The River

I used live in Florida, and I purchased a copy of this book at a church event where the author was. It was a stunning event! The story turns around a man who recounts his childhood years; his dad guided tours down rapids on the Colorado River. When the main character was 5, yeah, you know what happened to his dad!! And Gab never forgave the river or his dad..not until now. It is a surprising read, considering this is the first book by this writer BUT he has lots of experience with song writing. It is basically the story of one mans childhood life that centered around the river that claimed someone very precious to him(spoiler alert) and how he comes to terms with forgiveness. It is the story of how he dealt with the pain and fear of the river. If you enjoyed The Shack; you have to read this book...its a great read for all you fiction buffs out there!! I do not care for fiction, but having already read this book I thought I would give the author a hand and tell everyone what I thought about it. It is a trying emotional telling. If you enjoy drama you will enjoy this book!

The Money Smart Family System by Steve Economides and Annette Economides Published by Thomas Nelson

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, Thomas Nelson in exchange for a review. The book is very good and stays on topic from cover to cover. Many points were common sense to me but I did find the book enjoyable. They are known for running a house hold below budget. They suggest things like having a routine and buying used items when ever possible and bartering and haggling when making major purchase items. Honestly, go talk to an Indian man and you will learn more about saving money. No one is more frugal than an Indian, and I refer to someone from India. Of course they rightfully talk about giving God His 10% and I will say this: I heard an old lady at my church say back in 2008 that God expects His 10%, and when you give Him more than that He will bless you for it. That is completely true. For my own intake on this book I would have given it a one star. But for the help it can offer to people who have not worked for 15 years for several Indians I believe this book could be a real treasure trove of information.

12 Unlikely Heroes by John MacArthur

This is a very enjoyable book. It is full of background information that you wont get from a regular Bible. Likely you would get it from an archeological or an Historical or chronological Bible, but you wont get the details from a regular Bible (and rightfully so, as the Bible is the Word of God and the focus is justly on God and not the people He picks to use). People stumble through life due to those little road blocks we all encounter called, crisis situations. It is common for people to feel like we are not good enough for God, that surely He can find someone more qualified or skilled. This book encourages the reader to consider that God is always in control and He can use anyone who will put their trust in Him. God gifts us all with talents. Sadly, some people never discover theirs but some people seem to have an innate sense of just knowing what they are gifted at. The easiest gift to see might well be the gift of drawing. Put a pencil in my hand and I can draw you a fine figure of a stick person. Put the same pencil in the the hand of 2 of my cousins and they can draw you anything you want to see, mirror image. But many gifts are hidden from us until we need those gifts to do Gods work. The common expression is that god equips those He calls. Yes, that is true: however, God equips many of us long before He calls us into service. Sometimes we have to die for God, and often we must be willing to die for God, and I dont refer to lip service, I mean we literally have to take a chance on death to serve God in many situations. A hero, is someone who steps up to the plate and risks their life to do what god needs for them to do to advance his kingdom. Queen Ester, could have died for what she did. Moses, could have been killed for going against the pharoah of Egypt. The author did not pick the 12 that I would have picked, as Daniel is my favorite prophet, and I would have picked Noah, and Im not sure I could have stopped at 12. Sampson, I thought was a great inclusion in this book. The biggest encouragement that this book offers, is that God can use anyone willing and if you think that you are not good enough you need to think again. God likes making His heroes out of every day people; Jesus, was not born into a rich family and He saved us all so dont let a little thing like being poor stop you when you see an opportunity to do something good for God. The author has written a great work in this book as it encourages the reader to move forward for God. His writing is a tad dry, but very factual and even if you are a daily Bible reader you will still be encouraged. IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS IN A SLUMP: THIS BOOK IS THE GIFT YOU WANT TO GIVE!! If you know someone who is laid up, you would be hard pressed to give them a better gift to occupy their alone time. It is hard bound with a dust jacket, and mine will have a permanent place on my book case!!

How To Find Your One Big Thing !

