Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Twilight's Last Gleaming

Economic chaos, spiraling immorality, cultural decay, terrorism and global upheaval have convinced many that we are living in the twilight days of America. Widely respected pastor, author and frequent media commentator Dr. Robert Jeffress agrees, but is quick to add a note of hope and challenge in his latest release, Twilight’s Last Gleaming (Worthy Publishing, January 2012). Although we cannot prevent America’s eventual demise, he asserts, we can postpone it . . . and make a difference for eternity at the same time.



Including a foreword by former governor Mike Huckabee, Twilight’s Last Gleaming offers a bold roadmap to guide readers’ attitudes and actions in these volatile times. “But it is not all doom and gloom,” writes Jeffress. “We have an unprecedented opportunity within our current culture to delay our country’s ultimate dissolution so that we can continue to grow the kingdom. Even if America’s best days are behind her, for American Christians, this can and should be our shining moment.”
The remarkable society whose light once shone as a beacon to the world is dimming. This is the sobering assessment of Robert Jeffress in Twilight’s Last Gleaming, yet he brings with that diagnosis a remarkably redemptive and hope-filled prescription for American believers. With biblical insight and real-world clarity, Jeffress answers for everyone who wonders what can be done right now—within our culture, our churches, our voting booths and our neighborhoods—to hold off America’s ensuing demise. He points a way out of the malaise, calling believers to action—not to restore a fading empire’s glory, but to make an eternal impact on millions of souls.


In Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Jeffress also devotes an entire chapter to a pressing issue on many Americans’ minds: Who should I vote for in the coming presidential election? “If Christians place pragmatism above principle, we may or may not win the election, but we will lose our soul,” states Jeffress. However, Jeffress also suggests that a candidate’s faith is just one issue to consider when voting. Jeffress asserts, “There’s some value to having a non-Christian like Mitt Romney who embraces biblical principles, rather than a professing Christian like Barack Obama who embraces unbiblical principles.” He proposes four questions that every believer should ask himself before selecting a candidate:


•Is the candidate a Christian?


•How would a candidate’s faith impact his policies?


•Do his policies align with the Bible?


•How does he view the Constitution?


With a graceful balance between pacifism and extreme activism, Jeffress challenges Christians to be “salt” and “light” in a decaying and darkening culture, standing up against the tide of evil that threatens to engulf America. “We cannot predict God’s ultimate judgment, but we can delay it just like Jonah’s obedience did at Nineveh,” says Jeffress. “But the reason that we’re trying to bide time for our country and prevent its premature decay is not so that we can turn America around, but so that we can preach the Good News.”


Dr. Robert Jeffress, a popular guest commentator on top network news shows, is pastor of the 11,000-member First Baptist Church in Dallas and host of Pathway to Victory, which is heard daily on over 720 radio stations nationwide, including the Salem Radio Network, American Family Radio and Bott Radio Network.

My review:

Given the subject matter, one might think this book is a depressing book, but that is not the case. The author doesn't pull any punches about the spiritual and economical state of our country, and he addresses the problems and issues we are facing as Americans and especially as Christians, but the message of his book is hope. He talks about how we can delay the collapse of our country, and encourages Christians to vote and get involved.

Throughout the book he uses several examples from his own life and others, how even now Christianity is being pushed out and daily we face new challenges to our faith and religious freedoms, and talks about how to deal with those in a Biblical fashion.

The book does have a lot of sobering information and thoughts in it, but the message of hope does shine throughout the book, that even if these are the last days of America, they can be the best.

I don't read as much non-fiction as I should. I admit that. When I do read non-fiction, it usually takes me a few days to a week or so to get through the book. This book was an exception to that. It was so interesting and informative, that I did what I often do with a suspense novel: I read through it in one sitting. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and was left not feeling depressed, but challenged. This book does contain a message of hope, but it is also a wake-up call and challenge.

About the author:
Robert Jeffress (DMin, Southwestern Theological Seminary; ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) is an author and the senior pastor of the 10,000-member First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. His bold, biblical and practical approach to ministry has made him one of the country’s most respected evangelical leaders and earned him a Daniel Award from Vision America. He regularly appears on major mainstream media outlets such as Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, The O’Reilly Factor, Cavuto on Business, ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS’s The Early Show. He also hosts a television program, Pathway to Victory, and teaches a daily sermon series that airs on 1,200 television stations and cable systems throughout the nation and in 28 countries around the world.

Twilight's Last Gleaming is available from Worthy Publishing.

Thanks to B&B Media for the review copy.

Downfall by Terri Blackstock

Emily Covington has turned her life around after a drug addiction, but her family still has trouble trusting her. Though Emily has committed herself to a year-long treatment program and has been sober for almost a year beyond that, even her mother walks on eggshells around her, fearing she’ll relapse. After her behavior during her drug years, Emily realizes she has a lot to prove. When police discover a homemade bomb under Emily’s car, and she then learns the wife of one of her friends was murdered that same morning, she knows things are deadly serious. But who wants Emily dead? And why? A conversation she had with two men, an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and a plan for a double murder all conspire for one explosive ride ... and Emily is the only one who can identify the killer and save the life of the next potential victim. As she frantically works to solve this ever more complicated puzzle, Emily finds herself playing right into the killer’s hands.

