A Man and his Bible The Fourth Fisherman

If there is any doubts of the effects of fathers on their children this book will remove them. Joe Kissack a big time TV executive who had it all, money,fame, success, a family that loved him, but he was living out in his adult life the lack of affection, the lack of approval, and the shaming that you will never amount to anything that he received from his father during his childhood which led Joe to the abuse of drugs, alcohol and into depression and thoughts of I rather be dead.
  Three Mexican fisherman were lost at sea for nine months and were finally rescued on August 16, 2006. Its not a well know story because in the U.S. the big story was the arrest of John Mark Kerr in Bangkok for the murder of Jon Benet Ramsey and the media circus that followed it.
    You ask yourself what does a TV executive and three Mexican fisherman have in common? All four have a man, his faith and his Bible.I don't want to spoil it for you so get this book when it comes out in March 2012.
    I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing group for this review.

Not Why But Who A Review of TORN

   We all know trials come in life and how we respond to them is the key to whether we grow in our faith or not. While you are going through a trial have you ever felt like life is unfair, where is God, why has/is this happening then this book is for you.
   I picked up this book because I was greiveing the death of my 30 hour old grandson and I was wanting to see what this book (outside of the Bible)had to say to me during this very difficult time.For me who has been a Christian for over 40 years there wasn't anything new for me to learn, but don't get me wrong this is a excellent book for anyone experiencing a dark, difficult time in their life.It is a short book right at 200 pages including a study guide for self examation, or small groups discussion.
Jud Wilhite the author, and pastor of a church in Las Vegas, Nevada writes from a Biblical perspective of things he learned while he was in a hard, dark, low place in his life when he felt broken and torn.The book consists of two part. Part one Trusting God when you are torn and part two is about the putting the pieces together again after being torn from events that have happened to you.
    I don't want to spoil the authors thunder but one of the points he makes is that  often we have the wrong expectations of God eg. life as a Christain will be sweet pie in the sky bye and bye which isn't Biblical. Our focus shouldn't be on the why but on the Who, as in who is worthy of our trust during difficult times. Another point Mr Wilhite makes that helps is sharing the struggle  with other Christians.
    I highly recommend this book especially if you are in the midst of a very trying time in your life, this book along with the Scriptures will be very helpful to you. If you are not currently in a trying time this book can help you help someone who is going through a trying difficult time.
    I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this reviewNor was I given any advise as to what to write in my review.

Jugdment Day A review

Suzanne Kidwell is a reporter/Anchor on a television program called JUDGMENT DAY where she reports on stories in a judgmental way based on hearsay not facts. It seems the Biblical verse You sow what you reap comes into play here or does it?
Things for Suzanne start to go wrong with the death/murder of her boyfriend who was killed while driving her car, an accident that was meant for her.She seeks help from her ex-fiance from 18 years ago who she betrayed who is now a private investigator to find who wanted her dead and why. The things he finds out involve her dead boyfriend's father, a senator and a district attorney who are involved in a very profitable illegal business that kidnaps teenagers (no not that one) to meet their  customers needs.this novel  flows smoothly with all the characters and their life situations flowing together within the main plot.The author has written a very believable realistic  and scary story. I really didn't like the ending. Go out and get this book but leave yourself a lot a time because you will want to finish it in one sitting.
I received this book from Waterbrook Multnamah Publishing Group for this review.

The Scroll a review

    This story is based around the legend of the copper scroll that was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls back in 1947.Within this scroll is the code to finding the Temple artifacts that the Essences hid around Jerusalem around the time the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.
    The main character David Chambers is a well known archaeologist whom work has set the standard for Biblical research in the Holy Land.He has lost his faith in God, and his interest in his fiancee.He has also given up his archaeological work. 
    An old friend of Dr. Chambers has contacted him for a new work that he want Chambers to be a part of and the offer is one that is hard to refuse. Dr. Chambers is told that the dig and what in it will change the Middle East.
If you like Indiana Jones like adventure then you will love this book.This story has it all good guys vs bad guys, murder, betrayal, spying, what it doesn't have is bad language or sex, in other words this book is safe for all ages.
    This is one of those novels that is believable and in a way some what prophetic if these things ever happen in real life. This is a book that you will have a hard time putting down.Go get it today.
   I received this book from Waterbrook Mutlnomah Publishing Group for this review.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                +

