Come to the Table by Neta Jackson

Kat Davies is suddenly wondering if her good deed was a bad idea.

Kat may be new in her faith, but she’s embraced the more radical implications of Christianity with reckless abandon. She invited Rochelle—a homeless mother—and her son to move in the apartment she shares with two other housemates. And she’s finally found a practical way to channel her passion for healthy eating by starting a food pantry at the church.

Her feelings for Nick are getting harder to ignore. The fact that he’s the interning pastor at SouledOut Community Church and one of her housemates makes it complicated enough. But with Rochelle showing interest in Nick as a father-figure for her son, their apartment is feeling way too small.

But not everyone thinks the food pantry is a good idea. When the woman she thought would be her biggest supporter just wants to “pray about it,” Kat is forced to look deeper at her own motives. Only when she begins to look past the surface does she see people who are hungry and thirsty for more than just food and drink and realizes the deeper significance of inviting them to “come to the table.”

I had read some of the Yada Yada series and thoroughly enjoyed them.  I was slightly skeptical that she could continue to stay fresh in her writing.  I had not read book 1 of this series but found I could pick up much of the story line as it continued and yes, Neta Jackson continued to stay fresh.

What captivated me most was the realism of each character, many relatively new in their Christian walk.  She captured the enthusiam of new believers, that zeal that can be either contagious or alienating. And alongside those new believers, are the seasoned Christians, helping to guide them.

I could relate to Kat as she has a damper put on her enthusiam regarding a food pantry. How many times have we had a really great idea only to have others shake their head or complacently say, "Have you prayed about it?  Or, how something God has put on our hearts, we want the people we love to be a part of, yet, they do not show any enthusiam?  Kat's friends and mentor encourage to pray and seek the direction God has for not only the food pantry but for the church's part in it.  And Kat does.

Not only is this a feel good book, but a book to remind us all of when we were young in our faith and high in enthusiam to serve the Lord.

Should you buy the book?  Yes!

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

The Reason by William Sirls

When facing the impossible, will you believe?

Storm clouds gather over a small Michigan town. As thunder shakes the sky, the lights inside St. Thomas Church flicker . . . and then go out.

All is black until a thick bolt of lightning slices the sky, striking the church’s large wooden cross—leaving it ablaze and splintered in two.

When the storm ends—the search for answers begins.

James Lindy, the church’s blind minister, wonders how his small congregation can repair the cross and keep their faith in the midst of adversity. And he hears the words “only believe.”

Macey Lewis, the town’s brilliant young oncologist, is drawn to Alex, a young boy who’s recently been diagnosed with an aggressive leukemia. She puts her hope in modern medicine—yet is challenged to “only believe.”

And Alex’s single mom, who has given everything she can to her boy, is pleading with God to know the reason this is happening . . . to save her son. But she only hears silence and wonders how she can possibly “only believe.”


As I read this book, I found myself likening it to bits and pieces of other books and movies.  Kenneth reminded me of Joshua, a character in a book and a movie by the same title. I believe the concept could have been derived from the book/movie.

The characters were not fully developed.  It was as if each character were its own jigsaw puzzle and there were missing pieces so you never saw the complete picture. Put all those puzzles together to make one and you still have an incomplete picture.

While circumstances and miracles cause the characters to ask very good questions, the answers were questionable. As a believer, this book did not bode well in my spirit. I do think this book could be misleading for non or new believers.

Sad to say, I really felt like I was watching an old time soap opera.

Should you buy the book?  No!

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Cruel Harvest by Fran Elizabeth Grubb

Fran Grubb's was a horrific childhood.  The fifth of seven children born to a vicious alcoholic who beat his wife and children.  Fran spent her early years in a series of rattletrap cars and ramshackle huts as her family followed the seasons as migrant farm workers.  The children worked the fields from sunup to sundown, crawling into the dusty cotton sacks to hide from the truant officers, for fear of a a beating from their father if they were caught.

It was a hollow existence:  nomadic, extreme poverty and deprivation, with no comfort.  Fran's father sold her older brother for five dollars, murdered her infant sister and sexually molested his other other daughters.

Fran could be excused if she were bitter.  But she is not.  Even as she watched her mother and older sisters run away from the family, disappearing one by one, even as she sought ot make sense of her circumstances, even as she struggled to get her young adult life on track, Fran was able to dow what her father could not - love, enjoy life, embrace God.

There is more, much more, to this story.  There is wickedness and despair.  But there is also courage and hope. And a happy ending too.