My review:

Terri Blackstock has long been a favorite author of mine. She has done some books over the years that are not suspense, and those are OK, but in my opinion, she really shines when she does suspense, as this book is.

This is the third, and I assume final, book in a series. All three are suspense novels, and all three revolve around the drug scene and one family dealing with a family member being addicted to drugs and going through rehabilitation.

To me, Downfall is the best and most suspenseful of all three books. I sat down a few evenings ago with plans to read a few chapters and then go on to play some games on my Kindle Fire. So much for that plan. Once I started the book, I could not put it down. I had the time, so I read through the entire book in one sitting. I really liked the characters in this series, and there was even more development of the characters in this book.

As enjoyable and suspenseful as this book and the two that precede it are, Terri also does a great job of portraying the effects of drugs on not just the addict, but the addict's family, and of the struggle to get clean and stay clean. I recommend this series very highly. All three books are great reading.

About the author:

Terri Blackstock (http://www.terriblackstock.com/) has sold over six million books worldwide and is a New York Times bestselling author. She is the award-winning author of Intervention and Vicious Cycle, as well as such series as Cape Refuge, Newpointe 911, the SunCoast Chronicles, and the Restoration Series.





Downfall is available from Zondervan Publishing.

Thanks to Andrea at Shelton Interactive for the review copy.







Ruby Dawn by Raquel Byrnes



This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Ruby Dawn
White Rose Publishing (January 27, 2012)
by
Raquel Byrnes




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Raquel married her college sweetheart seventeen years ago and you can still find them spending time together chatting over a cup of coffee like when they were first dating.



Her husband is her biggest fan and most ardent supporter. He encourages her to take time for writing as often as he can. He regularly gives her gift cards to her favorite coffee house so that she can go there to write and relax.



He has been known to whip up his famous chicken quesadillas complete with guacamole and brownies for dessert.



Raquel has written books for more than a decade. She loves to do research and has taken private detective courses, gun classes, and underground tours to get every detail right for her novels. She writes romantic suspense with an edge-of-your-seat pace. Stories filled with faith, love, and adventure.



In 2009 she signed with agent, Terry Burns, at Hartline Literary. Terry worked to get her Shades of Hope series sold and in 2010, White Rose Publishing purchased the three-book series.





ABOUT THE BOOK



A painful past. A love returns A desperate plan.

Former street kid, Ruby now reaches out to runaways through her medical clinic in the worst part of the city, but her escalating battle with a gang leader puts that in jeopardy.



Cavalier, a risk-taker, charming… Ruby’s first love is now on the right side of the law and the center of a dangerous DEA sting involving her clinic. Tom’s disappearance ten years ago broke her heart and rattled her faith. As their romance relights, memories of what it costs to love him flood her with fear.



Ruby’s battle with the gang ignites a firestorm of danger, and a pattern of lies from within her own camp emerges. With Tom’s life in the balance and her world cast in shadows, can Ruby trust God as she once did…or has she strayed too far, for too long to ever return?



Watch the book video:







If you would like to read the first chapter of Ruby Dawn, go HERE.

My review:
This book was definitely a read-in-one sitting book. I thought it sounded good, and it was better than good. Romance and a whole lot of suspense combined made this an awesome read. I already have plans to get the author's previous book. This is a must read for lovers of Christian suspense.

Sweethaven Summer by Courtney Walsh


This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
A Sweethaven Summer
Guidepost Books (February 7, 2012)
by
Courtney Walsh




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:





Courtney Walsh is a published author, scrapbooker, theater director, and playwright. Her debut novel, A Sweethaven Summer, will be followed by two additional novels in the series. She’s also written two papercrafting books, Scrapbooking Your Faith and The Busy Scrapper. Courtney has been a contributing editor for Memory Makers Magazine and Children’s Ministry Magazine and is a frequent contributor to Group Publishing curriculum. She works as the PR Manager for Webster’s Pages from her home in Colorado, where she lives with her husband and three kids, who range in age from 4 to 10. Courtney drinks entirely too much coffee.







ABOUT THE BOOK



Suzanne's daughter, Campbell, journeys there in search of answers to her questions about her mother's history.Suzanne's three friends-Lila, Jane, and Meghan-were torn apart by long-buried secrets and heartbreak. Though they haven't spoken in years, each has pieces of a scrapbook they made together in Sweethaven. Suzanne's letters have lured them all back to the idyllic lakeside town, where they meet Campbell and begin to remember what was so special about their long Sweethaven summers. As the scrapbook reveals secrets one by one, old wounds are mended, lives are changed,

and friendships are restored-just as Suzanne intended.



If you would like to read the first chapter of A Sweethaven Summer, go HERE.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Not In the Heart by Chris Fabry

Truman Wiley used to report news stories from around the world, but now the most troubling headlines are his own. He’s out of work, out of touch with his family, out of his home. But nothing dogs him more than his son’s failing heart.



