Book Review: Be Determined

 Information about the book

Wiersbe, Warren W. Be Determined (Nehemiah): Standing Firm in the Face of Opposition. David C. Cook. Colorado Springs, Colorado. 2009.

Summary

From Amazon: Warren Wiersbe unwraps the book of Nehemiah in his study Be Determined to show a servant so selfless, a mission so humbling, and a perseverance so admirable that Christians are drawn to a new awe of God.  As the leader God calls to mobilize and equip His people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah was a man who didn't know the word no when it came to God's economy.

The book is a chapter by chapter look at the book of Nehemiah.

Impressions

I chose to read this book because I am finishing up a Leadership class based on the book of Nehemiah - in fact, each week I’ve been posting a question from the class with my answer.  I thought reading a study of the book as I complete the class would be a good refresher as well as a continuation of my habit of reading a book along with these classes - as an extra.

As of now, I’ve read a little more than 60% of the book.  I’ll come back to this when I have finished, but I didn’t want to lose my thoughts before I had a chance to record them.This book is one in a series of studies - Be Series Commentary.  This one is Be Determined. One of the reasons I chose this book is that the series was recommended to me and to the CLM class. I thought I would give it a sample.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be reading any of the others. Don’t get me wrong - there are some gems in this book, but most of the time, I am frustrated by it.  Here are some of the reasons:

• Before I started the class, I read through Nehemiah, and in the class, I’ve been rereading parts of it. No where in the book do I remember seeing a reference to Satan, and yet parts of this book, rather than focusing on Nehemiah or his work, are focused on how the book relates to battling Satan. Not all of it, but parts of it.
• The author uses verses pulled from scripture to support his points - with no connection to their context at all. This can be a dangerous habit, and sometimes it feels as if he is using scriptural references to make his points.
• He never refers to leaders as women (so far).  Leaders are men.
• He relates much of the book to being Christian. Nehemiah isn’t about being Christian, and it seems like a stretch.  In fact much of his application of Nehemiah seems like a stretch.
• He uses Meme worthy points. By this I mean that he makes statements that would seem to be true, because they sound true, and he is so convinced of them, but with some thought, one can see that the statement may be true in some circumstances, but not all.  This author writes in black and white.

My list seems harsh, I know, but it is what is frustrating me about this book. As I said, it does have some wisdom, but for me, it is hard to find it among that which is frustrating. I’m sure this would be good for someone else, and I will finish the book, but probably not read another one.  I think the author missed a truly wonderful opportunity to dig into the Hebrew story of Nehemiah, and to tell us about the scripture we are reading.

Posts about book

Wiersbe Nehemiah