Skip to main content

Review: Make Room

Make Room book cover on blue background

I'm in the middle of purging books (how ironic!) and have had quite the past month in eliminating questionable Christian materials, so in a way, I am fulfilling the mandate of this book's title. Make Room by Jennifer Ford Berry is sadly a book I cannot recommend due to how New Age practices and thinking have infiltrated what I had hoped would impart a Christian worldview. Yes, we can make room for God to work in our lives, but no, it does not involve manifestation or speaking our dreams aloud and willing them to happen.

Book Synopsis

Stuff. We have too much of it. Clothing, kitchen gadgets, electronics, home decor. And more of it arrives on our doorstep all the time. Our stuff takes up an incredible amount of our space, time, energy, and money. But do all these possessions truly make us happier?

Certified professional organizer and bestselling author Jennifer Ford Berry says no. Rather than living for our stuff, what actually gives us joy is knowing and living out our purpose in life. In Make Room, Berry shows you how to live a more meaningful and intentional life by revealing how to

  • define your purpose
  • plan your time
  • declutter your home
  • prepare for the future
  • and much more

If you long to get rid of what distracts you from living out your God-given calling in life, this book is your roadmap to success, offering principles to recognize and eliminate anything that is cluttering up your life.

Source: Amazon

Book Thoughts

This book did not deliver on the premise that I thought it would offer going into it. For a few moments, I had to double-check that I hadn't mistakenly picked up a generic book on decluttering from a New Age perspective. Riddled with syncretism, this book requires continual effort in order to mine biblical teachings from the cultural sayings that are typical of self-help verbiage, such as choosing differently or doing better. The concept of vision as expressed through vision boards and vision language seemed to be elevated above God's will and was a red flag in this book, coupled with exhortations to practice positive thinking. I shouldn't be surprised that authors like Jen Hatmaker and Elizabeth Gilbert were referenced, making this book fall into the camp of feel-good, self-propelled, worldly thinking.

As a result, Christians need to exercise much discernment to parse through this book's content where Scripture is referenced and basic concepts that align with Christian living such as hospitality, generosity, and stewardship are shared. It's so unfortunate that this material is muddled together with affirmations and manifestation (a huge no for Christians!). While I appreciate that the author does mention being in the Word of God, it's a miss that the Bible seems to be the anomaly in this book. There is less a sense of God bringing about things due to completely surrendering to Him and more about what the author has done to make things happen instead. Readers interested in the topics of household management, simplicity, and clutter reduction are far better off reading books from authors like Dana K. White who avoid New Age teachings and stick closely to the Bible alone.

Book Summary

  • Format of book: 🎧
  • Rating: ⭐
  • Recommendation: 👎
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: What Is Left of the Night

I'm very grateful to be able to read my first fiction book by Mark Buchanan , a Canadian author who has written extensively on Christian non-fiction topics. What Is Left of the Night is an ambitious feat, combining multiple points-of-view to deliver a story that is as suspenseful as it is thoughtful. Discourse and action carefully balance each other, keeping rapt attention on a book based on true events during the Second World War. Many thanks to  Kregel Publications  for providing a complimentary copy of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. Content to be aware of:  see author's note regarding language; a closed door scene; descriptions of harm, torture, and death Book Synopsis In the quiet village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a resistance is stirring. In Europe, the Nazi regime's bloody wake persists as they brutally send "undesirables" to concentration camps. Hannah, a young Jew, loses her mother and sister while fleeing certain death, arri...
Post a Comment
Read more

Theological Backgrounds

Have you ever wondered about the theological background of authors? I am sometimes curious, especially if there are things that pop up in their books that make me pay attention (either positively or negatively). What I've found is that it's not always easy to find out. Some authors will openly share what church or denomination they belong to, whereas others don't seem to mention it—which for privacy concerns, I completely understand. In terms of how important this information may be for readers, or not at all for some, it does make me think about the role that this could play when deciding which books to read and buy. On the one hand, I think not specifically knowing which theological stream an author comes from but still being aware that they fall within the broader evangelical umbrella is fine with me. There's so much to learn as believers and I wouldn't want to be limited to only simply what I know. On the other hand, not knowing much beyond "Christian"...
2 comments
Read more

Friday Reads

I've been increasingly burdened by the thought that even though what I post to my account is not always an endorsement of a book's content, I still need to be careful in vetting the materials beforehand. After being burned by three books now (two of which have appeared in past Friday Reads posts, and one in an Instagram story), I am a little gun-shy about sharing books I have not yet read. At the same time, this defeats the purpose of a Friday Reads as I don't usually read the books prior to posting them (unless I solely stick to re-reads). I'm a little raw after these bad reading experiences, but I don't want to limit myself from trying new books either. As a result of feeling somewhat subdued this week, I'm open to suggestions of solidly good Christian books if anyone wants to share them. If the book happens to be available on Kindle Unlimited, that's great; however, I can also see what my public library has available. This will be one of the few times I ...
Post a Comment
Read more