Hope in Moving!

In the book, After the Boxes Are Unpacked: Moving On after Moving In, written by Susan Miller, she shares her adventures in moving and coping from a Christian Perspective.  This is an easy to read book which is filled with stories and is meant to encourage the person who has moved or is moving.

This would be an excellent book to give to those who are moving, or have moved a number of times and are tired from it and seems lost or hopeless.  It becomes easy to feel lost and depressed after a move, even those moves which are anticipated.  The book is separated into three different sections ~

Let Go
Start Over
Move Forward

The purpose of this book is to give hope to those who are on that journey.  The hope is that after grieving what you miss and lose, you will have a new beginning and recognize that.  Taking intentional steps, which ultimately leads you to moving forward with your life. 

Overall, this is a very good book and helpful for those who are moving.  A reminder is that this book is written from a very Christ centered point of view.

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

Excellent Discussion of a HOT topic!

I have always believed as a pastor, I need to review and study theological positions I do not always agree with.  That will help me to better formulate and state what I do believe.  This is the reason I wanted to read this book, Four Views on Hell.  This is not necessarily a fun topic to discuss, write about or preach about.  But it is a biblical topic that must be studied so we can have intelligent conversations about our varying beliefs.

With that in mind, I was excited (if there is such a thing) to read this book about hell.  People have been debating this topic for centuries.  What happens to those who do not believe in God?  What about those good people who don’t believe in Jesus?  What about those nasty people?  Are all saved?  Are only some elected for eternity with God / without God?  Lots of questions we can ask about this topic.  This book does not purport to be an answer book, but it serves to give the reader 4 basic views on hell.

Each author had an opportunity to make his point, then the other 3 authors would give their criticism.  The writing and criticism were all accomplished in a good spirit.  At times there was some harshness, but overall the tone was collegial. 

The four views were ~

Eternal Concious Torment - by Denny Burk – Burk discusses the more traditional Evangelical Christian view of hell.  Those who are reject Christ will suffer eternally in hell.

Terminal Punishment / Annihilationism – by John Stackhouse – Stackhouse initially held to a traditional view of hell, but now turns towards God’s goodness as people will be punished in hell, but that punishment will ultimately be death and destruction.  Their lives will be terminated after judgement day.

A Universalist View – by Robin Parry – Parry discusses a Christian Universalist view of heaven.  He believes the road to heaven leads through Christ, yet all creation through the atoning work of Christ will ultimately be reconciled to Christ.

Hell and Purgatory – by Jerry Walls – Walls discusses the belief that we need to be purged from our sinful state in order to come before Christ.  He differentiates the terms satisfaction from sanctification.  He believes we need the process of sanctification, after death in order to be worthy to come before Christ. 

The editor offers a good conclusion, highlighting some of the arguments made be the various authors.  This is a very good book, and I would recommend it for those wanting to study more on this topic.

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

This is Your Brain on Sports!

When I saw this title, This Is Your Brain on Sports: The Science of Underdogs, the Value of Rivalry, and What We Can Learn from the T-Shirt Cannon, by L. Jon Wertheim and Sam Sommers, I knew I had to read this book.  I was not disappointed.  The entire book is fun to read.  It’s interesting to see some of the “science” behind sports.  The authors wrote, “As outlandish as sports conduct may seem, it is rooted in basic human psychology, neuroscience and cognitive tendency.” 

There are chapter titles that will pull you in.  Titles like “WhyGiving Every Little Kid a Trophy is Such a Lousy Idea” to “Why Rooting for the Mets Is Like Building That IKEA Desk.”  They go on with “Why Our Moral Compass Is More Flexible Than an Olympic Gymnasts,” and “Tribal Warfare: Why the Agony of the Other Team’s Defeat Feels Just as Good as the Thrill of our Team’s Victory” are very enticing.

They explain why a tennis player like Andy Roddick would fire a tennis hall of famer like Jimmy Conners and replace him with a tennis coach who had a losing record.

There are many anecdotal stories, talking about most sports to the psychology of rooting for the underdog, to violence, to the Mets, to trophies for kids.

Whether or not you are into sports, this is a book you will like.  Some explanations could have become tedious, but I thought they were well explained and made sense to me.

