New Believer's Guide to Effective Christian Living

Laurie's engaging, no holds barred, honest writing style draws you in immediately from the opening pages, and keeps you engaged. This is no dry "theory" or fill-in-the-blank approach. Laurie is gifted at leading the reader into such topics as "How Being Saved Makes Me Different," "Getting to Know Him through Bible Study," or "Overcoming Temptation" in a way that is easy to follow, fleshed out with real examples, yet full of Scripture along with his applicational insights. It is also quite comprehensive for such a short volume, dealing with such topics as sin, salvation, assurance, true faith, repentance, confession, temptation, Bible study, prayer, fellowship (no excuses for skipping church), trials, seeking guidance, and sharing your faith. In the first two chapters he makes a strong case that your faith, if it is genuine, will create a real change in your life. He is careful to point out that faith alone, apart from works, saves, but that genuine faith results in works. He maintains a healthy balance, however, there is one section he calls the six "indicators" from 1 John that proportionately runs long on the "fruit as evidence" of faith aspect. If you were to put the book down at this point you might get the wrong impression. Keep reading and you'll see he wraps this very challenging discussion (i.e., James and Paul on faith)up well. The tone is encouraging and prophetic, not legalistic. Recommended! Especially if you won't be able to get with someone regularly and you want something that they might actually read on their own. But it would make a great book to discuss as well.