Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Power-filled Words

Stu Garrard's book, Words from the Hill: an invitation to the unexpected, is a very powerful, easy to read, down to earth book about the Beatitudes Jesus spoke in Matthew 5-7.  Garrard shares story after story to bring home the points Jesus was making in the Beatitudes.

Jesus was giving us life lessons . . . ways to live our lives in a manner which brings glory to God and demonstrates love for others.  Garrard seeks to do the same for us.

In each of the 8 chapters, he tells stories about the different beatitudes and ways they have been realized in the lives of so many people.

Garrard is a former guitarist in the groups Delirious?, one of my favorite Christian rock bands.  He brings a unique perspective to this book.

It is well worth reading.  It can be used as a devotional book to read through the Beatitudes, then to read a chapter of this book.  The chapters are about 20-30 pages longs, but the reading is quick and moving.

It's a reminder to each person to live our lives in a manner which seeks to experience the power and presence of Christ.  It's a reminder we are all broken, some more than others, and we need to drink in from the well of the Beatitudes and the well which God offers us.

While it's an easy and quick read, it's also a profound read, which has the opportunity to change your heart!!

I received this book from Tyndale Press in exchange for an honest review.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

The Chiefs of Staff!

I was excited to receive the book, The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, by Chris Whipple.  This book gives a great deal of information about how each president used, didn't use, got along with, etc. along with the power at the disposal of a very misunderstood position, the Chief of Staff. 

I did not realize the White House Chief of Staff is the highest-ranking White House employee.  I never really paid that much attention to that role, other than hearing the names of previous chiefs of staff.  Most only last 2-2.5 years.

The book reviews a number of Chiefs of Staff, which was a position made by President Eisenhower.  It starts with the Nixon administration and continues through the Obama administration.  The book is extremely fast paced and at times it is easy to get lost in all of the names and characters, yet, I do not think I would have read a book which detailed an entire administration. 


It seems that the Chief of Staff was instrumental in helping the president succeed or fail during their term.  That's how important this role is.  The author, Chris Whipple, attempts to make that point that many presidencies were less successful because they were unorganized and the role of chief organizer often fell to the chief of staff.  They are the ones who manage the schedule of the president and ultimately act like a "GATEKEEPER" for them.

if you enjoy reading history of the United States in the past 50 years with a snapshot of the Presidencies, this would be a great book to read.  I felt he was not biased in his assessments either.



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



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Great Reminders to ... ZIP IT!

I was not familiar with this author, Karen Ehman, nor her prior book, called Keep It Shut!  Her new book, aptly named ZIP IT! The KEEP IT SHUT 40 Day Challenge is definitely a winner.

This is a short devotional broken into 40 - 4 page readings.  It was great for Lent, but works for any time of year in which you want yourself to be challenged about the way you listen and talk to others.

Each chapter includes scripture, lessons, applications and a prayer.  It is an easy to read, easy to follow devotional which, while being easy to read, is not always as easy to follow the application and wisdom in the book.

There is humor and stories which helps make the book easy to read, yet poignant.  If you are looking for an easy to follow devotional, this would be high on my list to get.  I'll have to check out her other book, Keep it Shut!

I received this book from booklookbloggers 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...