Heart Disease

    Whats in your heart is translated into words and deeds. How you respond to your hurts determines the condition of your heart. In ENEMIES OF THE HEART we learn that the four enemies of the heart are guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy. These four enemies each result from a debt to debtor dynamic guilt says I owe you, anger says you owe me, greed says I owe me, and jealousy says God owes me.
    The first part of the book explains how the above are true. In the second part of the book Mr. Stanley gives the antidotes to the enemies of the heart. Guilt's is confession, anger's is forgiveness, greed's is generous giving, and jealousy's is celebration. There aren't alot of Scripture given to support his arguments but they are Biblical. The section of the book that was must meaningful to me was the one on anger I now understand why my anger flares up at times and now I have the how to overcome it.
    The book closes with a section on lust.Lust is a appetite that needs to be managed and properly focused and when it has the right focus it's a good thing. What this book boils down to is the importance of guarding your heart.
    I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Primal

     We need to get back to the basic’s is a line from a PCD song and this is what Mark Batterson writes of in his book PRIMAL. Primal means first, orginal, chief and that what we as Christians need to do to get back to the original first century Christianity. This is accomplished by rediscovering the compassion, the wonder (of God), our creative birthright, and the strength (hard work) that the first century Christians possessed 

    According to the Author our Primal problem is that we Christians aren’t great at the Great Commandment, most times were not even good at it, and this is the Lost Soul of Christianity  which we need to get back to. We need to ask the question What’s wrong with the church and what things do we need to give up in order to regain our first century roots.

      The core question the church needs to ask is: Does our heart break for the things that break the heart of God? How we answer this question determines how primal we become or how much further we have to go. Lets get back to the basics and focus on the things that break God’s heart.

        Mr. Batterson shows us how to do it in this book, where he discusses the Heart, Soul, Mind, and heart of Christianity and how we complicate Christianity much like the Pharisees did.

         I received this book from Waterbrook Publishing Group for this review If you liked his book IN A PIT WITH A LION ON A SNOWY DAY you will like this one also.

God's Miracle Delivery Agent YOU WERE BORN FOR THIS

This is a very practical book giving you how to's to becoming a miracle delivery agent which according to Bruce Wilkinson is what we were born for. Have you ever witnessed miracles if not maybe it's because you aren't looking for them, and seeing hoe God wants to use as a miracle delivery agent to someone who needs a miracle. This being an agent is possible by looking at the world in a new way which is what Mr. Wilkinson calls the every day miracle territory lifestyle which consist of believing that God wants to intervene-using you-and to do so on a regular basis. For this to happen we must be willing to be used, want to be a parnter with God,expect miracles as a regular thing, and be that miracle to someone else.
    The book gives a four part plan (lifestyle) to show you how to be in that everyday miracle territory. This lifestyle consists of four keys-the Master key-the people key-the Spirit key, and the risk key.
    This risk key is the one I can relate to the most.A risk of faith requires that we excerise our faith in a way that we attempt what we cannot do, depending on God to do what only He can do. This risk is a little scary, causing us to second guess, but carrying through with it knowing that God is in it and will complete it through us.
    This is a book every Christian should read, it will help you become other conscience (like Jesus) instead of being self conscience. I receiced this book from WaterBrook Multinomah Publishers for this review

The Canary List (another Vatican coverup story)

This book has non stop action from Santa Monica to Vatican City in the style of Dan Brown (DaVinci Code). Jamie Piper is 12 years old and is really afraid because evil seems to follow her so she seeks out her school teacher Mr.G.whom she trust and who is mourning his daughter's death.
   Mr G. is Crockett Gray who shortly after helping Jamie is arrested for possession of child pron that was found on a hard drive in his attic. He is also beaten while in prison, bound and hung almost to death and all this was done in order to protect him. His lawyer is prepaid by someone of which he isn't told who. All his troubles come upon him because he helped Jamie.
    Jamie is wanted by Father O'Hare an exorcist and a Cardinal at the Vatican, who is worried that the soon coming death of the pope, and that the possible  newly elected pope might be a Satanist. Father O'Hare believes Jamie can help him  prevent this from happening and has been patiently manipulating people and events for months so that at the pope's death,that won't happen or does it   
    Go get this book you will be glad you did you won't be able to put it down and will probably find yourself not doing or delay doing chores or your honey do list because of it. Check it out and see what I mean. I received this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for free for this review.
 

