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Authentic: Developing the Disciplines of a Sincere Faith
Has hypocrisy crept into your life? It doesn’t just happen overnight. Drifting into hypocrisy is a long, drawn-out journey away from God’s will for your life and toward a two-faced existence. How do you know when your inner self has deteriorated, when you've become an expert at presenting a faithful-looking facade? Hold up the mirror of God's Word and take a good look.
Acting like a Christian and saying all the right words sometimes leads to nothing more than empty piety. If you want to live that vibrant life, if you want to be truly blessed, you must get after the disciplines of genuine faith. Follow along with Pastor James MacDonald on the road toward Truth and explore the disciplines of personal Bible study, personal prayer, fasting, fellowship, and service for Christ.
Become the real deal. Be authentic.
Acting like a Christian and saying all the right words sometimes leads to nothing more than empty piety. If you want to live that vibrant life, if you want to be truly blessed, you must get after the disciplines of genuine faith. Follow along with Pastor James MacDonald on the road toward Truth and explore the disciplines of personal Bible study, personal prayer, fasting, fellowship, and service for Christ.
Become the real deal. Be authentic.
208 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2012
17 people are currently reading
231 people want to read
About the author
James MacDonald
260 books105 followersJames MacDonald (D. Min. Phoenix Seminary) is married to his high school sweetheart, Kathy, and both are from Ontario, Canada. He is the father of three grown children, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law, and grandfather to four amazing grandsons. James’ ministry focuses on the unapologetic proclamation of God’s Word. In 1988, along with a small group of ministry partners, James and Kathy planted Harvest Bible Chapel which has grown to 13,000 people each weekend, meeting in six locations.
In 1997, a Bible-teaching broadcast ministry called Walk in the Word was established, now reaching more than three million people weekly. In 2002, a church planting ministry called Harvest Bible Fellowship was born and has established more than 70 churches across North America and around the world. James’ vision is that God will use him to help plant 1,000 churches in his lifetime.
James’ extensive ministry also includes a training center for pastors, a year-round camp, a biblical counseling center, a disaster recovery organization, and a Christian school—all used to reach more people with the life-changing message of the Gospel.
Now impacting millions of lives annually, God’s favor upon these ministries has been described by James as “abundantly baffling.” The MacDonalds’ view their ministry as proof that God still uses broken vessels to pour out His grace.
In 1997, a Bible-teaching broadcast ministry called Walk in the Word was established, now reaching more than three million people weekly. In 2002, a church planting ministry called Harvest Bible Fellowship was born and has established more than 70 churches across North America and around the world. James’ vision is that God will use him to help plant 1,000 churches in his lifetime.
James’ extensive ministry also includes a training center for pastors, a year-round camp, a biblical counseling center, a disaster recovery organization, and a Christian school—all used to reach more people with the life-changing message of the Gospel.
Now impacting millions of lives annually, God’s favor upon these ministries has been described by James as “abundantly baffling.” The MacDonalds’ view their ministry as proof that God still uses broken vessels to pour out His grace.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 5, 2019
A terrific read to help get your walk with Jesus Christ on track. Love James' where-the-rubber-meets-the-road approach.
September 13, 2019
Loved this book & found the podcast sermons to most of it. The Discipline of Personal Prayer was my favorite chapter. Transparency with your church group & a study on this book would be ideal.
August 17, 2013
Authentic by James MacDonald is a book about developing the disciplines of a sincere faith. For the purpose of this review I will be dividing it into three areas – presentation, content and application. It is my opinion that many book reviews just retell the book in extreme short form without really reviewing the book. The format I have chosen to use will provide the structure for a straight forward review.
Presentation: Authentic was received as a paperback book. Its cover, while somewhat plain, will add meaning once the book is read. Moody Publishers used a durable covering with easy to read text on a bright white paper. Bright pages can present a challenge if you are reading in the sun due to glare. The book was divided into seven chapters which tended to be long. For me, I prefer shorter chapters which enable a person to read for shorter periods of time. Biblical texts are bolded to make the Scriptures pop. I appreciated this feature as it was easy to look back to reread them if needed.
Content: Authentic was a great read that covered the basic disciplines that will help develop a sincere faith. James MacDonald shared life and church experiences to reinforce the principles that he presented for the duration of the book. The seven chapters cover the following disciplines: Personal Bible study and prayer, fasting, fellowship, service, and worship. Each chapter presented a clear case why believers need to poses these disciplines, but also provided ideas to engage each one. Personally I would have liked to see a few more experiences of people that can attest to the practiced disciplines. Real life stories help authenticate validity in the mind and hearts of others.
Application: Authentic is full of life change possibilities if applied. I was challenged in many areas that need additional surrender to the Lord. It can’t be dismissed that what James MacDonald covers is a much needed book for our times. When the world is looking for authentic expression of the Christian faith, believers should ooze theses disciplines addressed in this book.
For me this book gets four and half stars out of five
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Presentation: Authentic was received as a paperback book. Its cover, while somewhat plain, will add meaning once the book is read. Moody Publishers used a durable covering with easy to read text on a bright white paper. Bright pages can present a challenge if you are reading in the sun due to glare. The book was divided into seven chapters which tended to be long. For me, I prefer shorter chapters which enable a person to read for shorter periods of time. Biblical texts are bolded to make the Scriptures pop. I appreciated this feature as it was easy to look back to reread them if needed.
