Category: Book Reviews

Strategy of Satan

by Warren Wiersbe

 

– The devil is a liar and deceiver — Rev 12:9; John 8:44

– Satan’s attack is on your mind — 2 Cor 11:3; Eph 4:17-24; Rom 12:2; Prov 23:27;

– God renews us through His Word — Philip. 4:8; Is 26:3;

– Satan’s weapons is to lie — so he did with Eve

– Eve took from and added to God’s Word — God never said don’t touch. She doubted His love and care for her. She rejected God’s Word and accepted Satan’s word.

– We must make time to read and study God’s Word. God’s Word is the answer and if we don’t know it, it is our fault, no one else’s.

– Satan’s target will be your body if he can’t take your mind. He did this with Job and so many others.

– Your body is the temple of Holy Spirit — I Cor 6:19-20

– Lost people may not read the Bible, but they will see you, meaning your life is an instrument for God.

– Satan wants to destroy your body and eliminate you from the race in life. He can’t touch your soul but can mess with your body and make you reward-less.

– Satan would love to make us impatient with God’s will and/or just give up. Patience is both a mark of immaturity and a lack of unbelief. Impatience leads to costly mistakes.

– Satan wants to attack your will if he can’t get your mind or body.

– We are to serve God out of our will and obedience.

– Most things are a matter of the will. Satan wants us to submit our will to him.

– Pride is a chief weapon the devil uses.

– The devil wants to destroy the church so he goes through the individual Christians.

– Pride means we act independently of God and God’s will.

– Our defense is the indwelling Spirit of God.

– God works in you so He may work through you.

– Don’t listen to the voice of the devil, listen to the voice of God. The devil wants to lie to you, make you doubt, accuse you and make you follow your feelings.

– If the devil can get you to think about or even talk about sin, he’s taken the edge off of conviction and you’re more likely to commit to that sin now.

Start With Why

by Simon Sinek

 

– We follow leaders because we want to, not because we have to. We follow leaders for ourselves, not for them.

– There are leaders and then there are those that lead. You have to inspire people if you’re going to accomplish anything. You have to start with why.

– Great leaders inspire others, they give them a purpose.

– People don’t buy what you do they buy why you do it.

– Great companies do not hire skilled people, they hire motivated people and inspire them.

– The Wright brothers were working on the plane at the same time as Langley. Langley had money, wealthy friends and everything going for him, but he was not the one to make things happen. The Wright brothers did not have success as their recipe, in fact they looked more like failure. They did not have the money or the contacts, but they were inspired. The motivated and inspired Wright brothers were the ones to bring the new invention to the world.

– The role of the leader is not to come up with all the creative and bright ideas, it is to create an environment in which creativity and bright ideas can be born.

– Clarity is very important in your purpose, but you have to have a megaphone or some way for people to hear about what is going on.

– Say it only if you believe it. Back it up with passion.

Spiritual Warfare

by Borgman and Ventura

 

– The closer we get to God, the closer we are to the front lines of the battle.

– Awareness and vigilance are essential for survival.

– The spiritual life is like standing on head of a pen, you can fall off any direction.

– We are in a very real war, but it is invisible and not against flesh or blood. There are two extremes to this: one is to disbelieve and ignore while the other is to believe in excess and dwell on always.

– How we think about this battle is credible to how we fight the battle.

– Self dependency is our weakness in this war, we need the help of Christ. We are insufficient by ourselves, however God does not leave His children alone.

– We do not draw our strength from without or within ourselves, we draw our strength from the Lord. This is why Paul says so many times our strength is in the Lord.

– Satan may attack you by force or by fraud, but you must always have your armor on and be prepared.

– Knowing how our adversary works will help us in the battle. Just as our God has good and loving names, so our enemy has evil and corrupt names that explain who he is.

– One of Satan‘s strongest weapons is what he used with Eve at the very beginning, to make us question or doubt God. Has God said? When we begin to doubt, the devil begins to win.

– We are always on duty as a Christian, there is no holiday. The devil attacks at any time and wants to take advantage of us.

– The first line of defense we have in our armor is truth. Truth is what we have that does not change. Our enemy is an evil foe and only the truth of God’s Word can keep him at bay. I Jn 2:14; Is 54:17

– If we live passively, we will be in danger that the darts of the wicked one hit us between the armor like it did with Ahab in 1 Kings 22

– Your feet must be shod. The feet are important, they give you grip and let you run and keep on the path.

Spiritual Leadership

by J. Oswald Sanders

 

(I personally have taken more extensive notes that I’ve used to teach in classes, but this is an abbreviated list after one of my last readings of the book. Dr. Don Sisk says that this book should be read every year.)

– There are only 3 kinds of people:

1. Those who are unmovable

2. Those who are moveable

3. Those who move them

 

The latter is leadership

– To lead others, you must master your own appetites. Have you been able to quit or take control of a bad habit?

– Do you develop or discourage people? Do you use people or cultivate people? Do you criticize or encourage people?

– A spiritual leader is a shepherd — work requires a shepherds heart.