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

Leading from heart, soul, mind and body!

 I greatly appreciated Jenni Catron's book, The 4 Dimensions of Extraordinary Leadership.  For quite awhile I have believed that we work through the 4 different components of who we are; that is; our heart, spirit, mind and body.

With that in mind, Catron seeks to explain how to be an extraordinary leader.  You lead effectively and in an extraordinary way, when you lead with your whole being, i.e., heart, spirit, mind and body.  Catron seeks to help guide the reader to experience that reality as they lead within any organization.  I found her stories and applications easy to follow and very applicable to my daily life.

The book is split into 3 sections, Moving from Ordinary to Extraordinary; The Dimensions of Extraordinary; and The Practice of Extraordinary Leadership.  Catron weaves stories in and out of each chapter to help the reader see catch her points.  The book is very easy to read, but is filled with a deep message.  Her theme of leadership comes from the New Testament Gospel of Mark 12:30, where we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and all our soul and all our mind and all our strength.  She is not preachy, but does use some biblical themes in this book.

Overall, I would recommend this book as a good introductory book for someone wishing to learn more about leadership.

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

A Good But Basic Bible Study

Jesus: Experiencing His Touch, is part of a Bible Study series by Kay Arthur and David Arthur.  The Bible Study is broken into 6 weeks, with one lesson per week.  The theme behind all of the Bible Studies is that there is no homework required; and each Bible Study should last for approximately 40 minutes. 

This particular Bible Study is based on Mark 1-6.  There are additional Bible Studies by the Arthur's which includes the remaining chapters of the book of Mark.

I have reviewed other Kay Arthur Bible Studies and felt they were move inclusive than this one.  I was left wanting more meat from this Bible Study.  I was hoping to use this as part of a Bible Study series I was going to teach from the Gospel of Mark, but will not use it. 

I believe this Bible Study is better suited for those who are just starting to get into Bible Study and are not ready to go deeper in the Word.  I say that not meaning to be overly critical since there are many people who will benefit from the approach the Arthur's take on this and other studies.

I received this study from www.Bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an open and honest review.

A Good Devo to Read!

Devo for the Rest of Us: The Next 40 Days on Your Journey of Faith Paperback, by Vince Antonucci was an easy to read and mostly light devotional book.  It takes the reader on a 40 day journey in the hopes that the reader will draw closer to God.  I found the book to be very enlightening.

While I didn't feel the book was filled with an abundance of scripture, that was okay with me, since I like to read stories and illustrations which relate to life and help me along on my journey.  Oftentimes it is these stories which will help me better understand myself, who I am and who I am becoming.

 With this in mind, I appreciated the writing style which was mostly story telling.  Vince is a pastor in Las Vegas and refers to his region of ministry on a regular basis.  This book challenged me and encouraged me and gave me some new insights into how I can look at God.

This is an 8 week journey which requires the reader to read about 5 pages Monday - Friday or whatever equals 5 days in your week.  It's a good book, as long as you are not looking for a deep devotion with lots of scripture.

I received this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an open and honest review! 

Ignite Your Passion For God (Bible Study)

As a pastor, I normally do not use Bible Study books for my weekly Bible Study.  We simply go straight from the Bible.  But this short Bible study by Kay Arthur, Ignite Your Passion for God, caught my attention. 

After reading through the book, I am going to use it during my Bible Study, but I am not certain how I will complete it within 40 minutes.  Some chapters have a great deal of insight and depth to them, so I am allowing about 8 weeks to complete this study.  There are “Insight” notes within the chapters which help guide the user in understanding the passage which is being discussed. 

This Bible Study is designed in such a manner that you are not required to do the work or homework in advance.  As we look at drawing closer to God, we will use this book and see how this impacts the people of the church.

There are 6 chapters in the book, which examines what influences or even takes away from our passion for God:

Idolatry
God’s Word
Prayer
Worship
Sharing the Gospel
Suffering

This is a very good basic study guide which I would highly recommend. 

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.

It's Not What you Think!

It's Not What You Think: Why Christianity Is About So Much More Than Going to Heaven When You Die, by Jefferson Bethke, was a very interesting book.  The premise of the book is to help the reader understand that Christianity is not just about getting our ticket punch and having a free ride to heaven.  That’s part of the plan, but Bethke wants us to understand and believe there is so much more to life than what we think.

