Watch

Watch by Rick James "dives deep into the New Testament's teachings on spiritual wakefulness, calling Christ-followers to defy the darkness and remain awake as they await Christ's return. Because being awake--continually in prayer, watchful for God's will, expectant of open doors, cautious of sin, desiring to serve, eager to repent, continuously giving thanks, willing to witness, embracing of humility, overflowing with kindness, persevering in obedience--changes everything."

This was a book I was looking forward to reading as I have noticed all around the world how Christians seem half asleep. To me, that means being politically correct, to being "luke warm", which is where Revelation 3:16 talks about being luke warm as worse than being cold. At least by being hot or cold you know what your beliefs are and stand by them.

So I wanted to like this book before I even began, but was sorely disappointed by the first few chapters. The writing was too rambling for me, James veered off in so many directions within one chapter that it was hard to keep up. He stuck anecdotes, paragraphs from books, and life experiences that didn't seem to align properly with that the topic at hand was. I started to feel it was too academic, getting too deep and educational where a simple explanation would have sufficed. I got lost - fast.

I ended up skimming the rest of the book. Where it gets hard is how to rate it. There were many, many good topics discussed (how we often we mistake the voice of God with our own voice, how evil truly does prowl around to tempt and destroy us in subtle, almost unnoticeable ways, etc.) but I felt I had to wade through a lot of unnecessary words/thoughts/quotes/etc. to glean those snippets of wisdom. I think a really good edit would have trimmed this book down into a more direct and readable book.

This book was given to me by Tyndale Publishers in exchange for my honest review.     
 

What Falls From the Sky

What Falls From the Sky by Esther Emery is a
"fiercely honest, piercingly poetic account of a year without Internet - 365 days away from the good, the bad, and the ugly of our digital lives - in one woman’s desperate attempt at a reset."

This book was a little different than I thought it would be but a whole lot better as well. 

Esther Emery gives us a peek into her head space while she learns to reconnect with herself and with God while disconnecting from the internet. She shows us that those moments of silence that we often fill with scrolling are actually very important moments that need to BE, not be filled. By allowing herself that free space in her head she was able to find a connection with God again, reconnect with her inner self, learn some new hobbies (bread baking, playing music), and find a new type of relationship with her spouse and children.

It seems so simplistic, something we already know, right? And it's true - I think deep down we know there is just as much bad in the internet as there is good. From needing to find validation in complete strangers to letting people we don't even like into our online space, we are living in a virtual world while neglecting the real world around us. 

What drew me to the book in the first place is that I had already come to that conclusion last year. While I didn't disconnect completely from the internet I have shaken it up to the point that I would be completely okay with disconnecting from the internet all together. 

What I took away from this book is that when Emery was at her most lost (dealing with a huge personal struggle) she was able to be found by connecting to what really matters - and disconnecting from what doesn't. It's a reminder we all can use!

This book was give to me by BookLook Bloggers in exchange for my honest review.