Monday, April 11, 2011

Book Review: Always True by James MacDonald



James MacDonald's Always True essentially is about the five great promises of God as stated in the Bible. The 5 promises that MacDonald talked about are:

Promise #1: God Is Always With Me - I will not fear

Promise #2: God is always in control - And I will not doubt.

Promise #3: God is always good - and I will not be in despair

Promise #4: God is always watching, and I will not falter

Promise #5: God is always victorious, and I will not fail

While I applaud MacDonald's attempt to encourage and strengthen his readers in the hope of God's promises, yet, I find these to be rather simplistic. I do not mean to be skeptical as I fully trust in the unchanging nature of our Lord, in His goodness, and in His unchanging promises. Nevertheless, living in this fallen world, and complicated with God's granting humans the freewill to make moral choices, these five promises seem to be more of a set of nice cliche to dress conversations.

In my opinion, I think MacDonald should invite his readers to wrestle with tougher questions such as:

If God is always with me, why at times, am I still fearful living in this world?

If God is always in control, why am I still doubtful as I see the ugliness of evil unfolding through series and series of world events?

If God is always good, why is there still evil and sufferings in this world?

If God is always watching, why am I sometimes feel far from Him?

If God is always victorious, why in many occasions, evil seems to be having the upper hand of things?

As I have mentioned, although I do not intend to be skeptical, I believe, if we believe in the infallbility of the Bible and the Christian faith we are living with, we should not be fearful to wrestle with these tough questions. Having wrestle with five life-perplexing questions, we can come out even stronger in our faith and confidence in our God.


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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the e-pub format of this book from Moody Publishers through Netgalley. 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.”
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