Rich scriptural commentary with real-life relevance that offers hope, direction, and encouragement.
A debut book analyzes two well-known biblical stories to address the issue of survival during life’s most difficult trials.
In the first part of this volume, Ramey takes readers on a verse-by-verse exploration of Matthew 14:22-36, the account of Jesus’ disciples facing a violent storm. They witness Jesus walking on water, calming the sea, and eventually reaching the other side. The second part moves into the Old Testament with the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and their journey to the Promised Land. Ramey has written this work using the foundation of his own excruciating tempests in life, most notably his sister’s battle with cancer. His insights about these scriptural passages are focused on enduring hardships. Some of his premises include: God lets individuals experience tribulation so they can discover his faithful character and learn to trust him; “miracles happen on both sides of the storm”; and God is always “working, moving, orchestrating things, and preparing you for what is yet to come.” The author also advises readers: “God is healing, deliverance from depression, restoration in relationships, heart mending. God is good, and He is reaching out to you. Cling to Him.” The quality of Ramey’s writing is superb—rich with meaning, easily comprehensible, and highly engaging. He is able to extract profound meaning from every verse, employing the details available. He also takes the creative liberty to annotate the ancient setting from his own perspective, which truly brings the Scriptures to life; there is an organized and balanced harmony between scriptural commentary and present-day application that is ambiguous enough to pertain to a wide variety of situations but structured enough so as not to lose readers. The book is also interspersed with novel and memorable one-liners like “God, I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow” and “God loves an underdog story and a good comeback. We can never place a period where God has placed a comma.”
Rich scriptural commentary with real-life relevance that offers hope, direction, and encouragement.Pub Date: March 23, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5127-7974-5
Page Count: 140
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
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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