Searching For God Knows What, By Donald Miller

Searching for God Knows What, by Donald Miller, is a book focused on removing the formulas and the codes that society has put upon God and His word, and instead talks about how to read and listen and follow not using complex formulas, but doing so simply. Miller dives into the first books of Genesis, talking about how the Fall effected us, and questioning what it was really like to live in the times of Adam and Eve, before the Fall.

This book has taken me a while to read, and it has made me think about Adam, Eve, and Creation in a totally different light. By taking away complex formulas that we often think we must use to crack the so called "code" of what the Bible is telling us, this book has helped me to read the Word for what it is... instruction from God. It has put into perspective that Bible stories are not only stories, but real events that happened to real people, whom we have descended from.

Reading Miller's book always brings up new questions, and makes the reader truly think about who God is, and what His purpose is. It is a book that I would recommend to any reader. It is also a book that is easily read more than once, and keeps you coming back after the third read.

Review of Will the World End In 2012? by Raymond C Hundley

The book "Will the World End in 2012?" by Raymond C Hundley is a book that discusses the very popular issue of the world possibly ending in 2012. Hundley researched ten different 'myths/beliefs' about how the world may end in 2012, including the ever-popular Mayan belief. This book talks about what he found in his research, with one chapter dedicated to each of the beliefs the researched.

I believe that this book will intrigue many people, for it covers many different ideas and beliefs about a topic that everybody seems to be thinking about as we draw closer to the year 2012. Although the author is a proclaimed Christian, I believe that he does a very nice job of sticking to the facts. It was also nice that he added a chapter at the end of the book aimed at his christian readers to further help them understand his findings as well as what the Bible says the issue.

This book was overall interesting and opened my eyes to the many different views of how, if, and why the world will end in 2012. I would suggest doing more research on your own, however, after reading the book, for you should always look things up for yourself.

Rick & Bubba's Big Honkin' Book of Grub by Rick Burgess and Bill "Bubba" Bussey

At first glance, I thought this book to be a recipe book. Its not. This book is all about how the authors, hosts of a radio show, feel about dieting. They also talk about their favorite foods, and how or how not to eat said foods. I really found absolutely no point to this book, except to poke fun at 'diets' and/or healthy eating habits. The book was anything but helpful to people in today's society, and it is the perfect book for you if you want a book that has a 'quitting' attitude on eating right. 

As you can probably guess, this book did not get too high of a rating for me. There were two things that I kind of took offense to: The way that it almost seemed to mock healthy eating, and the way it took the Bible SO FAR out of context. The book addressed Scripture many times, but seemed to take it out of context, even changing words from passages at times. The twisted the Word to make it fit their way of thinking about food. I also feel like this book was almost worshipping food. The authors tended to give food a personality, like had feeling and emotion. As someone who has struggled with eating healthy and keeping my body a 'temple' for Christ, this book was not a good one. I really would not recommend this book to ANYBODY that wants encouragement on losing weight, maintaining your weight, or trying to eat healthy. 

Kaleidoscope by Patsy Clairmont

The book Kaleidoscope by Patsy Clairmont is a book made up of many small, devotion-type entries meant to encourage women in their daily lives. Though many things were good within the book, it was not a devotional that I would refer back to or give any advice to anybody from.

While Clairmont uses her life to help women more fully understand the meaning of some of the Proverbs within the Bible, I was often asking myself where the lesson was within the text. It tended to be more of a story about the things that have happened in the author's life rather than a devotional. While I found these stories interesting, and could relate with a few of them, I just felt like I wasn't getting all that I should have been getting from the book -- I wasn't growing from it. I wanted more from the book than it actually gave me.

I really enjoyed the cover of the book, because I love colors and patterns and such, but the book is not one that I would recommend to a friend who was looking for guidance in understanding the book of Proverbs. I found that the stories didn't really fit with the Proverb being explained, and that many of the analogies never seemed to go back to the main point. I give this book a 1 of 5 stars.

