Book Review-The Vertical Self

I am loving this Booksneeze book review program as I just read The Vertical Self by Mark Sayers. Wow is all I can say. This book was written in a non-preachy tone with ideas that made me rethink how I see life, my faith and my Savior.

The main premise of the book was to look at living "horizontally" verses "vertically." Horizontal living means a life of me, myself and I while also trying to please the world while Vertical living focuses on glorifying God and living under His ultimate authority. Here are a few examples taken from a table in the book on page 19-20

Vertical vs Horizontal:

God as Judge vs Others as Judge

Holiness vs Status

Eternal vs Temporary

Delayed gratification vs Instant gratification

Work ethic vs Play ethic

Self discipline vs Self esteem

Facts vs Feelings

Are you getting the picture here? Would love to know if any of these ring true in your life-if you veer more torward the Horizontal than the Vertical in certain areas.

To take it one step further, Mark Sayers writes about how Christians can live a fragmented life as they go from Vertical to Horizontal depending on their location, the people they are with or when they are at work. This is called fragmented living meaning our beliefs are scattered all over the place depending on our circumstances. "One can have an evangelical Christian worldview, a secular sex life, an economic rationalist approach to money, a conservative vote and a liberal approach to humor." page 26 All I can say is this paragraph punched me in the gut and I am rethinking my approach to life. I want my entire existence to be consistent and consistently point toward the LORD!

This book is a fantastic read. You can purchase it on Amazon or straight from the Thomas Nelson webpage.

**I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Book Review-Picking Dandelions

I have the privilege of participating in the Blog Tour for Picking Dandelions by Sarah Cunningham.



Sarah's Website: www.sarahcunningham.org

Buy the book here

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Book Review-The Selfless Gene

I am thrilled to be a part of a new program with Thomas Nelson called Booksneeze. It is a blogger review program and I hae access to their new books and get the opportunity to review them. So, this is the first book that I read for them.

The Selfless Gene, by Charles Foster


Here is my review that I posted on Christianbook.com
I have to be honest and say that I really wanted to like this book. It was promoted as a fair and balanced look at two opposing worldviews. But, as I continued to read, my blood pressure elevated with the turn of each page. Rather than have a fair and balanced approach looking at both evolution and creationism (or intelligent design), the author tries to convince the reader that both worldviews can conincide with each other and meet in the middle. To top it off, the creationist point of view comes off as ignorant and back woods-very offensive. While the author does not completely lift up evolution as final truth, he does show the pitfalls in this worldview. But, this does not make up for the fact that there is no way possible to work with both views and take both intelligent design and evolution and meld both into your own personal worldview. I can't say that I recommend this book.

**Disclosure: I received a free copy of The Selfless Gene as part of a blogger review program with Thomas Nelson

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