Close Enough to Hear God Breathe: The Great Story of Divine Intimacy by Greg Paul

I wanted to like this book, I really did. I loved the title. I loved the idea, of getting close enough to God to hear Him breathe. But I didn’t like the book at all.

I found the text to be too filled with personal examples that, while enjoyable to read, illustrated the topic only peripherally if at all. I thought his introductory passage detailing Jesus’ baptism by John to be too imaginative for my tastes, and somewhat crude.

I wanted meat and instead found fluff. I wanted to be convicted and was instead annoyed. I wanted insight and instead found repetitive banality.

The book promised an intimate journey with God, but completely failed to deliver on that promise.

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

The Voice New Testament is a dynamic equivalent translation that aims to read like a story. The text claims to try and retain the different voices of the original authors of the books of the New Testament, and I was excited to see how that was handled. Unfortunately, I felt like there wasn’t much of a noticeable difference in the writing style of the books I read (Luke, Mark, and Philippians).

There were some positives for me – I liked the reading plans included at the front of the book, especially the one for Advent which is often neglected. I also liked the topical guide. I liked the idea of having the text formatted like a script. I do not like how, in an effort to avoid footnotes, the layout includes embedded notes and italicized additions to the text that ends up being distracting and annoying. I also have significant concerns over the italicized additions of material not in the original text. Despite the introductory claims that the italicized words contain information “that would have been obvious to those originally addressed” by the Scripture and are intended “to help the reader better understand the text,” I felt that the additions went way beyond those admirable goals.

I dislike how The Voice’s website seems to disparage other translations as it claims that readers can “discover that they can actually hear God’s voice speaking into their life today,” and “connect or reconnect with God through His story.” I also don’t think that you are limited to The Voice if you want “a Bible that is relevant to [your] life today, and that, by reading it, [you] can hear God speaking to [you] personally.”

My go-to Bible translations are the ESV and NIV, but I regularly read other translations as a way to see concepts and ideas in a new light and was excited to add a new version to my collection. However, I didn’t like the distracting format, and especially didn’t like the italicized additions, which seemed to cross the line for me from translation to commentary in the middle of the text. I doubt that I will read it again and don’t recommend it.

An additional note on formatting: I read this on my iPod using a Kindle app. The formatting does not display well at all under those reading conditions and the reading plans are basically unusable, and other special features such as colored text is rendered useless. I don’t own a Kindle so can’t comment on whether or not formatting issues are still a concern if you’re not using the app.

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

A Year with Jesus: Daily Readings and Reflections On Jesus’ Own Words by R.P. Nettelhorst is a 365-day devotional book that is based on the words of Jesus.

The devotional is arranged thematically, and topics include:
Love and Hate
Truths and Lies
Arrogance and Humility
Friends and Enemies
Belief and Disbelief
Patience and Impatience
Deserved and Undeserved
Good and Evil
Fidelity and Treachery
Life and Death

The stated aim of the devotional is to deepen your relationship with Jesus, by listening to what he had to say. I think it would be very successful at doing that, with its clear focus and wise insight on what that means to us today.

As with most daily devotionals, the individual entries are brief which makes it great for someone looking for a simple or quick devotional. It is not a good choice if someone is looking for an in-depth study or really meaty devotional, particularly since there are no additional related verses or suggested resources for more study listed on any of the entries.

I appreciated the topical focus, and that the brief passages encouraged really focusing on what Jesus said, especially with some of the more familiar scriptures. It’s so easy to skim over something I’ve read numerous times, and Nettelhorst’s arrangement and commentary gave new insight.

I liked that the individual entries were not dated, which makes it easy to pick up the book at any time during the year or allows for a slower pace through the book.

There are eight different translation versions used in the devotional, so it may not be a good choice for someone who has a strong preference to only use a particular translation, but I felt that the variety helped give a fresh take on some verses I’m accustomed to reading in the NIV or ESV.

I found the book to be a valuable resource and would be a good choice for anyone who enjoys devotionals.

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.