Content: Authentic was a great read that covered the basic disciplines that will help develop a sincere faith. James MacDonald shared life and church experiences to reinforce the principles that he presented for the duration of the book. The seven chapters cover the following disciplines: Personal Bible study and prayer, fasting, fellowship, service, and worship. Each chapter presented a clear case why believers need to poses these disciplines, but also provided ideas to engage each one. Personally I would have liked to see a few more experiences of people that can attest to the practiced disciplines. Real life stories help authenticate validity in the mind and hearts of others.
Application: Authentic is full of life change possibilities if applied. I was challenged in many areas that need additional surrender to the Lord. It can’t be dismissed that what James MacDonald covers is a much needed book for our times. When the world is looking for authentic expression of the Christian faith, believers should ooze theses disciplines addressed in this book.
For me this book gets four and half stars out of five
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
August 22, 2013
As a Christian, do you just talk a good talk, or do you put action to your words and live out what you read in the Bible? Many times, we know all the words, but getting the knowledge from our minds to our hearts and body stops us cold. James MacDonald looks into this problem in Authentic: Developing the Disciplines of a Sincere Faith.
Starting with what a hypocrite is, and why that it not a good way to live a Christian life, MacDonald then goes into 6 disciplines that should appear in a Christian that is actually walking the walk. Covering Bible study, service, prayer, fellowship, sometimes misunderstood worship and the rarely mentioned fasting, he shows what each should look like in our lives.
It can be easy for a book like this to come across as stuffy and read like you're being looked down on because you don't carry out these disciplines. However, MacDonald does a good job of staying on the reader's level, and encouraging instead of discouraging. He injects humor into the topics, and shares struggles he has seen in his quest to be authentic. Though he gives guidelines, he doesn't say that you have to do things exactly like him.
I found myself questioning my actions, and seeing things that needed work in my life. I recommend this book to any Christian, no matter where they may be in their walk.
I received this book from Moody Publishers in exchange for reading it and reviewing it.
Starting with what a hypocrite is, and why that it not a good way to live a Christian life, MacDonald then goes into 6 disciplines that should appear in a Christian that is actually walking the walk. Covering Bible study, service, prayer, fellowship, sometimes misunderstood worship and the rarely mentioned fasting, he shows what each should look like in our lives.
It can be easy for a book like this to come across as stuffy and read like you're being looked down on because you don't carry out these disciplines. However, MacDonald does a good job of staying on the reader's level, and encouraging instead of discouraging. He injects humor into the topics, and shares struggles he has seen in his quest to be authentic. Though he gives guidelines, he doesn't say that you have to do things exactly like him.
I found myself questioning my actions, and seeing things that needed work in my life. I recommend this book to any Christian, no matter where they may be in their walk.
I received this book from Moody Publishers in exchange for reading it and reviewing it.
January 11, 2014
Do you sometimes feel like you are faking your nearness with the Lord because those around you seem to have a close one with Him? Maybe you are just looking for a book that highlights the Lord and how He relates to you in your times of need. If you are looking for a book about how to be real in your relationship to the Lord, then this book is for you. I gave this book 5/5 stars. I liked how the author shows that the Lord does not want the fakeness but wants the real us all the time. He made us and knows us and still wants us as we are. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a book about not being fake when it comes to our relationship with the Lord.
I would like to thank the publisher for the copy of this book I enjoyed reading. I gave an honest review based on my opinion of what I read.
I would like to thank the publisher for the copy of this book I enjoyed reading. I gave an honest review based on my opinion of what I read.
December 30, 2015
I always enjoy James MacDonald studies, he is very transparent and I always feel the holy Spirit speaking through him. This study was a good refresh of be authentic and vulnerable for the love of Chrit! My CPCC small group was amazing (Michelle S, Gina B., Donnamarie B,. Pam K., Lori D., Judy G., Karen H., Karen M., Kimberly H.) This study seemed a bit less time consuming than some of her other ones because there are fewer fill-ins and questions to answer.
March 1, 2016
Do yourself a huge favor and pick another book. There are so many books to read but this one isn't of them. While there are a few gems in this book like, "It's not a how-to I'm seeking; it's a want to I find lacking!," the personal convictions, writing style, gruffness, and constant commercials for Harvest Church, make the bad outweigh the good.
November 8, 2014
Good material - not my favorite writing style. I've heard MacDonald speak on several occasions and have always enjoyed hearing him. Doesn't reinstall as well into the written form. Still some good insights though.
August 12, 2015
Macdonald does a great job of explaining each of the six disciplines of faith,including scriptural basis for each one and practical ways to implement. This is definitely one of those books that left me feeling like I had a plan for growing in my relationship with God. Highly recommended.
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March 3, 2013i would use this book as a tool for discipleship, especially for those who have been 'churched' and need a wake up call as to who and why we worhsip, serve and live.
June 26, 2013
it is a great book. A must for a disciple of Christ.
September 5, 2013
Great book. Made me think about things I needed to think about. Follows the Bible and explains verses really well. The book is full of highlights, but plan to go back through and take more notes.
December 14, 2013
I loved his exposition of the Scripture. The choice to focus on less discpiplines and to have a chapter on the seven habits of highly hypocritical people was very good.
January 31, 2017
It makes me delve into true worship more. There must be a deep commitment to connect more with God daily without question. The questioning and doubts are the true problems. There are no comfort zones.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews