Unimaginable (Review)

This review is for the book "Unimaginable" by Jeremiah J. Johnston. Now, don't tell me that title alone doesn't get you excited to read this book. What a startling thought, that really just gives me an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The book begins with the earliest religions, and how they spanned across cultures and civilizations. One chapter goes over the aspect of how suffering and healing go together. It wasn't that long ago that people's longevity was quite short. People were desperate for healing, particularly because medical knowledge was so limited. Johnston points out that people in these times were also usually afraid of death because they didn't know what to think of an afterlife. So this may have been why Jesus was followed so frequently - his healings and raising people from the dead made him quite popular!

I could go on and on about each chapter in this book but that would make this review too long and may spoil the book. This book is a phenomenal mix of history and theology. I don't save too many books to go on my shelf, but this one made the cut.

Thank  you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

Dynamic Heart (Review)

This review is for the book "The Dynamic Heart in Daily Life" by Jeremy Pierre. This is a great book which focuses on connecting Christ to human experience. If you are involved in counseling or ministry in any capacity, this is a great book for you to read. Pierre began by discussing our heart in depth, and how it relates to theology. In the last several chapters he really puts everything together in a simple, direct way for when you are struggling to counsel someone. He discusses how to "hear" someone's heart when they're talking to you, how to help them understand their heart responses, how to look to Jesus in all situations, and how to transition to new responses in those situations.

The book is a bit lengthy and wordy in places, but I still really enjoyed it and learned a lot from it.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

Prayers for New Brides (Review)

This review is for the book "Prayers for New Brides" by Jennifer O. White. Although I am not a newlywed, I really enjoyed this book which made me think about the battle that we are in daily for our marriages. There are so many things to pray about in our marriages, such as knowing our enemy, trusting God to defend your marriage, seeing yourself and your spouse through God's eyes, and how to honor your spouse and your marriage, among many other things.

Every chapter is a short devotional and then she gives a lot of scripture you can read that goes along with the chapter, and a "call to action". This book is so good! Easy to read but there is a lot of wisdom in here that will go a long way in a marriage, whether an old or new marriage!

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

God's Smuggler (Review)

This review is for the book "God's Smuggler". This is the young reader's edition of this book. I have read the original book but I was really excited to read the young reader's edition so that I could make sure it was on a good reading level for my daughter to read it. I am so happy to say that it is perfect for her reading level - I would say anyone on a 4th grade reading level up will enjoy it and understand it - and it has some great action pictures in it which kids will really enjoy. I have read so many stories of Brother Andrew over the last few years and I am always amazed at what he has accomplished in his 89 years. I highly, highly recommend this book for all children and adults to read. It's an absolutely amazing story of what God can do!

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

Hope for the Same-Sex Attracted (Review)

This review is for the book "Hope for the Same-Sex Attracted" by Ron Citlau. Citlau is a pastor who has actually dealt with same-sex attraction in his life. In this book, he shows love and encouragement to those who have feelings of attraction towards the same sex. He does not bash them or show anger towards them. He understands it. But he also shows them that there are options such as celibacy and singleness that are biblical. He encourages people with this struggle to look at those options.

He shows how you need to be plugged into a church and a small group of people who will hold you accountable and also encourage you. He speaks to church leaders and provides ways that they can support these individuals instead of judging them and pushing them away.

Great book, and should be used to encourage those who struggle with these feelings.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

Pray About Everything (Review)

This review is for the book "Pray About Everything" by Paul Tautges. I really enjoyed this book, and especially the perspective of the author that prayer is proof of God-dependency. Each chapter speaks about a different aspect of prayer, such as "constant" prayer, community prayer, and who to pray for. Also discussed are things such as how to pray with thanksgiving, and remembering to include praise in your prayer - don't just make it a bucket list of things we want. He even touches on praying for our government, our elders, and how to pray when we don't even know what to pray about.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it as a good read.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

Lighthouse Faith (Review)

This review is for the book "Lighthouse Faith" by Lauren Green. In this book, Green describes a lighthouse as a symbol of hope, comfort and safety. She shows how that relates to our faith. She relates personally to many of the topics found throughout the book, but not only that, you can see how she makes it a point to study certain things in depth. For example, when she talks about how Jesus is the vine, she actually goes to a vineyard in order to talk to the gardener about how the vines grow, and how it relates to theology. She finds that vines have a lot of struggles, so she goes to scientists to learn more about our brains and synapses. When she wants to talk about singing to God, she actually gives the reader an entire music lesson that is most likely way more in depth than anything you have studied before. It is really cool how she relates all these "secular" things to our faith.

