God's direction, this book, Hollier's review online, ...
357649
God's direction, this book, Hollier's review online, the AANP sample test, and Fitzgeralds audio cd's helped me pass today on the first try. I read it cover to cover and looked up any unfamiliar terms. My studies were online and I learned so much from the review courses!
1418870
Review Title: Flourish in Your Status (review of Forgiven, Favored, & Free by Jill M. Tomlinson)
Reviewer: Janice S. Garey

This book is eye and soul opening to the magnitude of what is available to believers in Christ.  Many are stuck in between the initial salvation experience and the full daily freedoms we should be knowing through our relationship with Christ. The author has been there and done that so she wants to help others know the full freedom she has recognized and attained.

This book is worthy to be owned by every Christian as a help for their own spiritual growth and as a book that they can give to others. New Christians and long time Christians will both benefit from reading this book. I envision many uses for this book such as small group studies, help for those in prison ministries, and maybe as a gift to those in new members or prospective members classes at churches. It's good for people to learn up front all the benefits and joys they can know when they fully live in Christ.

I thank the author, publisher, and bookfun.org for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review. Read this book, Christians, and enjoy all He did for your benefit on the cross!
3629594
The cover of the book is telling. By showing the peeling of the front cover to reveal heaven, it is a visual image of what the five senses of grace can essentially uncover. Each sense is used to uncover a certain aspect of living heaven here on earth. The operative word is "awaken" our senses to embrace the reality of heaven now. The affirmative word is "already" where we live our Christian lives from the position of "done," "victory already" and "new beginning." Grace is all around us for us to experience with our heart, hear with our ears, see with our eyes, smell with our noses, and taste with our tongues. The most encouraging message to take home is to recognize the perfect work God has done for us, the ever presence of God being with us, and the promise that God will help us. Always. The work of grace is already done. All we need to do is to be awakened and embrace the wonders of grace.

I find the prayers in every chapter under "Heaven Speaks" very enlightening. Printed in light blue, it is followed by a personal response that readers can adopt. There are many Bible references for the interested reader to research and to meditate more on. At the end of the book, the discussion questions allow readers to work through the book in groups. The strongest part of the book is the way Farley is able to hone in the five senses with Bible references on pages 213-5.

As I read this book, I am reminded of a book published back in 1996 that promotes quite a similar idea. Tim Dearborn's Taste and See also deals with awakening our spiritual senses toward loving God. Dearborn's book focuses on knowing and loving God. Farley's version offers an opportunity to realize the grace that has been given to us. Dearborn is focused on spirituality. Farley is focused on Christian living, especially victorious Christian living. Dearborn's work is supplemented by deeper research while Farley's book contains minimal references to other works. Personally, I prefer Dearborn's version for it provides a better bridge from our human senses to the practice of spirituality. Having said that, Farley can be commended for writing this book that is encouraging and empowering for the layperson.

Rating: 3.75 stars of 5.

conrade
"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group".
3521349
Hi You,
Yes you. If you are reading this, and you haven't gotten The World Tilting Gospel by Dan Phillips, you should correct that problem today. Its a solid book from start to close. Its clear and precise and avoids unhelpful ambiguity when precision is possible. Philips seems to write what he means.
Fair warning, if you come from a broader Evangelical background that uses phrases like
your best life now,
let go and let God,
or God told me.
Or, if you hail from a part of Charismatic Christianity, you are getting a theological Daisy Cutter dropped on your head. Dan doesnt mince words and isn't what 2018 America calls nice. But he isn't mean or abusive and you get the feeling that he cares about the reader and REALLY wants you to understand the Gospel and its importance. He writes like a friend sitting across from the table at the coffee shop who won't let you change the subject when the conversation turns toward your life destroying choices.
Seriously go read this book.
P.S. Hes also active on Twitter (as of January 2018), so you can ask him questions or clarifying thoughts if you need to.
P.P.S. Seriously, what are you waiting for?
1795311
PRAISE GOD!!  It is such a blessing that GOD has raised up and equipped men with great spiritual insight and humility; to make plain the infallible scriptures in order to give us The LORD's salvation through Jesus Christ along with direction for life now and for eternity.  I am thankful this study Bible by John MacArthur and for Crossway's producing it.
3923581
Cooke writes prophetically and impartationally to a readership that is open to receiving the insights and revelation that God has in-store for him/her.  As I read this book, it caused me to think and reflect on my own walk with God, and Cooke writes that the key and main thing that God desires is inhabitation in our lives.  With that, many things becomes an outflow.