This was a hard book to read but it is also one I did not want to put down.  Fran Grubb handled the telling of her story with grace and dignity.  Even without graphic details, one could envision the horrors of her life. 
I am in awe that in spite of her tragic circumstances, she kept clinging to hope; believing in a God that did not seem to answer her prayers.

I was not ready for the book to end and hope she plans to share more of her life and that of her siblings as they one by one removed themselves from the monster they called "daddy".  I hope that one day she is able to find Mary Anne and Millie.

While the book is filled with horrors, Fran's ability to love and forgive is the real story.

Should you buy the book?  Without a doubt!!


I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Richard Paul Evans, The Walk Series

I just finished reading book 3 of "The Walk" series by Richard Paul Evans.  I went back and read the first 2 as I wanted to read them all together.  Not sure I will do it again when book 4 comes out, however, due to memory failure, I just may have to just that.  OK, so I know I will enjoy going through each part of Alan's journey again.

I found myself engaged in the books and then asking myself some tough questions when I put them down.  I so enjoy thought provoking books.

"My name is Alan Christoffersen. You don’t know me. ‘Just another book in the library,’ my father would say. ‘Unopened and unread.’ You have no idea how far I’ve come or what I’ve lost. More important, you have no idea what I’ve found." —Prologue

 

What would you do if you lost everything—your job, your home, and the love of your life—all at the same time? When it happens to Seattle ad executive Alan Christoffersen, he’s tempted by his darkest thoughts. A bottle of pills in his hand and nothing left to live for, he plans to end his misery. Instead, he decides to take a walk. But not any ordinary walk. Taking with him only the barest of essentials, Al leaves behind all that he’s known and heads for the farthest point on his map: Key West, Florida. The people he encounters along the way, and the lessons they share with him, will save his life—and inspire yours.

Richard Paul Evans’s extraordinary New York Times bestsellers have made him one of the world’s most beloved storytellers. A life-changing journey, both physical and spiritual, The Walk is the first of an unforgettable series of books about one man’s search for hope.

This is Book 1.  I got so caught up in the characters, I could not put this book down.  It is a quick read and well worth it.  While the writing is simple, the story is not.

Alan Christoffersen, a once-successful advertising executive, wakes one morning to find himself injured, alone, and confined to a hospital bed in Spokane, Washington. Sixteen days earlier, reeling from the sudden loss of his wife, his home, and his business, Alan left everything he knew behind and set off on an extraordinary cross-country journey. Carrying only a backpack, he planned to walk to Key West, the farthest destination on his map. But a vicious roadside stabbing has interrupted Alan’s trek and robbed him of his one source of solace: the ability to walk.Homeless and facing months of difficult recovery, Alan has nowhere to turn—until a mysterious woman enters his life and invites him into her home. Generous and kind, Angel seems almost too good to be true, but all is not as it appears. Alan soon realizes that before he can return to his own journey, he must first help Angel with hers.From one of America’s most beloved and bestselling storytellers comes an astonishing tale of life and death, love and second chances, and why sometimes the best way to heal your own suffering is by helping to heal someone else’s.Inspiring, moving, and full of wisdom, Miles to Go picks up where the bestseller The Walk left off, continuing the unforgettable series about one man’s unrelenting search for hope.

 

This book did not disappoint as so many sequels fail to live up to the original. 

 

Join one of America’s beloved storytellers on a walk like no other: one man’s unrelenting search for hope.

 

Reeling from the sudden loss of his wife, his home, and his business, Alan Christoffersen, a once-successful advertising executive, has left everything he knew behind and set off on an extraordinary cross-country journey. Carrying only a backpack, he is walking from Seattle to Key West, the farthest destination on his map.

Now almost halfway through his trek, Alan sets out to walk the nearly 1,000 miles between South Dakota and St. Louis, but it’s the people he meets along the way who give the journey its true meaning: a mysterious woman who follows Alan’s walk for close to a hundred miles, the ghost hunter searching graveyards for his wife, and the elderly Polish man who gives Alan a ride and shares a story that Alan will never forget.

Full of hard-won wisdom and truth, The Road to Grace is a compelling and inspiring novel about hope, healing, grace, and the meaning of life.

 

WOW!!  Talk about God using a book to address some issues in my life.  Another sequel that did not disappoint.

 

Book 4 comes out in spring of 2013.  Very sad:(  I am so ready to read it now.

