The Experience: Day by Day with God: A Devotional and Journal

This book of devotional exercises has an unusual audience in mind: teenagers. Written, appropriately, by a father and son team--both preachers--each page has a brief passage from either the Old or New Testament followed by a few paragraphs of commentary. The Experience is organized both as a series of thematically arranged chapters, such as "Lessons from the Master," "Lessons from the Sermon on the Mount," "Great Friendships," "Paul's Advice," "Lessons from the Psalms," and also as a daily devotional, with one entry for every day of the year (including February 29!). For easy reference it includes an index of readings by date, as well as an index of subjects and of Scriptures. Written in a simple conversational style and primarily aimed at adolescents who "already have a personal relationship with God" (in the words of the introduction), the book carries its learning lightly, occasionally exploring the rich roots of a word like "appetite" but more often finding simple analogies and examples to get the point of the lesson across. --Doug Thorpe