I really enjoyed this book and would love to read more from her in the future.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

The Jesus Club (Review)

This review is for the book "The Jesus Club" by Brian Barcelona. This was a very cool book. I really like true stories, and this is definitely one that will inspire you.

Brian Barcelona felt the call of God when he was just eighteen. He felt an urge to save the high schools of America. At the same time, he realized his limitations - his age, and not even knowing where to start, plus the fact that he is just one person. He did have doubts, but he began to minister to local high schools. I imagine it was discouraging for him when he would hold meetings, only to have three or four people show up. He never gave up, though, and gradually he would fill auditoriums and gymnasiums with hundreds of high school students. He broke through to some who would never step foot in a church.

I love this story, and I love Brian's heart for teenagers. He proves that if you follow God's will, great things will happen. I encourage you to read this book and have the courage to step out in faith like Brian is doing.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

"Angels: God's Supernatural Agents" (Review)

This review is for the book "Angels: God's Supernatural Agents" by Ed Rocha. I feel like I have read a lot of these books before, but this is the first time I have heard Rocha's stories and experiences. I will just go ahead and admit that I read this book as a skeptic, but also open to hearing Rocha's testimony. There are a lot of things in this book that I agree with. Rocha does a great job of explaining the duties of angels, such as worshipping God, delivering messages, healing, prophesying, instructing, encouraging, among other things, and also misconceptions about angels. For example, Rocha points out that people do not die and become angels, there are no baby angels in the Bible, angels are asexual, and they do have names and personalities.

Most of Rocha's book is based on his personal experience seeing angels or his experiences at healing services. He also relates stories from other people about their experiences with angels. Although I will admit to still being a bit skeptical after completing the book, I will say that I admire Rocha for the fact that he will not allow people to just give angels credit for everything. There is a section in the book about feathers. Rocha discusses how many times when he has seen angels, there have been feathers left after the church service. But he is quick to point out that just because there are feathers at a church service does not mean they are angelic feathers.

Anyway, the book is an interesting read, especially if you are curious about angelic encounters.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

Treasures in Dark Places (Review)

This review is for the book "Treasures in Dark Places" by Leanna Cinquanta. In this book, Leanna describes in great detail the experiences of being a missionary. I really love stories like this, but for some reason, this book was really hard for me to read. In that, I mean that it was hard for me to follow. I didn't feel like it was written in a manner that flowed smoothly. I think the story itself is beautiful, but the book to me felt too wordy and flowery, which took away from my enjoyment of reading the story. There is no doubt in my mind that what Leanna is doing is amazing and wonderful work, and I love that she is able to share her story so that more people know about the inner workings of being a missionary in India.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

Good & Angry (Review)

This review is for the book "Good & Angry" by David Powlison. I really enjoyed this book and I think that it is a book that a lot of people would probably get a lot out of reading. In this book, Powlison talks about the universal problem of anger and he compares it to God's righteous anger. In the first section of the book, the author talks about your own personal experience with anger and what tends to set you off. Each chapter contains discussion questions that you can answer on your own and more deeply explore your emotions. In the second part of the book, Powlison discusses the things that trigger our anger, where our anger comes from, and he really discusses the anger of God in this section. The next section talks about how to change and how to handle our trigger situations. Then the last section talks about the really hard cases. This would be extreme provocations to anger, everyday irritants (like traffic), anger at yourself (usually for past decisions) and anger at God. I really enjoyed this book because I think it is a topic that so many people struggle with and need to focus on. It is easy to read but you will learn a lot about yourself in reading this book. I definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

From the Pen of Pastor Paul (Review)

This review is for the book "From the Pen of Pastor Paul" by Daniel R. Hyde. This book is a detailed, in-dept study on 1 and 2 Thessalonians. I absolutely love Paul's letters in the Bible, and I love reading commentaries to get another perspective on the scripture. This book really broke the two books down verse by verse. I would love to read more books by Hyde in the future. I love it when I can tell that an author does his homework and studies diligently. It is also important that the book is written in a way that I can understand it and gain knowledge from it, and that is definitely true about this book. It is a great resource to have in your library.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

A Bird, A Girl, and a Rescue (Review)

