Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Book Review - The Rose Legacy
As a fan of inspirational historical fiction, I was excited when Bethany House publishers offered me a free copy of this book to review, and I was not disappointed. This is the first book of a trilogy and is set in the late 1800's in a mining town in the west. This book grabbed my attention from the first page. It is fast paced with plenty of action and suspense in addition to the romantic story line. The characters were compelling and "real" and at the end of the book I was left wanting to know what happened to them next. This book is an excellent and quick read but if you pick it up plan on reading the entire trilogy back to back.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Book Review - Closer
I was so excited to have the opportunity receive a free copy of the new Bethany House couple's devotional book Closer by Jim and Cathy Burns. In the introduction the authors explain that they wrote this book with couples' busy lifestyles in mind, so instead of daily devotions this book is designed to be read together once a week. This format works so much better for us as a couple since we find it difficult to spend enough time together reading devotions daily.
The devotions themselves are each only a few pages long but they cover an incredible array of topics all designed to grow your marriage and make you stronger as a Christian couple. The topics covered are timely and applicable to all marriages and the devotions are written in a way that make them easy to apply to daily life. Although the devotions only take a few minutes to read through they often cause you to begin dialogue with your spouse which can continue for several days. Each devotional includes two features that I especially enjoy, the Faith Conversations and A Step Closer. My single favorite aspect of the devotions is A Step Closer which suggests an action you can each take to strengthen your marriage relationship. For the most part these are easy to incorporate into your daily life, but they cause you to be deliberate in showing love to your spouse.
Overall, this is the best couples' devotional book I have seen.
The devotions themselves are each only a few pages long but they cover an incredible array of topics all designed to grow your marriage and make you stronger as a Christian couple. The topics covered are timely and applicable to all marriages and the devotions are written in a way that make them easy to apply to daily life. Although the devotions only take a few minutes to read through they often cause you to begin dialogue with your spouse which can continue for several days. Each devotional includes two features that I especially enjoy, the Faith Conversations and A Step Closer. My single favorite aspect of the devotions is A Step Closer which suggests an action you can each take to strengthen your marriage relationship. For the most part these are easy to incorporate into your daily life, but they cause you to be deliberate in showing love to your spouse.
Overall, this is the best couples' devotional book I have seen.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Book Review - The Lightkeeper's Daughter
This is the first book I have read by author Coleen Coble and I am very impressed. The Lightkeeper's Daughter combines mystery and romance in a historical setting. I enjoy both historical romance and mystery, but this is the first book I have read which combines those two genres, so when I was offered the chance to review this book through Thomas Nelson's book review blogger program I was excited to receive it. The characters were well developed and believable. The story line caught my interest from the beginning and held it through the entire book. The romantic story line proceeded in a fairly predictable fashion, but the mystery had several several surprising twists and turns. One reason I enjoyed this book so much is that it is a "grown up" version of the style of mysteries I enjoyed as an adolescent.
At the end of the book I found myself wanting to learn more about the citizens of Mercy Falls and I look forward to reading the next book in this new series by Colleen Coble.
At the end of the book I found myself wanting to learn more about the citizens of Mercy Falls and I look forward to reading the next book in this new series by Colleen Coble.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Book Review - Let God Talk To You
I received this book from Bethany House publishers in order to read and review it. In this book the author, Becky Tirabassi outlines varied ways God talks to His people. Most Christians, at one time or another, have been in a place where they felt they couldn't hear God talking to them. This book focuses on ways that God communicates with His people, such as through the Bible, prayer, and through other people.
There's nothing surprising or new for most Christians in this book. It doesn't offer some amazing new revelation on how God will talk with you. It focuses on what most of us already know - that if we want to hear from God, we must spend time listening to and for Him by daily Bible reading, prayer time and seeking input from fellow Christians. However, although the information isn't surprising or new, it is something most of us need to be reminded of. God doesn't make a relationship with Him complicated or something that must be achieved through a difficult process. It happens simply by seeking His presence.
