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In Recovering Our Spiritual Vigor: By Invitations of the Living Christ,
Rene Lafaut examines the Beatitudes, interpreting each as a guide for spiritual living rooted in humility, dependence on God, and moral conduct. The first Beatitude highlights humility as recognizing one’s need for God’s grace, while others focus on mourning over sin, meekness, and seeking righteousness through the Spirit. Lafaut connects mercy with forgiveness and patience, purity of heart with repentance, and peacemaking with reconciliation with God and others. The work addresses Jesus’s teachings on anger, lust, divorce, nonviolence, giving, prayer, fasting, and judgment, emphasizing practical application through self-examination and sincere faith. Lafaut stresses trusting God’s provision, practicing discreet devotion, and living according to Jesus’s instructions to foster a life aligned with divine will, culminating in the call to embody these teachings consistently. Recovering Our Spiritual Vigor by Rene Lafaut is a well-written and approachable guide to renewing one’s faith. Lafaut thoughtfully presents Jesus’s teachings on love, peace, and true worship, showing how God’s fellowship transforms life through grace and salvation. Every assertion made by the author is backed up with scripture, allowing for a quick reference check to read the scripture and apply Lafaut’s statements in clear context. The book provides practical steps such as reconciliation, humility in prayer, and steadfast commitment to God’s will, inviting readers to live authentically as “salt” and “light” in the world. I felt that Lafaut was able to speak on more difficult topics with honesty, including self- control, forgiveness, and giving, always pointing to God’s Spirit as the source of strength. Through Lafaut’s careful interpretation of Jesus’s words, the book inspires confidence in following a path centered on faithfulness and moral integrity, offering encouraging wisdom for anyone seeking renewed spiritual energy and dedication.
Recovering our Spiritual Vigor: By Invitations of the Living Christ
This book tackles the Sermon on the Mount as preached by Jesus and recorded in the gospel of Matthew. Jesus weeps from His pure heart over a broken humanity in bondage to sin. Longing to restore its image in the likeness of God. This book captures the beatitudes and His teachings on faith and morals as found in the sermon. This book is about humble love. It does not tackle it from the point of view of a scholar, but from a broken person, hungry for healthy truth, wisdom, and grace (i.e., God’s empowering presence). In a way that can heal the heart and mind of willing followers. In a compelling, interesting, and truth centred manner.
If you want an interesting book about what healthy love looks and feels like and is loyal to Jesus and the Christian scriptures, then this book is for you. This book celebrates supernatural love, forgiveness, compassion, steady growth in humility, and wisdom that work together to help set us free from bad attitudes (previously used to hurt the people in our lives). The teaching helps us to refrain from judging and hurting people. But to stay loyal to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite
Dismantling the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil Within So Love Can Thrive: Learning to Renew the Mind and Heart (Renewing One’s Life) is a work of non-fiction in the inspirational and spiritual writing subgenres. It is intended for the general reading audience and was penned by author Rene Nestor Lafaut. As the expressive title and subtitle suggest, the work offers readers a chance to transform their minds and hearts to bring greater peace to themselves by accepting love and compassion from Christian religious beliefs and practices. The author uses the metaphor of the Tree of Knowledge to deliver a method by which people can let go of behaviors that are damaging to themselves and others and instead accept more peaceful and productive emotions into their lives.
Whether you’re a religious person or not, the ideas behind author Rene Nestor Lafaut’s work hold true and resonate deeply. In a modern world where many people are discovering their boundaries and owning them and empowering themselves to deserve more compassion and respect, there are those who are still discovering their own toxic behaviors with regard to others. Lafaut’s resonant work offers a great explanation for behaviors such as being overly judgmental, losing your temper, and feeling jealous or spiteful to others because of your own insecurities and inner pressures. These behaviors are then put into a spiritual context and it becomes easier to see the bigger picture and how to minimize these actions and let go of the negative feelings which cause them. Overall, Dismantling the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil Within So Love Can Thrive is a powerful and insightful read with much to teach those willing to listen.
