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A Lasting Promise: A Christian Guide to Fighting for Your Marriage is an excellent book for those considering marriage or already married.  The authors of this book present a very Biblical view of marriage alongside practical advice supported by clinical research.  While the credentials of the authors might indicate a more cerebral work, this book is very approachable and helpful for any married couple.  This book is not heavy on theory or philosophy but on reality and practice.  As soon as you pick this up you can start using it and applying it in your home.

This book is broken down into good sized chapters which focus on real needs couples have.  There are exercises in this book for a couple to practice.  Reading this book and following along its prescribed exercises is like going to a counselor and doing their homework.  While this book is definitely not a cure-all nor a substitute for counseling, a couple who practices the principles and techniques in this book will find it a great benefit.

Couples who need a tune-up in their relationship should read this.  Couples who are having conflict should read this.  Husband and wife should each read a chapter a day and then go through the practice portion together.  Doing so will greatly enhance anyone’s marriage.  I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for help in their marriage or looking to give help to those who are married, you won’t be disappointed.

Marriage Made in Eden challenges “Our culture’s version of marriage is not as God designed it to be. With a lot more emphasis on individualism and consumerism, today’s married couples tend to lose sight of God’s original purpose for marriage-a call for his people to take Jesus’ message to the heart of everyday life.”   Authors Alice Matthews and M. Gay Hubbard make a strong challenge to our culture’s understanding of marriage.  They also challenge the modern Christian view of marriage and show how our modern marriages are warmed over versions of a less than ideal Victorian era.  What Matthews and Hubbard do not do is, “Provide a radical alternative to today’s view of marriage, giving a glimpse into the historical and cultural aspects that have shaped marriage in America. With this insightful analysis you’ll learn how marriage has come to be in the state we now find it and about God’s model and purpose for a sacred Christian union”

Matthews and Hubbard don’t fully live up to these two descriptors from the books cover.  These two authors are primarily ministry and counseling trained.  As such they accurately described the condition of our cultures’ marriages and their historical roots.  They brilliantly show the drawbacks of the present marriage arrangements in America and the dangerous developments we have made in the last 200 years.  They chronicle marriages as team units during colonial times and the rise of neo-Victorianism.  What the authors do not do is develop from scripture a “radical alternative.”

Marriage Made in Eden asks more questions than provides answers.  Its exegetical work is lacking and their scriptural model is crammed into the very last portion of the book.  The “radical alternative” this book promises never fully forms.  As  a critique this book provides an excellent critical commentary on non-Christian marriage models, some of which the church has promoted.  While these critics provide no better model for our marriages, they certainly challenge us to evaluate our own understandings and force us to provide our own alternatives.

Timothy Egan’s Worst Hard Time is a history book that reads like a novel and chronicles the daily life of the survivors of the dust bowl.  Other histories of this time record those who fled from this great disaster but this book records the lives of those who stayed.  Timothy Egan is primarily a journalist and writes with a very contemporary and quick style.  He reports from his own interviews – the life stories of the survivors.  Egan weaves throughout the book personal stories, interviews, historical facts and scientific findings from this time.  Throughout the book Egan looks back to the cause of the dust bowl, severe human abuse of the earth and traces the human cost.  Egan keeps the reader’s attention with every chapter…I’ve never read a history so exciting.

I’ve read a lot of books on ministry and had yet to find one that I really felt served as a true primer for pastors.  Will Willimon’s book simply titled, Pastor has ended my search and should be read by every Bible college student and aspiring minister.  Willimon is widely respected as a preacher and curch leader.  He presently is the bishop of Alabama for the United Methodist Church but is most well-known for his long tenure as the Dean of Duke University’s Chapel.  He has spent considerable time in ministry and preparing others for ministry.  This book seems to be a collection of his theology of ministry and his advice to ministers.  It is heavy in spots but reads as sage advice from a veteran practitioner.

What sets this book apart from so many other books on ministry his Willimon’s high regard for the laity.  He is quick to point out that the baptism of all believers calls them and equips them to ministry.  He then moves on to the particular and peculiar role that “clergy” have among the priesthood of all believers.  He deals sensitively with the struggles of the pastorate.  He challenges complacency and urges a strong grasp on the word as the source of life and power for the pastor.  He has thought through the roles of the minister, the pitfalls of ministry and guides the reader through them.  If you are a pastor, beginner or veteran – read this book.  If you know someone preparing for ministry – buy this book for them.  This book is truly a gift and an encouragement.  It is one that I will keep and read again.