Wednesday, January 31, 2018

How Healing Works by Wayne Jonas, MD

Although the word “holistic” is not used by the author, that is his approach. Jonas begins in Section 1, Rethinking Healing, by describing how he learned that a solely Western approach to medicine garners poor results, often little better than a placebo might. Using a number of case studies, the author describes in Section 2 The Dimensions of Healing, which include the presence and comfort of family and home, acting right (choosing beneficial behavior), loving deeply and finding (or attaching) meaning (to the health situation). In Section 3, Your Healing Journey, are helpful approaches addressing body, behavior, social and spiritual aspects of healing by focusing on inner, interpersonal, behavioral and external factors including physical environment, the behavioral dimension, social/emotional needs and mind/spirit connection. I found Sections 1 and 2 to be overly long, with many points belabored by case studies described in great detail. For example, the first 15-page chapter includes four case studies occupying 12.5 pages, which I found far exceeded my interest. Repeatedly the author states how the placebo effect can account for close to 80% of medical successes until I wanted to scream, “I GET IT!” It is unfortunate that so much of the book was devoted to case studies, which could have been summarized in a paragraph or two; the text really bogged down in those first two sections. Section 3, though, was worth the price of admission, being both helpful and interesting. Approaching a patient as a whole person makes sense, and having a medical doctor take this approach was refreshing. I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Hope for Each Day - Billy Graham

This daily devotional is a beautiful book with a leather or leather-like tooled cover and a ribbon bookmark. Each devotion starts with a verse, includes a few narrative or illustrative paragraphs and ends with a Hope for Today, comprised of a thought or a prayer. The themes of the devotionals are what you might expect from Billy Graham, heavily related to salvation, assurance of salvation, evangelism, heaven, and learning to walk with God. This book is particularly suitable to those who want to know more about God, the Bible, and salvation. It does not seem to aim to teach per se but more to challenge and encourage. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Be the Hands and Feet - Nick Vujicic

Nick Vujicic’s calling and mission is to bring as many people as possible into relationship with God through Jesus Christ through his example of love and respect, while being bold and confident to proclaim the gospel. His newest book delineates what is our calling, too, to be winsome and attractive everywhere we are, including at home, to encourage others to be godly. In the second section of this book, Nick writes about opportunities to serve, including foster care, mentoring others, and following any vision God gives to spread the gospel, whether that is in schools, by way of your church, and supporting others. The last section speaks poignantly about Nick’s father’s battle with cancer and Nick’s own recent health challenges, as well as lessons learned. While the author made good points, this book felt long at 222 pages, as much of it was repetitious. I think it could have been half this length and still covered all its bases. I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.