THE SURE CURE FOR WORRY by Kent Crockett

The Sure Cure for Worry: Learning to Trust God no Matter What Happens is a 2013 book by Kent Crockett. Here, Crockett lays out Christian perspectives on trusting God and escaping worry and fear.

Worry, Crockett states, is the opposite of trust; thus, by learning to trust God and deciding to follow him, the Christian can be free from worry and fear. Crockett uses a great deal of scripture to support his thesis, which is biblically very solid, and includes many encouraging anecdotes.   

Crockett is charismatic in ways that will make non-charismatics raise an eyebrow here and there. For example, he states that a lack of peace about a decision indicates either that it is God’s will (with wrong timing or insufficient information) or that it is not God’s will (p. 145). Obviously, this tautology is not particularly helpful on the face of it. The problem is not that Crockett is wrong, necessarily, but that he likes to break down the workings of God and the Christian life into logical, step-by-step, A-or-B structures, which can feel forced and presumptuous. To offset this, a greater emphasis on individual prayer and discernment (which are in there, to be sure) would have been nice.

Crockett’s writing is a little over-the-top sometimes. His “indisputable proof” for God isn’t quite, although it is very good and well-presented. He also belabors some points that will likely seem rather obvious to all but the most entry-level of Christians (the sections on God’s IQ and counselors, for example). Some readers may thusly skim certain sections, but that’s all right.

While non-charismatics may find aspects of The Sure Cure for Worry off-putting, Crockett is right on in terms of the foundational biblical principles on worry and trust, and many people struggling with worry or fear should find this book encouraging and helpful.

RECOMMENDED

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

7 MEN by Eric Metaxas

7 Men and the Secret of Their Greatness is a 2013 book by Eric Metaxas. Here, Metaxas presents mini-biographies of George Washington, William Wilberforce, Eric Liddell, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jackie Robinson, Pope John Paul II, and Charles Colson.

Metaxas states in his introduction that he wants to answer the questions of what a man is and what makes a man great. The titular secret is that these men lived by faith, that they were surrendered to a higher purpose. Beyond the introduction, though, Metaxas never really bothers to tie things together, and as such, 7 Men is too underdeveloped in this area to serve as a thematic study.

Metaxas’s biographies are, by necessity, oversimplified snapshots (each is about twenty-five pages). As such, Metaxas gets to pick and choose what he includes, and he does a fair amount of handholding to make the points he wants to make to the reader, who may well feel written down to at times.

Metaxas’s accounts are heavy with editorial – and not without inconsistency. Jackie Robinson, for example, is lauded for turning the other cheek and blessing those who cursed (John Paul II is also praised here for his peacemongering ways); his chapter immediately follows the one on Bonhoeffer, who Metaxas praises for many things, one of which, specifically, is his attempts to murder Hitler (in fairness, this aspect of Bonhoeffer is an issue that many people either struggle with or punt entirely). Regardless of one’s position on Bonhoeffer’s actions, though, given Metaxas’s theme, it’s a jarring incongruity unaddressed.

Historical buffs will be dismayed to note that Metaxas primarily uses secondary sources and, in several cases, Wikipedia (the Washington-was-a-deist crowd will really have a field day). In the end, 7 Men may have the most merit as an introduction to these men, and in that respect, it is worthwhile, but from whatever angle you come at it, 7 Men virtually demands further reading from other sources.

In short, while these seven lives are extremely impressive, Metaxas’s accounts are somewhat less so.

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

20,000 DAYS AND COUNTING by Robert D. Smith

20,000 Days and Counting: The Crash Course for Mastering Life Right Now is a 2013 Christian motivational book by Robert D. Smith.

Smith takes, from a Christian worldview, a memento mori, live-each-day-as-if-it-were-your-last approach to living life with greater purpose, which includes the pursuit of personal goals, the appreciation of personal relationships, and the dedication of life to God. Smith also offers advice on conquering rejection, taking a proactive approach to self-improvement, and working through a lack of motivation.

