I have a sermon titled "Hearing God." In trying to flesh it out into a written article, I discovered Dr. Deere's book "Surprised by the Voice of God." It so closely paralleled what I was writing that I was amazed. Jack Deere masterfully mixes the experiential and anecdotal with solid theological understanding. Every Christian Pastor would benefit from having this book in his/her library. I have recommended this book to the participants on the EnterActs Board as our first Book Club choice.

In this book Dr. Deere explores the bias that the church itself has against the supernatural and argues convincingly, through logical as well as anecdotal evidence, that God has more for us-- that he is much more personal and involved with us that we have thought him to be. He also discusses how to recognize when God is telling you something. I challenge you to put down the biases we've been given by the secular world, and let the Love of Christ move.

I have been a Christian for over forty years. I have always been taught and believed that God speaks today ONLY through the Bible. In a gracious and loving way, Dr. Deere makes the inarguable case for a God Who speaks in MANY ways today, even as He has since the Creation. I can't find words to express how important this teaching has been to my personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus. The potential for growing intimacy and open, two-way communication with my loving Lord fills me with hope, encouragement and excitement. I am in full-time Christian ministry (pastor of a small evangelical congregation) and I desperately needed this fresh word from God. It has been humbly and articulately presented in a very down-to-earth, yet intelligent fashion by this gifted and devoted brother in Christ. All who have--or LONG to have--a passion to KNOW the Lord Jesus, MUST read and prayerfully consider the teachings of this tremendous book.

The Treasure Principle is concise and convicting. Alcorn shows that Jesus Christ, not money, is the greatest Treasure in the universe, and points the way toward a Biblical perspective on money and possessions. John Piper describes the book--and its benefits--better than I can:

"Books don't change people; sentences do. That's all we remember. And there are so many sentences in this book super-charged with stunning divine truth that readers who aren't changed would have to be sleep-reading. Mark Twain said the difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. Well, lightning was striking over and over as I read. Best of all Jesus gets his due. He is the greatest Treasure. Randy Alcorn (again!) gets the greatest things right. And lives that way too." -- John Piper, Senior Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis

If you are passionate about making your life count for eternity, it is essential that you read "The Treasure Principle." This book will teach you how to eternally invest your financial resources. Contrary to the health, wealth, and prosperity movement, Alcorn will challenge and motivate you from the Bible to use your money for the advancement of God's kingdom. Since we can't take any of our financial resources with us once we die, Alcorn encourages us to "send our money ahead" for the pure joy that comes from giving and also so that we will experience great rewards in eternity.

Because I'm a busy pastor and have much to read, I typically skim books but I couldn't do so with this book. Randy Alcorn is a life-changing writer who pierces my heart with his every word. When Alcorn writes, there are no singles; every sentence is a Home Run! This forces me to be an expectant reader and to discard my highlighter because everything should be highlighted. If you care about your eternal home, spend your money wisely and buy this book!

This book is fantastic. It is concise, motivational, and profound. I read it the first time and thought it was great, and then went back and took notes for a second reading and thought it was even better. This would be a great book to study with a small group or just discussing as a book club with friends.

Alcorn does a great job of using illustrations and stories to motivate believers to think "eternally" about every giving, saving and spending decision. This is the heart of true stewardship.

The main principles of the book are important to memorize and carry them on our hearts:

Principle #1- God owns everything. I am His money manager.
Principle #2- My heart always goes where I put God's money.
Principle #3- Heaven, not Earth, is my home.
Principle #4- I should live for the line (eternity), not the dot(short life on earth).
Principle #5- Giving is the only antidote for materialism.
Principle #6- God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.

I highly recommend this great book. The only drawback in my opinion is his focus on tithing and using Malachi 3:8-10 as a verse to support his belief that tithing still applies.

He makes compelling arguments for teaching tithing as a starting point (Christians give on average 2-3 percent of their income), but I believe the "Church" abuses this doctrine in most cases. The bigger message is stewardship. If believers understand that... the tithe is totally inapplicable. I agree with his heart on this issue, but disagree with his belief that the tithe should be taught.

But that is a minor deal in the overall scheme of things. The book is a treasure that I will pass out to friends, family and re-read many times until these principles are lived out in my own life.

Ashley Hodge, CFP
Southlake, TX

I devoured this book in 2 nights. My spirit craved for the truth that was so simply put in this book. The reading is easy but the meaning is deep. I could not put this book down until I was finished. I am going through a second time so I can really make the TRUTH principle a part of my life. Leslie shares personal examples from her own life along with those of others to really show how our faulty thinking, negative behaviors, and idols of our heart really do push God to the side and cause us more suffering. This is a must read for those who yearn to feel the presence of God and grow closer to him.

