Review-Trusting God in Turbulent Times

 

Trusting God in Turbulent Times by Tony Evans. Published September 8, 2026.

I have never met Tony Evans but started listening to his sermons and reading his books many years ago.  When our oldest son was diagnosed with leukemia and went to his heavenly reward, a couple of Evans’ books helped me through those days.  His “Hope for the Hurting” and “Divine Interruption: Holding on to Faith When Life Breaks Your Heart” (co-written with his family) were good books that helped me through the dark days. I have recommended them to various people going through similar circumstances.

I look at this devotional as an unofficial part of the same series.

As the author describes it in the introduction, it is easy to be faithful when things are going well.  It’s when the turbulence hits that our faith and trust in God is tested.

As you read through the devotional, Evans keeps bringing the reader back to Scripture.

This is not simply a collection of inspirational thoughts. Scripture is intended to be the foundation for the devotional material. Each entry begins with a selected biblical passage or verse, followed by reflection and application.

That is important because Christian encouragement becomes shallow when it is disconnected from God's Word.

The interactive challenges are a particularly good feature. Evans doesn't simply say, "Trust God." He encourages readers to consider what trusting God actually looks like in their circumstances.

One of the book's best qualities is that the answer to turbulence isn't presented as "God will make everything go the way you want."

Instead, the emphasis is on God's faithfulness and presence.

That's a much more biblical foundation for Christian hope.

Readers shouldn't approach this expecting a lengthy theological examination of suffering or divine sovereignty. The format is deliberately accessible: Scripture, reflection, and application. That makes it easy to read one entry a day.

I see this as a devotional I will return to in the future.

Highly recommended.

Review-Matthew Boswell-Create in Me a Clean Heart

 

Create in Me a Clean Heart by Matthew Boswell. Published September 1, 2026.

There are some Christian books that give you information. There are others that make you stop and examine your own heart.  Matthew Boswell's Create in Me a Clean Heart: Experiencing God's Abundant Mercy in Psalm 51 is one of those books.

Psalm 51 is one of the most familiar passages in the Bible concerning repentance. It is David's prayer after his devastating sin. David had failed miserably, but instead of running away from God, he ran toward Him.

That is the heart of this book.

Boswell takes us through Psalm 51 and shows us what genuine repentance looks like, what God's mercy accomplishes, and how God can take a broken and sinful heart and begin the work of restoration. The book follows four movements in Psalm 51: a repentant heart, a restored heart, a renewed heart, and a responsive heart.

I found that progression particularly helpful.

David begins by acknowledging his sin. He doesn't make excuses. He doesn't blame someone else. He doesn't try to convince God that his sin wasn't really that bad.

He simply confesses. And that's where repentance begins.

We live in a world where people are very good at explaining why they do what they do. We can always find someone or something to blame.

David doesn't do that.

He says, in essence, "God, I have sinned."

That is a difficult prayer to pray…but it is also a liberating one.

We need more than forgiveness.

One of the things I appreciated about Boswell's approach is that he doesn't stop with forgiveness.

David asks God to cleanse him.

He asks God to create something new within him.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God."

David realizes something important: he can't fix his own heart and neither can we.

We can change our behavior for a while. We can make promises. We can try harder. We can convince ourselves that we will never make the same mistake again.

But ultimately, we need God to do a work in us. That's what makes the gospel so powerful.

Christianity isn't simply about becoming a better person. It's about allowing God to transform us from the inside out. This may be the part of the book that spoke to me the most.

What do we do after we fail?

Some people hide.

Some become overwhelmed with guilt.

Others try to convince themselves that what happened wasn't really that serious.

David gives us another response.

We go to God.

David doesn't pretend his sin didn't happen. He doesn't minimize it. But he also doesn't allow his failure to become the end of his relationship with God. He asks for mercy. He asks for cleansing. He asks for restoration.

And then he asks God to restore the joy of his salvation.

That's an important reminder for Christians.

Sometimes we know we're forgiven, but we don't live like we're forgiven.

We continue carrying the guilt of something God has already forgiven.

Boswell reminds us that God's mercy isn't simply about wiping our record clean. God's mercy begins the process of restoring our relationship with Him.

The title of the book comes from perhaps the best-known verse in Psalm 51:

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

That is a prayer worth praying regularly.

Notice David doesn't say, "God, help me become a little better." He says, "Create."

That's a powerful word.

David knows he needs something God alone can provide. And isn't that true for all of us? There are attitudes we can't seem to change. There are temptations we continue to struggle with. There are hurts we can't seem to let go of. There are sins we wish we could erase from our past.

We need more than willpower.

We need God to create in us a clean heart.

Another strength of the book is the way Boswell connects repentance with worship.

We might think of repentance as something negative, something associated with guilt, sorrow, and failure. But Psalm 51 doesn't end there. It ends with praise.

