One of the concerns facing the current condition of the
Church is a lack of connectivity with other believers. We huddle into
autonomous church buildings or disconnected denominations and close off our
communication from other Christians. We also insulate ourselves from those
outside our circles and we suffer relationally, as well as intellectually. The
truth is that there is much to be learned and gained from our Christian
brothers and sisters, both now and throughout history.
This is one of the many reasons that I am thankful for books
like “Awakening Faith” by James Stuart Bell. This book is a gold mine of
wonderful devotions from the Early Church period. Each page is a window into
the faith that has stood for millennia. The Christian reading these daily offerings
will be blessed, encouraged, and educated by those that have been so critical
in establishing the foundations of the church.
The reader will find these devotions to contain enough of an
excerpt to get the mind and heart moving but not so much that the focus is on
the book. Topics are included, as well as biblical references to encourage some
more thought on the topic being discussed by the Church Father. This is a book
that will be one of you favorite devotions to have by you in the morning.
The only areas of criticism are that the writings being used
in the devotion are not referenced. The reader cannot go and read more by this
particular writer. I would hope to see this addressed in a second edition. I
would also hope to see better indexing. There is some in the back but I felt
that having a few paths through the devotional would have been nice (and simple
enough). To move through the devotional by topic, by author, and chronologically
would have been a vast improvement to the indexing of the devotions.
That being said, this book is well worth your time and
money. You will be using it for years to come. If you are looking for a
devotional that breaks out of the typical mold then you will want to consider “Awakening
Faith”.
Zondervan provided me a copy of this book for a fair and
honest review. This was not an effect on the review that I have written.
