"The Road We Must Travel": A Book Review...

"The Road We Must Travel" is a compilation book with some well known authors and not so well known (at least to this blogger).  The book is a easy read, which can be read easily as a devotional or in small chunks of time. 

Gordon MacDonald discussing "Questions for Inner Conversation" will resonate with readers:

"The questions I (MacDonald) like most search one's heart...They are meant to test the inner space of one's life and prompt conversation that leads to light."

He further explores how each event in one's life is "often buried like gold or oil" that goes undiscovered. There are gold nuggets in this title and it will be dependent on the reader to search for them while reading. I believe each person's nugget will be different as God meets each of us. 

Eugene Peterson reminds us, "the bible is not a textbook, or a manual to be studied, mastered, and mechanically applied. Instead, we should listen to the Word of God and reflecting upon it...letting it filtrate our soul."  Charles Stanley says it this way, "We read and believe the Bible but we also need to absorb it." 

Some of my personal favorite portions are Eugene Peterson's "Reading the Spiritually", Ruth Haley Barton's "A Steady Rhythm" and Tullian Tchividjian's "Trouble Happens." 

Picking up a copy of "The Road We Must Travel" and spending a few minutes with each these wonderful teachers is definitely worth the time.

How I ended up seeing "Son of God"...

 "You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages." 

Yes, I did see the movie, "Son of God" Let me share how this adventure came about. A friend of mine works for a Christian retail store. She felt to adequately discuss the movie with her customers she needed to see it. She asked me to go with her and at first I wasn't going. Why? Because, I had no desire to see the movie. Especially, after some of the reviews I had read. I thought it was because of one of the reviews, which I shared on FB that made her hubby decide not to go with her. Therefore, when she offered to pay for my ticket, my Sweetie told me to go with her. Now, you have the long version, of how this blogger ended up at a Sunday afternoon showing of "Son of God" with her friend and a notebook in hand....

Here is my review on the movie, which I understand is suppose to be composed
 from the Book of John in the Bible.  

The movie is a cinematic portrayal of Jesus. In other words, don't go into this movie expecting
it to accurately depict THE Jesus of the Bible.  

During the viewing, my emotions went from sadly humorous to agitated to angry.

Sadly humorous that so many Christians are saying how wonderful and accurate the movie is. Those five pages were all the inaccuracies, I noted while watching. At one point, when the agitation set in, I quit writing and had some popcorn. Therefore, some inaccuracies were not listed in my notes. The anger set in at how gullible 'the church' is. But, that falls on us not Hollywood. Because we are the ones who don't know God's Word. We don't spend time in the Bible.

 I will not list all five pages of inaccuracies but a few:

~The female (Mary) portrayed as a 13th disciple.
~Wise men coming to see newborn baby Jesus (go check it out)
~Parable of Tax collector being the way Matthew became a disciple
~ Jesus acting as if He was going to stone the adulterous woman
~Lazarus being raised from dead. Yes, he was raised from dead but NOT as they portrayed....Jesus entering the tomb and kissing Lazarus' forehead is not how it happened.
These are just a few of the inaccuracies in my notes. With all this said, I am not going to tell you do or don't go see this movie. Why? Because, the majority of you reading this are adults. It is not my job to tell you what to do. My review's purpose is to put the facts out there.
Decide for yourself what to do....
"Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world." 1st John 4:1
One last caveat for you: My friend who took me said this on her FB status:
"Went to see the Son of God movie...not impressed! If you watched the bible series that was on the history channel. Don't waste your money you've already seen it."

Here are some other reviews:

Movie Review: 'Son of God' is most certainly not the Son of God

The "Son of God" movie is NOT what we think

"Son of God" more about faith than filmmaking