BOOK REVIEW: "Love At Last Sight: 30 Days To Deepen Your Closest Relationships" by Kerry & Chris Shook

"Everything you’ve been taught about relationships is wrong."
This tagline grabs your attention when you read the writeup on the back cover of "Love At Last Sight: 30 Days To Deepen Your Closest Relationships" by Kerry & Chris Shook.

The Good:
I thought this book has some really good things to say. It makes no excuses for the fact that relationships really do take commitment and hard work to maintain, just like anything else worthwhile in this world.

The Bad:
The content of this book could have been clearly edited into a few chapters. The whole dragging it out into a 30-day study thing really sucked the momentum out of my reading.
The Biblical connections could have been stronger- I felt that the connection between God/the Bible and successful relationships sometimes felt forced, and in places where I could and would have been able to smoothly show a clear link if I had been the writer, there was none mentioned in the book. This made the book feel very "baby Christian-ish" to me. I wanted to see some spiritual tools, some real meat; I didn't want to have to slog through milk for a month to get to it.

The Bottom Line:
For me, the bottom line is that this could have been a great book for those who are young in body or young in Christ but I think that the long drawn out nature of the book would be a real turn-off for those whom it would help the most. I've been a believer since 1985, happily married to my one-and-only beloved since 2002, a mother (and loving it) since 2006, and I'm blessed to be able to say that much of what my parents taught me about love and relationships was in fact, NOT wrong.

**I have received a free copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for review purposes. The opinions expressed herein are my own and have not been influenced by the publisher.

BOOK REVIEW: "Tithing - test me in this" by Douglas LeBlanc

TITLE: Tithing; test me in this
AUTHOR: Douglas LeBlanc
GENRE: Spiritual Growth & Christian Thought
ISBN: 978-0-8499-4608-0

PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: "Stories of people who live a generous and happy life (and why you'll want to live that way too.) Journalist Douglas LeBlanc travels the nation to talk with believers whose lives have been enriched by the ancient spiritual discipline of tithing. He discovers people along the way who do not understand the practice as an onerous law but as God’s call to a life of generosity and compassion. The effect on their lives is dramatic. LeBlanc talks with a variety of believers—from a pastor in the south side of Chicago to progressive Episcopalians, from an Orthodox rabbi to an Eastern Orthodox priest and his wife. By holding their gifts with open hands, they are drawn deeper into a life of joy and sharing that begins in the very heart of God. A volume in the eight book classic series, The Ancient Practices, with a foreword by Phyllis Tickle, General Editor."



I hate doing negative reviews but I believe a review isn't worth anything if it's not honest so: I was hoping that somewhere in this book it would talk about the history of tithing in depth. How and why it started. How it became such an unknown or ignored practice in our culture. I was hoping for all this in addition to real life examples of people who have been blessed by tithing. But all I found were the stories. And they were disorganized, difficult to read. Sometimes hearing the story in the person's own words loses something when it's put into print. Especially if the author interrupts the story with back story and other relevant and irrelevant factoids at certain points during the telling. I found myself having to read that last sentence or paragraph that I just read over and over again until I finally got it. Add to that the increased confusion of an ordinary Christian with Baptist and Mennonite background trying to comprehend Episcopal terminology, and it was a very difficult read. Some chapters I re-read as many as 4 times trying to follow them but my mind kept wandering and just wouldn't seem to track the story.
Not all the stories were difficult to track though. Some were just plain creepy. Like the doctrine of the interviewee is skewed and contrary to scripture and they are preaching it like it's gospel and reading that just gave me the shivers. One or 2 of the stories toward the end were actually interesting enough for me to stay focused and get something out of. All in all it was not an impressive read. I kept waiting for a final chapter to touch on those pesky historical and cultural questions I opened with, but none was forthcoming. I think the answers to some may have been scattered throughout the book but the lack of fluidity and understandability confounded any ability I may have had to mentally tie them together into a complete thought.
Cons: This book was very hard to focus on, difficult to understand, hopping around, breaking up, and scattered. Difficult to get anything out of except an irritation over the time I spent trying to get into it and failing miserably.
Pros: A couple of the people interviewed had some good things to say about tithing and our current culture.

 
Bottom line? I'd give it 1 out of 5. I wouldn't read it again, I wouldn't recommend it to others. Reading it felt like hiking up a mountain to see the view, it turns out to be a steep and difficult climb rather than a hike, and when you finally get to the top, there is no view at all.