At the beginning of the book, Cooke writes about a very important question, i.e. why do we need revival?  The answer is simply because we lost it!  We have lost the presence and purpose of God in our lives, ministries and churches.  Revival actually shows our weakness rather than strength.

"The biggest desire in God's heart is inhabitation.  If you search through the Scriptures, you'll find that coming and living with His children is all He has ever wanted.  What we usually pray for, however, is another move of God.  Unlike inhabitation, there is no call for revival found anywhere in Scripture.  The Church, quite simply, should never need reviving.  Revival is not about getting people saved; revival is about the Church coming back to her original purpose before God.  I think it's very sad that so many of us have prayed and longed for revival - it means the Church is a long way from what God wants us to be." (pg. 16)

As a person is inhabited with God, there will be a renewal that constantly takes place, and the outflow of worship, peace, joy, etc. will come forth.  I was ministered in the section when Cooke writes about the mischievous and happy nature of God, and how He would do what seemingly is irrational, but shows forth that God is God!  He uses the incidents of Gideon's small army. and the circumcision of the Israelites when they just crossed into the promise land and having to face enemies.  These 2 events seems humanly crazy, but at the end, it is not by the might of men, but by the power of God that victories are won.

Cooke also writes about 2 dreams that he had, which was a profound encounter with God, and gave me a deeper insight to the heart of God for us.  I recommend you to pick up this book, and to read it meditatively and reflectively.
1453974
A good resource if you are looking for a closer walk with GOD
1184457
This is a wonderful book, a great encouragement to those seeking God's leading in their lives.
It is well written and interesting, filled with sincerity and honesty.  The author shares the tracks of his life as he looks back and sees that the Lord was there with him  all along.
4657966
Just finished this book, what i liked most about this book is....prophet bob jones is in this book, mentoring the author and helping the author to come up higher,,,,,yes Father God works through others, even other people and beings in heaven, don't limit God !

Wes, JesusOverflow.com
2294412
This is a summary of my review found here: wp [.] me/p3JhRp-RF

Christensens goal is to clear the swamp that flows from these discussions on free will and divine predetermination. God controls the big picture of history, but what about our actual choices (3)? Christensen lays out his goal early on in the book,

If the libertarian definition of free will is correct, then God is limited in his sovereignty. On the other hand, if the compatibilist view of mans will is correct, then it not only is compatible with a robust view of divine sovereignty, but also preserves human freedom and responsibility. I will seek to show how the libertarian view of free will falls short of making sense of human experience and what Scripture teaches. (7)

Layout

In the first two chapters Christensen lays out the ideas and the faults of the libertarian positions. After that he charges ahead with the compatibilist position, showing how it explains why good and bad things happen (chapters 5-6), what it means to be free (ch 7) and how this affects what we do (ch 8). He explains how we do what we want to do because of our nature (ch 9), and he gives his best shot at explaining why only some, and not all, come to faith in Christ (ch 10). A Christians new nature now wants to serve God, but it has to battle with the sin that remains (Ch 11). True freedom consists in knowing the best and right choices, in being unhindered in making them, and in experiencing the greatest joy when we do make them. The right choices are the ones that God has prescribed through the morally binding instruction of his Word (ch 12).

There are two appendices at the close of the book: In the first Christensen charts the Libertarian and Compatibilist Beliefs on Free Agency. In the second, he reviews Randy Alcorns, hand in Hand: The Beauty of Gods Sovereignty and Meaningful Human Choice. (Yes, that hand is lowercase).

The Chocolate Milk

A chapter summary, a glossary (found also at the books close), study questions, and/or resources for further study are found at the end of each chapter. Depending on your past interaction with the free will arguments, you may first want to slowly read through the definitions that are found at the end of each chapter before you read the chapter. This is especially important for the first two chapters which I found to be pretty difficult to get a handle on. I had to reread much of it before I could begin to understand what Christensen meant, but as you read on the rest of the book gets easier and helps explain these more difficult chapters.

I would have liked to have seen more information about the beliefs and pitfalls of the libertarian position. But one book cant do everything. Ill have to pick up a book by Roger Olsen to see the libertarian view from his Arminian perspective.

