“America is a Christian nation…”

Thus declared the United States Supreme Court in Church of the Holy Trinity vs. the United States.

Jerry Newcombe has clearly and concisely laid out significant evidence that the founding fathers were predominantly Christian in their worldview. In The Book That Made America: How The Bible Formed Our Nation, Newcombe presents a case for Christianity as the foundation for this great Republic.

America’s founding fathers were men of faith. Specifically, they were men of the Christian faith; and not deists, or secularists, as revisionist historians would have us believe. And yet, most Americans do not know the rich spiritual heritage of our nation, to their great loss.

Since leaving our Christian heritage, America has fallen into a deplorable state of godlessness; and this can be traced directly to the decisions by our leaders in the past century to leave God out of our lives. In order for America to continue to be a great nation, and a great tool to be used by God in reaching the rest of the world, we need to return to those spiritual roots, to the foundations of our nation, built upon God’s sacred Word, and restore the spiritual legacy our forefathers intended for generations to come.

Fluff.

That’s what I think after reading Charles Stanley’s new book How To Reach Your Full Potential For God.

I really didn’t like the book. Oh, sure. There were some valid points made. In fact, Stanley lays out seven essentials necessary in order to reach your full potential: a clean heart; a clear mind; using your gifts; a healthy body; right relationships; a balanced schedule; and taking God-approved risks.

I agree that each of these seven areas are necessary for growth. However, Stanley’s writing style made me feel a little like I was an elementary student sitting in the principal’s office. I don’t feel like it helped me to grow much at all. That’s disappointing to me.

I did my best to milk what I could out of it. And I will readily admit that Stanley makes some valid points. But maybe it’s his writing style; I felt like he was “talking down” at the reader.

If you are a new believer, then How To Reach Your Full Potential For God may be more helpful for you. Otherwise, I don’t recommend that you read it.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze blogger review 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.”

This is the second part of my review/assimilation of Tamara Lowe’s Get Motivated!

You can read Part 1 of my review here.

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, one of the benefits of blogging book reviews for me is that I can process what I’ve read by writing my own thoughts about it. This helps me own the material much more effectively than otherwise.

So, as much as I’m excited when I see higher traffic to my blog, I would still do this even if no one ever read it, simply because of the help it give me to articulate my thoughts on paper (ok, a screen).

In this second part of my review of Get Motivated! I will try to describe a concise description of each of the six Motivational DNA characteristics. After that, I will reveal what my Motivational DNA looks like, as well as that of my wife, Heather.

So, here goes…

First off, let me just state that this isn’t really a book review. Spiritual Warfare And Missions isn’t even published yet, and has an estimated release date of May 2010.

I was able to read and review a pre-release copy of Spiritual Warfare And Missions, watching for content and clarity.

Suffice it to say that this is an incredible book about missions that has opened my eyes to new thoughts and ideas concerning the strategies of our enemy, as he strives to keep us from sharing the Gospel with the Nations.

Without going into detail here, since the book hasn’t even been published yet, I would recommend that anyone grab this and read it as soon as it comes out. You will not be disappointed!

After the official release of Spiritual Warfare And Missions, I plan to post a review detailing my thoughts and ideas. Stay tuned…

Get Motivated! was an eye-opening read for me.

Tamara Lowe is the founder of the Get Motivated! Business Seminars. She, and her husband, Peter, take their team to dozens of cities across the country every year. They spend a day, along with several others known for their motivational and leadership skill, teaching and boosting the motivational levels of thousands of people.

I had the privilege of attending a Get Motivated! Seminar in Springfield, Missouri, in October of 2009. It was at that seminar that I received a copy of Tamara’s book, Get Motivated! It took me a few weeks to get to a point where I could read it, but once I started, I had a hard time putting it down.

I have to admit up front that I’m not sure I agree with everything she wrote, much of which will reveal itself in the following reviews. However, there are massive amounts of information in this book, and I learned much from it; even from the portions that I didn’t necessarily agree with or didn’t like.

There is a lot from this book that I’d like to process as I write about it. As a result, I will make several posts about this book over the next few days.