With that in mind each chapter discusses why something is not what we think it is, in actuality, it’s more than what we think.  At times the book was a little frustrating because, while Bethke had a lot to say, I think it was confusing.  He tried to pack so much into one section that it was easy at times to lose where he was going with this thought process. 

He wrote about how life and church and faith are not what we think it is, and that applies to his generation as well.  I appreciated his approach as he tackled many areas of Christian faith which are possibly taken a little too lightly.

I think you have to read this book with an open mind and look at what his views are and compare and contrast that to your own views, theology and convictions.  Hopefully this book will stretch you thinking.

Overall, this is a good book.

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

Do you have GRIT?

In their book Grit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion and Pluck Take you from Ordinary to Extraordinary, authors, Linda Kaplan Thayer and Robin Koval have written a motivational type of book.  This is not a book which will tell you how to go about achieving greatness.  It is a book which is designed to motoviate and inspire you to work towards greatness.

This is an easy to read book which tells a great many stories about simply ordinary people who had GRIT and turned their lives into extraordinary lives.  They use a GRIT scale, in which the acronym stands for ~

• Guts, 
• Resilience, 
• Initiative, and 
• Tenacity.

The point of the book is that achieving greatness or excellence takes work.  Too many people don't want to put in the work, but their stories about average people who do great things because of their GRIT are compelling.  It takes effort and energy, which maybe is the downfall, if greatness or excellence is not your goal, then this is just an ordinary book filled with fun and interesting stories.

At the end of each chapter is a section called Grit Builders.  This is designed to give you some action steps to start you on your way to reaching your goals.  They also created a scale to determine your GRIT level, you can find that test at  www.grittogreat.com and take the grit test.

Overall, this is a very good book and I would recommend it for those seeking to grow and change in who they are.

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

Rise!! Church! Rise!!

Rise: Bold Strategies to Transform your Church, by Cally Parkinson, through the REVEAL Group, has written a very good book to read.  Most books like this focus on how to grow the church and give you a number of good well meaning plans to help in that endeavor.  This book is a little unique in that it has as it’s main focus the area of the spiritual well being and power of a church.

For the past 10 years the authors were researching various churches throughout the United States. The goal was to help church leaders better understand ways in which churches can achieve and maintain spiritual growth.  Over 2,000 churches were involved in this study.

The conclusion is that the more activities a church has, does not correlate to greater spiritual growth.  That is really nothing new in the church leadership world.   With this in mind, the question becomes, how do you enable a church to grow spiritually without the addition of more programs and meetings. 

The authors believe every church falls into one of eight patterns of spiritual growth, whether they are effective or not.  They identify 8 various archetypes of church health, believing every church fits in one of these categories. 

They are ~
• The Troubled Church
• The Complacent Church
• The Extroverted Church
• The Average Church
• The Introverted Church
• The Self-Motivated Church
• The Energized Church
• The Vibrant Church

Each chapter includes a case study of one church and how they addressed their issues to move forward.  This helps the reader if their church is in this situation to see some form of application.  Of course, not all situations will work for each church, but this book is helpful in giving the leader a better understanding of their church and how to move forward.

I received this book free from the publisher through the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for an honest review.

Nestle Pure Life Splash

We were fortunate to try Nestle Pure Life Splash at no cost if we gave an honest review!

Wow!  What an easy job!  The water is great!!   There are no calories and no carbs and best of all you get to drink flavored water during the day, without all of the carbonation which many other flavored waters contain.  This is a winner!  Go get some! 

Thanks to Nestle!

Try All Five Delicious Flavors!

NEW!  Strawberry Melon

 

Acaí Grape

 

Wild Berry

 

Mandarin Orange

 

Lemon

I'm a BzzAgent!

Excellent for Leaders!

Excellent Book!

Sometimes I get tired and really skeptical about reading another book on leadership.  I feel like I’ve read them all . . . but I needed to read this book.  In his book, H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle, Brad Lomenick has written a very open and vulnerable book about leadership from the perspective of 3 H’s –

Humble
Hungry and
Hustle

The book is divided into these three sections.  The book is fulled with stories which are current and relevant.  It is creative and engages the reader.  It’s an easy to read book, there is not so much information that one feels overwhelmed with too much information. 