This book offers solid, Bible-based information on a subject of great importance. It is well-written and includes many personal anecdotes from the author. Of course the only book you really need to communicate with God is the Bible, but this book will help to focus your attention on communicating with God and make you think about how important your relationship with God is versus how much time you put into that relationship.
There's nothing surprising or new for most Christians in this book. It doesn't offer some amazing new revelation on how God will talk with you. It focuses on what most of us already know - that if we want to hear from God, we must spend time listening to and for Him by daily Bible reading, prayer time and seeking input from fellow Christians. However, although the information isn't surprising or new, it is something most of us need to be reminded of. God doesn't make a relationship with Him complicated or something that must be achieved through a difficult process. It happens simply by seeking His presence.
This book offers solid, Bible-based information on a subject of great importance. It is well-written and includes many personal anecdotes from the author. Of course the only book you really need to communicate with God is the Bible, but this book will help to focus your attention on communicating with God and make you think about how important your relationship with God is versus how much time you put into that relationship.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Book Review - The Silent Gift
The Silent Gift, a historical novel written by Michael Landon, Jr. offers a glimpse into the lives of the unlovely and those who feel unloved - but who are loved deeply by God. The story centers around Jack, a little boy growing up during the Great Depression and who is deaf and mute and around Jack's mother Mary who wants to protect Jack from those who want to either hurt Jack or exploit what appears to be a unique gift from God - the ability to prophesy - but ends up in a seemingly unending series of ever more perilous circumstances.
This book is not what I would call a typical religious historical fiction book because it deals with deeper subject matter than the typical historical fiction. It makes the reader consider what it means to be gifted by God and how those gifts might not appear like gifts to the world. Or perhaps the world would have us use our God-given gifts to benefit ourselves or others and not to serve God. Another subject focused on to a lesser degree is that of how God takes the broken and unloved and makes them whole in Him.
About halfway through The Silent Gift I was almost ready to put it down because I thought the author was going down a road I didn't agree with. But I kept reading and I'm glad I did because in the end he brought out the exact point I thought he was contradicting - that God-given gifts are not to be used for gain and that our faith belongs in God and not in what we can do to provide for ourselves.
Overall, this is an excellent book and might just make you take a second look at society's outcasts and realize that everyone is worthy of love.
This book is not what I would call a typical religious historical fiction book because it deals with deeper subject matter than the typical historical fiction. It makes the reader consider what it means to be gifted by God and how those gifts might not appear like gifts to the world. Or perhaps the world would have us use our God-given gifts to benefit ourselves or others and not to serve God. Another subject focused on to a lesser degree is that of how God takes the broken and unloved and makes them whole in Him.
About halfway through The Silent Gift I was almost ready to put it down because I thought the author was going down a road I didn't agree with. But I kept reading and I'm glad I did because in the end he brought out the exact point I thought he was contradicting - that God-given gifts are not to be used for gain and that our faith belongs in God and not in what we can do to provide for ourselves.
Overall, this is an excellent book and might just make you take a second look at society's outcasts and realize that everyone is worthy of love.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Book Review - Finding Purpose Beyond Our Pain
I received the book Finding Purpose Beyond Our Pain by Drs. Paul Meier and David Henderson from Thomas Nelson Books for the purpose of reading the book and then blogging about my opinion of it. When I first picked up this book I assumed the intended audience was those who are in the midst of intense pain in some form. As I read I learned that, to the contrary, this book is intended for anyone who has ever found themselves in a pain-filled situation - in other words, it's for everyone.
The authors divide the painful events of life into seven categories: injustice, rejection, loneliness, loss, discipline, failure and death. I discovered that, while I have never faced a dramatic instance of pain (such as job loss, death of a close loved one, etc) this book offers practical, Christ-centered advice on how to deal with painful situations of any proportion. Anyone should easily be able to recall instances that fit into most if not all of these seven categories and will realize that when they face similar situations in the future they will be able to look at them from a different standpoint - the standpoint of what does God want to accomplish in your life as you experience this painful event/situation? The book makes it clear that God does not cause these situations but He does want us to learn from them and especially learn to lean more fully on Him as our Source of strength.