Dismantling the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil Within So Love can Thrive
This book describes a method on how to transform the mind and heart of a person in a way that is loyal to Jesus and the Christian Scriptures. It is done through confession and repentance that involves strategic prayer to God with the help of understanding the many connections between: hurts, fear, pride, selfish love, compulsive-laziness, compulsive-indulgence, coveting, judgments, and selfishness; along with one’s visible sins (These connections form a structure called “the tree of knowledge of good and evil” within which has invisibly dominated humanity since the Garden of Eden). And, then to renew one’s mind and actions with virtues (in the exact places where we have given up the vices) with wholesome and sober truth-based thinking and believing through Jesus’ grace. The process of change is observably gradual. So if you struggle with any of the following negative attitudes such as jealousy, conceit, self-pity, unkindness, and meanness; and you find yourself trampling over people’s feelings and boundaries in unhealthy ways. Are short tempered or are often judgmental towards people in the name of truth, or you use angry pressure to motivate yourself more than coming from a caring and compassionate place. If you don’t have many warm relationships because of the walls you have erected over time within yourself. If you see the world in a me or us “versus” them mentality. Are rule focused, more than love focused, seek pleasure more than what is healthy physically and spiritually, or feel more like a thorny bush than a life-giving stream in how you relate to those people you meet daily, then this book is for you.
Reviewed by Philip Van Heusen for Readers’ Favorite
Rene Lafaut shares his views on Christianity in Contrasting Humility and Pride: Bearing Good Fruit or Bad Fruit. He presents being humble and doing good as only being based on the power of Jesus Christ, which comes from abiding in His Word. Lafaut rejects the Penal Substitution Theory of redemption. In his view, Jesus was not punished for the sins of mankind, but His death was an act of love from the Father. Victory over sin does not come through keeping rules but from abiding in the True Vine, Jesus Christ. Throughout this book, Rene dwells on the fact that Christians need to abide in Christ and allow the victory over sin to come from this relationship. Some of the ideas in this book may seem new and strange to the reader, but the way they are presented is thought-provoking.
How does one become humble? If you strive to keep all the laws and do good things, will you be humble? Humility is not something people can truly achieve on their own. It is only attainable by abiding in Christ and letting Him control our lives. This is also true of all the fruit of the Spirit. We do not live the Christian life by striving in our own strength but by abiding in Christ. Rene Lafaut does not just accept the thoughts of others. He wants to know how things relate through his searching and researching. Rene presents the results of his study of Christianity and the Bible in Contrasting Humility and Pride. He concludes that only as one abides in Christ will one be able to live a Godly life. Read this book with an open mind and come to your own conclusions.
Contrasting Humility and Pride
This book attempts to understand healthy humility and how it can move us to caring for and loving those people different from ourselves. It does not attempt to give new lists of sins but attempts to set up a paradigm of thought that is faithful to the person of Jesus and the Christian Scriptures that helps us to not demonize any person or any people groups. This book comes out of me working a process of inner transformation as outlined in my book called, “Dismantling the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil Within So Love Can Thrive”. It answers questions that I asked myself that were necessary for me to renew my mind and actions so that I could move to more healthily imitate Jesus in His meekness, gentleness, love and compassion.
Reviewed by Carol Thompson for Readers’ Favorite
Moving from Reluctant Lover to Overcomer: The Path to Altruism by Rene Lafaut is an exploration of spiritual growth and the pursuit of unselfish love. The book offers a detailed roadmap for individuals seeking to deepen their faith and embrace altruism in their daily lives. Lafaut draws on personal experiences, biblical teachings, and practical advice to guide readers through the challenges of overcoming selfishness, judgment, and spiritual stagnation. The book is structured to address key themes, including the significance of baptism, abiding in Jesus, and the necessity of removing sin’s strongholds. Lafaut emphasizes the importance of humility, prayer, and repentance as foundational practices for cultivating a life of love and service.
Rene Lafaut provides specific examples of prayers for forgiveness, repentance, and seeking God’s guidance, which can serve as helpful templates for readers. The emphasis on the importance of community and the role of the church in fostering spiritual growth underscores the value of relationships in the journey toward altruism. While the book is rooted in Christian teachings, its themes of love, humility, and selflessness are universally relevant. Lafaut’s writing encourages readers to confront their own weaknesses and embrace the grace and wisdom offered by Jesus. The book challenges individuals to move beyond superficial acts of kindness and develop a deeper, more consistent love for others. Moving from Reluctant Lover to Overcomer is a thoughtful and inspiring guide for anyone seeking to grow in faith and practice unselfish love. Lafaut’s insights and practical advice make it a valuable resource for personal reflection and spiritual development.
Moving From Reluctant Lover to Overcomer: The Path to Altruism.
