Avery Evans
Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself
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.
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.
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
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)
Even better than I had expected! Not a call for complete media elimination, but a call to take a critical look at what brings value and what distracts, between what is useful and what is manipulative. Digital Minimalism was well written and compelling. Newport uses many odd but fitting examples to get points across, from the Amish to Abraham Lincoln's solitude. Highly recommend this!
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).
There's a lot of 5-star ideas in this book, but at some points I think the author goes a little too far. I love what he has to say in this book about the deviation that extremely organized, well-financed, rules-based, large institutions have made from Jesus' model of discipleship and multiplication. This is a huge lesson much of American Christianity could learn from, myself included. He advocates for and shows how historically the Gospel of Jesus Christ has gone forth in a grassroots way: without funding, without formal education, without immense organization. A great reminder and calling. However, at points it seems he paints a picture that seems formulaic, downplays the benefits of seminary education, and implies that the gospel only goes forth in ‘movements'. I think
this book can leave behind the hard-working, faithful pastor of a congregation of 50 who never sees thousands come to Christ.
Despite the 3-star rating, I do think this is a beneficial book to read and would recommend it, whilst also reading with discernment and alongside Scripture.
A treasure trove of continuous exaltation of Christ. This short book by the great Puritan mind, John Owen, will prove soul-nourishing to every true believer. Prepare to be confronted with ... the Glory of Christ. Too often a topic sub-consciously labeled as ‘boring' and ‘basic'. We shall never move on from Christ's glory. Even upon our millionth day of worshipping him we won't have touched the surface of his ultimate glory.
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“Christ is a sanctuary, a sure refuge to all that put their trust in him. And what would a troubled man fleeing to a safe place be looking for? He would look for all his needs to be met, to be delivered from all his fears, to be protected from all dangers. Such is the Lord Christ to all sin-distressed souls” (p.47)
The topic of ‘multi-site, multi-service' vs ‘single-site' is one I have never even thought about. That being true, when I received this book as a part of the T4G Zero Dollar Books in the mail, it was one of the ones I was most intrigued to read first. I have grown up in faithful, Gospel-centered, multi-site church, and never thought about whether or not multiple campuses is healthy or unhealthy, biblical or unbiblical. Maybe this is why this book caught my attention.
In reading the arguments presented by Leeman, I found myself very convinced with what he had to say and what he presented from scripture. It does seem that not only is the single-site model a healthier church model, but more importantly it is what is described in scripture and the early church.
That being true, I still agree that a church can be both multi-site, and fully committed to the Gospel and to God's glory. This is my experience all my saved-life. The amount of faithful Christians I know and have grown up surrounded by are great. The pastors I have sat under the preaching of many, many Sundays are faithful to God and his Word. The multi-site church I have known is one that is profoundly faithful in its commitment to the Gospel and God's glory. However, I think this work by Leeman is one that is an edifying treatise written to both single-site and multi-site churches and paints a beautiful picture of what God's design for the local church is and what that can look in the future. As someone who feels on the ‘multi-site' side of the argument simply because that's where most of my saved-life has been spent, I did not feel attacked, but felt that Leeman laid out his arguments in an encouraging and edifying way. He does not cut off Gospel-centered multi-site churches, but calls them to a more biblical model. He also encourages ALL churches (single & multi-site) to be more catholic in their view of missions in their cities as they work with other local churches instead of competing for their own specific church growth.
Whether part of a single or multi-site church, I would highly recommend giving this a read. It has expanded my understanding of the local church for sure.
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.
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.
