Holy Vocabulary - Book Review

In “Holy Vocabulary”, Michael Kelley prompts us to explore the words that are so often used to describe the Christian faith. To facilitate that adventure, Michael has placed five such words into each of the following sections: God, humanity, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Church, End Times and Scripture. Each word is explored over the course of 4 or 5 pages, thus making it easy to use as a daily devotional. If you were to read a word every weekday, you would finish this book in 7 weeks.

While it would be possible, and profitable, to use this approach to facilitate small group discussions, some participants might find it to be too fast of a pace to keep up. To avoid this, a small group could work on 3 words a week and finish the study in around 12 weeks. Regardless of the approach used, I believe that there would be a lot of value in using this book as a small group study, as at the end of each word it prompts the reader to reflect upon possible application on a personal level.

I have found “Holy Vocabulary” to be a valuable investment of my time. It has helped me to focus on the words that I find myself all too often saying or reading without much thought to their meaning or implication. I found the footnotes and sidebar comments that are sprinkled throughout to be humorous, helpful and made the book feel more personal in nature. If you, or your small group, are looking for a book study to focus on in the coming months, I would whole-heartedly recommend this book.

Over the course of the next week, I will be posting some of my favorites snippets of "Holy Vocabulary". You can read them all here after they have been posted.

Michael Kelley has done a great job in creating a resource that is conversational in nature, yet Biblically sound in its content. To learn more about Michael and to read his absolutely wonderful blog, visit his website at http://www.michaelkelleyministries.com/.