Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Non-fiction

Becoming an overcomer: review of Our Favorite Sins by Todd D. Hunter

Anyone who identifies himself as an “accidental Anglican” has my interest from the start. Such is the case with Todd Hunter, author of Our Favorite Sins. In it, Hunter tackles the issue of tempatation and overcoming the seduction of the path that leads to sin.

Sin, confess. Sin, confess. If you’ve been in the church for a number of years, you’re probably familiar with the “cycle of sin” and maybe even have tried some ways to get out of the cycle. Our Favorite Sins, is like a guidebook for overcoming sin and fleeing from temptation. If you’re not in the church, don’t let that scare you. Hunter writes for the churched and the unchurched, drawing from research conducted by the Barna Group of more than 1,000 Americans of various ages and their temptation tendencies. He also writes from experience. Hunter doesn’t hide his own sin issues of the past and present nor is the book all numbers and theory. Hunter offers practical ways to nurture spiritual transformation and victory over sin and temptation.

FAVORITES: At the end of each chapter, Hunter includes what he calls an “ancient and fruitful” practice, such as a prayer from an ancient text like the Book of Common Prayer. He encourages meditation on the texts and reflection on their meanings. I was most uplifted by this portion of the book, and I’m excited to go back to these texts, either the excerpts Hunter gives or the full texts themselves, and pore over them. As a member of an evangelical church, I would have told you a few years ago that this was nonsense, but I’ve begun to see the richness of these prayers and blessings of saints throughout church history.

FAULTS: At times, I was more interested in the books Hunter quoted from than the one he was writing. It’s a little slow to start as he establishes his reason for writing and summarizes the findings from the survey. However, the second half of the book was enriching and life-giving. I’m interested in more of what Hunter has written.

IN A WORD: Affirming. Since my husband has been in seminary, and through the influence of respected teachers at our local church, I’ve been drawn to the faith practices of the ancients. I find liturgy beautiful and written prayers meaningful. Hunter repeatedly talks about how we’re to join God’s story, a theme that’s been at the forefront of my learning lately. I was blessed by Hunter’s inclusion of high church prayers and practices, and I’m eager to learn more about ways of worship that differ from my own.

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I received a free copy of Our Favorite Sins from Thomas Nelson through the Booksneeze Program.

I review for BookSneeze®

A long-term relationship: Review of the One Year Chronological Bible

Two Christmases ago, my in-laws gave me a copy of the One Year Chronological Bible (Tyndale). This version of the Bible arranges the books and chapters of the Bible into a beginning-to-end sort of timeline. For example, if a story appears in all three Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), you would read those on the same day instead of reading all the way through Matthew, then Mark, then Luke.

It’s hard to follow sometimes, with a Psalm here and there in the middle of a historical narrative, and it takes some getting used to — the idea that the books are out of the order we normally would think them in. But I have to say, I was enriched by using this Bible. It took me 14 months to get through because I had some weeks where I didn’t read the Bible for several days, but I’m so glad to have read the Bible all the way through and to have gained some understanding about the time when things took place.

FAVORITES: Each day’s readings were doable, although some days I thought they were long. But the flow of reading the stories chronologically made even long passages bearable. At times, I felt like I was reading a biography or memoir, which admittedly is not always how I feel about reading the Bible.

FAULTS: Really? I’m going to fault the Bible? No, not the Bible itself. My only real criticism is that when talking to my seminary-student husband, I learned that some of the scholars’ decisions about chronology could be questioned. Just because this version bills itself as THE chronological Bible doesn’t mean it’s perfectly compiled.

IN A WORD: Fresh. I was excited to read the Bible each day, and I picked up on things I hadn’t seen before because of the way familiar stories were presented. I heartily recommend the One Year Chronological Bible to anyone who wants or needs a fresh look at God’s Word.