Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Book Review--Let Go--Live Free of the Burdens All Women Know by Sheila Walsh

Let Go: Live Free of the Burdens All Women Know Let Go: Live Free of the Burdens All Women Know by Sheila Walsh

My rating: 1 of 5 stars Let Go: Live Free of the Burdens All Women Know by Women of Faith speaker Sheila Walsh is an eighteen chapter book that uses scripture verses and stories to illustrate the point that God loves us all and never gives us a burden that He can not handle. Each chapter has a few questions under the title of "Deliverance Discovered" along with a prayer.

The chapter titles were clichéd (The Million-watt Megabulb of God's Hope, for example)and rather than serving to draw the potential reader in, felt insulting and belittling. The stories she includes in the beginning of each chapter don't ring true when set in the time of Christ. They feel too much like amateur actors trying to be relevant. One woman seems to know without having met Jesus that He is God and prays to Him when he detours around her town to the other side of a lake.

Some of the scripture was taken from The Message Bible, whose "contemporary" wording is, at best, distracting to anyone with more than a passing knowledge of Scripture, and at worst, inaccurate. (One quote has Jesus saying, "If you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life...") The questions at the end of each chapter become too predictable, often merely rewording the title in the form of a question.

While a valiant effort, I don't think this book lives up to its potential. The book could have been pared down into booklet form, or, conversely, taken its few hidden jewels and gone deeper for a much more satisfying read.

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