 

Should you buy the books?  Absolutely.

Thunder and Rain by Charles Martin

Tyler Steele was a third generation Texas Ranger, and he wasn’t a baseball player. He wore a silver star in his chest, a white Stetson on his head and – like John Wayne – rode tall in the saddle. He wore starched jeans, polished his boots, and took his hat off when a lady – meaning any female – walked in the room. He was a real Texas gentleman. Which meant that – no matter how he was feeling – when he saw a lady lugging around a heavy load, he would take it from her and carry it himself.

The latest lady with a burden was Samantha – Sam – and her young daughter, Hope. He met them under the worst of circumstances; circumstances that would have made many people label Sam as ‘getting what she deserved’ and not worth being rescued. But years of training are not easily shrugged off; although Tyler was retired, he stepped in to help the stranger and her innocent daughter.

Despite his strong moral compass, Ty has trouble seeing his greatest weakness. His hard outer shell, the one essential to his work, made him incapable of forging the emotional connection his estranged wife Andie so desperately needed.

Now retired, raising their son Brodie on his own, and at risk of losing his ranch, Ty does not know how to rebuild from the rubble of his life. As his relationship with Sam and Hope unfolds, Ty realizes he must confront his true weaknesses if he wants to become the man he needs to be.

I am a big Charles Martin fan so when he decided to venture off his normal genre, I was a little concerned until he said it was going to be about a Texas Ranger.  I have met some Texas Rangers in my time so naturally, my interested was piqued.  While little girls may dream of a knight in shining armor coming to save them, I envisioned a Texas Ranger.  This book did not disappoint!

Let me tell you, Charles Martin had the character of the Texas Ranger pegged.  I have read many books by different authors using Texas as their location.  Authors, even those who live in Texas, can sure exaggerate how we Texans walk, talk and live but not Charles Martin.

 Do yourself a favor!  Buy the book!

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

"All I new was that I was flying through the night in a fancy car with a woman who showed up out of nowhere and offered to take me, messed-up life and all, to a place called Savannah"

Twelve -year-old CeeCee Honeycutt is in trouble.  For years, she bas been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille - the tiare-toting, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town - a woman trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen.  But when tragedy strikes, CeeCee is left to fend for herself.  To the rescue comes her previously unknown great-aunt, Tootie Caldwell.

In her vintage Packard convertible, Tootie whisks CeeCee away to Savannah's perfumed world of prosperity and Southern exxentricity, a world that seems to be run entirely by women.  From the exotic Miz Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who skinny-dips in her backyard bathrub and uses garden slugs as her secret weapon, to Tootie's all-knowing housekeeper, Oletta JoVes, towViolene Hobbs, who entertains a local2Police officer in her canary-yellow piegnoiz, to the women of Savannah who keep CeeCee entertained and entralled for an entire summer.

I read the mixed reviews and decided this book was at least worth trying.  Put it on my wish list and then found it at a garage sale.

First, this is no Gone with the Wind or The Help.  I do believe there may be some error in authenticity for the time perioe] however, this is fiction.  I do not expect any fiction book to be 100% accurate but I do expect it to be believable.  While some reviews said this book was a Southern cliche', others disagreed.  I just enjoyed that fact that it was not dripping molasses on every page I read.

While many reviews said this should be geared toward younger women, I say, hogwash. 

Having been a foster parent,  my heart ached at CeeCee's story and her bag of emotions she toted around with her mother's name on it.    I fell in love with the women whose names became written in CeeCee's Life Book, so much so, that at times I felt like I was peeking through the hedges and into their lives.  In some ways, I wanted to hear more of each of their stories.

Please don't pick up this book to pick it apart.  Granted, it is not the best book ever written and as I said, there are probably some errors in the time period authenticity.  Do read this book just to enjoy getting to know CeeCee and the merry band of women who help her heal and grow.

Sorry guys, but this is definitely chick lit.

