Be Hopeful
Warren W. Wiersbe
Reviewed by Teresa Konopka
“Be Hopeful: How to Make the Best of Times Out of Your Worst of Times”
by Warren W. Wiersbe is a religious commentary. In a series of “Be --”
books, one does not have to be acquainted with the others to understand
this one. Each book is a mini-treatise-of-sorts on a book of the Bible.
This one just so happens to be on 1 Peter.
Each chapter discusses a Christian theme present in 1 Peter. They are
chronological so the reader learns the lesson in the book as they read
the lesson in the Bible. For instance, the talk of judgment from 1
Peter: 4 is after the marriage discussion from 1 Peter: 3. Full of
quotations and many unquoted citations, the chapters mainly talk about
what 1 Peter means in little chunks. The author explains the book,
oftentimes drawing on similar books of the Bible to make connections.
Some Biblical scenes are translated into colloquialism, either for
humorous effect or simple comprehension. Also, many parts of the
chapters directly address the reader and ask questions, relating
messages to common times. Many themes relate to each other and build
upon one another (hope in God, togetherness, obeying God, resting,
avoiding damnation, receiving glory, etc).
At the end of each chapter, there are many questions. There is room to
write very short responses. The questions relate to 1 Peter, as well as
what Wiersbe has discussed in the preceding pages. Each group of
questions has one that directly tells the reader to read part of 1
Peter. These are also in chronological order. By the time the reader is
done with the book, they will also be done reading 1 Peter. Although
there is such a vast amount of commentary for such a short book of the
Bible, this book offers positive messages.