Has a loved one rightly labeled your love as lacking? Are you reluctant when asked to love someone unselfishly? Do you exude self-pity when asked to do a loving task? Do you feel stuck in shallow love, but admire the examples of people who are really altruistic? Do you want a game plan to move from “reluctant lover to overcomer”? Do you want to embrace the promises from Jesus in a way that makes you alive to His wisdom and grace? So that you move in genuine healthy love and altruism towards those you know but also towards the strangers you might meet daily? Do you want to love unselfishly all those persons in your life who need your tangible caring input more deeply? Then this book is for you!
This book aims at and gives a nuts and bolts teaching on how to move from selfishness to altruism in our daily lives. This means providing and giving advice on how to move from sin strongholds to virtues. This process requires wisdom and grace that both come from Jesus. This requires us to embrace a relationship with Jesus that leads to two-way prayer and meditation on liberating truths, as described in the bible. It also asks us to embrace the body of Christ as a place to give and receive in the process of growth, maturity, and repentance as we move towards the virtue and freedom of loving altruism.
Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers’ Favorite
In his book 14 Pursuits – Finding Grace for Virtue, Forgiveness, Trauma, Rene Lafaut MSc. promotes a Scripture-based approach to overcoming obstacles such as sin strongholds and trauma, advocating confession, repentance, and virtues over vices. He outlines a method for identifying sin strongholds, stressing humility, and seeking wisdom from God. Lafaut presents fourteen devotions for spiritual growth that embody forgiveness, tolerance, and trauma processing through prayer. He speaks of the importance of love, grace, and humility in fostering healthy relationships, insisting on genuine prayer and honesty with God. Lafaut shares personal conflict with fears and schizophrenia and how important it is to incorporate Jesus into daily routines and continuous repentance. He advises against judgment, champions embracing God’s love, and urges a focus on faith, hope, and love, emphasizing the necessity of humility and healthy interpretations of biblical teachings for spiritual growth.
14 Pursuits – Finding Grace for Virtue, Forgiveness, Trauma by Rene Lafaut does an excellent job of offering a comprehensive theological self-help approach grounded in Scripture in a way that is easy to understand. What I have found over the years is that accessibility is key. A book is only helpful if people can grasp it, and Lafaut is skilled at taking complex messaging and explaining it to us. A perfect example of this is the section where he talks about the significance of incorporating both the teachings of the Gospels and the Epistles—the letters written by the apostles that rarely appear at the top of someone’s reading list—into one’s life, arguing that both sets of writings are essential for maintaining doctrinal purity and nurturing healthy relationships rooted in love. I liked that Lafaut’s approach is humanized by his own stories, that he backs up absolutely everything he discusses with scripture, and that he never makes a reader feel guilty. Lafaut walks the walk, embracing readers with the message, and doing so in exactly the way he argues that we must embrace the word: with an open heart and love. Very highly recommended.
14 Pursuits – Finding Grace for Virtue, Forgiveness, Trauma: A Personal Journey To Healthy Love
14 Pursuits – Finding Grace for Virtue, Forgiveness, Trauma: A Personal Journey to Healthy Love
Start your journey to peace and strength with this
transformational book! Through the 14 Pursuits in Part I you can increase your faith hope and love in a Christ-centered way. Part II will help you cleanse your mind and heart, and tackle your sin strongholds and addictions.
If you are a new Christian, seeking to obey Jesus’ command to love others as yourself, this book will show you how to nurture that natural caring for others he places in all of us. If you are facing struggles and needing a guide to a better path, this book offers hope, wisdom and a trustworthy framework on how to grow in love.
You can learn how to transform your mind and heart through strategic prayer. Learn to stream God’s wisdom (in two-way prayer) into a heavenly understanding that lifts you up, to do God’s will through His grace.
By caring for others and helping them in meaningful ways, you will grow in unconditional love, and break loose from the bonds of judging others that separate us and keep us lonely.
Pick this book up to grow closer to God..
Reviewed by Amy Raines for Readers’ Favorite
To Be Broken into Freedom: A Spiritual Journey (Renewing One’s Life) is Rene Lafaut’s autobiography. As a young child trying to find love, Rene met with anger, resentment, and disappointment. The road to discovering his faith in God was paved with questions and issues that he could not have anticipated. Mental illness played a huge part in the challenges that he faced. Rene pursued the love of God even though it was abundantly clear that he was not ready because there were still more crosses for him to bear. His search brought about humbling experiences that produced clarity in some areas but added even more questions to those that remained unanswered. There was concern that he had been influenced by something demonic. After being diagnosed with a treatable condition, Rene discovered that walking in the darkness was just the first step on his journey and that obeying God’s will was not always easy.
