A short, straightforward devotional manual.
A faith memoir that aims to bring Christians closer to God.
“The only way to live a happy and fulfilled life in a fallen and depraved world,” writes Martin-Egwuonwu in her nonfiction debut, “is living a life according to the word of God.” Her brief but biblically literate work hews to a line of devotional simplicity. She centers each short chapter on some essential aspect of her faith—honoring God, giving oneself over completely to Jesus Christ, trusting in divine forgiveness, treating one’s body as a temple—and anchors her observations in scriptural quotes. Readers are urged to make God the priority in their lives—to please him, rather than pleasing others in the world around them—and the author reinforces her requests with blunt encouragement on how to simplify one’s faith: “Seek God first,” she writes. “Pray regularly. Confess your sins regularly before God asking for forgiveness and repentance. Be passionate about building an intimate relationship with the Lord.” The insistent theme, repeated throughout the book, is one of redemption, of second chances made possible by the infinite mercy of God: “No matter what your spiritual blindness is (greed, sex, drugs, unbelief, gambling, abuse, unforgiveness, etc.),” Martin-Egwuonwu writes, “our Lord and Savior can heal you to live in the image of His Son, Christ Jesus.” The author aims to reassure readers that no matter how confused or lost they might feel, God will help them. As she lays out examples from the Bible to illustrate her points, she effectively reinforces them with her own confessions of being a “broken Christian” who once wandered away from her faith. The intended readership for this book is obviously fellow Christians, and for many of them, its short passages will provide simple, unpretentious food for thought.
A short, straightforward devotional manual.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4582-2132-2
Page Count: 108
Publisher: AbbottPress
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 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
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
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