Fatherlessness is a "rot that is eating away at the modern soul," writes Douglas Wilson, and the problem goes far beyond physical absence. "Most of our families are starving for fathers, even if Dad is around, and there's a huge cost to our children and our society because of it." Father Hunger takes a thoughtful, timely, richly engaging excursion into our cultural chasm of absentee fatherhood. Blending leading-edge research with incisive analysis and real-life examples, Wilson:

• Traces a range of societal ills―from poverty and crime to joyless feminism and paternalistic government expansion―to a vacuum of mature masculinity
• Explains the key differences between asserting paternal authority and reestablishing true spiritual fathering
• Uncovers the corporate-fulfillment fallacy and other mistaken assumptions that undermine fatherhood
• Extols the benefits of restoring fruitful fathering, from stronger marriages to greater economic liberty

Filled with practical ideas and self-evaluation tools, Father Hunger both encourages and challenges men to "embrace the high calling of fatherhood," becoming the dads that their families and our culture so desperately need them to be.
"Wilson sounds a clarion call among Christian men that is pointedly biblical, urgently relevant, humorously accessible, and practically wise." ―Richard D. Phillips, author of The Masculine Mandate: God's Calling to Men
"Father Hunger illulstrates one of the greatest influences or lack thereof on the identity of a man: a father. Read a book that will strike an invisible chord in the lives of men both lost and found." ―Dr. Eric Mason, pastor of Epiphany Fellowship, Philadelphia

This was a difficult book to read as I found it very monotone in nature.  Set aside the monotone feel and the information provided is downright, Fatherhood 101.  New fathers, fathers who had little, no or poor role modeling will definitely benefit from the basics Douglas Wilson is presenting in this book.

Not sure what fatherhood is really all about, then read this book.  This book explores the hows and whys of fatherhood past, present and future. This book takes a man back to being a man, a father who raises his children, not controls them.  It teaches God's plan for a man being a father.

I was a single mom and read a number of  "men's books" so I could help my son in his growth.  This is a book I wish had been available back then.

Should you Buy the Book?  Yes.

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

All I Need is Jesus and a Good Pair of Jeans by Susanna Foth Aughtmon

You know the pressure. To have the perfect Christian life and the perfect family. To be the perfect friend. To look perfect in those jeans. To be a supergirl. Instead of feeling good about yourself, you're left stuck in the gap between who you are and who you long to be.

Susanna Foth Aughtmon knows what it's like to be a tired supergirl, fighting the enemies of pride, worry, jealousy, busyness, loneliness, and many more. With humor and courage, she lays bare those times in her own life when she found it a challenge to live the life God wants for her. But even tired supergirls have a secret weapon: God's Truth.

With God's help, all of us can win the day against the subtle voices of Miz Do Good, Worry Man, Little Miss No Fair, and every other nemesis we encounter.

Before purchasing this book, I read the reviews.  All of them gave it 5 out of 5 stars.  Sorry, but I must disagree. 

The book, while funny parts in parts, tends to be on the level of someone in grade school.  I almost felt like Billy Mays, the Oxy Clean harker, had written this book.  It was that grating to read.

I really cannot recommend this book, however, I am in a minority based on the reviews posted on Amazon.

Heaven In Her Arms by Catherine Hickem

Mary was there the day Jesus was born and she was there the day he was crucified. Her story is deep and rich and has myriad lessons for any woman-mothers, daughters, sisters, friends.

Mary's story reveals that a woman's heart is important to the Father.

When God selected Mary," Hickem says, "He was looking for heart. God set out to find the precise woman who would give her heart to Him, completely and wholly. He wanted a woman with whom He could entrust His perfect Son. This was going to be no ordinary woman."

Heaven in Her Arms will touch your heart if you are facing fear and uncertainty, wondering about leaving your plans behind, feeling a need for community and the support of other women, or wanting to deepen your life of faith.

Hickem reflects on Mary's story and offers practical applications, as well as inspiring real-life stories from contemporary women. With a six-week Bible study for individuals or small groups, Heaven in Her Arms shows the life of faith Mary exemplified and God's tender heart for His daughters.





This was a slow read in the beginning but eventually I was caught up in learning more about Mary.  How Mary handles her situation provides a format we can all follow in raising our children, in being a woman and in just being a child of God.

Within this book, there are insights and perspectives that will benefit women of all ages and circumstances.
Throughout the pages, the author shares personal stories that will help women understand what she is trying to convey. The Study Guide at the back is a bonus that should be used.

Should you buy the book?  Yes.  I believe there things to be learned from Mary's life.  Sometimes, all we need is a different perspective on things and the author has done well to provide that.

Disclaimer:  This book was provided by Booksneeze for an honest review.

The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn

Is it possible...


That there exists an ancient mystery that holds the secret of America s future?


That this mystery lies behind everything from 9/11 to the collapse of the global economy?


That ancient harbingers of judgment are now manifesting in America?


That God is sending America a prophetic message of what is yet to come?


