Seeking Wisdom by Julia Cameron — Book Review

I have mixed feelings about this book. The author is involved in a twelve-step program, as are many of the people she interviews. I have a great respect for AA and other similar groups, but in this book, the “higher power” most often espoused seems to be a God of the person’s own making, not the God of the Bible. The author states that:

“Their conceptions of God varied from ‘an energy’ to ‘best friend’ to benevolent something’, from Baptist to Catholic, Buddhist to Hindu, but all agreed that God is real and we can contact God.”

She even advises readers to “create the god you would like to talk to.”

If you can put all that aside, and it isn’t easy, she offers many good suggestions for journaling and prayer practices. Every page also offers quotes about prayer (I love quotes!), but once again they are a mixed bag using the words of traditional Christians (including Martin Luther) along with others that are Buddhist, Hindu or just secular.

VERDICT: 4 for readability and practical suggestions; 0 for theology. Be sure you are able to separate the wheat from the chaff if you decide to read this one. Certainly not a book to recommend to young or new believers.

For more about prayer see these posts:

The Holy Spirit and Prayer

A Prayer of Surrender

The Lord’s Prayer with commentary by Rick Warren–Book Review

A New Way to Study

Recently I learned about a new way to study a passage of Scripture. The pastor of the church I attended that week described it in his sermon. It was an approach he learned it in his homiletics (the process of writing and delivering sermons) class. After reading the section, ask yourself these four questions:

1. What is the central teaching of this passage?
2. What is the flaw in human nature (i.e. sin) described?
3. What is the goal of God in your life concerning this flaw?
4. What means of overcoming the flaw does God offer?

There may be more than one answer to each question, depending upon the length of the reading. You can choose to focus on just one, or list more than one. Sometimes the answers will be obvious, other times you may have to think and pray because the answer is more subtle. What a great suggestion for journaling if you read a portion of Scripture every day! I plan to try it soon, and hopefully will post some of my results. I would be interested to hear about the experiences of others who might want to use this method.

Of course, we Lutherans know that every good sermon contains both law and gospel, so be sure to check your work against this criteria!

For more about sermons see these posts:

Sins and Sermons

What Makes a Great Sermon?

Preaching By The Book – A Book Review

Life’s Companion by Christina Baldwin–Book Review

If you love writing in a journal, or want to develop the discipline of spiritual writing, this book is an excellent place to hone your skills or just get started. However, be advised that it is not exclusively Christian. In an effort to appeal to more people, the author uses terms like “the sacred”, “the universe” and “errors”. To adapt the suggestions to my worldview, I would simply substitute “God”, “Jesus”, “sin”.

That being said, this book is chock full of good questions and suggestions for journaling. Each chapter is, in effect, two chapters. The pages on the right comprise on essay on the topic being discussed, with examples from the life of the author. The pages on the left include quotes, examples from the journals of others, and questions to use for journaling. I used the book by reading all the right hand essay first, then reading the left side and journaling with some of the questions. Doing one chapter completely each day became part of my early morning devotional time.

Some of the topics covered are:

*How to write a spiritual journal

*Writing your spiritual history

*Dreams and intuition

*Rituals

*Love, forgiveness, trust and acceptance

*Paying attention

This is not an exhaustive list. If you’re interested in journaling, you will surely find some things that speak to you and your spiritual journey.

VERDICT: 4 STARS. I found it helpful and would recommend it.

For more about journaling see these posts:

Joan’s (Jumbled) Journal

H.E.A.R.

SPURGEON JOURNAL – A Review

The Art of Prayer Journals

Disciple Her by Kandi Gallaty–Book Review

This book is a great resource for any individual or church interested in beginning Discipleship groups.  Kandi shares her experience, working with other women (usually for one year) and establishing spiritual disciplines such as prayer, journaling Bible study, Bible memorization.  At that point, the members are equipped to go forth and start D-groups of their own.  If you have the spiritual gifts of shepherding and/or encouragement, this book will inspire and motivate you.  According to the forward, Kandi

“… has defined what discipleship is, and outlined a pathway for investing in other women.”

 

An appendix at the back of the book includes:

sample covenants for the D-groups,  a suggested reading list, a sample journaling process, a worksheet for planning your own group, a Bible reading plan and more.  I especially appreciated her plan for journaling.  Although I love to write, I have never been particularly successful at journaling.  Kandi’s model is H.E.A.R —

• Highlight the passage you are studying each day
• Explain the background and meaning of the verse
• Apply the verse generally and specifically to your own life
• Respond to the verse in prayer

I plan to give this method a try!

I also appreciated her explanation of the MARCS of a disciple.  They should be:

• Missional
• Accountable
• Reproducible
• Communal
• Scriptural

Does your life show all of these marks?

As an interesting, aside, Kandi’s husband Robby wrote the series of books that include Bearing Fruit, Firmly Planted and Growing Up.  I believe I reviewed one of these on our blog some time ago, and highly recommended it.

VERDICT:  5 stars.  This book is a must for the Women’s Ministry of the church.

If you wish to purchase it go to the link below:

Disciple Her

The Lutheran Ladies received a free copy of this book in return for an honest and fair review – Disclaimer pursuant to FTC 16 CFR Part 255

Joan’s (Jumbled) Journal

In an earlier post, Beth Ann talked about having a journal.  Many people do.  They keep lists of people they are praying for, prayer requests, and answers to pray.  That’s a fine thing to do.  However, just as there are many ways to pray, there are many ways to journal.

Although I like to write, for many years I could not seem to succeed in keeping a journal.  Why?  I guess I had the idea that my journal should be full of my “best” writing. Or my journal had to be a way to organize my prayer life.  Then in a class on spiritual direction, I was told, “remember, your journal is just for you.  Nobody else has to read it.”  That was freeing … now, as the post title indicates, my journal is a jumble.  I write down Bible verses that strike me, quotes from books, or ideas that pop into my mind.  I save newspaper articles, Sunday bulletins, movie tickets, notes from friends  and other things that I like or that remind me of what I was doing, feeling and thinking.  It usually takes me over a year to finish a journal and I now have about ten.  It’s enlightening to look back and see where I was spiritually and how far I’ve come.  It reminds me of how God has cared for me through all sorts of problems, always providing the insight, people and activities to move me along in my journey.My journal is truly “just for me.”  I doubt if it would make sense to anyone else.

Here are some ideas I’ve heard about journal keeping:

1. Draw in your journal
2. One friend I knew wrote her prayers in blue ink, and the answers she felt she was hearing from God in red
3. Write prayers instead of speaking them
4. When you find a bible verse, quote, song lyric, picture, bit of nature that speaks to you, put it in your journal
5. Write down ideas and spiritual insights as they occur to you
6. Take sermon notes, your Pastor will love you!

Your journal can become your personal way of speaking to God.  Make it a prayer.  Happy Journaling!