As I started to read Leslie's book "The Truth Principle", I couldn't put it down. I read it from cover to cover, until early in the morning. Here was a book that taught Biblical truths in simple terms I could understand with practical applications I could relate to. It was written for me, a book to show me how to get what I knew in my head down into my heart, so real change could occur in my life. This book is without a doubt the best book I've read on spiritual growth. It is what it says it is on the front cover - a life changing model for spiritual growth. Leslie models for the reader how to understand why you respond to trouble and trials the way you do; how to identify and get rid of the idols that hinder change and finally how to discover the truth in God's word, so that your heart will respond and thus draw you closer to God, so you can practice God's presence in your life. Leslie's honest and her willingness to share her journey to spiritual growth with us is refreshing.

In The TRUTH Principle, Leslie Vernick blows away the chaff and reveals the essential kernels of spiritual renewal. Her related experiences touch the soul because she has lived them. Her methods are sound because she is a trained counselor. And her compassion is genuine because she obviously loves God and yearns to grow herself. This book has reached deep into my heart and touched chords of renewal in my own life. As a pastor's wife and speaker, I highly recommend this book as a refreshing and profound, yet easy-to-understand journey down the path of spiritual growth and renewal.

If you've ever been to church in the South, and maybe even if you haven't, you've met Beverly Roberts, the feisty old woman who's the engine driving Pat Jobe's book, 365 Ways to Criticize the Preacher. She's real: real funny, real opinionated, real full of herself, and a real vessel for the God of all Truth to get ahold of. I liked this book because it rang true about a lot of what can be aggravating about churchy people, but also because it rang true about what makes life worth living. Beverly Roberts goes on a trip and takes the reader with her there and back, back to a changed life that anyone would be both challenged and thrilled by. If you want to read about Redemption, Grace, Abundance, and Why Risk is SO Worth It and you want to laugh (a lot) and cry while you doing it, get this book. It's so funny and touching that, praises be, even the totally nontraditional spiritual seeker will be able to recognize the truth in it. Jobe is the kind of writer that makes you think you wouldn't miss church often if he was the preacher.

At first I thought, criticize the preacher?? Who would do that? But being honest with myself, I guess I've been guilty of that too. Horrors! What a thing to admit. And to a preacher-man like Pat Jobe. Forgive me.

When I started reading 365 Ways, I thought it was going to be a good-natured spoof of small Southern churches. Fun reading. Well, it is that. But it's far more. As I progressed with Beverly's diary, I became an observer to the woman she really is, though sometimes judgemental of her. Soon my own hurts erupted, tears filled my eyes, and I realized that Pat Jobe had weaved book of healing. I was right there with Beverly , looking on and wanting to let go of my hurts, but afraid. We were not so different after all.

Now I'm reading it again, but with new light. Thank you, Pat Jobe, for the light you shed on this sometimes weary reader. And thank you for showing me the way to the Grand Canyon.

I may read 365 Ways again.

A note to Pat Jobe: When the Bubbas appeared at the Purple Onion earlier this year, I bought your book "365 Ways to Criticize the Preacher". 
I have just finished reading it and wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed it.  It would be great if we could all be
transformed as much as Beverly Roberts and know, as she seems to, that the process is never over.
 
Being the liberal Episcopalian that I am, I laughed and cried (sometimes simultaneously) as you lampooned some of our
personal expectations of who is "in" and who is "out".
 
It was a joy to read and I thank you for it.

Having read many of the sections in this book. I am proud to call myself an African American and an American. What this book does is tell the truth about African Americans. Many of the great strides made by White America were made because of the innovations of the Black race of Americans. Because of the laws that White America made to exclude Blacks from the American population, thus calling them less than human and not worthy of being citizens of this great country. They were excluded from the history books. This book tells our history not taught in the classrooms of America. This book tells the truth about our accomplishments and our values. It is a must read for all Americans particularly our children.

The book is like a library of our people's trials and tribulations. A collection of poems and stories that will inspire you to do great things. African Americans come from royalty and we can do anything because we are doers and achievers. I wish every "American" could read this book, perhaps African Americans wouldn't be looked down upon. I learned so many things that our people had accomplished that are not taught in school, but should be known and should be printed in text book form.

This book is now being used a bedtime ritual for my children. This means that each night I read a story or poem from the book to them, "about them (African Americans)". About their creativity, their inner strength for survival, their ability to do anything they want to do, about their ancestors that were forced to travel from afar, about their people who invented items that we use today, about their people that broke the color barrier, about their people who walked for freedom, about their people who used the pen to fight their battles, about their people who were forced to feign ignorance in order to survive, about their people who prayed and had faith that God would free them from bondage, about their people who loved each other and encouraged each other, about their people who stepped out there on faith.....

