Grace more than we deserve greater than we imagine by Lucado

Lucado is my favorite author. He is always inspirational and he never disappoints. If you enjoy spending your time with a book that will give you a feeling of hope and capability then i reccommend you pick up any Lucado book. This particular book, emmerses the reader in GRACE. We toss the word around when its not a mere word but it is a WORK of God. Grace is a noun, its something we get and its a verb; its something God does for us. Grace is amazing, not because it is a noun and a verb but because it is a work of God. A gift. But we forget about it. We over look it. We ignore the power that God drops right inot our hands via the Grace He bestows upon us. If you in anyway could use a reminder of that: read this book. Max never disappoints me and i am a fairly harsh critic: and I have come to depend on Max as a source of inspiration. It is good to know what to expect. Expect to be electrified by Max. Max will take you many steps closer to the Light if you will let him. Max has a lot of potential to do even greater works in the future and inspire even more people for the Glory of God. Somewhere out there there is a young Billy Graham just waiting to be ispired who will ignite a whole new generation for God. Specifically, Max uses real life example from real people to show how the Grace of God is powerful and motivating. If you have ever read a Lucado book then you know the format. But I never grow tired of reading his work because he always puts the focus on Gods work. I think Max is Gods Work in motion. I think Grace is a beautiful baby girl, smiling at the world through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. And everyone would benefit from reading this book. I received a free copy of this book through the publisher, Thomas Nelson in exchange for writing a review. If you think that in anyway affected my opinion, you need to check out my other reviews. Go to mary wrightt blogspot.com to find my page, Walking Like Daniel, to read other reviews. They are not all kind, but they are all honest.

Serpent of Moses by Don Hoesel

I review books ofr 7 different publishers. I do not normally review fiction as i do not enjoy fiction. With that in mind, I will be easy on my review. This is not the first book in a series it is second and I would not have read this work if i had realized it was not a stand alone read as i do not like to commit my time to so much fiction. It read different from most fiction. The breath is not consistant. It does not have a steady rythmn. It read like an attempt to write a Mummy Returns novel. The writer chose to take a known fact, God tells us that the staff is no more --the writer decided to pretend that teh staff is still floating around. Thats where the author lost my support: dont play what-if with biblical facts. Babalon Falling, is a good biblical fiction story but this book, Serpent of Moses was not to my liking. If you have a young adult, and you want to get them thinking about the Bible, dont get this book. Buy a good fiction book that backs up the Bible, not one that makes a fact change: I can not get behind that. Yes, the author puts in mystery and archeology and his characters are not flat. But I did not like it. I thought Jack was boring, I thought it was a waste of effort and time. BUT - I also think a lot of people will like the book; I just wont endorse it because i dont like playing what if games with facts. So many things we dont know about; why didnt the author pick one of those topics? The writing style was also not upto par. I had a go back and reread a few pages. Maybe because I did not find it enjoyable. But I thought as I was reading that it was because I do not care for fiction. I gave this book 5 stars because I could see how someone else would enjoy it...I just do not enjoy fiction and I realize that might have been the problem. I received a free copy of this book from bethany House publishers in exchange for my review.

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.