PIC No. 62:
• Title: Experiencing God (2021 Edition): Knowing and Doing the Will of God
• Authors: Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, and Claude King
• Publisher: B&H Books (May 4, 2021, 368 pages)
• Management Bucket #11 of 20: The Donor Bucket
Welcome to Issue No. 62 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.
Experiencing God Inside Angola Prison
In more than 600 book reviews, I’ve featured only a handful of books that required two reviews. This book also requires two reviews, maybe three. I wrote the Part 1 of 2 review for Experiencing God back on Dec. 1, 2021. I named it my book-of-the-year for 2021.
On Feb. 10, 2024, Richard Blackaby announced that his father, Henry Blackaby, had passed away. (Heaven’s gain!) He was 88. (Read this tribute in Christianity Today.)
So it’s appropriate for me to look over my notes and share Part 2 of 2 of my Experiencing God review. (It’s actually my third review. I published my first thoughts on Feb. 18, 2008. Now in 2024, more than eight million books have been sold.)
The CT tribute noted, “Blackaby’s famous summary of how to know and do the will of God—“watch to see where God is working and join him”—has guided numerous people, churches, and ministries to join God’s work. Blackaby’s teaching and influence crossed denominational lines as well as cultural and geographic boundaries.”
That simple principle—“watch to see where God is working and join him”—is at the heart of every short chapter and “the seven realities.” Example: “Reality 1: God is always at work around you.”
WATCH & JOIN! Henry Blackaby wrote, “When I served as a denominational leader in Vancouver, one of our churches believed God was leading it to begin three new mission churches for different language groups. At that time, the church had only seventeen members.” Citing biblical examples, such as Judges 7-8, he adds, “If He ever asks you to do something, He will work through you to do it.” The result: the 17-member church received “a substantial check” from a woman’s estate in California! Project funded by God!
WATCH & JOIN! Don’t skip Chapter 5, “Seven Realities of Experiencing God.” Blackaby shares the movement of God in Angola Prison in Louisiana, “one of the largest and most formidable maximum security institutions in the United States.”
The prison warden’s church had been studying Experiencing God “…and he decided to make the study available to any inmate who wanted to take the course. It was also offered to all those on death row.
“So many prisoners were becoming Christians that seven different congregations were begun throughout the prison with inmates serving as pastors. Violence and drug use in the prison was dramatically curtailed.” Blackaby adds, “Some of the men even sensed God calling them into Christian ministry!”
And get this! The prison became an official satellite campus of a theological seminary and “…wardens from across the country began asking Angola Prison to transfer some of their transformed prisoners to them!”
EXAMPLE: View this remarkable first-person account from Angola Prison inmate Donald “Carolina” Biermann, one of five videos from co-author Claude V. King. Biermann’s story is stunning. (Watch all five videos here.)
View Donald “Carolina” Biermann’s experience with God in this 23-minute video from Angola Prison in Louisiana.
WATCH & JOIN! Henry Blackaby cautioned: “Christians talk about ‘open’ and ‘closed doors,’ asking God to close a door if they are not headed the right way. While it is admirable to seek indications of God’s desires, the danger in this thinking lies in assuming that God’s will is always the path of least resistance (i.e., the open door).”
WATCH & JOIN! Henry Blackaby urged readers to “take an inventory of where your life efforts are being spent. How are you investing your time? What are your priorities? Then ask yourself, ‘What am I presently doing that can only be explained by God’s activity in my life?’ If you cannot think of anything, spend time with your Lord and ask Him why.”
Oh, my. There’s so much more, I may need to write another review in a few months. Thank God for Henry Blackaby and Blackaby Ministries International.
PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Donor Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. Why the Donor Bucket? When you find out what God is doing—and you join Him—not surprisingly, God funds His work!
[ ] God in the Marketplace: 45 Questions Fortune 500 Executives Ask About Faith, Life, and Business (Nov. 3, 2020), by Henry Blackaby and Richard Blackaby. (Order from Amazon.) Note: See their answer to Question #12, “How do I honor God when I have to fire someone and make other difficult business decisions?”
[ ] Experiencing God: Bible Study Book with Video Access (April 1, 2022), by Henry T. Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, Mike Blackaby, and Claude V. King. (Order from Amazon.)
[ ] Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God's Agenda, Revised and Expanded. (May 1, 2011), by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby. (Order from Amazon.)
[ ] Joy Giving: Practical Wisdom from the First Christians and the Global Church, by Cameron Doolittle. (Read my review.)
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Experiencing God (2021 Edition): Knowing and Doing the Will of God, by Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, and Claude King. Listen to the book on Libro (11 hours, 3 minutes). (Note: The audio version is from the 2009 book revision. And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.) For more reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting.
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