Before its destruction as a nation, ancient Israel received nine harbingers, prophetic omens of warning. The same nine harbingers are now manifesting in America with immediate ramifications for end-time prophecy.


Hidden in an ancient biblical prophecy from Isaiah, the mysteries revealed in The Harbinger are so precise that they foretold recent American events down to the exact days. The revelations are so specific that even the most hardened skeptics will find it hard to dismiss or put down. It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood thriller with one exception... IT S REAL.


The prophetic mysteries are revealed through an intriguing and engaging narrative the reader will find hard to put down. The Harbinger opens with the appearance of a man burdened with a message he has received from a mysterious figure called The Prophet. The Prophet has given him nine seals, each containing a message about America s future. As he tells of his encounters with The Prophet, from a skyscraper in New York City, to a rural mountaintop, to Capitol Hill, to Ground Zero, the mystery behind each seal is revealed. As the story unfolds, each revelation becomes a piece in a greater puzzle the ramifications of which will even alter the course of world history.

This is a thought provoking book, one I really need to read again.  The copy was loaned to me so I will have to buy the book in order to take it all in. 

I know not to take anything at face value no matter how well known or respected the author may be or who may endorse it.  I had not ever heard of this author, but when I asked some friends about the author and/or the book, they could only say they had heard of both.  All who had heard of the book were very intrigued and said they wanted to read it.

After reading it, I realized, I really need to know my Bible a whole lot better than I do.  Can what is written here be true?  Is it real?  I am still perplexed by it, which is why I need to read the book again.

I read some of the reviews on Amazon and of course, they were mixed, some saying the author was right on and others saying he was quack. 

Should you buy the book?  Yes and then give me your thoughts.

1000 Days, The Ministry of Christ by Jonathan Falwell

MEET JESUS.

A man both fully God and fully human,  A man who came to earth to accomplish and incredible and life-saving mission.  A man who intentionally lived most of his life in private but only three precious years in public ministry.  A man who did nothing by accident, living fully in light of the will of the Father.

What truths do these precious days entail for our lives today?  What does He want us to learn from these moments?  It's time we take a deeper look at both His mission and His ministry, these 1,000 days before the ascension.

In this book, Jonathan Falwell introduces the concept of "the happiness of less" as one of the keys to obtaining true peace from life.  From trials and tribulations to radical love, from hypocrisy and temptation to prayer, 1,000 Days offers rich insight into what Jesus has to say about life as we know it.

Rediscover the life of Jesus, and along the way you might just discover the life you were meant to live.

I really enjoyed this book.  Some may think it too simplistic but that is its appeal.

In each chapter, Falwell uses easy to understand examples and shows Jesus perspective using scripture.  At the end of each chapter, Falwell has questions for individual reflection or small group discussions.  I recommend, before going to the next chapter, to further study the current chapter using the back of the book, which contains a Bible Study Guide with Leader Helps and the 100 main events in Jesus life.

Falwell's book is progressive, each chapter building off the last.  You start out with the topic of Restless Hearts Meet the Peace of Jesus, going to Listening to God's Word, moving forward to An Invitation to Follow and then Life in Jesus' Kingdom.  Once there, Falwell starts going a little deeper into the topics of discipleship, loving your neighbor, hypocrisy, heaven and hell, temptation, worship and more.

Should you buy the book?  Absolutely, especially if you are a new Christian.

Our Favorite Sins by Todd Hunter

Our Favorite Sins The Sins We Commit and How You Can Quit

By Todd Hunter
Published by Thomas Nelson

Book Description

The Essential Guide for Beating Temptation

Falling for temptation isn’t inevitable. We don’t have to lose the fight. In fact, we can win if we understand the root of the problem and what Christians have done from the beginning to beat it. Our Favorite Sins shines a much-needed light in our lives’ dark corners and reveals the time-tested methods for getting victory over sin.

Are you tyrannized by your own desires?

If you are breathing, your answer is probably yes.

The question is: What are you going to do about it?

With more than thirty years of pastoral experience, Todd D. Hunter knows that most people—himself included—struggle every day with temptation. All too often, we fail and fall, and some of us are at our wit’s end, utterly defeated. What do we do to get a grip on the sin in our life and live like God wants?
There’s good news: despite all our failures and shameful “moments after,” there really is a way out, a way forward, and a way that draws us closer to the life that God desires for us.