This book is awesome!

This book has inspired me to go back to school which is the least I could do after seeing what my people endured just to give me an opportunity to "step out on faith" "act accordingly" "mind my manners" "represent my hood" "believe in myself" "reach for the stars" and broaden my horizons. For they paved the way through sweat, tears, backbreaking work, picking cotton, washing Missy's clothes, raising Missy's children, eating in the backroom, riding in the back of the bus, being treated as second class citizens.

Thank you, my people past and present.

Thank you Steven Barboza (Editor) for having a vision and seeing it through.

The book was well written concerning African Americans, especially now when their is so much racial hatred throughout the US. We have positive Role models and the world should know about it. What a marvelous way to depict our people. It can be read by everyone.

Telling Yourself the Truth has been a book that has gone a long way toward helping me retrain my thinking. I'm starting to see that so much of our reactions to life arise out of the self-talk that goes on inside our own heads. Unfortunately, a lot of that self talk is based upon our past experiences and hurts and we tend to see every situation filtered through those past events. But a lot of the time, this filter that we use doesn't apply and thus it creates a lie or misbelief. Telling Yourself the Truth helps set us free from these misbeliefs and starts helping us see things without the chains from our past.

In my case, I have been struggling with recovering from a divorce. Having failed in marriage, I had conditioned my thinking about relationships and marriage with the feelings of failure and a fear that any relationship was doom to failure. I was afraid to try again and afraid to even be vulnerable. Teaching myself to tell myself the truth and not buy into the fear and doubt and lies of my self talk is a journey that I've begun with the help of this book.

After reading a countless number of christian self help books, I still struggled with much anxiety, fear, depression & anger. I finally broke down & went to see a christian counselor. He recomended that I read this book. Although I got the version with the workbook included. I don't know if this one has the workbook. Anyway, for me this book provided me with ground-breaking truths of God's word & helped me to identify the silly & absurd misbeliefs I had been telling myself for years! I would reccomend that everyone read this book. If your honest a bout wanting to change & willing to devote an hour or so each day for six weeks, this book WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!

This book was given to me, by my Pastor, nineteen years ago after I suffered an immense personal tragedy. I have read and re-read it a dozen times and continue to be amazed by it's healing and straight-forward approach. No matter what situation you find yourself in, this book can help you evaluate your emotions honestly and bring clarity. THIS IS THE GREATEST TOOL FOR OVERCOMING DEPRESSION I HAVE EVER COME ACROSS.

It's been more than 20 years since I first read the "list" of gifts in Romans 12: 6 - 8, one of several such lists in the Bible. I remember spending much time wondering what my spiritual gift or gifts might be. Having Dr. Walston's book at that time would have helped me grapple with this question.

I have always loved lists, and surveys. I am a sucker for trying to figure out where I do (or do not) "fit" into a paradigm. Consequently, I have always been fascinated by this passage from Romans.

Unravelling the Mystery of the Motivational Gifts is a great aid to have on hand for this type of study.

Dr. Walston points out that a Motivational Gift is not worked for nor earned. It is given freely by God, and "your gift to God is what you accomplish through the exercise of your gift." He says that Motivational Gifts are not simply natural talents dedicated to God. They are of supernatural origin, fueled by the Holy Spirit. Each Christian has one primary Motivational Gift. Some may have one or two other gifts, to a lesser degree, as well. Dr. Walston believes that to know your spiritual gift, is to have a handle on the will of God for your life.

The author provides a series of 98 questions in his Walston Gift Indicator to help you determine your gift. He stresses that this is not a test. There are no right or wrong answers. Your answers will simply help point you to your areas of gifting. The Gift Indicator is extensive and detailed. It'll take you awhile to complete it, but it's worth the time for the self-revelation it can bring.

There are many schools of thought out there on the subject of spiritual gifts. It can be a confusing topic, as contradictory opinions and theories abound. Dr. Walston's book provides a well thought out, and well laid out, approach to the gift --what they are, how we discern them, what we do with them--which even the most inexperienced and tentative believer will be able to understand.

Walston's Unraveling the Mystery of the Motivational Gifts is an excellent read. Those who are interested, as I am, in understanding the apparently God-given motivational gifts need to read Dr. Walston's work. He does an exemplary job of outlining the various gifts (I'm a prophet/teacher and giver mix), explaining the interactions between those who are motivated differently, and he well describes pitfalls such as things like "gift projecting." I found the information extremely helpful in my relationship with my wife and even co-workers. Though Walston's thrust is from a religious perspective, as it should be since he deals with a biblical theory (the scriptural support is intriguing), one need not be a Christian to benefit. I found the information on motivational gifts as helpful as some personality type indicators, e.g., Myers/Briggs. I've used the info in the book on numerous occasions to assist in relationships inside and outside the home. I've read the book a few times already and highly recommend it.

