7 Secrets to Spiritual Success

Kroll, a Nebraska-based Bible teacher and former president of Practical Bible College, has written a how-to for spiritual success. Kroll defines ""spiritual"" narrowly--this is not a book for Hindu mediators or New Age channelers, but for those seeking the Holy Spirit. Success requires living according to God's will, and readers can get there in seven easy steps. First, check to see if love, hope, faith and obedience are evident in your life; then develop intimacy with God through prayer; get into good habits, including going to church and witnessing; learn to ask friends, pastors and the Holy Ghost for help in your spiritual journey; don't be taken in by Satan's temptations, be they extramarital sex or ostensibly harmless enticements such as gossiping; recognize that God gives second chances and repent when you backslide; and remember the ultimate goal of eternal life. Kroll's writing is lively and brisk, and he illustrates his seven principles with entertaining personal anecdotes, but the book is somewhat superficial. Kroll is no Teresa of Avila or St. John of the Cross, and the temptations and doubts he addresses represent no dark night of the soul. Kroll's confident ""you know you're saved if"" check list seems somewhat Pollyanna-ish when compared with, for instance, early Puritan writings about assurance. (Feb.)