I was already convinced of the compatibilist position, but now I understand more about the downfalls of libertarianism and the biblical support for compatibilism.
147032
MAY I SHARE IN RELATION TO THIS BOOK; " WILLIAM BRANHAM..ADOPTION", THAT I WAS GRACED TO KNOW AND WORK WITH BRO. BRANHAM.. IN SOME OF  HIS LAST CRUSADE SERVICES..AS A REVIVAL ORGANIST! ON THE LAST SUN. AFTERNOON, OF THE PHOENIX, AZ, REVIVAL...HE INVITED ME TO LUNCH  WITH HIM.

THERE HE SHARED WITH ME A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF HIS MINISTRY..THEN PROPHESIED BOTH OF "GOD BEING THROUGH WITH HIS MINISTRY" ..AND  THE END-TIME REVIVAL, BEFORE THE COMMING OF THE LORD!"  IT'S POWERFUL!

*YOU MAY READ MY ACCOUNT OF THIS, AT:>>
[...]

WATCH FOR THE WIND- BUFORD DOWELL
[...]

ROM 8:28
1532461
To all our readers: I am leaving the information "About the Author" and about "My Daily Walk" as a matter of information.

  About the Author

Preacher, pastor, conference speaker, author, prayer warrior, loving husband, and father, all of these describe Pastor Nikoley. Dr. Nikoley was born in Stettin, which was then part of Germany but is now a part of Poland. He grew up during the Nazi rule in Germany. One brother died in infancy because of the horrible wartime conditions. After the war, his family was able to immigrate to the United States and lived in Reno, Nevada. Through hard work, he began to realize the American dream and was a very successful Realtor in Reno. His wife Mary and two children were saved through the ministry of Child Evangelism Fellowship, and he noticed a dramatic change in their lives. While he did not know what it was, he knew he wanted that same change in his life. Although he was a member of a church, he had never accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. A short while later, he accepted Christ and was saved. God began to work in his life, and he felt the call of God upon him. He packed up his family and moved to Hammond, Indiana, where he attended Hyles-Anderson College. Upon graduation from college, he pastored a church in Turlock, California, and had a very successful ministry there. God soon began to move in his heart once again, and he felt led to come to Poway to pastor the Pomerado Road Baptist Church. He has been the pastor there for over 25 years. Pastor Nikoley loves people and desires to see them come to know the Word of God and to serve the Lord. He preaches the whole Word of God without apology. If you are ever in the San Diego area, it would be an honor to have you visit Pomerado Road Baptist Church.

My Daily Walk is a devotional booklet for teenagers and adults. It is meant to inspire personal devotions. It is not to be a replacement for church attendance or personal Bible study. A Spirit-filled Christian needs to have his thrice-weekly meal of sound Bible preaching, as well as a quiet time with the Lord and His Word. These are the times when God can speak to his heart and show him areas that need improvement. Don't deprive yourself of this blessed time. A devotional is not designed to give a Christian all the Bible teaching that he needs. That comes through preaching and personal Bible study. What any good devotional strives to do is give you a thought or a verse to meditate upon throughout the day. This booklet also gives the added benefit of an area in which to put those meditations into writing, as well as assignments to perform to put those meditations into action.

A good devotional is one that leads to a change in your life; it is not one which just gives you a "pretty thought" for the day. This, however, will take some effort on your part. The Lord will bless that effort. Please take the time to pray and meditate upon the Scripture verses and yield yourself to the Holy Spirit. Expect God to do great things in your life.
100642
[In response to the comments, and approximately 5 years later, I am amending my rating up 1.  But I don't have the time to do a "re-review" so I'll leave the review below]

A survey of the book - The book is written from an Evangelical perspective dealing specifically with the Holy Spirit. It talks about who the Holy Spirit is, discusses old debates about the Holy Spirit, and addresses the role of the Holy Spirit today. The book does an excellent job of raising some difficult questions about the Holy Spirit, challenging long-held assumptions that I myself had (where in the Bible is the Holy Spirit spoken of as "illuminating"?). The author discusses the mystery of the Holy Spirit, where the Spirit fit in with the Trinity, the Spirit in the OT and the NT, and the Spirit and us.

Overall, it was not a bad book, but I was disappointed with how many great questions it raised but never answered. The book opens with a discussion of the mystery of the Holy Spirit and while I appreciate the humility in the position taken about how we ought not to be dogmatic about things Scripture is not dogmatic about, it seems that that position is taken the other way in this book. Chapter after chapter is filled with many excellent questions about what the role of the Holy Spirit really is and how clear Scripture really is but I was continually dismayed that after the questions would be raised and various people would be quoted, the book would seem to just move on without taking a definitive stance.

