Customer Reviews

Sources of Strength: Meditations on Scripture for a Living Faith

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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President Carter impressed me with his Biblical knowledge and being able to tie it back into today's world. His personal stories made this book all the more great because we got to see glimpses of the President's life. He has an awesome faith in God and is an inspiration to us all.

Frankly, I was too preoccupied with college, family, and postgraduate work to pay much attention to politics during the Carter presidency, so I believed the conservative pundits who portrayed Mr. Carter as a "failed president" and an intellectual lightweight. This book proves me to be way off base, as Mr. Carter's honesty, wisdom,integrity, self-effacing good humor, and deeply abiding faith shine through each and every page. To Mr. Carter, Faith implies Action - and it is remarkably refreshing to realize that this ex-President is fully and actively engaged in real life, i.e., teaching Sunday school, mowing the church lawn, hammering nails for Habitat, etc. Lots of down-home, country Christianity here - and while this is not a theology text, I'd bet that there's more practical wisdom than you'd find in, say, 4 or 5 of those. This book works well as a daily devotional, at the bedside, or (as I used it) as a Sunday school text.

This is without a doubt one of the finest books that President Carter has written. It is clear and very easy to read.

I had the great fortune of being able to briefly chat with President Carter about "Sources of Strength", and he told me that these are synopsis of his Sunday School classes that he teaches. He also told me that he has over 1600 more of them. All I can say is, I pray to God that he publishes all of them!

Starting gently, the reader is drawn into discussions of text from the Bible. Masterfully drawn along a well thought out path, more decisive conclusions are simply a matter of fact. Faith, courage and understanding become but simple tools to reach out and live life to the fullness God encourages.This experience is shattering in simplicity and the reality of the messages of the Bible. Jesus was sitting over Jimmy Carter's shoulder saying "you have the message, son".

This is a great devotional that draws on a wide range of scripture and also on President Carter's long, interesting, diverse, and meaningful life. Not only is Carter a good exegete of scripture, but his genuine faith comes through in every page. He writes in a very personal style that makes you feel like you're studying the scriptures with a favorite uncle...who happened to be the leader of the free world some years back.

The book is divided into 52 short sermonettes, I suppose so you can read one a week for a year (though you will almost certainly want to read it faster than that). These sections are further subdivided into 9 sections: The Word Became Flesh, His Healing Touch, Who is my Neighbor?, What We Believe, Christians in the World, To Know and Worship, God's Riches at Christ's Expense, When the Road is Rough, and God's Call. The messages are broad enough that you can likely find a word of hope or encouragement or challenge somewhere in here, depending on what it is that you need to hear.

The meditations are intellectually stimulating, yet simple enough that I have used some of them as reading for my youth group.

In his life, Jimmy Carter has shown what is means to live out your faith. In this book, he reflects on what that can look like for us.

This is the very first book I read of Carter. I never expected that an ex-president, supposed to be pragmatic and rational, can have written such a beautiful, sensational, clear and to the point spiritual book. Not a few messages, but fifty-two meaningful and insightful ones in this 241 page book. The format is traditional, with three to four pages of elaboration on a particular biblical verse. Nevertheless, the impact is great and you really feel your faith and spiritual strength being enhanced through reading it, of course with intermittent prayers in between for optimal effect. I dont want to comment it as a tool book, but it does serves its purpose really well.

In short, a great read not to be missed! It's the best and the least difficult spiritual book I had read in months, after the intense round of five to six Philip Yancey books I read about half a year before, which I still deem them the very best amongst all christian books.

p.s. Below please find two good passages for your reference:-

Pg 74: The context for Jesus's stories about the Samaritans, ...For Samaritan, substitute black, Muslim, AIDS, Haitian - or perhaps roll them all into one! ... His acknowledging the gratitude of the healed leper and using a Samaritan's actions as epitomizing the Golden Rule are powerful lessons against prejudice.

Pg 112: We argue incessantly about separation of church and state, the priesthood of believers, ordination of women, prayer in schools, gay rights, predestination ... and any number of other "crucial" issues. Perhaps worse than the Corinthians, we forget the solid, unquestionable, unifying foundation of our faith in in the gentle Jesus, full of grace and truth. As Cecil Sherman has said, "Too many churches are majoring in the minors."

I gained a respect for Jimmy Carter that until now was only a fair assessment of the man. I know he wrote this with the intention of being a once a week reading, but I have just about finished it in just under two weeks with intentions to reread it many many more times. His style of writing has left me with the desire to read many more of his works. One cannot help but to find ones faith taken to a higher level after reading his Bible Teachings.

Jimmy Carter has the unique ability to quote Scripture and explain how those words still apply to our every day life today. I'm not the best student of the Bible, but this work is filled with "easy to apply inspiration" that I can take to heart and recreate in my own life. Makes an excellent gift.

I cannot express in words how important this book is to me. I started reading it during a very difficult time in my life and it really helped me. Many people look for spiritual guidance, but let's face it, the bible can be a difficult read. Jimmy Carter takes passages from the bible and explains what he thinks they mean. However, Carter does it in a very loving and objective way. Mr. Carter speaks of the compassionate and forgiving Christ. There is no finger pointing and moralizing here. Mr. Carter simply tries to relay what God's message is and how me might live it. Although I am not a Baptist like Jimmy Carter, I really felt in tune with what he had to say. If the bible by itself has not helped you to understand God's greater message, maybe this book will.

While one may disagree with Mr. Carter's political viewpoint, what he has to say about the Cross and Jesus Christ needs to be heard. As a Sunday School teacher myself, I can honestly say that I will share many of the words from this book with my Sunday School class members. This book is a must read for anyone who leads others in Bible study. Mr. Carter, thank you for putting your years of experience and knowledge into written form.