This book is extremely short (it’s designed to be read in an hour), and while Smith offers some planning exercises and steps the reader can take to live life with more purpose, it nonetheless feels rather general. Some of Smith’s suggestions are concrete and feasible (for example, his “ten things you can do now”), but others, like, “Draft your life’s story, then live it,” may strike the reader as too broad and sentimental to actually sit down and do.

What Smith has to say is generally quite good, even if it’s nothing new; it’s just that he’s one of those super-intense, jump-out-of-bed-and-go types that the rest of us can find off-putting – it’s not so easy, after all, to get from here to there, or else we’d all be like that. In other words, while it’s relatively easy for the reader to accept Smith’s life principles and try to remember and implement them, it’s somewhat less likely that the average reader will run down the field with Smith’s exercises.  

In short, then, 20,000 Days and Counting is a helpful but general book; ultimately, how useful it is to you is going to depend almost entirely on how much you’re willing to put into it.  

RECOMMENDED

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

SURVIVING YOUR SERENGETI by Stefan Swanepoel

Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to Master Business and Life is a motivational business fable by real estate expert Stefan Swanepoel. Billed as “a fable of self-discovery,” the book follows a married American couple’s learning experiences over two days in the Serengeti.

Swanepoel covers seven skills for life and business: endurance, strategy, enterprise, efficiency, grace, willingness to take calculated risks, and communication. Each of these he associates with an animal indigenous to the Serengeti.

Most of the information in the book is contained in several-page summaries at the end of each chapter. On the whole, Swanepoel’s message is good, if general. But Swanepoel is a businessman, not a writer, and it shows here. The storytelling is amateurish, the dialogue stilted and expository. There’s not much at all going on in the “story.” I’m not entirely sure why this book was written as a business fable instead of a conventional skills book – perhaps because it simply wouldn’t be book-length otherwise.

Surviving Your Serengeti has as much (or more) to say about Africa as it does about business; it’s obvious that Swanepoel loves the savannah. And there are some interesting tidbits on the subject here. Unfortunately, Swanepoel’s parallels between the animals and business feel forced nearly as often as they work.

Whoever edited this book deserves some criticism as well. Whenever a character’s monologue goes more than one paragraph, the second paragraph of dialogue has no opening quotes (the rule is that the first paragraph doesn’t need closing quotes). This can be confusing.

The end of the book makes something of a big deal about figuring out “what animal you are” – there’s even a website where you can take a quiz – which seems to undermine the book’s previous point, that you should apply as many skills as you can to your life and business.

If you’re looking for business and life skills, Surviving Your Serengeti has about thirty pages of solid material. If you’re interested in Africa, get a book about Africa. While there’s certainly some good stuff here, Surviving Your Serengeti feels too general, amateurish, and shallow, and the union of business and story just doesn’t work well here. You might check it out at the library and just read the summary sections.

NOT RECOMMENDED

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON by George S. Clason

 

The Richest Man in Babylon is a 1926 financial self-help book by George S. Clason. Here, Clason presents a number of short stories, set in ancient Babylon, that communicate basic wealth-building principles.

Clason’s principles are sound and timeless: work hard, live within your means, save, and invest wisely. Clason also presents a get-out-of-debt plan whereby the debtor lives on seventy percent of his income, saves ten, and pays his debts with twenty. All these concepts are offered so simply that just about any reader should be able to grasp them.

The stories themselves hold the reader’s attention most of the time, although the Babylon shtick gets a little wearisome toward the end (and this isn’t a long book). The characters all speak in King James-style English, but it doesn’t always sound right (recent revised editions of the book, I understand, have updated the English). But it’s never too big a problem, and even so, a lot of people are going to find The Richest Man in Babylon a lot more appealing than a dry, straightforward book on finance.

In short, The Richest Man in Babylon is a readable, accessible introduction to wealth-building principles and financial responsibility.

RECOMMENDED