A varied, real-world Christian prayer book for all occasions.
A concise Christian guide to prayer and other topics.
“Churches all over the diaspora preach on the need to pray and instruct their members to pray,” Burns writes in her nonfiction debut, “but there is still a large number of churchgoers who are afraid of doing it wrong, shy away from prayer, and prefer the pastor, minister, prophet, evangelist, or missionary to pray over them.” Christians, she points out, are urged to pray without ceasing, but often what’s lacking is the development of a “lifestyle of prayer.” To facilitate that lifestyle, Burns offers a handbook of original prayers for a wide variety of life’s trials and challenges, from police brutality and gang violence to child abuse and bullying. Physical ailments are invoked, everything from the nervous system to the urinary system. There are prayers about enemies (“May they not devour me nor cause me to stumble”), prayers about intercourse problems (“I ask that the genito-pelvic pain…will be healed”). And of course there are dozens of prayers about far more traditional subjects like marriage; e.g., “God please give me the strength to be a husband that operates in love just like You love the church.” In all the book’s prayers, Burns combines plainspoken diction with wide-ranging scriptural quotations, shoring up her contention that prayer should be the daily language of the faithful. She intends her book to be used continually throughout the various stages of life. Some of her more action-oriented readers may take issue with the totality of dependence evoked in several of these prayers (the grieving, for instance, are instructed to pray “God, I ask that You will send me the right support system to assist me during this time,” and so on), but the sheer variety of invocations here will likely overcome such reservations; it’s a rare prayer book that can touch on both digestive problems and PTSD.
A varied, real-world Christian prayer book for all occasions.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-973632-68-9
Page Count: 114
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
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
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
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