4 out of 4 stars
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Secrets of the Blessed by C. A. Lemaster is a non-fiction book of about 200 pages. It is a Christian living book written by a pastor who struggles with Bipolar disorder. This book is meant to be hope and encouragement for those who are following in the footsteps of Jesus.
Mr. Lemaster's goal in writing this book was to give hope to those who are hurting. He does this by combing through various passages of the Bible and, from them, giving guidelines for becoming more Christlike. The book is split up into 10 different parts with several chapters devoted to explaining each.
In part one, the author discusses faith. Part two is all about the doubts that plague us. Following that, he discusses our own individual histories. In part four, we learn about forgiveness of ourselves and others. Parts five and six are devoted to living in freedom from the law in love. Mr. Lemaster then moves on to the questions that we ask ourselves such as "Why?" In part eight, we delve into wisdom. Parts nine and ten are basically extras covering Christmastime as well as various other musings.
The passages that were most meaningful to me were the author's discussion of freedom from the law. As a Christian, it's easy to fall into the trap of self-imposed rule making. We want to live a holy life, so we tell ourselves that these are the rules we must follow. However, Christ died to set us free from the law. So, how are we then to live? In love. We are to love God and love others as ourselves. If we simply follow those two principles, we will be living a holy life. This was a great reminder for me.
I love the organization of the ideas presented. The author does a good job of breaking each thought into parts and then into even smaller chapters. This helps keep the reader from getting overwhelmed. It is easier to digest a short chapter; once we understand that, we can move onto another chapter. I also enjoyed the many passages of scripture that Mr. Lemaster uses to bring home his point. It is obvious that this book has been well researched. These are not just the musings of a former pastor; he has supported these thoughts with words from those greater and more learned than himself - specifically, the Bible.
The only possible negative that I can bring up is that this book is not for a wide audience. The author had a specific reader in mind when he wrote it, and I don't think anyone other than these readers would get much from the message here. This book is specifically to Christians who need bolstering in their walk. This book is not meant to be for very young Christians or those who do not believe in God.
Secrets of the Blessed was a blessing to me and reminded me of some truths that I know but haven't fully assimilated yet. Other than being for a target audience, I find no fault with the book. Therefore, I rate this a 4 out of 4 stars. I fully recommend this to any Christians who want a deeper walk with the Lord.
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Secrets of the Blessed
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