Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Great than Gold is Excellent!

As someone who enjoys the Olympics, I thought this would be a good book, and I was not disappointed. The story of David Boudia, in Great Than Gold: From Olympic Heartbreak to Ultimate Redemption is an excellent book, recounting David's story and his journey to faith.

I kept watch on how David did in the Rio Olympics, and he achieved a bronze in individual platform diving and a silver in sychronized diving with his partner Steele Johnson.  Both are Christians who seek to win people to Christ more than win medals at the Olympics.  They seemed very sincere.  After winning the silver medal both spoke about their faith.

The book is broken into 13 chapters and just over 200 pages in length.  It's an easy to read book, as he spoke about his progression in sports to have a love for diving at age 7, leading to his gold medal in the 2012 Olympics.  He was driven to achieve the ultimate glory.  That was his focus, win, win, win.  He had a crisis after not winning a medal in 2008, he thought about suicide and ultimately found Christ and redemption.

He writes in a very honest matter about his struggles and setbacks after becoming a Christian.  He has struggled to stay focused on his faith as the most important part of his life.  His admissions and honesty and vulnerability were very refreshing and helped the book to move at a good pace.

I would highly recommend this book.


I received this book from booklookbloggers in exchange for an open and honest review.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Good Resource for the Holidays

Moments & Days: How Our Holy Celebrations Shape Our Faith, by Michelle Van Loon was an easy to read and informative book.  Van Loon sought to help the reader understand the holidays which occur during the calendar year.  What I really appreciated was the fact that she looked at many of the Jewish holidays which Jesus would have celebrated, as well as Christian holidays. 

She was able to bring a basic understanding of the traditions, Scripture, and cultural values of the day and how it impacted the holidays, then, and how it impacts us today.

The book is broken into two sections, again, covering Jewish and Christian holidays.  She used a great deal of Scripture to help bring out the reasons for the holidays and how we can make them applicable in our lives today.

If you are interested in an easy to read book regarding holidays and festivals, this would be a nice resource.  I would recommend Moments & Days.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher through Tyndale House Publishers book review bloggers program.

Friday, August 05, 2016

Uplifting Book

Jesus Talked to Me Today: True Stories of Children's Encounters with Angels, Miracles and God is a compilation of stories written by James Stuart Bell.  The book contains over 40 stories about children who have had some type of an encounter or miracle with God.  These are children who believe they have experienced God's presence in their lives.

Each of the chapters are short, maybe 4-5 pages.  It is easy reading and a relaxing book.  Some stories may be heard to believe, but these are recollections of children who believe they have met God.

It was a fun book to read, despite some of the stories talking about pain and despair, the end result was one of hope and victory.  Overall, it's a nice book to read, if you are looking for something with short, easy to read chapters.

I received this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Powerful Book of Hope

I had never heard of Chad Veach prior to reading this book, Unreasonable Hope: Finding Faith in the God Who Brings Purpose to Your Pain, but I will be sure to follow him in the future.  This was an amazingly honest and raw book as he discussed how his daughter’s diagnosis of an incurable brain disease has reshaped his life.  His daughter, Gigi, cannot communicate, has a feeding tube, daily seizures, and a life span of about 10-12 years.

I love the title, Unreasonable Hope.  Because hope in the midst of a terrible doctor’s report is unthinkable.  It didn’t happen all at once, it was a process for Chad and his wife.  As they were supported by friends and family, slowly they found a new brand of hope.

It’s not the everyday hope we think of.  It’s not a simple hope either.  Their hope is not about how God has blessed them in the midst of trials and tribulations, yet it is about that.  However, it’s still different, Veach writes about the unknown, the mystery and mysterious God.  Their hope comes in the retelling of stories about God’s presence and their victories in past difficulties.  It’s reminiscent of an Old Testament faith.  Retelling the traditions and miracles of God.

The book is broken into 4 sections ~
The Struggle
The Remedy
The Rest
The Better

This book can make a huge difference in the lives of those who are struggling with issues of hope in the midst of life’s problems.

I would highly recommend this book.

I received this book from booklookbloggers.com in exchange for an honest review.

Fun Kids Devotional

God Gave Us the Bible: 45 Favorite Stories for Little Ones is a very well done, hardcover introductory Bible for parents to read with thei...