Nathan James Norman
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Nathan James Norman

Husband. Father. Pastor.
Storyteller. Reader. Comic Fan.
Slave of the Lord Jesus Christ.

First Baptist Church of Tarrytown

Review: Minding the Heart

12/13/2013

2 Comments

 
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Summary: Dr. Robert L. Saucy explores the biblical concept of the heart, as the center of the person’s thoughts, emotions and actions. Focused on the heart, Saucy exegetes the biblical text to find the way of spiritual formation. From the text he shows how “treasures” are stored in the heart, why we act the way we do, and how God can transform a person’s heart (thoughts, emotions and actions).

Review: Minding the Heart – The Way of spiritual Transformation is now on my list of books every Christian should read. (A distinction shared only by three other books).

A plethora of spiritual formation books have flooded the marketplace. Some of them are helpful, but many of them are over-glorified self-help or self-improvement books. Minding the Heart, however, is completely different.

Saucy explores the multi-leveled heart. He doesn’t just tell us that it is a person’s core, but he shows us from scripture how it is. Nor does Saucy give bumper-sticker theology here with band-aid advice. No. Instead he has presented a detailed systematic theology on the heart, its corrupt nature, and its transformation in Christ, as well as how the believer ought to go about opening his heart up to transformation under God’s grace.

What Saucy prescribes in the book is at once terribly difficult, and wonderfully simple. It isn’t so much a work, as a willingness to be worked on. It isn’t a matter of becoming moralists who will ourselves toward good behavior, but a matter of opening the core of our hearts through meditation on the Word of God, prayer, and living in Christian community.

Minding the Heart is a biblical book about spiritual formation. Unlike so many other books on the topic, I didn’t find myself at the end of the book trying to recalibrate my thinking to understand the concept being presented. Instead I found myself being enlightened with insights to the Scriptures. At one point I said to myself, “What Dr. Saucy is writing about is exactly what I’ve seen throughout the Bible.”

This book is brilliant in its simplicity. It gives believers a wonderful understanding of how spiritual transformation takes place. And most of all, it is richly biblical.

Rating: 5/5 (I Loved It!)

Find it at Kregel.
Find it on Amazon.
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This book should win an award for the cover design!
Note: I received a physical copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
2 Comments
Kelli McGuire - Blaser
12/13/2013 12:11:30 pm

I'm going to have to read this I think. Sounds like exactly what I need.

Reply
Nathan J Norman link
12/14/2013 01:15:22 am

It is a great book!

Reply



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