One thing in particular that really made me wonder was the continual use of quotations from people outside the stream of Evangelical thought. The author quoted Pope John Paul as if he was an authority on various topics, and while I appreciated the effort to demonstrate the overlap that we have with other streams of thought, I was always a little hesitant about including Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox theologians in what is called "Christian."

Those said, the last section of the book, on the Spirit's role in the church and the believer was greatly encouraging and informative. Though the weaknesses of the book were still evident, here there was a lot more definitive positions and exhortations and encouragements to love God and love His people.

All in all - a thought provoking book, but not one that left me satisfied. I wish there were more answers to the good questions being raised, more definitive "this is what Scripture says" and less statements that don't ever come out and throw their hands up, but seems like it at times. A good book for gaining perspectives on what people believe about the Holy Spirit, but didn't really do a great job laying out a position and defending it.
3703482
This has been a wonderful season for me in reading the Bible consistently and vigorously. The Gospel has spoken deep to my heart with new richness, and my intimidation with the Old Testament is slowly being replaced with interest and wonder. The thing that has haunted me, though, is reading passages like Matthew 7:21-23 and Matthew 25:31-46, where Christ is judging man according to what they have done, how they lived their life. In these passages, it seems that a key characteristic of those who have a real faith in Christ is that Christ says he knows them. There is a relationship there. I looked at my current relationship with God, and it honestly seemed disconnected from what Christ was talking about. I talk to God occasionally, but most of my time "dedicated" to Him is in the morning or on my drive to work, and is spent reading, learning and thinking about Him and very little prayer. I began to realize I didn't really know how to pray, nor was I sure if I really believed that prayer was anything more than "talking to air."

That's why, when Kevin DeYoung listed A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller as his #1 book of 2009, I immediately used my Christmas gift money to buy it on Amazon. Two weeks later, I would have to say this has been one of the most helpful and encouraging books I've ever read, in both prayer and parenting... more on that later.

One of the book's strengths is that Miller has written to a broad audience with broad struggles, brilliantly weaving and connecting his personal journey throughout the book. I'm sure that because he's conducted conferences about prayer for many years, he has heard the most common objections and struggles that lead people to a shallow prayer life. With great clarity, in A Praying Life, Miller acknowledges the negative extremes that people move toward and then humbly points the reader back toward the Good Shepherd. For the one who is influenced by mysticism he teaches the reader to watch the story God is weaving with hope, that you don't miss his beautiful work, and to seek God, not an experience. To the person who struggles with asking anything of an all-knowing, all-powerful God, he points to the child-like faith Christ talked about. He dedicates a significant portion of the book to "following Jesus out of cynicism."

I truly enjoyed this book, and I think the main reason for this is Miller's personal stories involving his daughter with severe autism, and all that God has showed him over the twenty-plus years of raising her and four other children. As I have found raising my own three-year-old son to be the most humbling responsibility I've ever taken on, I was heartened by Miller's teaching and enabled to see the role God is playing through these struggles.

Not only do I plan to read this book again and again, but this is a book I would recommend to any person who wants to pray better... in other words, it should be a must-read for every Christian.
3377606
I bought this book for my daughter for a book report. I read it along with her. We both enjoyed the book. It is very encouraging to know that we can lean on God no matter where  are or what is happening to us.
1225559
Want to see if the Holy Spirit is moving today.  Is God doing something in our lives?  This is a good example of how God is really moving.  The only negative thing I have to say about the book would be the technique used to scan the book.  There are quite a few typos that are not in the original printed copy.
471993
The material in this book has been collected from sermons Tozer preached in the early 1960s. (He died in 1963.) The message is needed today, perhaps even more so than a generation ago.

Tozer concentrates on the Hebrew understanding of wisdom in the first part of the book. I did not find that section particularly interesting. Tozer begins to explore godly wisdom and its necessity about a quarter of the way into the book. That material is dynamite.

Tozer believed that the compelling need was for Christians to receive the divine illumination of wisdom from God. Lacking that, he said, the church is blind. (Loc 521/2038) He distinguishes wisdom and scholarship. He shares the characteristics of a wise person. He reminds us it is a gift from God through the Holy Spirit into the heart of a humble person.

I highly recommend this book to church leaders. Even in Tozer's day, he called the new ideas and programs religious claptrap and modern entertainment. (Loc 690/2038) He would rather have the fire of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit, he said. I also recommend this book to all Christians who desire to know more about wisdom from God, the humility needed to receive it, and the life one leads with it.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.