Secrets to Surrender
Living Wholeheartedly
by Debby Akerman
Pub Date Apr 7, 2014
Secrets to Surrender will help you to grow in your daily walk with Christ. A wonderful addition to any Spiritual growth library, one that would make a great addition to a personal Bible study. This book is easy to understand and can be used as a tool to help in your spiritual growth.
Th
Five out of five stars
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A Brighter Witness
Conversations on the Christian and the Arts
by Dr. Dwight Gustafson
JourneyForth
Biographies & Memoirs, Christian
Pub Date Nov 25, 2012
A Brighter Witness is a short collection of articles and essays that deal with Christian growth, art. It deals with the struggle many Christians artists face, that is whether to take part, in a play, a painting or a song that goes against the Bible.
Although brief A Brighter Witness is a powerful book.
I give it five out of five stars
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Remember the Lilies
by Liz Tolsma
Pub Date Feb 3, 2015
Remember the Lilies will transport you to 1940’s Manilla. We learn of internment camps in Manilla. And we learn of some of the horrific conditions of the interment camps. Irene’s aunt Anita comes down with typhoid fever while her niece is carrying for villagers who are sick.
Irene learned first hand what it was like to go hungry…We learned in the interment camps they survived on rice, beans and a quarter a can of meat a week, therefore death and disease new to malnutrition was high.
Remember the Lilies is a story of living through the unthinkable, it is the story of loss, but it also a story of overcoming the unthinkable and surviving…
I give this novel five out of five stars…
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When Jesus Speaks to a Hurting Heart
Hope and Healing for a Woman’s Soul
by Emily Biggers
Shiloh Run Press
Christian, Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date Dec 1, 2015
I was given a copy of When Jesus Speaks to a Hurting Heart through Netgalley’s partnership with Barbour Publishing in exchange for my honest review. We have all been hurt in one way or another, so I believe this book would be a great addition to any woman’s personal Bible study, or any Women’s Bible Study group.
I give this little devotional five out of five stars
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Understanding the Times
A Survey of Competing Worldviews
by Jeff Myers
David C Cook
Christian, Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date Sep 1, 2015
In this book Jeff Myers points out that often people get their beliefs the same way we catch a virus by being around others.
We are reminded too that ideas have consequences (good or bad). We are reminded too that ideas spread like viruses, ( which is how occults can grow so quickly) and hold a grip on those who carry those extremist beliefs. Myers also points out that Christianity offers a narrative of all history. Myers also pointed out that a major dividing line between Christian and non Christian worldviews is this…What do we do with Jesus? As is pointed out in Understanding the Times “Either Christians correctly describe reality when they speak of a loving, wise, just, personal, creative God, or they are talking nonsense. The basic tenets of the Bible cannot blend well with the non-Christian claim that we are good enough to save ourselves. We say only one view fits the facts: Christianity. God, Creator of the universe, saw its importance, loved it, loved us, so that he sent his son to redeem it— and us. Clearly, adherents of other worldviews strongly disagree with our conclusion that only Christianity fits the facts.” Myers
Myers reminds us too that the Christian worldviews lies solely on Jesus Christ. We (as Christians) serve a Personal God. The Christian story is that of a personal relational God. “The Christian worldview gives meaning to human existence right from the start when God declares, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1: 26).” Myers.
We are reminded too that “It will never be lawful to be ourselves, until we become like Sons and daughters of God.”
On September 11, 2001 the world became painfully aware of the radical side of Islam when terrorists attacked the United States in the name of the Jihad.
Myers describes Secularism as an atheisic and materialistic worldview that advocates for a society free of religion. He later reminds us that Secularism is more than a disbelief in God it is a belief in looking at life in a way that does not include God or religion.
In Chapter Five of Understanding the Times Jeff Myers defines Marksism as this “Marxism: an atheistic and materialistic worldview based on the ideas of Karl Marx that promotes the abolition of private property, public ownership of the means of production (i.e., socialism), and the utopian dream of a future communistic state.”. But we should not be fooled because despite what many believe Marksismcan be considered a worldview. And many do not see this worldview as dangerous but that too is a mistake.
Myers describes what Marksism teaches later in Chapter Five “The overarching Marxist narrative culminates in class equality through economic revolution. The exploiters— those who control the means of production (i.e., those who own businesses and employ people) lord it over the exploited (i.e., those who do manual labor, who do not have an ownership stake in their workplaces , or who do work but do not own their workplaces). Overthrowing the exploiters will free the exploited; we’ll all be happier if we are all the same.”
In Chapter Six Myers goes on to define New Spirrituality “New Spirituality: a pantheistic worldview that teaches everything and everyone are connected through divine consciousness.”. In New Spirituality everything is Spiritual and we all are God’s.
In the chapters to follow Myers goes on to give us a look at Postmodernism, theology, and even Philosophy. Even Ethics is discussed in this book. Biology, psychology and Sociology are also discussed. Law and Politics are addressed as well. Economics and it’s relationships to the different world views are discussed as well.
The Subject of History and the often opposing worldviews is discussed.
If you are looking for a book written from a Christian perspective that deals with the often opposing Worldviews then Understanding the Times by Jeff Myers is just the ticket.
