Lioness Arising

I read a lot of books and I am always excited to be introduced to a new author.  So, I was anxious to read Lioness Arising by Lisa Bevere.  She is married to John Bevere.  You can learn more about them at MessengerInternational.org as well as at PearlAlliance.org.  WaterbrookMultnomah sent me a complimentary copy of the book for the purpose of review.

I was extremely disappointed in the book's message for several reasons.  The best way I know to share my concerns is in bullet style:

1. From the very first few pages to the very last page, the book felt like a mantra on feminism cloaked in "Christianese".  Ms Bevere's writing is redundant and there was nothing really new from one chapter to the next.  She encourages women to realize the potential they have to change the world, but offers no real examples of how they can do that specifically.
2. Ms Bevere downplays the importance of sound doctrine, even calling doctrine "silly" in one place (page 46) and "excessive" when discussing the issue of submission (page 107).  She even seems to blame the church and offers sympathy to the Feminine divine movement in this quote from page 107:  "There is no need to create a female deity that adds value to women if the church would preach truth and original intent."
3. She quotes Margret Mead over and over.
4. Ms Bevere quotes The Message in her book.  I have no problem with The Message for devotional/comparison use.  However, Ms Bevere seems to pick passages largely out of context and relies on wording from The Message to make her points because they seem to fit the point she is trying to make.  The example that concerned me the most was her "in depth" look at 1 Corinthians 11 on page 110-111 where she completely takes the passage and makes it say what she wants it to say to make her point.
5. Her spiritual comparisons of women "rising up" to the lioness in the wild seemed a bit forced and are very loose comparisons at best. 

Now, with all of that said, Ms Bevere says some good things in the book.  For example:

"Walking the realm of good outside of God limits us.  Our present world issues are so incredibly vast they need limitless answers."  (page 24)

"I love women who know how to use seasons of hardship to gain strength."  (page 61)  "God uses hardship as a catalyst for making His people pure, precious and sustainable."  (page 70)

"Allow the Holy Spirit to assess your strength in the light of God's word, and allow hardship to become a training session, knowing you might rise up from it invincible.  Allow the weight of God's Word and the tempering and training of the Holy Spirit to quicken and develop the weak or injured areas of your life. Shift your focus from how you look in your clothing to who you are in your spirit.  Above all, do not fear your strength. Like the lioness, glorify God with it.  Remember, when all the earth is filled with fear and is wondering what is going on, the God of heaven and earth, the Creator of all, calls you to display his fearsome wonder in how you portray your life."  (pg. 76)

I would have to recommend anyone who chooses to read this book to do so with extreme caution and discernment.  Eat the fish and spit out the bones; there are unfortunately lots of bones here!

To get a taste of Ms Bevere's writing you can go HERE to read an excerpt and order the book.

*Due to a mistake in getting two copies of the book sent to me by Waterbrook, I have an extra copy to give away to anyone interested in reading Lioness Arising.  Just leave me a comment with a way to contact you and I'll be happy to send you the extra copy.

*Please take a moment to rank this review.  It helps me get better access to books!!  Thank you in advance!

Blessings,
Jennifer