This book will challenge you

4 STARS

REVIEW: Befriend: Create Belonging in an age of judgment, isolation, and fear by Scott Sauls

Author Scott Sauls in his new book Befriend reminds us that as Christians we are called to move toward the people we might be most tempted to avoid in life. You know, the people who are best equipped to challenge our perspectives, push our buttons, and require us to put on love. So in essence, this book was created to challenge you to move beyond your comfort zone in order to reach new people with Jesus’ love. But if you are someone who refuses to move beyond your comfort zone, then don’t pick up this book. It will be a waste of money and the message will be lost on you. But if you want to be challenged to be more Christ-like, this book will accommodate.

The book contains 20 short chapters on those people Sauls says you need to work to befriend, including:

• Prodigals and Pharisees
• Wrecked and the Restless
• Shamed and Ashamed
• Those Grieving and Dying
• The Other Race
• Strangers and Refugees

While I read this book alone, Saul’s recommends the best option of using this book is in community with others in order to have deep conversation surrounding each chapter. Having read this in solitary, I agree with Saul’s suggestion. The best way to use this book would be in a small discipleship group in order for you all to grow beyond your comfort zones together.

*Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.

Connecting with God through creativity

5 STARS

REVIEW: Gratitude: A Prayer and Praise Coloring Journal from the Living Expressions Collection

If you are thinking ahead for Christmas, this book is a perfect little gift book for a friend or yourself!

Each 2-page devotional layout features a place to journal, color, and/or doodle all the while focusing on a prayer and most importantly the Word of God. The book is small and mobile, making it easy to take with you on the go or to ponder over while waiting in the doctor’s office or in your kid’s carpool pickup line. It is a sturdy hardback with nice thick paper pages, and features enough devotions to do one a week for the whole year. Themes include relationships, health, overcoming stress, and of course gratitude.

If you, or someone you know, struggles to sit down and get into the Word of God regularly, and are more of a “right brain” creative, this could be the perfect solution.

The Living Expressions Collection has other aesthetically pleasing options at www.livingexpressionscollection.com. From their website, I think their “Inspire Bible” looks amazing, too.

*Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.

Great little read for new or non-Christians

4 stars

Can I really Know Jesus? 101 questions and answers about Jesus, salvation, and prayer by Carolyn Larsen and Amylee Weeks

This is an excellent little read for new and even non-Christians as it explores often asked about questions Jesus, salvation, and prayer.

I could also see this book being used as a devotion, in a new believer Bible study, in a confirmation class, and more.

The book does a nice job of answering each question in a succinct 1-page answer supported by Scripture.

Questions and answers about Jesus include:

--Why is Jesus called Christ?

--Why was Jesus baptized?

--Why did Jesus spend so much time with sinners?

Questions and answers about salvation include:

--What does it mean to be saved?

--Isn't it enough just to be a good person?

--Will I stop having problems after I'm saved?

Questions and answers about prayer include:

--Can God hear everyone's prayers at the same time?

--Is formal language necessary when praying?

--What do I do if there doesn't seem to be an answer to my prayers?

As the book points out, questions are helpful because they express a desire in us to learn and understand. However, it's important to search for answers to questions from the reliable source of Scripture.

*Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.

41 Will Come & Free Book Giveaway

3 STARS

REVIEW: 41 Will Come: Holding on When Life Gets Tough—and Standing Strong Until a New Day Dawns by Chuck E. Tate

I liked the premise of the book about how 41 is a declaration of faith that things will finally come and be fulfilled. The author bases this idea on the biblical significance of the number 40. It is a number found all throughout Scripture.

For example in Scripture:

--It rained for 40 days and 40 nights

--The Israelites wandered for 40 year

--Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights

But the author proposes maybe even a more significant number is the one that comes next: 41. This is the number that represents a new day and a new hope.

While I enjoyed the notion of the book, and it was a new thought I hadn’t had before, the book seemed just a bit too lackadaisical for me. It felt as if it was just the author's sermons sewn together. However, the book’s overall thought is worth considering and the appendix of the author’s 50 favorite “40 verses” is a nice touch.

If you would like to read the book for yourself, I have a free copy I am giving away. Just make a comment below to be entered by August 31, 2016. The winner will then be drawn at random.

*NavPress/Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.

Don't travel abroad without reading this!

5 STARS

REVIEW: Foreign to Familiar by Sarah A. Lanier

This book is a perfect primer for anyone going on a mission trip in the near future or even just traveling abroad.

Author Sarah A. Lanier introduces and teaches readers in an easy-to-read format, the various differences in hot- and cold-climate cultures. For example, hot-climate cultures are more relationship based while cold-climate cultures are more task oriented. And hot-climate cultures are more group oriented while cold-climate cultures are more individualistic. Also, in hot-climate cultures people are more spontaneous while in cold-climate cultures people are more time oriented.

Having traveled internationally a few times recently, I have found Lanier’s insights true and helpful. She is well versed and knowledgeable in the topic as having lived and worked extensively in the US, Middle East, South America, Africa, and more.

Don't travel abroad without reading this!

Excellent resource!

5 STARS

REVIEW: The 9 Arts of Spiritual Conversations: Walking alongside People Who Believe Differently by Mary Schaller and John Crilly

To be Great Commission Christians we need to figure out how to get into the lives of unbelievers. This book can help do that.

As a pastor, I hear many Christians express fear about how hard it is to share their faith. Yet, authors Mary Schaller and John Crilly dispel that fear with this newest resource packed full (a whole 256 pages!) with 9 easy "artful" practices on how to begin spiritual conversations with others.

This is an excellent resource that I would recommend to anyone eager to share his or her Christian faith but for some reason felt he or she could not. It is also a great resource for those who want to strengthen their spiritual conversations "practices" in order to share faith in non-threatening ways.

Highly recommend!

*Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for my unbiased review.

This book gives you “more” of what you need

4 stars

The More of Less: Finding the Life you Want Under Everything You Own by Joshua Becker

This month’s review is from my husband, who is striving to be a minimalist in a world full of stuff…

In the American culture today, stuff can dictate our lives. We feel we must work hard to keep up with others and their stuff, so we put too much value on possessions over deep relationships. But in this book, author Joshua Becker teaches how one can become a minimalist at heart and find happiness in less.

He offers practical baby steps in how to downsize, taking the fear of getting rid of everything all at once. He says 80% of what is in our house we only use 20% of the time. So why do we have all the stuff? This book helps one evaluate what they have and asks hard questions like:

• What if, instead of being embarrassed over the type of car we drive, we became embarrassed over how often we take the luxury of automobile ownership for granted?
• What if, instead of being embarrassed because our house seems too small, we became embarrassed over the amount of unused space within it?
• What if, instead of being embarrassed over the brand of our clothing, we became embarrassed over the enormity of our walk-in closet?

Overall, this book helps readers see the world of excess and reminds us as Christian how we are to live differently than the world and find happiness not in stuff, but of the things of God.

*I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this unbiased