– Do you see difficulty in every opportunity, or an opportunity in every difficulty?

– A leader can have many good characteristics, but without the Spirit, he is incapable of being the right leader.

– It is said that George Whitefield stayed up in the late hours of night writing letters of encouragement to new converts.

– To move people, we must be able to move God – it is through prayer that we can talk to God who can move people.

– Procrastination is fatal in leadership.

– Reading maketh a full man, speaking a ready man, writing an exact man – Francis Bacon

– Wesley told the students that they should read or get out of the ministry.

– Success can get to our head unless we remember that it is God who gave us all we have.

Servant Leadership

by James C. Hunter

 

– Many don’t quit their jobs, they quit their bosses — no longer listen to, respect or allow to influence.

– Leadership is not management, it’s influence.

– Management is what you do; leadership is what you are.

– Do you leave things better than you found them? We all leave a mark, so leave a good one.

– Leadership is a skill. You have to move principals from their head to their heart.

– Leadership is not about style and personalities, it is about character.

– 99% of leadership failures are from lack of character

– Listening is an important quality in leadership.

– Power erodes relationships. People do few things because you have power, rather because you have influence over him.

– All of life is relational. Good leaders understand the importance of relationships and how to relate to others.

– At the core of every person is the need to be appreciated.

– Commitment is important for a leader, whether he sees fruit or not.

– Everything the leader does sends a message to others.

– Those who follow the crowd will not have a crowd that follow them.

– Treat those whom you lead like you’d want to be treated – the golden rule.

Sacred Sex

by Tony Evans

 

– Intimacy is much more than physical touch or bodily fluid exchange — if that’s all it was then prostitutes would be the most intimate people on the planet.

– Sex was created to inaugurate a covenant and renew it.

– Sex was not born in Hollywood, it was birthed in heaven; it was God’s idea, not man’s idea.

– Sex is part of your God-given DNA, so when you get saved you do not ask God to take the sex drive away rather to not let it be your master.

– You cannot expect to enjoy sex as God intended it to be if you go outside the rules God placed for sex.

– Sex is like a fire; contained in the fireplace keeps everyone warm, but let the fire free and the whole house will burn down.

– You do not have to be controlled by your passions. God has given an outlet for the sexual passion through marriage.

– Sex is more than just physical, it is also spiritual. You cannot be sexually active and do whatever you want and expect it not to affect you. As a Christian, you do not belong to yourself, you belong to Christ and your body is a temple of the Lord (1 Cor. 6:20).

– You cannot play with temptations and expect not to be hurt; whether you do so physically, visually or emotionally, it will hurt you. Flee from temptations!

– Joseph had the temptation and opportunity to sin, but he did not want to sin against God. The Bible does not say that he considered the offer, counseled what to do or even argued, he just ran. He lost his shirt over the deal, and it cost him dearly to take the stand, but he fled.

– Sexual sin, like all other sins, is primarily against God.

– God places a high price of importance on virginity and sexual purity, but since this is anti-cultural then we must decide that we are going to follow God and not the culture.

– God created sex and he has a right to define it. Any definition of sex that leaves God out is not the right definition.

– In most cases, when people say they have a sexual problem in their marriage, it is really not a sexual problem but an intimacy problem, a problem in their relationship.

Red Sea Rules

by Robert J. Morgan

 

1. Realize that God means for you to be right where you are – Ex 14:1–2; Ps 37:23–24

• Where the Lord takes you, He will sustain you.

• God knows where you are and will not abandon you

• His love never ceases and His care never dims.

• You are where you are by God’s divine appointment and you will be there until God finishes with you in that spot.

• Genesis 45:5; 50:20–21 2. Be more concerned for Gods glory then for your relief – Exodus 14:3-4

• God leads His people to the edge to receive glory out of the situation.

• The next time you’re in a bad situation, ask yourself how God can be glorified through the situation instead of just funny the way out.

• Psalms 115:1

• I Corinthians 10:13

• God doesn’t always deliver us from our problems like we want Him to; He does it His way, but it is always best.

• Psalm 50:15

• Psalm 34:19 3. Acknowledge your enemy, but keep your eyes on the Lord – Exodus 14:5-9

 

• The Bible likens the devil to 5 animals:

1. A serpent trying to deceive God’s children – Genesis 13

2. A wolf trying to destroy God’s children – John 10

3. A bird trying to snatch away God’s seed – Matthew 13

4. A lion trying to devour God’s children – 1 Peter 5

5. A dragon what he to destroy God’s Son – Revelation 12

• Do not try to beat the devil just turn him over to God.

• James 4:7–8; Daniel 11:32; Ephesians 6:13

• 2 Corinthians 2:11; Ephesians 4:26–28; 6:12; it was the devil who attacked Job and that is the devil will attack God’s children today.

• The way to respond is running to Christ.

 

4. Pray – Exodus 14:10

• The Israelites fear brought them to cry and to the Lord. And God allows fear to drive us to our knees.

• In a situation that brings fear, you can either panic or pray.

• When you feel that you can’t move forward, look upward, pray.

