history

I have had this book for almost a year and have found it extremely inspiring. I highly recommend it!

I stumbled on this book while surfing the web and bought it. Within a week I had bought a copy for my pastor and my parents. My pastor in turn bought several copies for the church, all which have sold out. I have it right next to my bible and read it after I do my devotions. No other book will give you such a broad grasp of God working in history in the lives of people and no other book will challenge you to live your own life as faithfully as have believers through history. Buy it, you will not be sorry.

Mike & Sharon Rusten have done a superb job of making biblical and church history appetizing by delivering mentally bite-sized morsels to the reader in a "daily devotional" format.

That's just how I use "The One Year Book of Church History," as a devotional heart and mind-starter. It takes me, a ponderously slow reader, about three minutes to read each day's entry. These consist of a two-page (left hand & right hand)layout of the day's event in history, then a short paragraph of reflective/application questions that infer something from the story, and finally a well-chosen passage of the Bible . . . all to "spiritually chew on" and get your juices flowing in a Godward direction for the day.

I'm halfway through the calendar year and have found fewer than a dozen of the Rustens' seletions a "stretch" to include . . . so that I reacted with a "surely, something more crucial must have happened on that day than this." And okay, sometimes even what they include has a date attached to it that is chronologically remote from the climactic highpoint of the story they're recounting.

But by and large their judgment is excellent and their scholarship is enlightening. It's also fun to jump around to look at what happened on your birthday or to search for a historical illustration for a presentation you're preparing to make. The topical and personage indexes at the back add to its value as well. If you wish you knew more church history, start here . . . start today!