RLGN 489 Book Review
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RLGN 489 Book Review
Written by
Anthony Q. Hackett Sr.
RLGN 489-B01 LUO
L26713396
Spiritual Disciplines for the
Christian Life
Presented to
Professor: Steven Bohannon
1.Bibliographic Entry
Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines For the Christian
Life. Colorado Springs: NavPress Publishing & Tyndale
House Publishing. 1991, 2014.
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2.Summary
Spiritual Discipline for the Christian Life has a pretty
straight to the point theme, concept and principle. It calls for
us as Christians to learn to understand and appreciate the
necessity to have spiritual, and mental disciplines as we live
our lives in Christ. It allows us to understand, that the things
we are doing have consequences, both positive and negative.
That in order for us to be successful as Christians, or believers
we have to be willing to dedicate ourselves to prayer, fasting,
and reading the Scriptures to become affluent and clear in our
understanding of God’s desire for man.
Whitney gives a really good example, when he writes
about young Kevin; which is found in Chapter 1 page 1. Every
day, Kevin had to spend a certain amount of time practicing his
guitar, while watching his friends outside having a good time
enjoying the sun. Kevin did not like this outcome until he was
wafted away by an angel to Carnegie Hall, where he saw his
future self brilliantly playing the guitar. To get to the point; the
angel told him, this is you if you practice. When Kevin came
back to the present time, his outlook about practicing the
guitar changed, because he understood where his hard work
would take him. The theme of the concept of this book, if taken
properly will give us the same perception. If we discipline
March 7, 2019
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ourselves to spend time with God, to build a relationship with
God, to learn to understand his will, our discipline will give us
the ability to know his purpose, and to be able to carry it out
without falling apart, when things become hard or
disappointing.
3.Critique
Just as Kevin learned that to become successful, he had to
practice, so must we as Christians understand that without
interaction with God, without spending time with our father,
without reading his word; we do our spiritual disciplines a
great injustice, we crippled them. Spiritual Disciplines for the
Christian Life shows us that when we use an element, and
ability, and aspect of ministry that has been bestowed upon us
by God continuously, it becomes stronger; we become more
comfortable within it, it becomes less of a chore, and more of a
passion. It no longer needs to be defined by us, because it is
defined through us.
This book caused me to see myself, for there have been
many times, that I did not honor God, or give him my best,
even take the time out to pray and seek him or share his word
with someone that may have needed encouragement, or
upliftment. This book caused me to look at myself from a
different perspective; for like many other people I had a false
sense of entitlement when it came to God, simply because of
the title that he had bestowed upon me. In Chapter 5 page 102
Whitney talks about his 10th birthday party, and how he felt
when he took his friends to the high school basketball game,
and paid their way in, thinking that they would spend the game
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with him. And once they got into the gymnasium, they left him.
I thought about the times that I did that to God.
I remember, when I was living in Lynchburg Virginia, and
the car that I had was giving me a lot of problems. My credit
wasn’t good enough, at that time to get a new car, and I did
not have $5000 to repair told me he was sending me to my old
car. One morning, God woke me up early, he said there was a
special place he was sending me, and I had to go there that
day. Normally I’d be up early for work, but this was my day off.
He told me to dress as if I was going to work, and as I was
getting dressed, he told me to go to Lynchburg Nissan auto
dealership, because he was going to give me a new car that
day. On the way I saw a small dealership, and I stopped, and I
heard a voice saying get back into the car and go where I have
told you to go. I did as I was told, and when I got there the
dealer walked me around a lot and brought me to a brand-new
Ford Taurus. He asked me if I could see myself driving this car,
and I said, certainly, yes. And then he ran my credit, and just
when I thought it was over, he told me I was approved with no
money down, and they even paid my taxes and licensing for the
vehicle. Not to mention the down payment, for my new car
insurance. There was no doubt in my mind it was a miracle,
because my credit score was very low at that time. Once I got
the car, I changed, and not in the positive manner. This is the
reason why I agree with everything Whitney wrote in his book,
because it revealed to me, that anyone can fall short, or miss
God, in their actions and perceptions. After I read this book, I
felt there was a great many things I had to apologize to God
for, people I took for granted, blessings that I didn’t
appreciate, doors that was open for me that I did not even
deserve to walk through.
4.Evaluation
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It doesn’t matter, where you are as a Christian; I believe
this book will enlighten you. It doesn’t matter where you think
you are as a Christian; this book will make you reevaluate
yourself. This book will meet you in whatever capacity you are
in, from small Kevin, to 10-year-old Whitney, to the adult
Whitney. The writer gave many examples, of things that helped
him to change, that shaped his opinion, and his outlook
towards God; and I believe that it will do the same for any
ministry, great or small. I believe this book to be very
beneficial for every department, board, or outlet within our
churches, simply because it helps you to see the truth within
yourself. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life helps you
to not pass the buck on to someone else but to own your stuff.
This book touches on every facet of ministry, from, Bible
intake, prayer, worship, evangelism, servitude, stewardship,
fasting, spending time in silence and in solitude, journaling
your findings, your readings, and revelations given to you by
God, and finally, learning and preserving what God has blessed
you to obtain throughout ministry. This book teaches us the
importance of taking responsibility. Nicola Pless and Thomas
Maak give a perfect example in a recent journal article. For
they stated;[Nic09] “Among the key lessons from Enron and
other corporate scandals in recent years is arguably the point
that it takes responsible leadership - and responsible leaders -
to build and sustain a business that is of benefit to multiple
stakeholders and not just to a few risk-seeking individuals.”1
Just like the book, Pless and Maak states that is important, for
leaders to take responsibility for their actions, and how those
actions affect their followers. That is why I believe strongly in
this book.
Pless, Nicola, Maak, Thomas. Responsible Leaders as Agents of
World Benefit: Learnings from "Project Ulysses". Pg. 59-71(reviewed March 2019)
microphone of you will do that thing but do things for a day
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Nicola Pless, Thomas Maak. "Responsible Leaders as Agents of
World Benefit: Learnings from "Project Ulysses"." Journal
of Business Ethics, 2009: 59-71.
Bibliography