Brad Lomenick gives us 20 habits which are essential for effective leadership.  I highly recommend this book to help in your leadership.

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

Fun and Interesting!

Your Daily Brain: 24 Hours in the Life of Your Brain was a fun to read and interesting book.  It is filled with a collection of short anecdotes based on the time of day and what you would be doing at that time.  The chapters are broken into morning, day and evening sections.  The book focuses on techniques we can all accomplish to help our brains function better. 

There was not anything really life changing in the book, but through reading, it is easy to make some small changes which can help lead to other changes in life.  If you enjoy learning about how your brain functions, what food you should eat, should you hit the snooze button, exercise, eat cereal laced with sugar, then this is a great book to read.

Instead of reading major studies, this book helps the reader to learn more about themselves and their brain. I think you’ll find some interesting facts in this book!

It’s a fun to read book and maybe a great Christmas present for the person who has it all and likes to read!

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent Book on Photography

I have never looked at books by this author, but I certainly will look for more of his books.  In the book, Learning to See Creatively, Third Edition: Design, Color, and Composition in Photography, by Bryan Peterson, he effectively helps beginners and experienced photographers see their subjects through another lense.

The pictures are vivid and great, the tips are right on.  Especially in the digital age, he encourages the photographer to experiment and play.  You never know when you’ll get the perfect picture, or find a new technique which really adds to what you are doing.  Get up high, get down low, use different angles, lenses all while taking the same pictures.  It’s time consuming, yet, you’ll find great rewards in doing this. 

He covers all of the basics, but goes beyond that.  He gives a professionals perspective which is so helpful. 

I highly recommend this book and learned a great deal.  While I don’t take as many pictures as I would like, I’m hoping to put some of his illustrations and tools into practice.  I know that I will be a better photographer because of this book and hopefully will feel freer to experiment with the pictures I take.  Especially since I can always delete what doesn’t look good, but it will be a great learning experience.

I received this book at no charge from www.bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an honest review.

Very Insightful!

We live in a society that is so quick to condemn and judge others.  In his new book,
Slow to Judge: Sometimes It’s OK to Listen, David Capes seeks to remind us to be slow to judge.  He wants us to hold firm to what we believe, yet at the same time have that difficult balancing act so we don’t judge, but are willing to listen to another person’s point of view.

I found it fascinating that Capes is a regular on a weekly radio talk show alongside a Jewish Rabbi and a Catholic Priest.  They have had others on as well.  They don’t always agree with one another.  In fact, he often strongly disagrees with them, yet considers these men good friends.  How many people could do that in this world?

Too many people want to argue and convince others they are correct, so they form their argument, then they never hear what the other person has do say.  In the end, there are no winners, and everyone ends up losing.

James reminds us in James 1 — “Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.”  That’s a great prescription for us.  Instead of judging, be quick to listen.  That’s not always easy, but it leads to greater dialogue.

Overall, I would recommend this book.  It was insightful!

I received this book from http://booklookbloggers.com/blogger in exchange for an honest review.

Enoying My Twinkies!

I was really looking forward to the 85th anniversary cookbook edition of Twinkies.  Hostess updated and expanded the Twinkies Cookbook.  They ahve included some of the best recipes and some new recipes.  I have to admit some of the recipes seemed rather bizarre to me, but may very well taste good.

I would have liked pictures for all of the recipes, instead of pictures for about 30% of the recipes.  Some recipes included Twinkies with meat, which didn’t sound appetizing, Twinkie Corn Dogs don’t get me excited, but a Patriotic Twinkie Pie or Twinkie Strawberry Shortcake sounds great! 

There were recipes covering ~
Twinkies and Cake
Twinkies and Pie
Twinkies and Fruit
Twinkies and Chocolate
Twinkies and Cream
Twinkies and Meat
Twinkies and Novelty

Twinkies in smores or with fruit kabobs sound great and will spice up a dinner party or make for some new snacks and desserts

I enjoyed reading a little about the history of the Twinkie in the introduction to the book.  It included facts, ingredients, its inventor, and the celebration of eighty-five years in production.