In Our Favorite Sins, Hunter cracks open the problem of temptation and points to practical, Biblically based, time-tested solutions. First revealing the role played by our disordered desires, Hunter shows how different temptations trip us up and how we can resist and overcome them, even if we’ve fallen prey to them for decades. Victory starts with reordering our desires, and the church has given us the tools for the job. Hunter shows us how to use them and start beating the temptations that so often beat us.

Informed by exclusive research from the Barna Group, Our Favorite Sins offers a view that works for any believer wherever they are and no matter how big the battle they’re fighting.

The first half of the book defines, through various characters such as Anxious Annie, Procrasting Prestion, Eating Eddie, some very "deadly sins" in people's lives.  While I like the simplicity with which the author wrote and his use of names for sins, I do not believe he offered anything new with which to battle tempation. 

The author discusses that something tempts a person only if there is a preexisting desire in that person for the object in view, that sin and temptation are powerless without that desire. He states that tempation does not produce desire, desire make tempation possible.

When our desires for the things not of God, they are what the author calls, disordered desires.  After discussing and giving examples (1st half of book), the author talks about turning our hearts toward home, getting back to holiness and good virtues.  How does he suggest we go about this?  Through the practices of silence and solitude.  I am not familiar with the theology of the anglican church so maybe those concepts are new to them but to me, that is Christianity 101.

Would I recommend this book?  Probably not.  The bent is very denominational and while there is some foundational information contained in this book, I know that are other books available that can better teach how to truly follow Jesus!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Some Days There's Pie by Catherine Landis

Ruth thinks she has found her ticket out of Tennessee by eloping with a stereo salesman, but soon he “gets religion,” and Ruth leaves. When she faints in a North Carolina five-and-dime, Rose, a fiesty elderly reporter, rescues her, beginning a friendship stronger than family ties. With spirited humor and empathy, Landis intertwines the stories of Rose, who is in denial of her terminal illness, and Ruth, who posesses the energy of Rose in her younger days.
The title captured my attention.  The synopsis mildly intrigued me.  The book disappointed me. 

I found the book to be a slow read, which is usually not a good sign. While I enjoyed some of the characters they never seemed to gel, to connect, in order to make the story come alive. Perhaps if the author had more deeply explored some of the main characters, I might have found one with which to connect. I actually found myself having to backtrack to remember a character that was introduced early on and then dropped only to reappear again. 

Should you buy the book?  Only if discounted or bought at a garage sale.  Will I read her second novel?  The jury is still out on that one.

Upcoming review

Our Favorite Sins The Sins We Commit and How You Can Quit

By Todd Hunter
Published by Thomas Nelson

Book Description

The Essential Guide for Beating Temptation
Falling for temptation isn’t inevitable. We don’t have to lose the fight. In fact, we can win if we understand the root of the problem and what Christians have done from the beginning to beat it. Our Favorite Sins shines a much-needed light in our lives’ dark corners and reveals the time-tested methods for getting victory over sin.
Are you tyrannized by your own desires?
If you are breathing, your answer is probably yes.
The question is: What are you going to do about it?
With more than thirty years of pastoral experience, Todd D. Hunter knows that most people—himself included—struggle every day with temptation. All too often, we fail and fall, and some of us are at our wit’s end, utterly defeated. What do we do to get a grip on the sin in our life and live like God wants?
There’s good news: despite all our failures and shameful “moments after,” there really is a way out, a way forward, and a way that draws us closer to the life that God desires for us.
In Our Favorite Sins, Hunter cracks open the problem of temptation and points to practical, Biblically based, time-tested solutions. First revealing the role played by our disordered desires, Hunter shows how different temptations trip us up and how we can resist and overcome them, even if we’ve fallen prey to them for decades. Victory starts with reordering our desires, and the church has given us the tools for the job. Hunter shows us how to use them and start beating the temptations that so often beat us.
Informed by exclusive research from the Barna Group, Our Favorite Sins offers a view that works for any believer wherever they are and no matter how big the battle they’re fighting.

The Cross Gardner by Jason F. Wright

While I thoroughly enjoyed his books, The Wednesday Letters, The Christmas Jars and Recovering Charles, his latest books, The Wedding Letters and The Cross Gardner were big disappointments.    Not sure I will read another one of his books.

In the Cross Gardner, Jason F. Wright sets the tone by having a young man, who was born at the side of the road after his mother was in an accident, tell his story of love and loss.  The story was disconnected, the various plots never seeming to be completed or well connected.

Just cannot recommend this book, at all.