David's experience of God's mercy leads him to want to tell others about God's ways and declare God's praise. That's a beautiful picture of what God can do with a restored life. Our greatest failures don't have to be the final chapter.

God can use even our brokenness to point others toward His grace.

We don't praise God because we've never failed.

We praise Him because He is merciful when we do.

I appreciated the fact that Boswell takes sin seriously without leaving the reader hopeless. There is no attempt to make David's sin seem insignificant. But the book also doesn't leave us sitting in guilt. The emphasis is on God's mercy.

That makes this a very pastoral book. It's a book that speaks to the person who knows they've failed. And, if we're honest, that's all of us.

I also appreciated the Christ-centered nature of the book. Psalm 51 points us toward our need for forgiveness, and ultimately that forgiveness is found in Jesus Christ. We don't earn God's forgiveness by feeling bad enough. We don't earn it by trying harder. We receive it because of God's grace.

He wants us to understand Psalm 51, but more importantly, he wants us to feel the weight of its message in our own lives.

At times, some of the ideas are repeated. But I didn't find that particularly distracting. I often repeat the main idea a few times in my sermons. I think God has to repeat things to us in the Bible so that it will stay with us. When the subject is repentance, forgiveness, and God's mercy, sometimes repetition is exactly what we need.

Who Would Benefit From This Book? I would recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with guilt, shame, or failure.

 

I could especially see it being helpful for:

·         Someone trying to understand biblical repentance

·         A Christian struggling to accept God's grace and forgiveness

·         Someone who has experienced a serious moral failure

·         A small group studying repentance and forgiveness

·         Pastors preparing to preach or teach Psalm 51

·         Anyone who feels spiritually distant from God

 

It would also make a good devotional read. I wouldn't rush through it. Psalm 51 (like the rest of the Bible) is a passage that deserves time for reflection.

One of the things I love about Psalm 51 is that David's failure isn't the end of the story.

God's mercy is.

That's also the message I took away from Matthew Boswell's Create in Me a Clean Heart.

We all have things we wish we could go back and change.

We all have words we wish we hadn't spoken.

We all have decisions we regret.

We all have moments when we have failed God and failed others.

The temptation is to hide. But the gospel tells us to come to God.

Confess, repent and receive His mercy.

Allow God to begin His renewing work in our hearts. The Christian life isn't about reaching a point where we no longer need God's grace. It's about discovering, day after day, just how much we need it…and how abundantly God provides it.

Create in Me a Clean Heart reminded me that repentance isn't about running away from God because of our sin.

It's about running toward God because of His mercy.

And that is a message every Christian needs to hear.

Highly recommended.

Review-Jonathan R. Bailey-Dwelling in Christ

 

Jonathan R. Bailey’s “Dwelling in Christ: Discover the Threefold Path of Spiritual Transformation” is a new book scheduled for release September 1, 2026.

At its heart, Dwelling in Christ asks a simple but important question:

Are we merely trying harder to be Christians, or are we actually being transformed by Christ?

I like the way the author worked in his own struggles with repeatedly trying to recommit himself to God and do better, only to find himself caught in the same cycle. I believe this is a struggle that all Christians face.  It is a relief to read about others facing the same problems and learning how they deal with it. He came to see that Christian growth isn’t just a matter of making stronger resolutions. It is a lifelong journey of transformation with God.

The book draws on the ancient Christian Threefold Way. I was not familiar with that title but the concepts are very familiar.

1.      Purgation - being cleansed or pruning for growth. Anyone with trees or shrubs are familiar with this concept. We learn to confess and surrender sinful patterns, attachments, and false identities. Any time we “cut away” something, it can be hard. But until we start surrendering the sinful behaviors, we can’t start making room for the traits we should be focused on.

2.      Illumination - learning to see and begin receiving transformation. As we become more attentive to God, we begin to see ourselves, others, Scripture, and the world differently. God’s truth changes from something we “know is right” to something that actually changes our life. Spiritual practices help train our attention toward God.

3.      Union - abiding in and deepening our oneness with God. The goal isn’t simply becoming a better person. You can become a “good” person without this. The goal is deeper communion with Christ. As true believers we need to learn to dwell in God’s love and live from that relationship.

Bailey presents these not simply as three boxes to check but as movements within an ongoing journey toward Christlikeness. I like this approach.  Too many times it can be easy to adopt the “check the box” lifestyle.  As Christians we should be striving to be more like Christ everyday.

One of the strongest ideas in the book is the contrast between transactional Christianity and transformational Christianity.

Bailey describes his former approach as essentially:

“I’ll try harder this time.”

But the Christian life is not about trying harder to impress God. It is about learning to live with God so that His presence gradually changes us.