• Psalm 107:28–29 • God does not always say yes to our request, but He listens with special interest.

• Job 8:5–6; Mark 5:2-23; Luke 22:44; James 5:17; Colossians 4:22; James 5:16

 

5. Stay calm and confident and give God time to work – Exodus 14:13-14

• God teaches that we are to leave room for His wrath, and what about His other attributes – we need to leave room for God to work.

• You cannot solve every problem or cure every hurt, but you can leave room for God to work.

• Ephesians 3:20.

• The Lord likes to work in the impossible.

• When the Bible says to wait on the Lord, it is all about giving God room and time to work.

• Deuteronomy 31:6; I Samuel 17:47; Romans 8:31, 37

 

6. When unsure, just take the next logical step by faith – Exodus 14:15

• Many times when we go as far as we can, God will open up other doors for the rest of the way.

• God does not always show the entire way. We may need to take one step to get light for the next step.

• Luke 11:3; Psalm 68:20

• When you do not know what to do, just take the next logical step… it may be there that God shows you.

• We are not to be anxious about tomorrow.

• We are not supposed to worry about what we cannot see in the future but live by what we know right now.

• Matthew 6:34

• If you cannot see what lies in the distance, just do what you can see clearly at hand.

• Day by day, step-by-step live until God shows you the next.

• Trust God to lead you one step at a time.

 

7. Envision Gods enveloping presence – Exodus 14:19-20

• God went before them in a cloud or pillar fire — God’s presence was with them.

• Psalm 139:5–6; 125:2; 5:12; 32:7,10; 33:22

• Learn to envision His presence and realize you do not have to fear.

• Isaiah 41:10; Acts 18:9–10; Hebrews 13:5

• Envision God around you. Isaiah said God was like eagles wings taking him away. David said God was like a rock.

• Access God’s power.

• Reflect God’s presence in your demeanor.

• Think of the benefits you have with God being near.

 

8. Trust God to deliver in His own unique way – Exodus 14:21-22

• Deuteronomy 23:14; Psalm 34:19; Job 5:19; 2 Peter 1:9; Galatians 1:4; Psalm 50:15

• Isaiah 55:8

• God will deliver His children in His way. There are no standard, cookie-cutter ways that God has to work.

• God can still do miracles, but they are how and when He chooses.

• God’s arm is not too short to save and His ear not too dull to hear.

 

9. View your current crisis as a faith builder for the future – Exodus 14:30-31

• Faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted.

• Mark 4:29–30

• Matthew 15:28; 8:26; 9:2; Hebrews 11:6

• God glories when His children have enough faith to really believe Him.

• Trust Him. The Lord loves to respond to our faith.

• Faith is finding and depending on God’s promises in a specific situation.

 

10. Don’t forget to praise Him – Exodus 15:1-2

• Wash your face every morning in a bath of praise – Charles Spurgeon

Raising Men Not Boys

by Mark Fabarez

 

– Your children are not given to you to you to make you happy but so that you can prepare them for the future.

– Your goal cannot be to hang on to kids as long as possible rather to prepare them for life.

– Your children will thrive, mature and grow when they know you and your spouse are committed to each other in marriage.

– Nothing is more central to our child’s existence than that of knowing God.

– Boys do the best when sent from a strong home, and that’s a home with a strong marriage.

– Have rules, but make as few rules as possible.

– Make him sweat by playing and running outside, boys need it. Get them moving instead of watching a movie.

– Teach them a good work ethic. You are preparing him for a future job, teach him to work hard and diligent.

– Teach discipline by having to get up, to be outside, quiet time (more for you than them), do chores, and keep a schedule.

– Teach generosity instead of greed. Loving money will only hurt them, learning to give money will help them.

– Respond to the sins of your children, but do not overreact about them.

– Jesus grew in favor with God and man.

 

This would be a good model to teach our children:

1. To grow in favor with God by knowing God in their lives and walking with him.

2. To learn to relate to others — it is our responsibility to teach our children how to socially interact with others. – Teach your son to be humble instead of being arrogant – Luke 18:14.

 

– Teach hygiene and care for their body.

– Teach respect for others and especially those in authority.

– There should be teaching on gratitude.

– Model and teach them how to say sorry as well as forgive others.

– We are growing up in a world of screens that will not just occupy our children’s minds for hours or days, but for years and lifetime. We must teach them to not be consumed by technology or they will be destroyed by it.

– The happiness of your children cannot be your main goal in raising kids — but sadly this is the case with the majority of parents.

– Dad, take pride in your son(s) wanting to become independent as a man, even though mom has a hard time with it. Husbands must lovingly lead their wives into accepting and understanding their son is becoming independent man.

– Even though your son is growing and wants his freedom, dad must still be firm that he treats his mother (your wife) with dignity and respect.

– Critical comments about your son’s appearance, specifically in the teen years, can be very damaging. Help him with clothing, hygiene and body care, but be very careful or your comments can close the doors to influencing and helping.

– Teach your son to say no to alcohol and drugs.

– Every teenage boy needs a curfew. – Letting your son get a job will teach him responsibility as well as how to interact with others.