The Friends We Keep & 40 Minute Bible Studies - Book Reviews

"The Friends We Keep" is a book about making friends, being friends, falling away from friends, and coming back to friends. Sarah Zacharias Davis' subtitle is "A Woman's Quest for the Soul of Friendship." "It is Sarah's thoughtful account of her own experiences and those of other women in navigating friendship."
My daughter, Joy, really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the different stories and some interesting analogies. The book says it addresses questions like: Why do we long for women friends? What causes cattiness, competition, and co-dependency in too many friendships? When is it time to let a friend go, and how do we do so? I found during most of the book it discussed the truth that these topics are real and found in many friendships. At the very end of the book, Sarah gives a summary of friendship and gives some answers to the questions she raised. Very good.

"The 40 Minute Bible Study series from beloved Bible teacher Kay Arthur and the teaching staff of Precept Ministries tackles important issues in brief, easy-to-grasp lessons you can use personally or for small-group discussion. Each book in the series includes six 40-minute studies designed to draw you into God’s Word through basic inductive Bible study. There are 16 titles in the series, with topics ranging from fasting and forgiveness to prayer and worship. With no homework required, everyone in the group can work through the lesson together at the same time. Let these respected Bible teachers lead you in a study that will transform your thinking—and your life."

Titles Include:
•The Essentials of Effective Prayer
•Being a Disciple: Counting the Cost
•Building a Marriage That Really Works
•Discovering What the Future Holds
•Forgiveness: Breaking the Power of the Past
•Having a Real Relationship with God
•How Do You Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk?
•Living a Life of Real Worship
•How to Make Choices You Won’t Regret
•Living Victoriously in Difficult Times
•Money & Possessions: The Quest for Contentment
•Rising to the Call of Leadership
•How Do You Know God’s Your Father?
•Key Principles of Biblical Fasting
•A Man’s Strategy for Conquering Temptation
•What Does the Bible Say About Sex?

I thoroughly enjoyed the two books I received - "Rising to the Call of Leadership" and "Key Principles of Biblical Fasting." I thought the lay out for this set was excellent! They have the Bible verses along the wide margins of the books and the questions and comments set in the middle. I like the way they have a person underline and box words in the Scriptures. It was amazing to realize how many times the word was actually said, or the different contexts it was placed. I would agree that these are Bible studies, not just devotionals talking about verses. These books will help you discover Biblical truths and grown in your understanding of the Word of God. They are designed as 6 week small-group studies, but they would be very applicable for individual Bible studies set in your own time frame. Definitely a fun treat!

Author Bios:

Sarah Zacharias Davis is a senior advancement officer at Pepperdine University, having joined the university after working as vice president of marketing and development for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and in strategic marketing for CNN. The daughter of best-selling writer Ravi Zacharias, Davis is the author of the critically-acclaimed Confessions from an Honest Wife and Transparent: Getting Honest About Who We are and Who We Want to Be. She graduated from Covenant College with a degree in education and lives in Los Angeles, California.

Kay Arthur, executive vice president and cofounder of Precept Ministries International has worked with her teaching staff to create the powerful 40-Minute Bible Studies series. Kay is known around the world as a Bible teacher, author, conference speaker, and host of national radio and television programs.

To learn more about or purchase these books visit RandomHouse.com.