Review: NIV Faith and Work Bible

As a fairly conservative Christian working in a very liberal theatre environment, a Bible with insights on faith in work has great appeal. There is great potential for discussion of cultural issues and spiritual warfare here. However, the NIV Faith and Work Bible seems more interested in giving theological points on how our day to day work is a part of God's greater plan.

David Kim's introduction states the editors' goal was to incorporate the redemption of our motivations, relationships and world. Essays in the back of the Bible give a bit more insight on why editors focused on the Gospel story and doctrinal standards, but honestly I expected more general principles and perhaps Biblical character examples. Reading through the notes, I found more than I expected from an initial scan, but I still wanted more.

Here are a few additional pros and cons of this edition:

- The layout and larger print work very well for easy reading and a pleasant feel
- The "storyline" sections (basically bullet points of the Bible's events) spread throughout seem more written for beginners in the faith an felt unnecessary
- Examples from specific professions will appeal to visual and emotional learners, but felt irrelevant and uninformative to me
- Book introductions could have been organized into sections and had little to say about faith and work
- The inserts on doctrine are sparse and include only a paragraph or two that specifically apply the topic to faith and work

*Disclaimer: I received this Bible from BookLookBloggers. All opinions are my own.

Review: Culture by A.W. Tozer

"Culture" is a compilation of various A.W. Tozer works, but the selections are poorly organized and occasionally disconnected from the subject matter. I do, however, enjoy Tozer's philosophical style. He has an eloquent way with words, and although he rarely uses Scripture, he has a firm grasp of orthodox Christianity. "Culture" discusses the following:

- Worship in everyday life as Jesus chooses to involve us in his plans
- Changing the Bible to fit modern sensibilities and why that does not work
- What the church should look like
- What the church does look like when shallow and modified for culture's sake
- Patient courage of the Christian
- The world as a spiritual battleground
- False security and wealth and position
- The modern church's wrong desire to do good without submitting to Christ's lordship
- Son of earth versus son of heaven
- The difficulties of the Christian life
- And more.

So this is a good book, but readers may learn more from reading these selections in their full context.

*Disclaimer: I received this book from Moody Publishers. All opinions are my own.