Kingdom Promises devotionals – Ken Hemphill

©2005-2006, B&H (Broadman & Holman Publishers), Nashville

This is a collection of four small books filled with two-page devotionals based on what Hemphill calls “Kingdom Promises.” They are included in the EKG resources. There are several things that make this collection appealing:

1. Size—each volume is small enough to carry around in your pocket.
2. Time—each selection will take no more than a few minutes to read, absorb, and often challenge the reader to Kingdom Living.
   
3. Basis—the devotional thoughts included in each of the books springboards from a biblical statement of faith.
4. Evangelism—each volume includes a short plan of salvation that can speak to the heart of unbelieving friends.
5. Price—each book is priced at under four dollars, which makes them great tools both for Christians wanting to enhance their own walk or to use as witnessing tools—if you give it away you’re not out a fortune and someone may find the Way within the pages.

The books themselves are divided into different promise statements and gathered to illuminate different aspects of Christian living. The best order to read them may be the following: “We Are;” “We Can;” “But God;” “He Is.” The progression is most natural that way. At the same time, each one speaks to different places in the journey of the faithful and can be purchased separately to meet the needs of the individual devotion reader.

If you don’t miss any days and take one promise per day, you should be able to tackle all four books in about six to eight m

onths. If you just wanted to be inspired, you can read all four in the time it normally takes you to read an engaging novel. My advice, decide what part of the journey you are on—whether finding out about God’s promises about Himself or His people, and take a moment each day chewing over that day’s thought. Some of the thoughts are deeper, others more inviting.

Personally, I was really impressed with the concept and the design of the readings. I was also most inspired by the “He Is” volume (admittedly, I read it first). The other texts seemed less promises than statements, and flowed less freely from the passages highlighted. While the author and publishers want to be able to apply evangelism to the books (doing so by including an “A, B, C approach to the gospel message) the books are best suited for people who already have an on-going relationship with Christ, and therefore a bent toward wanting to find out more about what God has to say about Himself and His people.

Rating the books separately, I’m afraid I would be less than kind, but the fourth volume is more than worth the price of buying the entire set. So I will give Hemphill three and one-half reading glasses to average the lot out.

—Benjamin Potter, September 2, 2008

EKG: The Heartbeat of God – Ken Hemphill

I will admit that I was originally skeptical when Ken Hemphill was tapped to succeed Russell Dilday as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Perhaps it was my distrust of the way that Dilday was disposed of. It took some time for me to get over political issues and give Hemphill a chance, but I was surprised to learn that his heart was beating in much the same realm as mine. That led me to finally purchase and read this book.

EKG (Empowered Kingdom Growth) is the desire to live in the Kingdom of God and develop as a Kingdom citizen. The book does not hit home runs throughout, but it does strike a resounding chord. The most engaging portion of the book is the commentary put forth for the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Hemphill makes the Beatitudes come to life, the salt/light and law passages begin to vibrate, and then he whets our appetite for prayer with a glance at the model prayer. What is distracting is that this major portion of the book doesn’t even start until you have waded through half the pages. Many, I’m afraid, won’t stick with him to get to these nuggets of gold to be mined.

The thrust of the book is to challenge people to ask some poignant questions:

• Am I a Kingdom person?
• Are we a Kingdom church?
• Do you want to be?

These questions are useful for every Christ-follower to ask. The answer to the third may influence the way that we address the first two—how do I/we become one?

If you are looking for a feel-good book to help you bolster your current way of life, skip this one. If you want to read something that will challenge your theology, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a resource to help build Kingdom-mindedness into your life and your church, then this is a good place to start.