Dr. David Jeremiah's book “Living With Confidence In A Chaotic World” is one such wealth of gem full of clear, straight-forward, uncompromising biblical wisdom and richly illustrated with supporting real-life stories, eye-opening statistical facts, all packed in a single volume.
As the world that we know now that is sinking deeper and deeper into the quicksand of despair, economic downturn, natural and man-made disasters, moral decay, Dr. Jeremiah offers hope and confidence in the midst of the difficult times we are in. In it, he outlined ten habits (that starts with the letter “c”) we must establish that will form a pattern for living with certain hope in our uncertain times:
We need to stay calm in our hearts (John 14:1-6)
We need to stay compassionate toward others (1 Thess 3:12)
We need to stay constructive in building others up (1 Thess 5:11, Eph 4:29, Rom 14:19)
We need to stay challenged diligently to live up the Christian life (2 Peter 1:1-10)
We need to stay connected to the church (Hebrews 10:22-25)
We need to stay centered in Christ (Col 3:1-4)
We need to stay confident in your faith (1 Peter 3:15)
We need to stay consistent in your walk (1 John 2)
We need to stay committed to the Word (James 5:7-11)
We need to stay certain of His coming (Romans 13:13-15)
This is certainly a good book to read, yet a little suggestion here: with such a heavy amount of statistical facts, it would be better if the author could illustrate these statistical facts with diagrams, pie charts, figures, tables that would enhance and capture the impact of these facts.
On page 1 - 2, the author describes on weather warfare employed by certain nations - a new science of weather modification, tailor-made for their own benefits. China did that during the Beijing summer Olympics 2008. The US Air Force is determined to "own the weather" by 2025. Such weather warfare and modification can be extremely disturbing knowing the facts that earthquake could be triggered by well-placed underground nuclear explosion; volcanoes could be cooked up, typhoons and tsunamis could be triggered.
On page 45, the author highlights some of the 20th century's most famous atheists: Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao ZeDong, and how these atheists, without the presence of a personal God, can results only in tearing down the world, rather than building up.
I was particularly inspired and touched by the heroic story of Professor Liviu Librescu duringn the Virginia Tech massacre (page 67-69). Librescu, a 75-year-old Holocaust survivor and professor of mechanical engineering, was in the middle of teaching one of his popular classes at Norris Hall yesterday when Seung-Hui Cho tried to enter the room. As his students start jumping out the windows of the second-floor room, Librescu stayed behind to block the door, according to his students. He was killed by the gunman.
On page 94, the author challenges his readers that although many of us may have hundreds of "friends" in social networking sites such as Facebook, this can never replace the soul-to-soul connection, especially during tough times. In fact, the Church should have a vision of "20/20", as described in Acts 20:20 that says:
"....I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house" (NASB)It was saddening to hear the stories of Christians in North Korea. To be a follower of Christ in North Korea is equivalent to being a traitor to the government regimen, where only worship of the Kim Jong Il and his late father is permitted. North Korea has been "holding" the top spot on Open Doors World Watch List for more than seven years. (Click here to view the latest Watch List)
In Chapter six also, the author mentioned a financial principle found in Randy Alcorn's The Treasure Principle, where Alcorn offered the illustration that just as we will be interested to know the developments and progresses of the companies that we have investment in, when we invest in God's kingdom, our minds and hearts follow in the same way. For example, if we begin sending money to help African children with AIDS, we will begin to read more on that subject.
Pages 158 - 159 talk about the story of Corrie ten Boom and how she began to understand why the Word of God is referred to as her "Hiding Place."
Chapter 9 opens with the shocking suicide story of Adolf Merckle - one of the Germany's top ten richest man. Merckle made a speculative investment based on his belief that Volkswagen shares would fall; however, in October 2008, Porsche SE's support of Volkswagen sent shares on the Xetra dax from €210.85 to over €1000 in less than two days, resulting in losses estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars for Merckle. Adolf Merckle committed suicide on January 5, 2009 by throwing himself in front of a train near his hometown of Blaubeuren.
On page 221, the author discussed on the saddened declining moral standard among Christians, particularly with regards to pornography viewing, according to a National Review Online update.
*******************************************
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers aspart of their 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.”
*******************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment