Category Archives: books
Four Letter Words (and a giveaway!)
What used to be expected and assumed is now questioned, criticized and even mocked. We live in a post-modern world, one that questions everything, but never accepts concrete answers. The problem is that many Christians still approach life as if everyone agrees with us. Or at least that they would if they were simply informed. This is a dangerous place to be. When faced with relativism, circular reasoning and theories presented as facts, many believers choose to question their faith before questioning the opposition. Why? Because they are not equipped.
Four Letter Words, by Dr. Bill Giovannetti, seeks to equip readers (specifically upper high school and college-aged believers) with the logic behind our faith and the prevalent holes in modern thinking. While I don’t agree with everything he wrote, the book offers an excellent starting point for contemporary apologetics. Read the rest of this entry
The Shadow of Your Smile (and a giveaway!)
Susan May Warren is the contemporary author I recommend most and most freely. Every one one of her books not only entertains, but also inspires me to investigate myself. My husband teases me about underlining text in novels. I do! But it’s because I learn something about God and something about myself in every single one of her books. I don’t want to forget those lessons. She is a tremendous writer, a beautiful tool used by God.
Her latest book, The Shadow of Your Smile, is another in the Deep Haven series. (I believe this is the fifth.) As always, she features new characters far enough removed from the last that you feel still the cozy familiarity of a series, but without redundancy or direct tie-ins. Each book can stand on its own. This series can be read out of order.
About the book:
After twenty-five years of marriage, Noelle and Eli Hueston are contemplating divorce. They’ve been through a lot together, but instead of growing closer, they’ve gone separate ways. They both have secrets. When an accident erases part of Noelle’s memory, she wakes without any memory of Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. In fact, she believes she’s still a college co-ed, incredulous that this is her body, her husband, her life. Why did nothing turn out like she dreamed? As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-funny, sometimes-heartwarming results. But can she fall in love again with a man she can’t remember? Read the rest of this entry
You don’t have time to read the Bible.
Don’t have time to read your Bible? Yeah, me neither … ALL IN ONE SITTING! But it’s important. Like, crazy life-changing important. That’s why we MAKE time to read it.
I know it’s intimidating and we all have excuses. Think about it. How books have you read that exceed 1000 pages? Personally, I can’t think of a single one. In fact, this is the very reason I’ve yet to finish Bonhoeffer’s biography. I simply can’t wrap my mind around the task. I can, however, think of several series that I’ve complete which, if all the pages are totaled, well surpass that size.
Let’s see … there were the Baxter books (beginning with the Redemption Series) by Karen Kingsbury. Each book was around 275 pages; multiply that times 15 books … yup. I could have read the Bible front to back THREE times in the hours I spent immersing myself in that family’s melodrama. Then, of course, I read Alex Haley’s Roots at least four times. That plus the two sequels … Yup. There’s another three or four times. The Mark of Lion series by Francine Rivers. Those were amazing books! Read each of them at least four times.
Maybe we just need to break this huge task into more manageable pieces. Don’t look at it like War and Peace. It’s simply 66 little books, many of which can be completed in just a few minutes. For example, while waiting for the bus. Or waiting for the next step while cooking dinner. Or waiting for your doctor appointment. Or waiting for the kids to finish their piano lessons. We do a lot of waiting, don’t we?
I wonder, if we picked up the Bible instead of Angry Birds or that silly waiting room magazine, how far we would get this year?
Your turn: When and where do you like to read the Bible?
Do’s and Don’ts of Deciphering the Will of God
DO remember that God is far more concerned with our character than our addresses or job titles. His purposes for you are likely to focus more on who you are to be rather than what you are to do.
DO investigate what the Bible says about the topic. If God’s Word offers clear direction, follow it!
DON’T test God with a “fleecing” when He has already made His Will known in Scripture. If He has already made it clear, asking for a miraculous confirmation is not only delayed obedience, it is doubt and disobedience. His will for you will never contradict Scripture.
DO seek wise counsel from trusted, mature believers. Talking to your closest friends is great, but if they’re still “baby” Christians, they may lack the wisdom to help you see God’s plans for you.
DON’T seek advice only from people you know will agree with you. This isn’t guidance, but flattery.
DO pray about it. Lots. And LISTEN to what God may say to you.
DON’T believe that the mere act of praying about something justifies whatever action you want to take. “Oh, I prayed about it, so it must be what God wants.” This type of thinking is very, very dangerous. If praying about something instantly guarantees the right decision, then, in theory, we can easily pray about everything and never make wrong decisions. That belief alleviates us of personal responsibility and gives a get-out-of-jail-free card to every bad choice. It’s immature. It’s bad doctrine.
DO think. We should pray AND think! Sometimes God expects us to do crazy things that defy human logic (as in Gideon’s case). Often, though, the wisdom He gives is compatible with logic. Look around you. Do you have other believers confirming your direction? Or are they all wondering what in the world you’re doing? Does the course of action you are considering align with other common threads in your life or does it take a u-turn from where God has already led you? Pros and cons lists can be very helpful. God does give us wisdom; wisdom frequently involves logic. Use the wisdom He gives by thinking through your situation and your options carefully.
DO SOMETHING. A lack of specific, audible instruction from God does not warrant a lack of action. Yes, we should wait upon the Lord, but you can still do something while you wait.
Scripture to Discover:
The entire book of Ephesians is a great place to start learning about the will of God. As I tried to pinpoint specific passages that would speak on this topic, I found that I couldn’t prune down the list to a few simple verses. So I strongly encourage you to read the whole book. Specifically, take note of Ephesians 4:22–24 and 5:6–17.
Also, take a moment to look up 1 Thessalonians 4:3 and Romans 12:2.
More Resources
- 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe by Larry Osbourne: Multnomah Books, 2009.
- God’s Guidance: Finding His Will for Your Life by Elisabeth Elliot: Revel, 2006 (2nd ed.).
Author Interview: Kathi Macias
Deliver Me From Evil is the first book in Kathi Macias’s Freedom series. It seeks to expose the truth behind modern day slavery, specifically sexual exploitation both here in the United States and abroad.
I have to stop here. Those of you who know me or have followed this blog for a while know that my family possesses a history of sexual abuse covering several generations. I praise God every time I look at my daughter that He has enabled us to escape and break this destructive cycle. I mention this here (1) to praise God, but (2) to let you know that I did not want to read this book. Just the cover description made me nervous and nauseous. But I believe in this cause. I believe that too many people are ignorant of what is going in the shadows much closer than most realize. And so I read the book.
If you are worried about gut-wrenching explicit descriptions of despicable acts, relax. This author does a fantastic job of making people aware of the presence and reality of these truths without glorifying them, without forcing those interested in the cause to rub our noses in the filth. I so very much appreciate this. Readers don’t need to know exactly how bad things are too understand that they exceeded bad. They have crossed too many lines and we cannot stand for it any more. Action must be taken.
Okay, sidebar pushed back to the side, today I have the honor of hosting an interview with Kathi Macias, the author of this book. Let’s get started. Read the rest of this entry
Baby, It’s Cold Outside! (a giveaway!)
It’s not really cold here. Yet. But I’ve been feeling all wintery anyway.
With Zach having PT three hours a week and regular orthopedic appoints, with Ellie having piano and the odd necessity for me to arrive at the school an hour before pick-up just so I can get a decent parking spot, well, all of these factors have joined forces to give me lots and lots of waiting time — a.k.a. reading time.
One of the books I recently finished was Susan May Warren’s Baby, It’s Cold Outside. This novel tells of five near-strangers trapped in a storm house during a Christmas blizzard. It may have been seventy degrees outside, but you can bet I, vicariously trapped in the story, grabbed my fuzzy socks, made hot chocolate and asked my husband to start up the fire. (In case you’re wondering, he refused to fuel my fantasies.)
Speaking of fire, have you seen Amazon’s new Fire? Being the ebook convert and Kindle evangelist that I am, I watched the live podcast of its release and, of course, my husband ordered one that same day. So cool! I’m still waiting for it to arrive so I can steal it from Rick’s sweet hands.
As part of this book’s release, the author is hosting a giveaway — including a new Fire! Oh, and of course a free copy of this heart-warming book.
Here are the details:
Warm up to Christmas early this year with Susan May Warren’s Baby, It’s Cold Outside! To celebrate the release of her new Christmas book with Summerside Press, she and the publisher are giving away a Kindle Fire and hosting an early Christmas Party on Facebook!
Read what the reviewers are saying here.
One festive winner will receive:
- A brand new Kindle Fire
- Baby, It’s Cold Outside by Susan May Warren
Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. Giveaway ends on 10/26!
But, wait there’s more! Join Susan May Warren on 10/27 for merriment and a few early Christmas presents at her Baby, It’s Cold Outside Christmas party! Grab your Christmas sweaters, socks and pj’s and join Susan and a few friends for a fireside chat about her recent books (Heiress & Baby, It’s Cold Outside), holiday traditions, favorite Christmas recipes, a trivia contest and more! Invite your friends and don’t miss the fun!
