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Book Reviews

Unwrapping theNames of JesusBy Asheritah Ciuciu



Unwrapping the Names of Jesus: An Advent Devotional by [Ciuciu, Asheritah]



★★★★☆

This book is beautiful. The devotionals are short (between two and three pages) and end with a challenge, prayer, and Bible verses for further reading. The challenge, in particular, is thought provoking and helpful. It is meant to be used for the four weeks before Christmas and has five devotionals for each week, with activity suggestions at the end of each section. 
One thing I need to clarify is that Asheritah encourages lighting candles for Advent. As a person who believes that types and shadows have been fulfilled in Christ, I would discourage this use, but the rest of the book is very helpful. You can find your copy here. 


Humble Roots
by Hannah Anderson 
★★★☆☆


This book was the kind that you read with a cup of tea beside you and a pencil in your hand. Hannah did a lovely job weaving personal story and practical truth together. She spoke about somethings that I had never thought about before, in particular how our bodies remind us that are not God, because God doesn't have a body. Overall I found it to be an easy, light read with some deep truths mixed in. You can find a copy here.

Habits for Our Holiness 

by Philip Nation 
★★★★★

I loved this book! If you're looking for some practical, down-to-earth, biblical instruction on how to obey God in every day life this volume is a great place to start. The author, Philip Nation, talks about some practices that all Christians seem to take for granted (like prayer and Bible reading) but he also addresses some disciplines that are less familiar (like fasting and living simply).  Over all, I highly recommend this book. 

The Better Life 

by Claire Diaz-Ortiz
★★☆☆☆

This book was a fun and easy read. Some of Claire's advice I found helpful, other bits not so much. It was good reminder that there are small things that we can do to make our lives better...it's not always big, drastic things that change our well-being. If you're looking for a light read this small book would fit that bill. 







Adorned 

by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth
★★★★☆


While reading this book I felt as if I was sitting across the table from Nancy with a cup of steaming tea before each of us and an honest, down-to-earth conversation between us. The main idea of the book comes from Titus 2 as Paul directs Titus with instructs for women. Older women are to mentor younger woman and younger woman are to grow in godliness as they learn from older women. She talks about community, living lives pointing to God so that we can all adorn (make beautiful) the gospel of Jesus. Her words are practical, gracious, and spoken from her heart. I appreciated this book (thank you, Nancy!) and plan to pass it on to other women in my own church so that we can all work more effectively at adorning the gospel. 
   

Life in Community 

by Dustin Willis
★★★★★

Dustin Willis is honest, practical, and biblical as he addresses the theme of community; specifically community within the church. He talks about how community and missions go hand in hand. God welcomes us to His table, His family, and we are to welcome others to our tables and our families. If we want to build community we must live life together by being real, helping one another, honoring and thinking good of others, and showing hospitality. I HIGHLY recommend this book for individual reading and group study. 

20 Things We'd Tell Our Twenty-Something Selves

by Kelli and Peter Worrall 
★★✩✩✩

In this book Kelli and Peter offer practical, down-to-earth advice for twenty-something-year-olds like myself. They reminded me to look at the big picture and to not get overwhelmed with the here and now as I look to eternity, but also to form good habits, learn from other people and good books, to take care of myself, and to live. Really live.This was an easy read with lots of stories. Kelli and Peter also did well in expressing their own personalities through this book and by the end I felt like I could comfortably sit in their living room with a cup of tea and talk about anything.I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review and am grateful I did. I enjoyed this book and intend to pass it on to other twenty-somethings so that they can also be encouraged.

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