Five out of five stars…
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Beautiful Now
90 Days of Experiencing God’s Dreams for You
by Stasi Eldredge
O
David C. Cook
Christian, Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date Jan 1, 2016
Need a spiritual pick me up? Encouragement in your faith then Beautiful Now just may be the ticket…
This book reminds us that no matter how the world sees us, or even the mistakes we have made God sees us as beautiful. We are reminded too that God has big dreams for us.
Stasi Eldredge points out too that no matter what our past looks like, the mistakes we have made our past sins, God can rewrite our story.
Eldredge points out too that being a Christian does not mean we do not experience pain or loss.
We are also reminded of the importance of Godly Friendships with other women, but not to allow those Friendships to be overtaken by jealousy and envy. We are also reminded of the importance of letting go of past hurts and letting old hurts go.
I would definitely recommend this book for women who are seeking Spiritual growth.
Five out of five stars…
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To be a Lady: Story of Catherine Cookson
by Cliff Goodwin
Endeavour Press
Biographies & Memoirs
Pub Date Sep 11, 2015
Catherine Cookson was born in June of 1906. Catherine first attended a school that had far from satisfactory conditions, with poor ventilation often freezing and unsatisfactory conditions, but Catherine was always an inquisitive child.
From a young age Catherine knew she was different her Mother was not married and she really did not know her Father. Before she was even eight years old Catherine carried both the burden and the guilt of an adult.
On December 13 1917 Catherine’s Grandmother died at the age of fifty nine. In the winter of 1919 and 1920 Catherine suffered from a leg injury that would plague her for the rest of her life.
On November 28, 1940 Catherine gave birth to a son who was still born and three months early. During 1943 Catherine became pregnant for a third time this one leading to a miscarriage doctors warned her after this another pregnancy would end in death. After a series of miscarriages Catherine became so depressed she began contemplating suicide. Catherine first began seriously writing by trying to put her Mother’s life to paper. In 1950 Catherine’s first novel Kate Hannigan was published. By the mid 1950’s even the Queen Mother was a fan of Catherine Cookson.
If you love to read stories of people overcoming early difficulties then To Be A Lady is a book I would highly recommend.
I give this book five out of five stars…
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The World Outside
by Eva Wiseman
Random House of Canada Limited
Tundra Books
Teens & YA, Children’s Fiction
Pub Date Apr 8, 2014
Chanie Altman is seventeen years old and lives in a Hasidic Jewish community in 1991. Her world centers around her religion, her faith and traditions. Chanie is also a twin her brother Moishe did not get enough oxygen at birth. Chanie’s family is strict her Mother will not allow her to be friends with anyone outside her faith, but she has a closeness with her Grandmother who survived Aushwitz.
Chanie’s Mother is strict not allowing her daughter to take part in many activities seemingly forgetting what it was like to be young.
Chanie loves music and dreams of going to Juliard but she has to sneak around getting the application and such because she knows her Mother will not approve. She believes Chanie should care for her brother and perhaps study at a religious school but Chanie has other dreams.
After her graduation Chanie’s twin brother Moishe dies and Chanie cannot help but blame herself because she feels it is because of her that he was starved of Oxygen at birth.
Later that Summer when an accident kills a colored child tensions between the Hasidic communities and the African American community only grows deeper so much so that a Jewish Scholar visiting from Australia is murdered and Chanie’s father is injured. Chanie’s grandmother becomes so disoriented feeling as if she is back in Poland and the Nazis are after her that she is fleeing the Nazis but she ultimately ends up dying but in the midst of all these tragedies Chanie’s mother begins to realize she may be wrong on some counts and things begin shifting as the tension between the Hasidic and African American community slowly begin shifting.
The World Outside is not just a coming of age story it’s a story of hope in the midst of loss as well as a story of overcoming prejudices.
I give this story five out of five stars
Happy reading….
Miracle Drug
by Richard L. Mabry, M.D.
Abingdon Press
Christian
Pub Date Sep 15, 2015
I was given an Arc copy of Miracle Drug through Abingdon’s press partnership with Netgalley for my honest review so here it is…
A strange illness, unexpected deaths and a missing body all tie together in Miracle Drug by Richard L Mabry.
Doctor Ben Carson falls sick with strange symptoms, a sharp pain in his left upper arm, Followed by a sharp pain in his extremities and Fuzzy Vision. At first people wonder if it’s a heart attack and then two more patients come with the same symptoms, former United States President David Madison, and a woman name Rachel Moore.
A race to save David Madison and Rachel Moore begins but the murder of a night nurse Barbara Carper and the accusations fall on Doctor Chavez.
Will they find out whose responsible for this outbreak?
If you are a fan of action packed medical suspense then Miracle Drug by Richard L Mabry is just the ticket.
I give this book five out of five Stars.
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Whisper
A Lakeview Novel (#2)
by Stacey R. Campbell
Gemelli Press LLC
Green Darner Press
Teens & YA
This book opens in 1914 at Lakeview Academy and then shifts to the year 2012 at the same school. One group of girls stays at a Dorm that is called the Cambell House where they soon become like sisters accepting each other’s faults and all.
There seems to be something different about this school though something haunting.
Nearly a century earlier a young girl named Elsie dies when she was around fifteen. When Halle finds Elsie’s journal she begins taking it everywhere with her. When Halle reads the journal she learns that one night Elsie burned the library down when she fell asleep one night and bumped over the candles.
Whisper is a novel geared towards young adult who like fictional super natural stories due to strong language I would recommend it for fourteen and up.
I give this novel four out of five stars.
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ChristianAuthorChick 