The Corruptible A Review

This book has it all deception, thief, betrayal, murder, corruption, even an internet money scam. Ray Quinn is a retired disabled cop who becomes a private eye and is hired by a multi- million dollar company to find the person who stole some very incriminating and sensitive data. In the process of investigating this thief he runs into a crooked cop, a murder, a motorcycle gang and a internet money scam from South Africa and how if at all they all tie in together.
   This is a good time consuming read.There is nothing here that will be offensive. There are two situations in this story that didn't sound realistic. The first one is when  Ray and his partner enter the motorcycle gang's head quarters and the gang doesn't react as you would expect them to. The second is  after Ray's office is shot up and he gives chase with the shooter  leaving on a motorcycle and Ray being disabled seems to get to his car rather quickly in order to chase.
I loved the way Ray handles the internet money scam and how it ends, it gives me ideas the next time I receive an email asking for help with their money problems.There are couple of surprises in how the story ends.I received this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

The Status quo or The Biblical quo a book review

Ever wonder why  Christians don't have power to change, could it be that they have too much Churchianity and not enough Christianity. This book won't be popular with Pastors and or church leaders whom churches stake a lot into their programs, size, and church life. The author Michael Spencer says that Churchianity, the height of the status quo religion is a far cry from Jesus -shaped spirituality. True faith that transforms, is revolutionary, and life changing isn't in a quest for a bigger church, a moral society, traditional families, nor a more detailed doctrinal statement. Jesus concern and His whole ministry emphasis was  one on one basis.
  
Most of Michael Spencer's  ( The Internet Monk) statements won't be swallowed well by many Pastors and other church leaders. Here are some examples:

    * The constant emphasis on a victorious life or the good Christian life is the antichrist as it pertains
         to the Gospel.

    *For for too long Christians have been presenting the Gospel as a solution to
         trouble, when in fact it's a life long battle aganist one's own sin.
              
    * The exhausting effort to be a good Christian denies Christ
.
   * Christianity has a adjective problem, which gives a false representation of Christianity & Christ.

    * Much of what passes for proclaiming Christ, is in actually, churches cocern with attracting  large
                   numbers on Sunday, directing financial resources toward church budgets and showing Christians  
                   how to get in synch with church activities.

If you are happy and content with Churchianity then you will hate this book, but if you are the type  that says there has to be more to being a Christian then want you experienced you will love this book. The author's audience is for those Christians who have left or are thinking about leaving the church. I received this book from Water Brook Multnomah publishing for the review of this book.

Which do you follow an American Jesus or a Biblical one

I loved this book mainly because I have thought this way for years and in fact have gotten in trouble more then once when I shared them with church leaders. Which Jesus is it that you serve the American made one or the Biblical one. The American Jesus says big, wealth, health and getting along are better and the things to seek after. The Biblical Jesus says  just the opposite, he confronted the world, suffered and was poor.
  The author David Platt challenges us to have a radical (favoring fundamental or extreme change)obedience to the Biblical Jesus or from American Christianity to Biblical Christianity. On page 161 he says there are many facets of the American dream that contradicts the core of the gospel let me just mention two: 1) indulging ourselves in the peaceful comforts of the world vs being  sent into a dangerous place filled with evil and evil people. 2)The popular teachings of its your wealth, health, and tolerance that matters vs Jesus teaching you will face persecution, suffering and possible death just like he did.
    If you are like me you are asking how can I take back Biblical faith from our American faith (our way of thinking). Mr. Platt gives us a five component one year challenge/experiment to help us do just that.
    I received this book from Multnomah Publishers for this review.

vindication

vindication is sweet. Thank you Lord.

Sun Stand Still a book review

If you are satisfied and comfortable in your faith then this book isn't for you. If you are like me who after reading about God doing the impossible and said to yourself how come I never experience God doing that for me, then this book is for you. The author's purpose in writing the book is to show us that we can and should have what he calls audacious faith (the kind of faith that dares to believe God for the impossible as a normal way of life). The title comes from Joshua 10 when Joshua prayed for more daylight to help him in winning the battle and the sun stood still. The author shows us how we as Christians should and can live this audacious faith. His premise is based on who God is,what He's already done, and what He will continue to do.The part that spoke to me the most was when we focus on our past sins/mistakes, we miss out on future victories. We need to face it, repent of it and move on to our next victory. I believe the author's premise is solid Biblically. So lets go live in this audacious faith. I received this book from Multnomah publishers for the review of this book.