Customer Reviews

How to Keep a Spiritual Journal: A Guide to Journal Keeping for Inner Growth and Personal Discovery

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This is a great book on Spiritual Journaling. This book takes you on a Spiritual Journey. It is not only a guide but an experience to read. It seems like throughout life we all try to find a way to draw nearer to God through prayer or Bible study. This book gives a variety of methods to draw nearer to God by writing to Him and sharing your experiences with Him. This book is about conversation not just verbal conversation. We read, we listen, we experience, and we express our feelings on paper. It helps us to focus on our relationship with God. This method helps us to dig deeper for those golden nuggets of spiritual truth that we can apply to our lives day by day.

I wrote a review of the older version of this book - this revised edition is 20 pages longer, and has changed up the chapters a bit, and includes a Guide for forming a journal group!

I've been journaling on and off for many years, but fairly consistently for the past 9 years. Ronald Klug does an outstanding job of explaining the importance of keeping a journal, ideas to get you going, suggestions of things to write about, etc.
Keeping a journal has been one of the most satisfying and helpful things I've done in my Christian walk. When you go back to read it later, you can really see God's working in your life!

One of the things that Klug addresses that I've never seen anywhere else is the "problem" of what do to with notes you might be taking on books you're currently reading. Do you incorporate them into your daily journal, or keep a separate notebook? I'm journaling every day and reading my Bible and other books every day, and this is something that I've done different ways and I haven't found any one solution to be entirely satisfactory. I thought it was wonderful that the author even addressed the "problem"! I want to be able to find notes on a particular book I'm reading easily, and if they're scattered throughout the dailyness of your writing, that is harder to do.

He suggests keeping notes from other books you are reading in a separate notebook from your daily journal. And he suggests indexing them so you know what's in that notebook! An excellent suggestion and one I hadn't tried before. Just leave the first page blank and you could write which books' notes are contained in the book, and you could even add page numbers. I think this is a great idea!

As for brief quotes that you might be struck by, or particular scripture passages that you're learning about, you could include those in your daily journal.

The author says that he writes in spiral notebooks of lined paper. When he's finished, he puts them in a binder so that he has them all in order. For several years, I used the small hardcover spiral-bound books that you find in Christian bookstores or gift shops for journaling purposes - having them all together and in order is an attractive option! For the past several years, I've been using the Rollabind/Circa journals. I buy the Rollabind discs from rollabind.com, the refill paper from Levenger or Rollabind, and the translucent covers from Levenger. You can go to Levenger's or Rollabind's website to get an idea of what I'm talking about. The beauty of this system is that you can add and remove pages anywhere in the journal. And a punch is available to add any paper to your Circa/Rollabind journal. The paper and covers come in various sizes. I use the "junior" size refill paper, which is 5.5x8.5 inches, the perfect size for journaling, I think!

I also prefer using colorful gel or liquid ink pens that are archival safe and permanent.

However you do it, Ronald Klug emphasizes that however you keep your journal is right for you. Whether you write it or dictate it or type it, whether you write in it twice a day, twice a week, or twice a year - it's a valuable tool for spiritual growth.

Please check out my other reviews of Christian books - I also highly recommend Luann Budd's book called "Journal Keeping".

Happy journaling!

This is a great book. It provided great tools and insights for me as I started a journal. It's very practical. I work in a Christian camp, and shared the book with several co-workers, who also found it helpful. Journaling is helping me deepen my walk with Christ.

This is my second copy of this book. My first copy is too well worn. I reread this book whenever I need to remind myself of ways to use journaling as a spiritual tool. Klug's style makes the text readable and enjoyable. How to Keep a Spiritual Journal is one of my favorites.

As a journaling teacher and workshop presenter, I have found this book to be one of the best resources on journaling available. It is packed with tips, exercises, and resources that will turn your journaling time into a wonderful ritual and enlightening experience.
Quiet Times Centering Meditations (Christian Meditation and Relaxation)

When I bought this book, I thought it would focus more on spiritual growth and getting in touch with our inner self and our feelings. Instead the book quotes the Bible back and forth as if being a spiritual person is the equivalent of reading the Bible or even quoting it. So I was rather upset about that clear endorsement of Christianity via Bible reading. However, if you skip the more religious stuff, it is a rather enjoyable book to read. If the editorial review had mentioned all the Bible/Christian endorsements, I would have not purchased this book.

Before you slamm me, note that I am a Christian person, but I also believe that there are other religions out there that have merit and I don't think that being a good Christian means that you have to read the Bible and go to church. From my experience, I see tons of people who do both and are lousy human beings. Actually, I avoid going to church because I don't want to mingle with the many hypocrites that go there.