Ignatius Fernandez

Meeting Jesus in the Holy Land by Ignatius Fernandez is a travel resource to be used during and after a trip to the Holy Land. Much of the content is informational as it explains the sections of the city, the ethnic and religious groups in the area, and popular sites to visit. The guide includes just enough historical and visual detail to jog a traveler’s memory after the trip when reminiscing.

Meeting Jesus in the Holy Land contains several chapters on Biblical events and places that have reflections to consider. I am unsure of the author’s exact faith tradition, but he included church tradition/lore that I was unfamiliar with. I found the material interesting and liked having a different perspective to consider. As for the ideas more familiar to myself as a Protestant believer, I found those to be both challenging and encouraging.

Chapter Eight on the Via Dolorosa (Stations of the Cross) stood out to me. As I read of the different points in Jesus’ path to be crucified, it reminded me of just how real, painful, and terrible the ordeal was. It made me more thankful that Jesus was willing to do such a thing.

Meeting Jesus in the Holy Land includes a handful of color photos to accompany the text. For best effect, I recommend using either the physical copy or the ebook on a newer tablet. My old second-generation kindle had trouble displaying the photos.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I was provided a copy of this book by the author or publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.… (més)

Note: This work was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. The full version of this review can be found on The Review Board.

I am going to address this from a few different perspectives.

(1) As a person who is strong in his/her spiritual journey

(2) As a person who has faith but lost his or her way during some type of mishap

(3) As a seeker of a religious home, overall guidance, or other readers

I’m going to combine #1 and #2 because my statement does address both of them. I think for both of those groups, the author’s book serves a great purpose. It uses statements from other great philosophers and writers, along with Bible verses, to tackle real life scenarios and situations that can be challenging to the overall spirit.

Now on to perspective #3.

Please keep in mind that my thoughts on this work does not serve as advocacy for or against any kind of spiritual or religious teachings.

Presentation wise, I would have preferred the start of the chapters actually begin on a brand new page. Also, there were opportunities for better sentence structure and improved comma usage.

In addition, I would have liked a bibliography page to show references to a few of the great quotes used throughout the book that were not in the Bible. That way, if a person wanted, he or she could check out these publications afterward.

For me, the lessons provided in the author’s work ring not so different that what I have read in other works, such as the writings of Iyanla Vanzant (my favorite being “In the Meantime”). The only variation is that I do not see enough of Mr. Fernandez’s own personal testimonies to correspond with the depth of the content. It would have provided a deeper resonation had he done so. In addition, for those who are not familiar with the Bible or have not read the contents, sharing the trials associated with his heart could serve as a further beacon of light to bring new followers to the concept of Christianity.

Verdict: 3.25 out of 5 (putting this at a 3)

I applaud the author for what he is trying to do with The Heart Has Its Reasons. I was just looking for a bit more of the author’s own heart in this work and for it to be more of a blend between teaching and testimony, as opposed to being heavily self help told with a outsider like ambiance.
… (més)

Note: This book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

When I started reading The Golden Rule for Empowering Professional Relationships, I didn’t quite know what to make of it. For one, although it is closer to self-help and spirituality, the author tries his hand at intermingling nonfiction with fiction. A group of professionals are seeking a better way to evaluate each other’s job performance and ultimately use the New Testament as dialogue to promote 360 Degree Appraisals and Total Quality Management with Jesus Christ being the ultimate model to the type of management and leadership in which we should aspire.

From a creative standpoint, I am willing to give the author points for daring to be creative and doing a few things out of the box—fiction material in nonfiction work, the personification of Jesus Christ as a Chief Executive Officer, His disciples as members of the management team, and the people as His customer base. The author does fairly well in citing Biblical passages that correspond with his way of thinking.

Yet there are a few things, from an overall reading perspective, that prevent me from giving this high marks.

(1) Is this approach really for everyone?

I’m not saying the author should not be an advocate of the power of Christianity. If it works for him, then there is nothing wrong with being proud of that fact. My concern is when something is delivered as the “end all, be all”. If this was presented as a discussion to where the incorporation of Jesus Christ was one of the ways to improve professional relationships, then that’s all well and good.

Yet the connotation suggests that Jesus Christ is the only way to go. This exclusiveness alienates other groups who may be interested in what the author has to say. Do you have to be a Christian to want to improve your relationship with your boss, co-workers, or overall work environment? For me, not necessarily.

(2) Presentation of dialogue

In the early part of this book, the dialogue was shown as part of a screenplay. This honestly is just one of my quirks. I don’t like to see chatter written in screenplay form unless I am reading a screenplay. This should have been adjusted prior to publication, considering none of the other dialogue in the remainder of the book adopted that fallacy.

(3) Fresh perspective or Management 101?

If one were to take out the Jesus Christ component and replace Him with Buddha or Allah? What if no one was touted as a pristine leader? Would the Golden Rule lesson remained the same? Would the techniques mirror those taught in Management 101? For some readers, this title reads no differently than a textbook one would acquire when studying college courses.… (més)

The Golden Rule for Empowering Professional Relationships is Ignatious Fernandez’s addition to a surprisingly long list of business books looking to Jesus Christ for lessons on leadership, management, and success. Fernandez makes his lessons fresh by using the business fable format made popular by business writers such as Patrick Lencioni (Five Dysfunctions of a Team).

In The Golden Rule, a group of fictional business people learn the non-fiction lessons of how to empower professional relationships by using Jesus Christ as a role model. The book provides lessons in communication, unlearning ingrained behavior, cooperation, and other development skills drawn from the gospels.

As with all good business books, The Golden Rule is a quick read with valuable lessons. Many of the take-away points may count more as good reminders than revolutionary ideas, but we all benefit from gentle reminders now and then.… (més)