“Transforming Grace” by Jerry Bridges

This has to be one of the best books I have read this year.  I read Pursuit of Godliness and I loved that book, but this book was fantastic.  I have been reading “A Praying Life” by Paul Miller and to read both of these books alongside each other has been both encouraging and convicting.  I know this is about Transforming Grace, but I need to say one thing about “A Praying Life.”  Paul Miller shows how our prayer life parallels our walk with Christ.  When we pray our prayers show our dependence on Christ and when we don’t pray it’s because we are taking matters into our own hands.

In the same way when we pray we are showing our dependence on God’s grace and when we don’t pray we are showing our dependence on our works.  In reading this book I have been convicted by how much I really am relying on my works for my sanctification (the process of becoming holy) and not Christ.  This book has shown me how skewed my view of grace is and what true grace is all about.  One of my favorite quotes from the book is “God answered my prayer for only one reason: Jesus Christ had already purchased that answer to prayer two thousand years ago on a Roman cross.  God answered on the basis of His grace alone, not because of my merits or demerits.”

I received this book for free from the vendor for the purpose of reviewing.

“How to Build a Life-Changing Men’s Ministry” by Steve Sonderman

This was a great book about leading men’s ministries in a church.  The principals in this book can be applied to just about any ministry, but Sonderman, because he has been working in his men’s ministry in his church, draws from his own life experiences to show how to (and not do) things when leading people in a church.  This book isn’t the average book either.  There are questions throughout each chapter for personal application as well as spiritual.  And he does all this with the mindset of a team.  Each of the chapter titles are specifically labeled in such a way as to make the point that leading a men’s ministry isn’t about being a ministry, it’s about being a team.  A team who’s main goal is to grow each other in Christ.  And this book shows how to make the greatest impact in a ministry.  I know each ministry isn’t cookie cutting material and each ministry is going to be different, but the principles that this book lines up is true for each ministry.  If you are a leader in a church looking for a good book on leading a ministry, specifically for men, this would be a great book to pick up.

I received this book for free from the publisher for the soul purpose of reviewing it.

Vertical Self by Mark Sayers

This was a much different book than I am used to reading on this subject.  Most authors I read about change would use a little bit larger words to explain change in a person’s life.  For instance, in the Bible when we see a word like sanctification we know it means change.  I wish Sayers would have used a larger vocabulary.  The vertical Self was a good read.  It was simple and yet convicting.  Mark Sayers went into great detail to explain the way our culture views specific terms such as “cool” and “sexy” and how they have changed over the years.  He also writes about what God intended us to look like, what we look like and what we will look like.  The thing I like most about the book is that he continued to remind the reader that it’s not about what the people around us think.  Instead we, as believers, should continue to pursue change in our walk with Christ in such a way that we do not set ourselves apart from the world, but that we are set apart unto righteousness.  Overall, I thought it was a good read.  I would definitely suggest this book to a teenager, but not to an adult.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. 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 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”