A highly personal and passionate volume of Christian prayers.
Van Karnes offers prayers for all occasions in this contemporary Christian book.
As far back in her life as she can remember, the author writes in her slim, heartfelt nonfiction debut, she has relied on prayer for guidance, strength, and inspiration. For all that time, and particularly through her involvement with the San Marino Community Church in California, Van Karnes has preferred—and crafted—“short, simple prayers” on broad topics like strength, reconciliation, peace, contemplation, and so on. For the author, these prayers are meant to be straightforward communications, a medium for baring the soul and asking questions of both the faithful and the Creator. A prayer titled “Peace on Earth,” for instance, begins with “Father, Peace on earth—what is my part in this?” but ends by addressing Van Karnes’ fellow faithful: “Could this change the world? Think about it. Could it change your marriage, family, church, community, state, country, or world? Is it possible? Look what Jesus did! Let’s try. Amen.” Chief among the common threads running through the author’s prayers is a bright note of optimism, a consistent reminder of human potential in the eyes of God. Repeatedly, her prayers try to evoke this uplifting connection. “We hear You whispering in our hearts,” one prayer goes. “You can do it. I love the time you spend with Me doing My work.” Like more traditional prayer books from centuries past, Van Karnes’ work is intended to be easily adaptable to a wide variety of situations and mind frames, and the prayers seem likewise keyed to cross Christian denominational boundaries and be applicable to a generous spectrum of faiths. Readers leading prayer groups or participating in them should find this collection especially useful. And even readers who do most of their praying in silence and solitude will likely find a great deal to inspire and console them here. In addition, the pages themselves are beautifully designed to evoke an old printed collection of scrolls.
A highly personal and passionate volume of Christian prayers.Pub Date: March 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-973610-48-9
Page Count: 158
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2018
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