Overall, this is a fun and easy book to read.  It would make for a fun gift.

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

Finding God in the Darkness!

I have always benefitted from reading books by Nancy and John Ortberg.  They are consummate story tellers.  And their stories always have a message which speaks into my heart.  The newest book by Nancy Ortberg, Seeing in the Dark: Finding God’s light in the most Unexpected Places was another powerful Ortberg book. 

The purpose of the book is to help us find or better yet, recognize the light of God in the midst of the darkness which surrounds us.  What I like about her writing is the fact she is not offering a cookie cutter model of how we need to react to life.  Instead, she shares stories and allows the reader to embrace her message. 

Each chapter seems to be disconnected and yet at the same time they are powerfully connected.  At times the stories and jumps she makes don’t seem to connect until you read the final words of the chapter.  This is an easy to read, yet powerful book.

I was really struck by the last chapter, Benediction.  It was a powerful chapter as Nancy recalled life and death and the last words, the ways in which we say to others “may the Lord . . .”  That was the chapter which will leave a lasting impression upon me. 

This was an excellent book, especially for those who don’t want someone to give them all of the answers to life’s issues, other than to seek the light of Christ!

I received a copy of this book from Tyndale Press in exchange for my honest opinion.

Infuse Away!!

I really was looking forward to this book.  Infuse, by Eric Prum and Josh Williams is a book about how to infuse oils, spirits and waters.   In Infuse the authors share not only their favorite infusion recipes, but also how to use them in food and cocktails, like a spicy chili oil added to a grilled pizza bianca.  With more than 50 recipes for infusing oils, spirits and waters, Infuse provides instructions, quick tips and plenty of inspiration for how you can make delicious infusions part of your everyday.

There are also great pictures and the instructions are very clear.  So, if you are looking to try something new and different, this would be a really fun book.  The ideas are limitless, then you can go off on your own and make your own concoctions. 

I would recommend this book. 

I received it from Bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an impartial review.

Bible for Dad's

While Father’s Day is past, there is no time like now to get the dad in your life a Bible he will read.  The NIV Dad’s Devotional Bible (2nd Edition) is filled with 260 devotionals written for dads. These devotionals, written by Robert Wolgemuth, author of She Calls Me Daddy, The Most Important Place on Earth, and She Still Calls Me Daddy.

The devotionals were well written, filled with stories I was able to relate to.  While I didn’t read each devotional, if you are looking for a Bible which is easy to read, filled with thoughts and ideas which are practical to dads, then this is a great choice.

I appreciated the section entitled, “Questions Kids Ask” along with a topical section called “fruit of the Spirit Topical Index.”  Those were helpful indexes for men to read to help them better understand their children and their faith.  There were also 7 articles for kids to read, so they could better understand their dads.  I thought that was a novel approach.

The main criticism was the location of the introductions for each book of the Bible.  That was in the back of the Bible.  While this saved a few pages, having the introduction would have been better immediately preceding the chapter.

Overall, I felt this was a good Bible to purchase as a gift.

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

The Excellent 101 Collection

I have never read a John Maxwell book on leadership I didn't like.  This book is no different.  The Complete 101 Collection: What Every Leader Needs to Know, is a compilation of Maxwell's short books from the 101 series.  This book weighs in at just over 600 pages, so it may be intimidating, but the chapters are short and quick reads.

Each page is filled with great, relevant and useful advice.  It's not rocket science, but Maxwell has found a niche in writing about leadership in such a way that it makes sense and seems easier than it really is.  It's mostly common sense.  But, that can be a struggle sometimes!

 There are 8 sections to the book.  Each covers a different phase of leadership, yet are all inter-related . . . 

1. Attitude
2. Self Improvement
3. Leadership 
4. Relationships
5. Success
6. Teamwork
7. Equipping
8. Mentoring

John's writing style makes the books easy to read and follow, as he uses stories, life examples and great practical knowledge to help make the books more useful and understandable.  John does not dwell on his Christian faith, which I would have liked to see more.


Overall, this is an excellent book for anyone in leadership or aspiring to positions of leadership.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book courtesy of the publisher and BookLook Bloggers.