RSVP here and we’ll see you on October 27th at 5 PM PST / 8 PM EST!
Family Ties and Tangles (Judges Continued)
This post is part of a series on the book of Judges. You may want to go back to the first, second, and third posts to catch up.
Ancient inheritance tradition allowed for the firstborn to inherit a double-portion. All remaining sons would then equally divide the remains.
According to this tradition, there should have been twelve portions of land, with a double-portion going to Reuben. Reuben, however, lost his inheritance by sleeping with his father’s concubines. Joseph had died, but his two sons assumed both his inheritance and the portion allotted to Rueben, leaving twelve remaining tribes of Israel.
Of the twelve tribes of Israel, two are not mentioned in the account of conquests (Isaachar and Gad). Of the ten that are mentioned, only two are credited any success (Simeon and Judah). None are credited with complete obedience.
I mentioned yesterday that Caleb may not have been considered a true Israelite. He was a distant descendant of Judah and did receive a large portion of Judah’s land, but there are some interesting details to his story. His name is first listed as Chelubai (1 Chron. 2:9), an Arab derivative. A few verses later it’s changed to Caleb. The first name may indicate that his family left the Hebrew faith in favor of his great-grandmother’s (Tamar’s) Canaanite heritage. The name change to Caleb may have happened when he re-aligned his family with the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt. Interestingly, “Caleb” means “dog” in Hebrew, and dogs lived on the outskirts of the community.
Regardless of what he was called, Caleb was one of the spies who trusted in God when Israel first approach the Promised Land (Joshua 14:6—15). Because of his faithfulness, he was guaranteed by Joshua and God to receive the land of Hebron. Caleb waited forty-five years for the fulfillment of that promise!
Read more about Caleb in Numbers 13-14, Joshua 14-18, and, of course, Judges. See his genealogy in 1 Chronicles 2.
Another major Bible character lived at the same time as the judges is Ruth. She has interesting ties to Jacob’s family as well.
Ruth was a Moabitess, that is a descendant of Moab who was the fruit of Lot’s incestuous relationship with his daughter.
You may remember that after God saved Lot and his family from destruction in Sodom, Lot’s daughters became distressed that they would never marry and therefore never have children. It’s another typical case of rapid human forgetfulness. Hadn’t God just rescued them? Couldn’t He provide a future for them as well? Anyway, the girls’ great plan was to get their father drunk and sleep with him. Well, it worked. Kind of. The two sisters had two children named Ben-Ammi (which means “son of my father”) and Moab. Those boys grew to become the fathers of the Ammonites and the Moabites, people so hated by the Hebrews that they were forbidden to enter the assembly of the Lord to the tenth generations! Ruth was one of those.
When there was a famine in Bethlehem (a name which ironically means “house of bread”), one particular Israelite family – Elimelech, Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Kilion – moved to Moab. There the boys married Ruth and Orpah and then all three of the men died. You know the story: Ruth pledges her life and devotion to her mother-in-law and eventually everyone lives happily ever after back in Bethlehem with Boaz as Ruth’s new husband.
Now let’s back up and look at Boaz.
Boaz was the son of Rahab, the prostitute who lived in the wall of Jericho and hid the Israelite spies. She made a deal with them and they rescued her family. She later married Salmon, a man believed to be one of those spies.
And who was the other spy? We don’t know. It could have been Caleb. Scripture doesn’t mention the names of either of the two men. We do know, however, that Caleb and Salmon were contemporaries. By the time of Judges, Caleb was already eighty-five years old.
Now if this isn’t worthy of your favorite reality show or daytime drama, I don’t know what is.
Want more? Check out these books:
- Premium Roast with Ruth by Sandra Glahn – This is part of the same Bible study series as our current workbook on Judges!
- The Gospel of Ruth by Carolyn Custis James – This book is really about Naomi, but, of course, Ruth is well covered, too.
- Lost Women of the Bible by Carolyn Custis James – Great concise character studies of women like Tamar and others
- Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers – Five short novellas of the five women listed in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary — While these are fictionalized accounts, the author also includes Bible studies at the end of each.
- Sons of Encouragement by Francine Rivers — I mentioned this the other day. It includes a short novella on the life of Caleb.
A New Book and a Giveaway from Susan May Warren
Susan May Warren is one of my very favorite authors. I have read more than ten of her books in the past two years. I love her spunky contemporary characters and am thrilled to see this same strength applied to her latest historical drama, Heiress.