I would recommend this book as a good place to start, after the Bible, on developing a closer relationship with God.

Bailey also mentions many other books that inspired him.  I will be looking them up to add to my to be read list.

Review-Max Lucado's Tame Your Thoughts

 

We all have thoughts that we wish we could turn off.

Sometimes it’s worry about something that hasn't happened yet. Sometimes it’s replaying something that happened yesterday. Sometimes it is fear, discouragement, anger, or simply wondering, “what if?”

Our minds can be a noisy place.

That is what makes Max Lucado’s book Tame Your Thoughts so timely. Lucado deals with something every one of us faces, the battle that takes place in our minds.

The basic message of the book is simply that we don't have to allow every thought that enters our minds to control us.

That is an important distinction. We cannot always control what thoughts come into our minds. A troubling thought may suddenly appear. A memory may come back. Fear may creep in. But just because a thought enters our mind doesn't mean we have to believe it, dwell on it, or allow it to determine how we live.

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to “take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

That is really at the heart of Lucado's message.

We need to learn to recognize our thoughts and ask, “Is this true? Does this agree with God's Word? Is this helping me trust God, or is it pulling me away from Him?”

One thing I appreciate about this book is that Lucado doesn't pretend that Christians will never struggle with negative thoughts. We all do. Living in a fallen world means we will have struggles, worries and, at times, become discouraged.

It means we don't have to face those thoughts alone.

When worry says, “what if everything goes wrong?” faith reminds us that God is still in control.

When fear says, “you can't handle this,” Scripture reminds us that God is with us.

When discouragement says, “there is no hope,” God's Word reminds us that our hope is found in Him.

That is where this book becomes very practical.

Lucado encourages us to replace unhealthy thinking with biblical thinking. Philippians 4:8 tells us to think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.

That doesn't mean we ignore the problems around us. It means we don't allow our problems to become bigger in our minds than our God is.

I also appreciated the author’s emphasis on prayer.

Philippians 4:6–7 tells us not to be anxious, but to bring our concerns to God through prayer and thanksgiving. God's answer isn't always to immediately change the situation. Sometimes He changes us in the middle of the situation by giving us His peace.

That is a lesson for all of us.

Sometimes we spend so much time thinking about a problem that we forget to pray about it.

We replay the problem over and over in our head.

We think about it constantly.

We imagine every possible outcome.

And then we wonder why we are anxious.

Lucado reminds us to take those thoughts to God.

Like previous Lucado books, one of the strengths of Tame Your Thoughts is that it is easy to understand. Lucado writes in a conversational way, and his illustrations make the subject relatable. You don't have to be a theologian or a psychologist to understand what he is saying.

At the same time, I don't think this book is intended to be a deep academic study of the human mind. It is much more practical than that. Lucado's goal is to help Christians understand that our thought life matters and to give us biblical tools for dealing with the thoughts that can control us.

And that is probably what I appreciate most about the book.

It reminds us that our thoughts are important, but they don't have to be in charge.

We will have thoughts of fear.

We will have moments of doubt.

We will have days when discouragement gets the better of us.

But we can bring those thoughts to Christ, compare them to Scripture, and replace the lies with God’s truth.

And we can choose to focus our minds on the One who is greater than whatever we are facing.

One of my favorite examples is the chapter where Lucado imagines receiving a letter from Moses that deals with complaining. 

Overall, I found Tame Your Thoughts to be an encouraging and practical reminder of the importance of our thought life.

The book doesn't promise that we will never have another negative thought. Instead, it points us toward something more realistic and biblical: learning what to do with those thoughts when they come.

We may not always be able to control the first thought that enters our minds.

But with God's help, we can control what we do with it.

And sometimes, the battle we need to win today isn't happening around us.

It's happening between our ears.

The NEW Bedford Review

 First off, an explanation.

If anyone read my last post and is still reading, I owe you an apology.  Due to various work and health situations, I dropped the ball. 

Many life changes have led me to get back into reviewing.

1.The biggest change my family has experienced is our oldest son going to his eternal reward. A few years ago, he was diagnosed with leukemia. Joel was a high school teacher, married to the love of his life, an elder at the church they attended, and started preaching. His battle with this disease and how he and his wife handled it inspired many others. The only advice I can give to parents watching their child go through this is hold tight to your spouse and keep God at the center of everything. My wife and I could not have survived it without God's help.

2. As I prayed about why Joel had to go through this, I questioned God. He led me to start speaking at various local churches that don't have pastors. God has used me to help others who are suffering with loss.  I am now speaking 3 to 4 times a month and it is a blessing to me.

3. At the end of 2025 I retired from my secular job.  Now I have the time to devote to additional reading and writing reviews.

I will be covering books (new and old), movies, etc. If it works out, I might be adding some interviews.

Thank you for joining me on this journey of faith.