This review is for the book "A Bird, a Girl, and a Rescue" by J.A. Myhre. Almost exactly a year ago, I was reading the first book by the fabulous J.A. Myhre. I remember reading it in just a few hours because I couldn't put it down, and I walked around for weeks hailing it as one of the best young adult fiction books I had ever read. I recommended it to everyone who would listen. So obviously I was stoked to read her latest novel! In this story we meet Kiisa, an 11-year old who doesn't even realize she is about to be sent on the mission of her life. She is sent to boarding school, and while she is there she meets a fantastic bird named Njili who is about to be her closest companion. The story contains adventure, danger, and bravery like none other. It is captivating and I can almost guarantee that not only will you love it, but so will your sons and daughters. This is a book that will stay on my shelf so my kids and I can read it over and over - and that doesn't happen very often.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

Marry Wisely (Review)

This is the review for the book "Marry Wisely, Marry Well" by Ernie Baker. This is a truly awesome book for all couples, whether you are just now engaged, or have been married for 30 years. Obviously I would probably be more likely to recommend it to people who are thinking of marriage, because some of the books speaks on how to choose the right mate. If you have been married for decades, it's a little late to change your mate!

In this book, Baker starts at the foundation of marriage. He talks about the wisdom that God will give, and His design for marriage. There is a lot of scripture to back up what Baker says, and he ends each chapter with some really good, thought-provoking discussion questions. These are great questions to ask yourself to learn more about yourself, but there are questions for a potential spouse as well, which is so important. Honestly, it is so important to ask these questions of a potential spouse - even if just in your own head. Such as: "Is this person committed to God's purposes for marriage", "What amount of school loans and other debt does this person have?", and "How would you rate his or her communication and conflict resolution skills?" This book is so detailed and intimate, I would highly recommend it for premarital couples. It is easy to read and stands on the Bible.

I was given a copy of this book from Cross Focused Reviews.

Pitchin' A Fit! (Review)

This review is for the book "Pitchin' A Fit" by Israel and Brook Wayne. I have to admit, this book came to me at a time that I really needed to hear these words. My two children are five years old and six years old, so they are at that golden age where they are so independent and mature at times that I end up expecting too much from them. This often leads to me getting frustrated with them when I really shouldn't be. The authors go through so many topics in this book, such as anger in the Bible, what causes anger (which will be different for all of us), what the Bible says about anger toward our children, what sets us as individuals off, sections on patience, how to correct and affirm our children, and how to work towards having peace in our home. I just have to say that I needed this book so badly! I am not a consistently angry parent but I have moments in my parenting that I am so displeased with. I do take the time to repent to God and my children for those actions, and this book did confirm that those are awesome steps. The advice in this book, I think, will help those moments of mine be further and further apart in time. I think this is a book that every single parent should read. It is easy to read, down to earth, honest, right on your level, and will help you feel encouraged and not alone in this journey.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book in exchange for my review.

Rediscovering Discipleship (Review)

This review is for the book "Rediscovering Discipleship" by Robby Gallaty. For the past 18 months or more, discipleship has really been on my heart. It seems like I think about it all the time and I just really have this excitement and passion to do discipleship in our church, or small groups, or meet with our youth group members. There are a few reasons why I have held back on this, and they probably are not going to be something I lay out in the middle of a book review... That being said, I was right on Gallaty's wavelength throughout this book. Discipleship has become lost in the quest for evangelism. Numbers of baptisms in the church, numbers of visitors, numbers of new members, or prayers being said, or lives being recommitted. Those things are great, don't get me wrong, but what about the AFTER of all of that? Are people being discipled? If not, what is it all for? I was making notes and folding down pages all over this book. Gallaty has a great style of writing that makes it more like a conversation. Very easy to read and it was hard to put down. I would love to read more of his stuff, but until I do I can HIGHLY recommend this book, particularly if your church does not have any discipleship programs put into place.

Thank you to Cross Focused Review for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Evangelicals Adrift (Review)

