Society” which was printed in 1954 states, “Enclosed within his artificial creation, man finds that there is “no exit”; that he cannot pierce the shell of technology again to find the ancient milieu to which he was adapted for hundreds of thousands of years ....”
This historical masculine gendering wouldn't be so harsh if paired with a modern view from the author. Yet, Mize makes no such attempt at updating the language for the modern century.

In the opening of Chapter 1 Mize states, “The modern man tends to view his mind as a “blank slate,” a fixed tool of his upon which impressions from the “environment” can be made.”
This is just a small sample of the way in which the author sets the masculine as the guiding arc for all the pages of the book.

However, I do want to say that the book has great information that I found enlightening and want to dig into more. Snippets of Mize's thoughts on Cain (pg 16), nakedness in the garden (pg 12), and Part II has great insights into how and what will connect with the psyche of people when preaching.

One note for the book printer/editor: the bible verses are VERY hard to read. The font, type, and layout make them practically bleed on the page and even someone of good eyesight may need a magnifying glass.



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received “Modernity and the Rise of the Pocket God” from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

This book is a great resource for faith homes of any sort! The information about power, authorship, and leaders fits multiple spaces I have found myself in. I could replay in my mind how I've watched situations track along the lines the book described, as well as see where we were able to sidestep and follow the helping guidelines to “heal” the troubles.
Ritsch writes for a variety of reader levels, not just clergy or leaders in the church. This book is accessible to those in the throes of anxiety and discord and those trying to stop it from starting.
I've already recommended this book to a number of people in different circumstances who could use a guide and word such as this.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this title from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.