Chazown

As someone who is not gifted in the area of vision and planning I knew the latest book that I read would be a challenge to me. The "plan your life" type of books have been good to read but have never resulted in anything more than light reading for me. When I picked up Chazown by Craig Groeschel and saw the recommendations of some of my favorite authors I had a feeling this one might be a little different and I was right.
The author has a clear gift of vision and knows how to communicate this vision to the masses, but most importantly he gives you an outline of how you can apply this to your life. From the start the author lets you know that in order to achieve your own chazown it is going to require planning on your part. The rest of the book outlines a vision and plan that one can implement to achieve your goal. This is not a basic outline though as one may think: it delves deep into your soul and gets downright specific and at times uncomfortable. This is why I think this book has made an impact.
The part that I earmarked in this book and have applied to my life the most is in regards to relationships with people. He lays out a simple challenge: What relationship needs to be initiated, what relationship needs to be nurtured, what relationship needs to be restored, and what relationship needs to be severed. These challenges have made an impact and make the book well worth the read. Have I followed the outline step by step? No. But if you gain something from this book to apply to your life and give you a vision it is worth the time.
I received this book as part of the Multnomah Publishing Groups blogging for books program in exchange for an honest review.

Seeds of Turmoil Review

The latest book that I have read is Seeds of Turmoil by Bryant Wright. I was particularly interested in this book due to some recent studying I have done on the Islam faith. Primarily I have done research on the Islam faith that begins with Mohammed and makes little mention of the Biblical history behind it. This book takes a look at the Biblical roots of the current crisis in the Middle East and lays out the account of Abraham and Isaac and Ishmael quite well. After studying the Islamic faith and the accounts of Mohammed this was an excellent back story of how the Islamic faith developed and what it means for the current world we live in.
For Biblical scholars and even those that have a basic understanding of the Old Testament this is by no means new research or groundbreaking territory but it certainly accomplishes what the writer set out to do: Give us a basis for understanding the conflict with Judaism and Christianity that the Muslim world has.
The one critique that I have for this book is that it is short on discussion of the current world and heavy on the history of it which is simply my own bias of less interest in history and more on application. This book does do what the writer set out to do though and that is give us a solid understanding of the roots of Islam.
I received this book as part of the Booksneeze program in exchange for an honest review.