'25 SUMMER READING LIST, #19 "SACRED PATHWAYS"

 There are books that are a comfort for me, which I would at times re-read for relaxation and encouragement. "Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul's Path to God" by Gary Thomas is one of those books.

In this book, Thomas has a premise that different people have different "spiritual temperaments," different ways they naturally (or supernaturally, since God is our Creator and Designer) tend to worship God.

The author proposes nine spiritual temperaments: Naturalist, Sensate, Traditionalist, Ascetic, Activist, Caregiver, Enthusiast, Contemplative, and Intellectual. He gives a description, Biblical examples, and weaknesses of each temperament, and concluding that chapter with 6 statements to rate between 1 and 5, to determine how you are on each temperament. As with most profiles, a person can be a combination. I scored 26 of a possible 30 on intellectual, 24 on enthusiast, 21 on activist, and 20 on sensate. 

If you're in a group, this might also help to see how others lean so you can work together and complement each other. When I read the first chapter (naturalist), I quickly realized - this was one Becky was strong in. But her strongest were a tie at 24 with intellectual and caregiver, a tie at 23 of ascetic and traditonalist, and naturalist at 21. At that time, we tried going to a campground and had miserable experiences, and she kept wanting to try again; after reading this book, I realized that desire is based on her naturalist side, so I became quicker to agree to try it.

BOOK REVIEW - FIVE TRAITS OF A DISCIPLEMAKER, EDITED BY DOUG NUENKE (US PRESIDENT OF THE NAVIGATORS)

 Would you be interested in a short devotional where each installment is two short pages? Do you enjoy having the devotionals written by different authors so you have different perspectives? Are you motivated when the devotional includes two or three questions for you to think about? 

And how many want this book just because of the title and subject?

"Five Traits of a Disciplemaker," edited by US PreDoug Nuenke with a foreward by Jerry Bridges, author of "The Pursuit of Holiness" fits that description. This 30 day devotional is divided into five six-devotional segments, each written by a different author (including Gary Thomas, author of one of my favorite books "Sacred Pathways").

Some devotionals are those you read, and that you put down encouraged, but are not challenged to transfer it to day to day life. Not so here. Each one has two or three questions at the end to encourage you to put what's read into practice.

I appreciated this devotional, and I'm definitely going to be using it again.

BOOK REVIEW - SACRED PATHWAYS BY GARY THOMAS

 

Before reading this book, I've labored at worship time, having a preconceived notion on what private worship looks like. Then, I discovered this book and read it. This would be one of the five most influential books on my life.

In the first chapter, Thomas introduced the concept of spiritual temperaments -- some might consider it psychological, but I don't. He closed that chapter with a description of the nine temperaments he noticed. The following nine chapters each look at one of the temperaments, giving Biblical examples and ways to develop it, weaknesses of that temperament, and a six question quiz on how strong you are on that temperament. The final chapter encourages you to compare the scores on the tests, and gives some admonitions, such as not judging those with a different temperament.

Thomas does an excellent job of dealing with each temperament. He admits he's stronger at some than others, and tries to give a fair and accurate view of each one.

Allow me to tell a story how this book has positively impacted my life. I started reading this book as my wife and I were planning on a vacation. She always wants to get away from the city for our trip, while I'm not as excited about it. As I read this book, though, I had a hunch she was strong on the naturalist temperament (wanting to get into nature) and had some leanings to the ascetic temperament (wanting structure and solitude). So I realized her desire to get away was connected to her worship temperament, and as a result I was more prepared to encourage that kind of getting away.

I recommend this book to every Christian to understand yourself. I also believe this will help you understand your wife and possible your children (not having any kids doesn't make it easy for you to understand them). I also believe a pastor or church leader may benefit from this book to help the services be varied enough to help any temperament worship.

Allow me to add some thoughts focused on apologetics. One might assume that the activist and intellectual temperaments are the ones best suited for defending the faith. But is it possible that each temperament is capable of defending the faith in a style directed by the temperament?

If you've read this book, what temperaments are your strongest? Mine are intellectual, enthusiast, sensate, activist, and traditional in that order.