*This book was reviewed for Thomas Nelson's BookSneeze blogger review program. I received a free copy of this book for review purposes. No other compensation was received. My opinions are my own and have not been edited or influenced by the publisher in any way.

BOOK REVIEW: "Unto The Hills; A daily devotional" by Billy Graham

TITLE: Unto The Hills; A Daily Devotional
AUTHOR: Billy Graham
GENRE: Christian devotional
ISBN: 978-0-8499-4621-9
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: "For peace, for strength, for courage and inspiration, look UNTO THE HILLS. Day by day, you can join the nation's most beloved spiritual leader for a moment of quiet and reflection - a Scripture, a thought, and a prayer. The author draws from his lifetime of study and ministry to offer this devotional classic, featuring 365 meditations to calm you and point you toward the One who can always help."

First off I want to say that the summary from the back cover is just awful. It makes it sound like some pious guide to religion by some religious leader who is worshipped as God Himself is. Really unappealing.
The first few days of this devotional were equally unappealing to me. They were generic, spiritual babyfood. I wanted some meat to chew over, not platitudes I learned in Sunday School when I was 6. If I flipped this devotional open in a store and read the first few days, I would most definately not buy it.
BUT after a few weeks of readings I felt like the topics got more and more thought-provoking. A little more meat to chew on for those who are more spiritually mature. Granted, the book never got to the depth I would have liked, but it did get much more interesting and thought-provoking as the readings went on. Topics focused on angels, marriage, persecution, suffering, and more. I think this would be a good devotional for a new-ish Christian. I think I will use it as a conversation starter for our family devotions. My kids are 4, 2 and newborn and my oldest could understand some of the concepts in this simply worded devotional. Perhaps this would make a good family devotional for some families with younger children, although some topics may not be appropriate and may require simplifying or substituting a more age-appropriate lesson for that day's reading.
Cons: Not enough meat. Not deep enough.
Pros: Easy to understand. Short readings. Seems doctrinally sound.
Bottom line? I'd give it 3.5 out of 5. Not something that I would buy for me or my family, but I would recommend it to others for whom it may be more appropriate.

*This book was reviewed for Thomas Nelson's BookSneeze blogger review program. I received a free copy of this book for review purposes. My opinions are my own and have not been edited or influenced by the publisher in any way.

Review: Beautiful Things Happen When A Woman Trusts God by Sheila Walsh

Beautiful Things Happen When A Woman Trusts God by Sheila Walsh
Hardcover, 288 pages, genre Christian Living





Publisher's Description:
"Do you ever question God’s ability to catch you when you fall?
Do shame, fear, and brokenness keep you from fully trusting God?
Do you secretly believe your dreams are unreachable?
You are not alone.
Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God is all about trust. How we fight it. How we learn to do it. How it transforms us.
Life is not safe. That reality slips over us as we grow. Our response to the Father in that reality allows us either to swing higher and higher with the trust of a child . . . or fearfully shrink back from the swing set altogether.
As we weigh that choice, God whispers: Trust me.
In a remarkably transparent account, author and speaker Shelia Walsh opens wide her lifelong battle with trust and the moment-by-moment choices she made to follow where God led.
Shelia has lived a life ruled by “hidden places” of insecurity and brokenness and knows the overwhelming beauty of a life wholly handed over to Christ. As you encounter her struggles and triumphs, you also meet ten of the Bible’s transformed—Tabitha, David, Paul, and others—who teach us that in spite of overwhelming circumstances, just one trusting encounter with Christ sets beautiful things in motion.
It can resurrect dreams, instill purpose, and ignite hope.
Discover what beautiful things can happen when you trust God."

My Review:
A good read. If you've ever struggled with depression and anxiety this book will speak to you. Sheila's struggles and the triumph of God in her life are a beautiful picture that illustrates how much God cares about each one of us. I loved the way she brought the characters to life in her retellings of Biblical stories to illustrate points in this book, but at the same time I felt like she bordered on being a little bit too free with her interpretations at times. So that was both my favorite and least favorite part about the book. :) I teared up while reading it 2 or 3 times when a point hit home. I would recommend this to any Christian mature enough to take the Biblical interpretations with a grain of salt (and having a desire to study the Word and see what parts fit with the real story and what was purely added for effect), especially if they've ever struggled with depression, anxiety, or trust issues. I'd give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

This book was reviewed for Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze blog reviewer program. I received a free copy to read and review. The opinions expressed herein are mine and only mine and have not been prompted or censored by the publisher or anyone else but me and God. ;)