Beautiful Things Happen When A Woman Trusts God by Sheila Walsh

Depression. Hospitals. Sadness. Hope. Truth.
These are some words that come to mind when I think about the latest book I have read, "Beautiful Things Happen When A Woman Trusts God" by Sheila Walsh. Many people in today's society struggle with depression on a clinical level, as well as minor bouts of depression. This is a story of a woman's struggle with depression, and how she turned that struggle into something beautiful for God. Walsh is open and honest about the tough things that have occurred in her lifetime. She uses her struggles to take us on a journey through the Bible, highlighting characters' stories that have helped her learn and grow in Christ.

While my first impression of the book was not a very positive one, as I kept reading, I became more and more intrigued. The beginning of the book seemed to drag on, and I wondered if the promise of exploring people of the Bible was really going to be fulfilled before the last page. It was, however, and I found the contents to be very helpful and insightful. I learned to look at characters of the Bible in a different light, and I also learned about characters I had never read about. While I found the book to be a pretty decent read, I would say this about it: For the new Christian woman, reading this will not only expand your knowledge on characters of the Bible, but it may also give you a glimmer of hope as well. For the christian woman who has believed for a while, this book is a good refresher -- It will remind you of some very Godly women of the Bible, remind you of other characters, and help you see them in a way that may be more applicable to your life.

While the book was a bit hard to keep reading at times, and I often wanted to put it down and start a new book, I learned much from finishing it. If you are interested in learning about people of the Bible, I would suggest this book.

Free Book by Brian Tome

The title of the book Free Book by Brian Tome has a very accurate title -- It is all about how to gain spiritual freedom in a world full of stronghold and bondage. Tome is very straight-forward throughout the whole book, not sugar-coating anything about it. He uses many scriptural references, which enhance the overall message of the book. He is also very tasteful in the presentation of his own opinions, making known that it is in fact just his opinion. Brian took a sometimes difficult to understand message about spiritual freedom, and broke it down into sections that were understandable for anyone to read, Christian or not.

While the straight-to-the-point, cold-hard-truth style of the book caught me off guard at first, I started to enjoy it the more I read. The book was challenged my way of thought, the actions I take, and the way I want to live my life. It was comforting to know that while I was reading the painful truth, the author could relate with the pain by sharing a personal story about the subject, and how he made it through. This is definitely a book that I would recommend, especially if you feel that you are in bondage and want to know the steps to freedom that God has waiting for you.

I am giving this book five out of five stars. As I thought about what to rate the book, I simply couldn't think of a reason NOT to give it five stars. Hope you enjoy it as well!

Serve to Love, Love to Serve

The days here in Painesville seem to get increasingly boring as we run out of things to do to get fully and completely moved here. There are still a few things we must do, and we could probably get them all done in one day, but it helps if we don't because it keeps us busy.

Josh and I have started reading through Oswald Chamber's "My Utmost for His Highest" Devotional book (we realized when we were unpacking our books that we both have a copy of it). As I was re-reading January 17th's devotional. It was about service, and how when we have a flourishing and intimate relationship with Christ, service should be the overflow of love and devotion. It was pretty convicting. I want to share a bit that I wrote about it from my personal journal:

"[The devotional says that] there is no specific call to service, but it is the overflow pouring from a life of love and devotion. The part that got me though, was the next line -- it says that service is what we bring to the relationship. Woah. This is some heavy duty stuff. My first though was, ' Well, I guess I better get serving! Gotta get that overflow going and moving to make me love God more'. Then I thought about it some more and realized that I had completely missed the point. Service is what we want to do when our relationship with Christ is blooming and flourishing. It shouldn't be a thing we do to try and make us love God more. Because we love God so much is why we want to serve! Because we love him so much that we are willing to go the next step, or even the next mile, to help and please our Lord God".

I know that I don't feel like serving all of the time, and sometimes when I am serving, my heart is not in this kind of place. I am not thinking about why I am doing it. I want to think about how much I love God while I serve. I want to remember that He is the reason for the action, and He is the reason I am even able to serve. I want to have such a strong. loving, devoted relationship to God that I am willing to serve no matter when or where, no matter what type of service it is.