Day by Day Through the Gospel of John compiled and edited by Lance Wubbels

Writing styles have changed over the years. Rarely do I read a contemporary Christian book on spiritual growth I would describe as heavy or deep. Books on Christian growth seemed more meaty a few generations ago.

Wubbels has gathered some of that meaty material for the current generation. He has gleaned insights on the Gospel of John from some of the greatest expository teachers and preachers from the past. Names like Charles Spurgeon and Andrew Murray are among them. Wubbels has worked on Spurgeon's material before and it is no surprise devotions by Spurgeon are more frequent than any of the other authors listed in the short biographies of the contributors at the beginning of the collection.

This book is a devotional and not a verse by verse commentary on John. There are many gaps in the Scripture covered. I was surprised, for example, that there were no readings on John 8:13-15, John 8:17-28, John 8:37-38, John 8:56-57 nor John 9:17-19 just to name a few. Some passages have no devotional reading while others have more than one.

As is often the case with a collection of a variety of authors, the readings differ in intensity and insight. Nonetheless, I do appreciate this collection of readings. It is a good devotional and a good way to be introduced to classic biblical scholars. Unfortunately, there is no listing of source material so if you find an author's work of interest, there is no way of knowing from what book the material was gleaned.

I recommend this devotional to readers who don't mind if that one passage you were looking forward to reading about is missing and you don't mind if you cannot easily pursue an author you like. There is much good material included on many passages in John that will be daily inspiration for a year.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Lance Wubbels served as the managing editor of Bethany House Publishers for eighteen years. He then went into literary development for a design firm and now runs his own literary service to publishers and authors. He is the author of many fiction and nonfiction books and has won the Angel Award and two Gold Medallion awards from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. He has compiled or edited several book on Charles Spurgeon's writings. He and his wife live in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Bethany House Publishers, 384 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.