Review: Stand

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Overview

Stand: Seeking the Way of God (A Discovery of Genesis 37-47) is a teen devotional. It's not your typical teen devotional full of short frothy stories, though. This one gets deep into the heart of Scripture as it explores the story of Joseph. It provides historical information; specific lessons in areas such as obedience, trust, service, and wisdom; biblical insights; and practical applications. In particular, it inspires teens not to give up on their dreams.

Author

Alex McFarland is an author, speaker, and apologist (one who explains and rationally defends the faith). He is currently the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in North Carolina and has spent over two decades training teens in a biblical worldview.

My Review

Esmé loved the green and yellow graphics of this book, as well as the compact size and ease of handling. Seriously, she carried it around and kept telling me it was HER book. But she couldn't tell me anything about what it said, so I'm not letting her do this review...

Honestly, the graphics, different fonts, and insets make this an attractive book. Kudos to the graphics designer(s) behind this. The way things are broken up works great for those with short attention spans who can jump between different items on a page.

A couple of highlights for me:

• In the chapter on Adversity, it's pointed out that suffering never lasts. It WILL end. And even on this earth, we know that God will carry the load for us.
• In the chapter on Obedience, the concept of costly grace is discussed. We often speak of cheap or free grace, and costly grace seems to be an oxymoron. But take this quote of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: "Grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner... It is costly because it cost God the life of his Son... [and] it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life."
  

One in a series of three STAND books, this can definitely stand alone or be combined with the others for a more comprehensive study. The other books focus on Psalm 119 (God's word) and Proverbs (God's wisdom), while this focuses on God's way.

Definitely a recommended book, both as a devotional and as an in-depth study into the story of Joseph.

For more information or to purchase, check out the Tyndale site. Thanks to Tyndale Media Center for the review copy of this book.