Official Review: The L.I.G.H.T. Seminar
Posted: 01 Apr 2021, 19:09
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The L.I.G.H.T. Seminar" by Deacon Michael Wesley.]
LIGHT is an acronym for Living in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Deacon Michael Wesley wrote The L.I.G.H.T. Seminar to help Christians understand these gifts, which we receive on the day we are baptized. He also seeks to assist them in finding ways of living out these gifts.
There are conferences one can attend called "The L.I.G.H.T. Seminar." Deacon Wesley makes it clear that this is not to be a manual for these conferences. But he does offer a tentative schedule for those who might wish to use this as a guide for a possible retreat.
In the first part of the book, Deacon Wesley discusses many groups of gifts. There are those that Paul mentions in Ephesians (4:11), the word gifts (tongues and teaching), gifts of power (healing), gifts of revelation (prophecy and discernment of spirits), and gifts of service (mercy, hospitality, giving, leadership, and serving).
Since the author is an ordained deacon in the Catholic Church, he wrote The L.I.G.H.T. Seminar from a Catholic perspective. Paul encourages all Christians to receive and live the gifts, though. So this book is not geared only toward Catholics but for Christians of all denominations.
Deacon Wesley also includes a chapter on spiritual warfare. Since anybody who strives to live a holy Christian life will do battle in the spiritual realm, this is important to understand. There are scriptural references given, as well as tactics for winning these battles.
One of the things I liked about the book was the inclusion of questions at the end of most chapters. For the most part, these questions are good points to reflect on. And they encourage ways of actually living out and putting ideas mentioned into practice. The thing I did not like about the questions, though, was that for several chapters the first question was, "Do you have any questions about the teaching?" For me, that is not something to reflect on, especially since I would be asking that throughout the reading.
The L.I.G.H.T. Seminar is simple to understand, which I appreciate. It was easy to focus on the teachings without drowning in theological doctrine. Deacon Wesley also included several footnotes and a bibliography. This shows that a lot of research went into the book, and it gives credibility to his writing. In addition, everything was backed up with scriptural references.
There were several grammatical or punctuation errors throughout the book. While they didn't contribute much to the difficulty of reading, this is one of the reasons why I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. The other reason for this rating is the chapter questions mentioned earlier.
I would recommend this book to anybody who is serious about trying to live a Christian life of holiness in the way St. Paul describes in his letters. Because of the ease of reading, even a new Christian can get a lot of ideas for how one ought to live. And those who read this book will indeed come away with a better understanding of what the gifts of the Holy Spirit are.
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The L.I.G.H.T. Seminar
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
LIGHT is an acronym for Living in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Deacon Michael Wesley wrote The L.I.G.H.T. Seminar to help Christians understand these gifts, which we receive on the day we are baptized. He also seeks to assist them in finding ways of living out these gifts.
There are conferences one can attend called "The L.I.G.H.T. Seminar." Deacon Wesley makes it clear that this is not to be a manual for these conferences. But he does offer a tentative schedule for those who might wish to use this as a guide for a possible retreat.
In the first part of the book, Deacon Wesley discusses many groups of gifts. There are those that Paul mentions in Ephesians (4:11), the word gifts (tongues and teaching), gifts of power (healing), gifts of revelation (prophecy and discernment of spirits), and gifts of service (mercy, hospitality, giving, leadership, and serving).
Since the author is an ordained deacon in the Catholic Church, he wrote The L.I.G.H.T. Seminar from a Catholic perspective. Paul encourages all Christians to receive and live the gifts, though. So this book is not geared only toward Catholics but for Christians of all denominations.
Deacon Wesley also includes a chapter on spiritual warfare. Since anybody who strives to live a holy Christian life will do battle in the spiritual realm, this is important to understand. There are scriptural references given, as well as tactics for winning these battles.
One of the things I liked about the book was the inclusion of questions at the end of most chapters. For the most part, these questions are good points to reflect on. And they encourage ways of actually living out and putting ideas mentioned into practice. The thing I did not like about the questions, though, was that for several chapters the first question was, "Do you have any questions about the teaching?" For me, that is not something to reflect on, especially since I would be asking that throughout the reading.
The L.I.G.H.T. Seminar is simple to understand, which I appreciate. It was easy to focus on the teachings without drowning in theological doctrine. Deacon Wesley also included several footnotes and a bibliography. This shows that a lot of research went into the book, and it gives credibility to his writing. In addition, everything was backed up with scriptural references.
There were several grammatical or punctuation errors throughout the book. While they didn't contribute much to the difficulty of reading, this is one of the reasons why I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. The other reason for this rating is the chapter questions mentioned earlier.
I would recommend this book to anybody who is serious about trying to live a Christian life of holiness in the way St. Paul describes in his letters. Because of the ease of reading, even a new Christian can get a lot of ideas for how one ought to live. And those who read this book will indeed come away with a better understanding of what the gifts of the Holy Spirit are.
******
The L.I.G.H.T. Seminar
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon