I received this week the book "A Year with God" by R.P. Nettelhorst through Booksneeze.

It's a typical devotional book with 365 Old Testament scripture sections and the authors devotional written underneath.

There are two one star reviews for this book on Amazon already.  I agree with them both.  You can find them when you click here.  

Although it's clear in the beginning of the book that this is a devotional focusing on the Old Testament, and I actually like that because often in Christendom the Old Testament is minimized, the lack of focus on Christ in the devotional writings is more than obvious.  Take, for instance, Day 11 on page 30 of the book.  The devotional ends “That’s how David could know he was a good man: his goodness was in God, not in himself.  It’s the same way we know we’re righteous today.”  What?

“What?”  That’s how I found myself responding to many of the writings in this book.  So much so that I had to pull out my highlighter so I could refer back to them with my family and make sure I wasn’t reading them incorrectly.  Many of the areas highlighted were mentioned by Pamela’s review on Amazon so I won’t repeat them.  I suggest you read both of the other reviews in the one star section there prior to purchasing this book.

The pros:  The cover is beautiful.  The layout of the book is nice - the days marked as Day One, Day Two, etc., instead of with dated pages - freeing the reader up to read as needed rather than feel guilty for missing a day.  I appreciated the length of scripture passages on each day - good chunks of the Word of God while not too overwhelming for people. 

But a pretty cover and nice layout don't make a quality book.  I'm sorry to say I can't recommend it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."