This review is for the book "Evangelicals Adrift" by Matthew Ferris. Ferris holds to the idea that evangelicals have a tendency to pick and choose what helps to advance the gospel, while sacramentalists choose to hold traditions and other writings to the same standard as scripture. What Ferris has found is that in recent years evangelicals are actually converting to sacramentalism by way of Orthodoxy or Catholicism. I actually had no idea this was a trend. The entire first portion of this book seemed somewhat like a different language to me because it was very detailed in regards to Catholic principles and traditions, and I have no experience with anything related to Catholicism. In fact, I had almost given up on understanding the book at all, but then I came to the section on sacraments - namely, baptism, the Eucharist, and confession. This section was incredibly intriguing and sincerely made me think. I think Ferris does a great job of writing this book by using scripture and not so much his own opinion. His whole point is that we need to get back to reading the Bible and using that for our ultimate authority, which I completely agree with. The only problem I had with this book is some of the scripture references were off. There were a couple of times that a scripture was written - just the reference - and when I tried to look it up I could not find it. One author that Ferris referenced stated that Paul wrote in the scriptures "else would your children be unholy" (p. 161) yet I searched and searched and could not find any translation of the Bible that had any such statement. At one point, Ferris references 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, and then in the next paragraph the verses 16 and 17 are referenced. I immediately turned to 1 Corinthians 11:16-17 and it did not match up. I did a little digging and it turned out that the verses 16 and 17 that were being referenced were in 1 Corinthians 10. These are minor editing issues and do not affect the book as a whole, in my opinion. I think this is a great book to make you think. Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Ready to Return (Review)

This review is for the book "Ready to Return" by Ken Ham, with Jeff Kinley and research completed by Britt Beemer. I have always been a huge fan of Ken Ham. Although I have never read any books that he has written, I have seen him lecture many times and I follow his work with Answers in Genesis very closely. I trust what he has to say, so I was ready to read this book. This book is about bringing back the church's lost generation, and I feel very strongly that this is something we "older" Christians must focus on. As a person who has worked with youth in church for close to ten years, I am very passionate about these kids. I feel them falling away after high school. I see them leave and never come back. And I always question what we could have done differently for them. In this book, Ham covers research about faith and the basic foundational concepts of Christianity. It is appalling to me how little people know, or are being taught, or are studying on their own. It is a sad time, to be honest. In this book, Ham discusses some of the questions that people have about the Christian faith, and how to defend the correct answers. He discusses how people are being taught one thing (either from the pulpit, or from news articles, or textbooks, or teachers) and they cannot match it up to the Bible, so they believe the Bible to be trustworthy. If you read this book, a fire will be lit under you to help young Christians. Mentor them and disciple them so that they have that strong foundation that the Bible is 100% true. No errors. We can believe all of it. Help them with the answers so that when they come across questions, they can defend their beliefs. Teach them to ask the tough questions and research them. Equip them. The one and only thing I have to say about this book that is negative is that I felt like there was a lot of redundancy. I would read something and feel as though I had already read it, and it turned out I had - just a few pages back. I don't know if Ham is repeating things so that the reader knows how important it is, or if it was an oversight. I still highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Dinosaurs: Marvels of God's Design (Review)

This review is for the book "Dinosaurs: Marvels of God's Design" by Dr. Tim Clarey. I was extremely excited to read this book. I have always been very interested in the history of dinosaurs, although I admit I have not taken the time to really do a lot of in-depth research on the subject. This book is a wealth of knowledge. I mean, if you have been asked a question about dinosaurs and how they line up with scripture, and you ever had to admit that you did not know the answer, this is the book for you. The best thing about this book is the amazing pictures that go along with it. My kids are now begging me to take them to New York to see the Natural Museum of History! The book begins where it should... the beginning! The author discusses creation, the ark, and the flood. He talks about the basics of dinosaurs and explains about the discoveries that have been made in regards to these creatures. There are so many different families of dinosaurs, and he takes the time to go through each one. The book ends by explaining about dinosaur eating habits, behaviors, and their extinction. I will say that the book is not an "easy" read, for kids anyway. My kids (5 and 6) sat with me while I read highlights from each page, but the pictures are what really got them. I mean, let's face it - who doesn't love dinosaurs? This book is a hit from beginning to end. It's going right on my shelf so I can reference it whenever I need to. I highly recommend this book. I think it's important to be able to answer questions about the dinosaurs from a biblical perspective.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Gospel Conversations (Review)

This review is for the book "Gospel Conversations: How to Care Like Christ" by Robert W. Kellemen. This is part of the Equipping Biblical Counselors series. This book is a tremendous resource, both for professional counselors as well as people in the church who counsel others.

The book begins with a unit on the foundations of biblical counseling. This includes going through a counseling session with a fictitious couple, and a lot of in-depth questions which can be used for self-reflection or for group discussions. The book also touches on grace, healing, reconciliation, how to empower Christians throughout counseling sessions, and many other topics. The appendix contains many helpful counseling tools such as intake forms, counseling goals, personal information forms, and even release forms and consent forms.

I believe this book is an invaluable resource for those in the counseling aspect of ministry. The tools in this book are practical, useful, and best of all, faith-based. I would highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.