The experiences that the author shared about his life from early childhood and beyond were events that enlightened him and kept him searching for the clarity and peace that comes with God’s love. The situations, including illness, will encourage the reader to reflect on the trials, tribulations, and spiritual tests in their own lives. I loved how Rene Nestor Lafaut pursued the love of God, even during some of his darkest moments. I recommend To Be Broken into Freedom to those who seek understanding, guidance, and the knowledge that they are not alone on the path to redemption.
To Be Broken into Freedom: A Spiritual Journey
This book is a story about a person who was a mess inside. Who did not know how to live the Christian life. He eventually received a promise from God to be broken into freedom, and that is where the adventure started: pain, disorientation, struggles, confusion, and gutted within became his lot for many years. He was put on medication, only to have to wait decades to start feeling normal again. Because of this he learned how to practice the Christian basics: of confession, repentance in prayer, renewal of the mind, and a growing dependence on Jesus. This helped him to grow and the practice of the virtues of faith, hope, love, and humility. His experience is an example of the dark Knight as described by St. John of the Cross.
Going Deeper with the Twelve Steps
Most people when they do have a compulsion usually embrace it and try to live with it, or they feel guilty, try hide it, and make excuses for it. I have done both. Such dynamices can become love hate relationahips. Getting hungry enough for change is necessary to defeat our compulsions. But this is not enough. Many people have gone before us, and it is prudent to be teachable in their presence when they point to and advise us on how to connect with God in ways for hope, and spiritual life to be birthed in us so that our compulsions can be defeated. This book helps to defeat stagnancy by going deeper in the spirit of The Twelve Steps..
Reviewed by Philip Van Heusen for Readers’ Favorite
How well do you know I Corinthians 13? Rene Lafaut wants you to know love even better. In Exploring Faith, Hope & Love (Renewing One’s Life), Rene takes each verse in the love chapter and gives his understanding of what love is. He deals with love vs. the Law. Since the Law only points out where we sin, love is more important to us. We need to humbly show love to all those around us—friends, family, and even enemies. True love is possible only through faith in Jesus and allowing His love to manifest itself through us. The Law leads us to condemn others and treat them as inferior to us. It seeks the impossible from us. However, love gives us the way to live and the means to accomplish loving relationships with ourselves and others. Read this book to grow in godly love.
One of the primary needs of mankind is to be accepted and loved. Yet, how often have you felt someone “loved” you to get something from you? The 1960s saw a decade of “free love.” But, unfortunately, it was neither free nor love. In 1965, Jackie DeShannon reminded us that What the World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love. The problem with the 1960s is that it failed to define love and did not even consider the definition of love found in the Bible in I Corinthians 13. Rene Lafaut enters the stage and explains his understanding of what God means by “love” in the Bible. Exploring Faith, Hope & Love (Renewing One’s Life) explains and compares faith, hope, and love. If love is as important as God says it is (more significant than faith and hope), it behooves us to read this book and learn more about love.
Exploring Faith Hope & Love
Have you ever been confused about the meaning of love? This book helps us to remember and embrace the power and the logic of love as we move forwards following Jesus in this life.
This book is inspirational. It is based on Christian love as found in the scriptures. It has universal values that attracts seekers of truth.
The book has both depth and simplicity. Both the young and the old will get take aways from it for the journeys they are each on. Its foundation is the indestructible wisdom and love belonging to God.
It has important teachings that are foundational to the Christian life.
It will encourage the reader.
Neither the teachings or inspiration are boring, stagnant, or empty of meaning.
If you are needing inspiration to love the people in your life. This book will help you grow in a sturdy lasting practical love.
Without God, our love will rot because of our pride.
We are reminded that giving God His due is part of Christian worship. Giving Him thanksgiving for the love in our lives and His help to practice love, helps us to remain humble. Love has deep, mysterious, and yet simple properties.
Understanding “Law versus Grace” will help free us to recklessly pursue grace while embracing Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.
Don’t lose out on warm practical, caring, and meaningful thoughts that are life changing.