This book. I am so thankful that this has hit the bookstore shelves. And (see my review of No More Boring Bible Study) how I wish we would up the game.
First, the method. This is a fantastic tutorial on how to perform personal Bible study. This should be on the bookshelf of every Christian across the board. If you have never been taught how to actually study the Bible to understand it rightly (1 Tim.) you need this book. And even if you're a relative pro, you still need this book to hand off or disciple someone else who isn't. Fabulous. Instruction, examples, problems and questions to engage and practice. Step-by-step with color examples of annotation, and all the basic doctrinal questions addressed or defined. Really, it's a great resource.
Then there's this: Why do you ask the reader to do the work, then immediately give the answer?! That's insulting and self-defeating. And so typical of the hand-holding we do in women's ministry instead of actually expecting the reader to step up and do the work. Give the answer if you must, but at least make them work for it and put it at the back.
And then there's this: "seeking out", "enter into"... common expressions in the Christian sub-culture and appallingly bad grammar. Besides these redundancies, can we do away with "diving in", "digging deeper" and calling absolute strangers "friend". It diminishes the writers' authority and the readers' intelligence, besides being clichéd, condescending, and presumptuous.
As I remarked about the previous book (see above), these women strike me as intelligent and competent, but that's really easy to miss as you wade through the cultural jargon and the amateurish writing. And again, I blame the publishers. Where is the editor?! When I pick up a book with a Moody Publisher logo, my default expectation is "academic". This is not that. As valuable as it is in the marketplace, it's been diminished by its presentation. There is no reason any man looking for a good study method shouldn't pick up this book and hit pay dirt, but because of the fluff and overly familiar language, they won't. That means EASY will be stuck in the Women's and Youth category (as if they are the same - women... doesn't that bother you??) and the men of the church will likely miss out. And that is a real shame.