Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Some Retweetables

Messages from the Pastor’s Desk  by Dr. Jerry L. Jones, Sr. ( Outskirts Press, 2013) is a collection of short pithy sayings that offer motivation and encouragement. If they had appeared in my twitter feed, I probably would have ‘retweeted’ several of them. I got the impression that these are sayings that Dr Jones may have used more than once during the years when he served as Pastor. Motivation and encouragement abound, along with reminders that life as a Christ follower is not always easy.  I would find the book more useful if the ‘messages’ had been arranged in a way that doesn't appear to be haphazard.
I was confused by the disclaimer on the publisher’s page that this is a work of fiction, and that the events and characters are imaginary: there are no events or characters. I don’t ascribe this to Dr Jones, but to the publisher, but it certainly sets the tone for the reader to look at the writing as less than what it was intended to be.
Unfortunately this very short (40 pages) work is full of errors- grammar, punctuation and spelling- which detract from the overall readability of the book. Once again I wonder if the publisher really did anything to help this book become a success.
Although this book can be read in less than an hour, I would suggest that for full benefit, the reader take his time, months if necessary, and use it as part of a devotional regimen. Read one message at a time, ponder it, and look for ways to apply the timeless truths in your own life.


I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review. 

2 comments:

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  2. I'm leaving my original review but want to let readers know that Dr Jones read that review, and I recently received a very gracious letter from him thanking me for the constructive criticism. In his letter he told me that he had someone proof read the book. He also sent me another copy of the book - a new edition in which most of the errors have been corrected. I was very appreciative that he took the time and effort to contact me. With so many of the errors corrected, the book is much more readable, so I 'upped' the rating to 4 stars.

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