en-US Thu, 01 May 2025 05:21:09 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review1135121806 Thu, 01 May 2025 05:21:09 -0700 /review/show/1135121806 George P. gave 5 stars to The Psalms: ESV (Leather Bound) by Anonymous
The Psalms, ESV (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014).

The Psalter is the prayerbook of Israel and the Church. Unfortunately, many American evangelicals do not make regular use of it in their personal and corporate worship. Some years ago, I began using it for morning and evening prayer, and I have found my faith in God enriched through the practice.

A few months ago, I discovered that Crossway had published The Psalms, using its English Standard Version. The ESV is a good translation, though it is not the translation I use most regularly. Nonetheless, I was impressed with the beauty and utility of The Psalms and decided to use it for personal worship.

What makes The Psalms helpful?

First, it presents the psalms in a single column, removes explanatory subheads and notes, and moves the chapter and verse numbers to the side so that they do not intrude on the reader's vision. This has the effect of emphasizing the poetic structure of the individual psalms and concentrating the reader's attention on their words. The Psalms is a beautiful presentation of the Psalter's beautiful prayers.

Second, The Psalms is well constructed, with a leather-like cover over hard board. Its pages are thick--unlike the onion paper of most Bibles--and hence durable for daily use. Finally, it fits easily into the hand, large enough to accommodate pages with a good-size font but not so large that it is unwieldy. This is a prayer book-sized Psalter, easy to hold and small enough to fit into a suit pocket or purse.

Finally, though the ESV is not my preferred translation, as noted above, I find its translation of the psalms very helpful. The word-for-word (or formally equivalent translation) retains much of the language of the King James Version (and its English successor translations) without being antiquarian.

Obviously, if you don't use the Psalter daily, there is no special need to purchase The Psalms in any translation--let alone the ESV--when you can simply read them in your Bible. On the other hand, if you do use the Psalter as a daily prayer book, The Psalms is an option that you should look into.

P.S. If you found my review helpful, . ]]> Review7526394587 Mon, 28 Apr 2025 12:29:56 -0700 /review/show/7526394587 George P. gave 5 stars to The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Discipler (Paperback) by PhD Melissa J. Alfaro
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]]> Review7320892306 Wed, 16 Apr 2025 10:43:17 -0700 /review/show/7320892306 George P. gave 5 stars to Future-Focused Church: Leading through Change, Engaging the Next Generation, and Building a More Diverse Tomorrow (Hardcover) by Kara Powell
I received an advance reader's copy of this book from Baker Books. I wrote the following review for the Assemblies of God minister's letter, Called to Serve. And I interviewed Kara Powell in Episode 378 of the Influence Podcast, "Leading Your Church Through Change."

—â¶Ä”â¶Ä”â¶Ä”â¶Ä�

American Christianity has reached an inflection point.

“After many years of steady decline, the share of Americans who identify as Christian shows signs of leveling off,� reports
Pew Research Center in its 2023�24 Religious Landscape Study. That share of the population was 78% in 2007 and 71% in 2014. Now, it is 62%.

By the same token, the share of Americans with no religious affiliation whatsoever � the so-called “Nones� � has plateaued at 29% of the population in 2024, after rising from 16% in 2007 to 23% in 2014.

This pause will not last forever. At some point, it will resume a trajectory, whether up or down.

Which way will American Christianity go? More importantly, which way will your congregation go?

That is the question Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Raymond Chang take up in Future-Focused Church.

They define a future-focused church as “a group of Jesus followers who seek God’s direction together � especially in relationally discipling young people, modeling kingdom diversity, and tangibly loving our neighbors.�

The emphasis on youth, diversity, and compassion is intentional. As a rule, younger Americans tend to be less religious and more diverse than older Americans.

According to Pew, for example, while 75% of Americans born in the 1950s identify as Christian, only 46% born in the 1990s do. An almost equal share of the latter (44%) identifies as Nones.

Reaching distinct groups within the broader population thus requires prioritizing their evangelization and discipleship.
Interestingly, the Assemblies of God is already doing this in terms of ethnicity and race. Approximately 55% of U.S. AG adherents are white, while 45% are Hispanic, Black, Asian, Native American, or other.

Ryan Burge believes this commitment to diversity explains why “the AG has recorded long term growth while most other larger denominations have been going the other direction.�

Indeed, he argues that should this trend continue, the AG will be “the only larger Protestant denomination that is bigger in 2035 than it was in 2020.�

Given these priorities, how can pastors, ministers, and other church leaders effect change in their congregations?

Powell, Mulder, and Chang draw on Scripture, leadership studies, and their work as church consultants to outline four “zones� on the road to change.

The first is who: “Who are the people in our church (or ministry) and wider community whose unique perspectives and gifts must shape this effort?� The authors call this group the “transformation team.�

Many change efforts fail because leaders attempt to impose change from the top down. As the authors remind readers, however, “People support what they help create.�

Here is the second zone: “Where are we now, and why are we here?� Leaders seek to understand the history of their church’s history, mission, and values in order to leverage them for effective change going forward.

The third zone is there: “Where is God leading us?� The goal in this zone is to craft a shared vision of where the church would like to be in the future, and to articulate it in such a way that it inspires action.

How is the final zone: “What is our next faithful step, and how might we move into a more faithful future?�

The authors encourage readers to reflect on the life and ministry of Jesus, whom they describe as “the most effective change leader who ever lived.� They also talk about maintaining disciplined attention, experimenting around the edges, and learning from failure.

The final chapter of the book outlines an 18-month schedule for leading the process of change in your church or ministry.

I recommend Future-Focused Church to pastors, ministers, and other church leaders as an aid to their efforts to lead congregational transformation.

Your church’s future may very well depend on the choices and changes you begin to make today. ]]> Review7489250280 Mon, 14 Apr 2025 18:09:26 -0700 /review/show/7489250280 George P. gave 4 stars to Out of the Silent Planet (The Space Trilogy, #1) by C.S. Lewis
]]> Review7442624693 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 14:11:23 -0700 /review/show/7442624693 George P. gave 5 stars to Leading With a Whisper (Paperback) by Beth Grant
]]> Review7434375898 Tue, 25 Mar 2025 12:13:17 -0700 /review/show/7434375898 George P. gave 5 stars to AI Shepherds and Electric Sheep: Leading and Teaching in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (Hardcover) by Sean O'Callaghan
]]> Review7431234477 Mon, 24 Mar 2025 11:36:21 -0700 /review/show/7431234477 George P. gave 5 stars to The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical Defense (Hardcover) by Robert M. Bowman Jr.
]]> Review7392020211 Mon, 10 Mar 2025 10:29:12 -0700 /review/show/7392020211 George P. gave 5 stars to Traction: Five Proven Principles for Unstoppable Growth (Kindle Edition) by Chris Sonksen
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