I received a copy of this book from a friend of mine who asked me to read the book and then tell her if it would help her. Sounds odd, I know, but she doesnt have much time and she knows I love to read. My advise to her was yes, it will help you a lot. It will help 90% of the people who read it. How can you discover what you were meant to do? Ask yourself some key questions: focus on your God given talents. And yes, the wuthor includes those key questions that you should ask yourself. Learn how to focus, that is what this book is all about. Focus, Focus, Focus. Theres your review in a nutshell. Your one big thing might not be one thing but a series of things; but you need to learn to focus and apply what talents you have. If you enjoy Dr.David Jeremiah's work you will enjoy this author. A good companion gift book to go along with this book would be Lucados book, You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be. And also, Dr.Jeremiahs book, What In The World Is Going On, and also his book, Living In A Chaotic World. If you are hunting your fulfillment in life I would recommend those 3 books as a combo. That ought to do the trick for you. For dessert, I reccommend Max Lucados book, A Gentle Thunder.

Confronting Jezebel by S. Sampson

This is a great book. But would have better been named, Sampson confronts Deliah because that is exactly what it is and what it does. What Sampson says is true, but I know a Christian who admits to struggles with the thirst for power and after having gotten to know her I find that to be an honest admission on her part. She says you have to learn how to 'let go and let God' and shes 100% right. And that is what Sampson is trying so round about to say! Let go of the thirst for power and let God control you and your life! The bulk of the book is devoted to discussing what the Jezebel demonic spirit looks like, as in controlling, manipulative etc. The end of the book offers help and its brief; yes because it is a simple fix!!! Pray, ask God to help; let go and let God. Its that simple. The one point that I did not really care for is the way Sampson excuses her behavior; its not her fault---the demonic spirit made her do it. Sampson is still in love with Deliah. Still making excuses for her. I guess we dont know how to love without making excuses for bad decisions because we walk in fear. Shut up and put out - thats my take on life. If you are a Christian then its a 24 - 7 decision and too often we get tired of being Christians so we hunt excuses. We then revert to the devil made us do it. NO NO; we allow the devil to influence us; we let the devil talk us into stuff - its not a forced situation there are armys of Gods Angels walking all around everyone to make sure that we are not forced into anything. I received a free copy of this book from Chosen Books for writing a review.

Help for the Fractured Soul by Candyce Roberts

I received a copy of this book in exchange for writing a review from Chosen Books. If you believe that bought this book a good review then you need to checkout my blog page; I enjoy bashing books as much as praising them. This is a five star book that everyone should keep a copy of in their night stand in the same way we keep bandaids in the kitchen or bathroom drawers. We will run for the peroxide when we get a cut to boil out the grim and reduce the run of infection but we completely ignore the splinters, slivers and shards that cut inot our souls and we do nothing to heal them. We dont ignore a briar when we step on one -- we get the needle and flashlight and pick away until we can press down on the spot and no longer feel that sharp pain...............and that is EXACTLY what this book will do for your soul; teach you how to not ignore the thorns and how to get the problem out instead of letting it fester. Understand that I read on average 40 books a year. 99% non fiction devotional/God help books. This book has a permanent place on my book case, that only happens about 3 times per year the rest I donate because they are usually good but not a book that I just cant live without. This is a real cant live without book. It is written to help us help tramatized people, both young and grown but you will also discover so many ways to improve your own life that it has the experience of reading a three-dimensional book; one of the very few I have ever read that just reaches out to you on every level of impact from social to personal to interpersonal and Divine. The focus as I implied above is to help abuse survivors but what you take away is the knowledge of how to help them and a whole new way to envision putting on that armor of God.

Tough Guys and Drama Queens by Mark Gregston

The book is pretty sound and the author sold me on the fact that he has a lot of experience dealing with youths. What the book basically boils down to is that young people today do not walk by each other on the street and say hey, or knod. They ignore each other and then whip out the technology and text each other or facebook then or tweet it. But they do not talk it. They do not talk, period. Try to get them to talk, find a way to spend time with them to get them to open up. This by no means details the book but it will give you a feel for it. I dont know that I would say the book deals much with theraputic teens, but it seems like a good resource for dealing with your typical, wont openup, you cant relate to me, teenager. The book is paperback, and an easy read. I liked it, it flowed well; I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Its a good investment if you teach or otherwise work with teens or if you would just like to reach out to one whether its yours or someone elses. Time spent looking after a child is never wasted. This book is a good resource.