This is a book of stories. Stories about love. Not stories about feelings, but stories about actions, because Love is a Verb. This is a book for everyone. It will warm your heart. It will give you hope. It will encourage you. Rarely has any book left me feeling this good and this hopeful. ( )

I'm somewhat torn on this one. On the one hand, Chapman is a really exceptional storyteller, and many of the stories in this book are quite moving. Similarly, I like the approach. Instead of going into terrible detail about how we should be loving, he shows us through anecdote. So in these ways we have a really gripping book.

But I ultimately have to say that this book fails, and it fails because it misses the point completely. It purports to be a Christian book, but God is a passing reference in some of the stories, and the characters could have just as easily been Jews or Muslims instead of Christian. There is nothing uniquely Christian here.

Which is a shame, because we have the greatest example of love in action in Christ Jesus. Paul tells us that "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." This is the Jesus "who loved me and gave himself for me."

Chapman's message in this book seems to be, "Work harder to love each other, and everything will be okay." God's message is instead, "You're not okay, but I love you enough to die to pay the price of your sins."

It is true, we should love each other. This is a wonderful commandment. And we fail at it every day. We prove ourselves unworthy every day. Chapman's approach won't solve that. Jesus' does. ( )

NCLA Review - Love is more than a feeling; it’s an action. The book is a collection of stories describing what can happen when we put our love into practice. Written by ordinary people, the stories cover the gamut of situations, from a handicapped child, to troubled marriage, to daughters-in law and every scenario in between. At first I thought the stories were simply pleasantly inspiring reading and nothing new. Then I came to the story that hit me personally. That’s when I realized that each of these stories will hit home with someone, and the book will be helpful to all who read it in one way or another. Each little story is followed by helpful comments by the author. Gary Chapman, associate pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, NC, has written more than twenty books including The Five Languages of Love, and hosts a daily radio program. Rating: 4 —EB ( )