Steven Ibbotson

Inspiring but disappointing!, May 1 2013

As a man who lives with a permanent physical disability, I was most interested to read and review Joni & Ken: an untold love story (Zondervan, 2013), especially to see how they worked through the additional challenges that having a physical disability brings to both partners.

While the book included honest examples of the challenges each of them struggled with in terms of living with Joni's quadriplegia, the manner in which their story was told was challenging to follow. Stylistically it was neither a parallel biography or a sequential story. There were times when Larry Libby (the third partner in the authorship) provided commentary that seemed overspiritualized. The final… Read more

Solid message with good illustrations, April 5 2013

Get Off Your Donkey (Reggie McNeal, Baker, 2013) is written to challenge people to make their community, country and world a better place to live by ceasing criticism of the problem and by getting off their "donkey" and contributing to the solution. (The story of the title is included in the introduction.)

McNeal argues that in the process of serving others with what a person is best at, an individual also becomes more of him/herself was intended to be. So helping others helps yourself. He demonstrates this truth effectively through a variety of illustrations. Though written for a general audience, McNeal is clear throughout the book about his Christian faith position… Read more

Another Challenging and practical book, April 3 2013

Mark Batterson has once again delivered a challenging and practical book, this time on the topic of prayer. Draw the Circle is a series of devotionals arranged in a format for a 40-day prayer challenge, drawing on testimonials he has received since the release of The Circle Maker.

Indeed, as one goes through each day's devotional, you are challenged in regards to a biblical concept and a practical way to apply it. Batterson's honesty and gift for story-telling make each chapter a pleasurable read.

A couple chapters have a weak biblical basis (eg chapter 30 & 37) committing the exegetical fallacy (D. A. Carson) of reading any possible meaning of a word's range into one… Read more