It's one thing to write about the subject of Motivational Gifts (or Personality Types), but quite another to present compelling biblical and logical evidence to its validity. I consider this work to be both apologetic (i.e., a defense) and practical in nature. Our Motivational Gifts point directly to a great gift-Giver, namely the God of the Bible.

Unraveling the Mystery of the Motivational Gifts is a must read for anyone desiring to understand his or her God-given gifts.

This book is extremely user friendly and can be used as a tool for both the ministry and the business world. I agree whole-heartedly with Dr. Walston when he quotes from Psalm 139:14, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." You will want to share this book with your friends and relatives, but a word of warning, be sure to buy an extra copy because you may never get it back. :-)

Eric and Leslie do it again. Somehow they can use their love story over and over again and it brings home totally different points. After reading this book I fell more in love with Jesus than ever before. I actually have realized the importance of it. When you are so involved with Him, you feel the need for no one else, but also, if a future spouse is waiting for you, you want him to be like Jesus, so naturally its only logical to conclude that he is looking for the same. This book is just phenomenal, it also includes song lyrics that Eric and Leslie have written at the ends of chapters from their CD "Heavenly Perspective." The CD is a must have!! It's their best one! Their songs are like personal prayers put to music. There is nothing proud about them; they give God every ounce of credit for everything in their lives. This book, like all their others, is not a guide to successful dating or anything of the sort, just their beautiful story.

This is such a great story. The best I've read in a long time. Eric and Leslie Ludy tell their love story in this book. They write about their experiences in high school, what they were like, how they became christians and how they met each other.

Each chapter is different, one chapter will be written by Eric and the next one by Leslie, and so on. Its great you know who's writing which chapter and it tells you details about their life. It talks about how God got involved in their lives and how he helped them and changed them, its such a beautiful story, I loved it.

Instead of reading another Christian romance novel, read this book. Its so encouraging and wonderful, why settle for second best, when you can have God's best?! I must say that this book has certainly changed the way that I look at love and romance, that if you trully want the best, just trust God with your love life.

True love does exist. But in this book, Eric and Leslie point to the author of true love, Jesus Christ, as the source of their incredible love story. Honest and open in its display of how God moved in their lives to bring them a relationship based upon love of the deepest kind, Eric and Leslie reveal the joy, pain and ultimate satisfaction of searching for God's will in their lives above their personal desires. You'll laugh, you'll weep and you'll cheer as you see that true love is not dead!

I thought this book was great because it gives insight to living a lifestyle of worship rather than just some thing you do on Sunday morning. That is what makes it applicable to all Christians.

It is a small book, but the wisdom it shares is huge. Redman knows what being a worship peader is all about and he shares the knowledge with others. How can you fully worship the Lord? Can you be an unquenchable worshipper?

I've never read a book that took me to another level, besides the bible. If you're struggling in your life and you feel like nothings going right, read this book, and find out what worship is all about. It changed the way I look at my relationship with Christ.

This book is outstanding. I teach seventh grade English, history, and a variety of other subjects, and have found Write Source 2000 to be an invaluable tool. It is clear, concise, and written in an age-appropriate style; yet at the same time it is marvelously comprehensive in its content. Consider this: it covers spelling rules; punctuation; grammar, including a lucid definitions of the different tenses; it explains paragraph structure; and it contains the complete texts of the U.S. Constitution, the Gettysburg Address, Susan B. Anthony's "Women's Right to Vote" speech, Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" oration, and as other significant historical documents. These are but a few of its offerings. My class and I refer to Write Source 2000 at least once or twice a week, no matter what we are studying. Although the book is written for middle school students, it is so clear and comprehensive that I often recommend it to my friends who teach college. It deserves every one of its five stars.

Write Source 2000 is one of the most valuable tools in my sixth grade language arts classroom. I have used it in place of the state adopted grammar book for two years with great success. Students find its colorful layout and relaxed voice nonthreatening and fun to use. It offers wonderful suggestions for writing, reading, and thinking, and I recommend this book to any teacher or parent seeking quality educational materials. Parents of children older than twelve or so might try the sister book Writer's Inc.

The Write Source 2000 is a great resource to have by your side. My grades were really bad in writing when I started the school year. When I got the Write Source 2000 it taught me how to write any paragraph or essay. I also used it for other stuff besides writing. This book is very good resource.