Throughout the book the authors use a combination of Scripture and anecdotes from their own experiences to show how God grows us through the painful experiences of our lives - but only if we choose to grow. Everyone suffers pain in this life. It's a part of existence on Earth. But we learn from it and grow through it only by looking to God for the greater purpose the pain serves in our lives.
The authors divide the painful events of life into seven categories: injustice, rejection, loneliness, loss, discipline, failure and death. I discovered that, while I have never faced a dramatic instance of pain (such as job loss, death of a close loved one, etc) this book offers practical, Christ-centered advice on how to deal with painful situations of any proportion. Anyone should easily be able to recall instances that fit into most if not all of these seven categories and will realize that when they face similar situations in the future they will be able to look at them from a different standpoint - the standpoint of what does God want to accomplish in your life as you experience this painful event/situation? The book makes it clear that God does not cause these situations but He does want us to learn from them and especially learn to lean more fully on Him as our Source of strength.
Throughout the book the authors use a combination of Scripture and anecdotes from their own experiences to show how God grows us through the painful experiences of our lives - but only if we choose to grow. Everyone suffers pain in this life. It's a part of existence on Earth. But we learn from it and grow through it only by looking to God for the greater purpose the pain serves in our lives.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Book Review - Take Your Best Shot
This book, which in part tells the story of the beginning of the organization Hoops of Hope, will challenge you even while it shares with you one story of God's amazing power to transform lives. From the first page to the last Take Your Best Shot is a powerful testimony of how God can make a difference in the lives of thousands of people using one willing follower.
Austin Gutwein was only ten years old when he watched a video telling of the suffering of children in Africa. From that video was eventually born an organization which has touched the lives of thousands of people across the world.
A small step in the story of Hoops of Hope is shared in each chapter of the book. But even more important is the background as to how God was working in the lives of many individuals to accomplish much more than any of them could have conceived and how He can and will do the same thing in the lives of all His people who are willing to step out in faith and do what He is calling them to do. This book can be life-changing for everyone who reads it - both teenagers and adults. But it will only change lives if you heed the message Austin clearly communicates throughout the book. You must discover your passion, see a need and look for where they intersect. Trust God and He will lead you step by step. And serving Him doesn't necessarily mean you will create an international aid organization. God uses us in many ways, not all of them visible to those around us or even to ourselves.
Although this book is written to young people it has a message that needs to be heard by teenagers and adults alike. This book is well-written, though-provoking and will challenge you to reevaluate your purpose on this earth. Don't invest all your energy on things that expire. Redirect it where God is calling you - even if it takes a giant step of faith.
Austin Gutwein was only ten years old when he watched a video telling of the suffering of children in Africa. From that video was eventually born an organization which has touched the lives of thousands of people across the world.
A small step in the story of Hoops of Hope is shared in each chapter of the book. But even more important is the background as to how God was working in the lives of many individuals to accomplish much more than any of them could have conceived and how He can and will do the same thing in the lives of all His people who are willing to step out in faith and do what He is calling them to do. This book can be life-changing for everyone who reads it - both teenagers and adults. But it will only change lives if you heed the message Austin clearly communicates throughout the book. You must discover your passion, see a need and look for where they intersect. Trust God and He will lead you step by step. And serving Him doesn't necessarily mean you will create an international aid organization. God uses us in many ways, not all of them visible to those around us or even to ourselves.
Although this book is written to young people it has a message that needs to be heard by teenagers and adults alike. This book is well-written, though-provoking and will challenge you to reevaluate your purpose on this earth. Don't invest all your energy on things that expire. Redirect it where God is calling you - even if it takes a giant step of faith.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)