About the book: A richly complex historical romance, Heiress is the first in Susan’s three book Daughters of Fortune series.
The beautiful and wealthy heiress daughters of August Price can buy everything their hearts desire. But what if their desire is to be loved, without an enormous price tag attached? When one sister betrays another for the sake of love, will she find happiness? And what happens when the other sets out across the still untamed frontier to find it—will she discover she’s left it behind in the glamorous world of the New York gilded society? What price will each woman pay for being an heiress?
Set in the opulent world of the Gilded Age, two women discover that being an heiress just might cost them everything they love.
Find out what the reviewers are saying here.
About the author: Susan May Warren is an award-winning, best-selling author of over twenty-five novels, many of which have won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, the ACFW Book of the Year award, the Rita Award, and have been Christy finalists. After serving as a missionary for eight years in Russia, Susan and her husband returned home to a small town on Minnesota’s beautiful Lake Superior shore where their family is active in their local church. She’s also busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!) Read the rest of this entry
A Kindle Giveaway and a Great New Book
My husband tells me I’ve become a Kindle evangelist. It’s not that Kindles are the bees knees, necessarily. I mean, it’s not the device that I adore. It’s the ease with which I can enjoy what I truly adore: reading. I love my Kindle, but only because I really, really love books.
Debora Coty’s release party delights me. She’s giving away a Kindle AND a great book! Details for the giveaway are below. Let me tell you about the book first.
Too Blessed to Be Stressed
You want Debora Coty’s book because:
- It’s cute!
Okay, so “cute” isn’t a #1 reason to buy a book, but it does make a difference. The small size and colorful pages make me want to pick it up and fill my mind and heart with the great insights held within. - It’s packed with biblically-sound advice, loads of Scripture and fun quotes from all sorts of people.
- Short, manageable chapters.
Always less than five pages. You can read a chapter while cooking dinner or waiting in line at the store. Back to the “cute” point, this book fits nicely in any purse.
- Practical tips from someone who knows.
Think your life is nuts? Check out this author’s bio: speaker, author, piano teacher, orthopedic occupational therapist, writing instructor, tennis enthusiast, wife, mother and pet owner. Yup. She understands stress. Better: she shares in this book how we can deal with it in healthy, God-honoring ways. - It’s very, very funny.
Funny doesn’t seem to wrap it up. Witty seems too lofty.
Just read it. I loved it.
Read what other reviewers are saying here.
Too Blessed to be Stressed is a fun-filled read overflowing with insights and practical tips. Perfectly delicious for living happily ever after!
-Rhonda Rhea, best-selling author of Whatsoever Things Are Lovely
Debora has created a “Too Blessed” prize package worth over $150! One grand prize winner will receive:
* A brand new Latest Generation KINDLE with Wi-Fi and Pearl Screen
* Too Blessed to Be Stressed by Debora Coty (for KINDLE)
To enter just click one of the icons below. Hurry! The giveaway ends August 25th. Winner will be announced on the evening of the 18th during Debora’s De-Stress Facebook Party! Debora will be hosting a “life-preserver” chat (it’s okay if you haven’t read the book – who knows, you might WIN a copy!), testing trivia skills, swapping funny stories, handing out some decom-stress tips, and giving away tons of great stuff! (Chocolate, books, and more!) Hope to see you there. Bring your friends and join the fun on August 25th at 5:00 PM PST (6 PM MDT, 7 PM CDT, & 8 PM EDT).
Also – be sure to check out Debora’s series of Stress-Buster videos at her website: www.deboracoty.com. She’s also hosting a photo caption contest on her blog for a chance to win a copy of Too Blessed to Be Stressed.
My Foolish Heart (Book Tour)
If you have not yet read a book by Susan May Warren, get thee to a bookstore. Remedy the situation as quickly as humanly possible.
I was first introduced to this author when her publicists sent me Nothing But Trouble, the first in the PJ Sugar series, in 2009. I loved the book, but, of course, had to wait months for the next volume to come out and by that time had filled my shelves with a ton of other books demanding to be read first.
Last summer the third PJ Sugar book came out. Now that I had the whole trilogy, I could read without any need for patience. After three solid hits, my addiction solidified. That series led to the Noble Legacy series which led to the Deep Haven series … I believe I’ve read 11 of her books in less than ten months.
Today I’m hosting a blog tour for her newest title, the fourth book in the Deep Haven series. Read the rest of this entry
