Useful guidance for the spiritual seeker willing to work.
A loose, honest guide to prayer.
In this slim volume, Webster discusses the importance of prayer and presents the reader with a four-part method she calls “ACTS”: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. The book begins with an explanation of these practices, peppered with examples from the Bible and Webster’s life. Each chapter ends with nearly identical sets of group discussion questions that focus on the effectiveness of these practices, the reader’s current satisfaction level with the particular practice, the pitfalls the reader encounters while practicing ACTS and a short paragraph of directed evangelizing. Each chapter also ends with a “Notes” section that is a fill-in-the-blank quiz about what Webster has written in the chapter, complete with answer key in the back of the book. The prose itself is stilted and jumps disjointedly from one point to the next. The second half of the book consists of workbook pages for readers to record their progress with the ACTS system over 40 days, as well as a space for self-reflection and an “Accountability” section to record their daily Bible readings. There is also section in which to record “Answered Prayers” and additional self-reflection space following the worksheets. The entire book is peppered with biblical quotes and suggested readings, including the journal pages, which provide fodder for reflection but occasionally break the flow of the text. Despite this, Webster provides good guidance for the often loose and daunting task of daily prayer, especially in regard to the Accountability section of the journal pages. Readers willing to work through clunky prose will find a writer and teacher who earnestly wishes to help people get closer to God. Those serious about improving their prayer life will certainly benefit from ACTS and from Webster’s positive message.
Useful guidance for the spiritual seeker willing to work.Pub Date: March 23, 2009
ISBN: 978-0615283739
Page Count: 150
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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