With mounting hospital bills and Truman’s penchant for gambling his savings, the situation seems hopeless . . . until his estranged wife throws him a lifeline—the chance to write the story of a death row inmate, a man convicted of murder who wants to donate his heart to Truman’s son.


As the execution clock ticks down, Truman uncovers disturbing evidence that points to a different killer. For his son to live, must an innocent man die? Truman’s investigation draws him down a path that will change his life, his family, and the destinies of two men forever.

My review:
It took me a while to like the main character in this book. Put simply, he is a jerk. Gambling addict, absent father and husband, and he hasn't even been to visit his son in the hospital. Over the course of the book, I came to like and appreciate him in spite of his many faults.

This is a very moving book, with a little bit of suspense thrown in. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down, and got totally caught up in the story. I haven't read much written by Fabry, but this book was top-notch. The story is gritty, showing the depths of the emotions of the characters, and had a terrific plot: a man on death row, wanting to give his heart to a teenage boy who desperately needs a new heart. The boy's father is writing the inmate's story, but finds evidence that could mean his innocence. But the inmate's innocence means no new heart for the boy who so desperately needs one.

I wondered from the beginning of the book how the author would solve that dilemma. Would the boy just die, needing a new heart that he never got because of his father's great investigative prowess? Would the father keep the evidence to himself and let an innocent man die, so his own son would live?

One thing the author did do, was pull me into the story, and I did read it in one day from the beginning to the very bittersweet and surprising ending. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and highly recommend it.

About the author:
Chris Fabry is an award-winning author and radio personality who hosts the daily program Chris Fabry Live! on Moody Radio. He is also heard on Love Worth Finding, Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman, and other radio programs. A 1982 graduate of the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism at Marshall University and a native of West Virginia, Chris and his wife, Andrea, now live in Arizona and are the parents of nine children.


Chris's novels, which include Dogwood, June Bug, Almost Heaven, and Not in the Heart, have won two Christy Awards and an ECPA Christian Book Award, but it's his lyrical prose and tales of redemption that keep readers returning for more. He has also published more than 65 other books, including nonfiction and novels for children and young adults. He coauthored the Left Behind: The Kids series with Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye, as well as the Red Rock Mysteries and the Wormling series with Jerry B. Jenkins. RPM is his latest series for kids and explores the exciting world of NASCAR. Visit his Web site at http://www.chrisfabry.com/.


Not In The Heart is available from Tyndale Publishing.

Thanks to B&B Media for the review copy.


Friday, February 24, 2012

Creative Slow-Cooker Meals by Cheryl Moeller

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!




You never know when I might play a wild card on you!








Today's Wild Card author is:




and the book:


Harvest House Publishers; Spi edition (February 1, 2012)

***Special thanks to Karri James, Marketing Assistant, Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Cheryl Moeller is a seasoned mother and a standup comic. She is also a syndicated columnist with her own blog (http://www.momlaughs.blogspot.com/) and contributes monthly to several online parent websites. Cheryl has coauthored two books on marriage with her husband and has written for http://www.mops.org/ and Marriage Partnership. Cheryl does comedy for parenting classes, MOPS groups, wedding or baby showers, church retreats, women’s conferences, and those in line at the grocery store.



Visit the author's website.







SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:








From the celebrated coauthor of The Marriage Miracle comes a new kind of cookbook and a new attitude toward planning meals. With an eye toward the whole menu, not just part of it, columnist Cheryl Moeller teaches cooks to use two crockpots to easily create healthy, homemade dinners.



Don’t worry about your dinner being reduced to a mushy stew. Each of the more than 200 recipes has been taste-tested at Cheryl’s table. Join the Moeller family as you dig into:

  • Harvest-time Halibut Chowder
  • Salmon and Gingered Carrots
  • Mediterranean Rice Pilaf
  • Indian Chicken Curry
  • Apricot-Pistachio Bread
  • Shrimp Creole
  • Rhubarb Crisp


... and many more! Perfect for the frazzled mom who never has enough time in the day, Creative Slow-Cooker Meals gives readers more time around the table with delicious, healthy, frugal, and easy meals!


Product Details:

List Price: $14.99

Spiral-bound: 272 pages

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers; Spi edition (February 1, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0736944915

ISBN-13: 978-0736944915






AND NOW...THE FIFTH CHAPTER (click on pages to enlarge):


























My review:
Yeah, I'm a guy reviewing a cook book, but guys can cook too! I can cook, and often use a slow-cooker, so I was interested in this book.  And yes, I have made a few things from it to try it out. :-)

The book is spiral-bound, making it very easy to use since it easily stays open to the desired page. There are 10 chapters/sections:

1) Take the "fast" out of breakfast
2) Shopping local, cooking fresh
3) Passport to the nations
4) For the kitchen with the revolving door
5) Simple meals: making life a little easier
6) Bulk bargains, brilliant meals
7) Parties, barbecues, and gatherings
8) Vegetarian and vegan
9) Without the cow: Dairy free
10) Gluten-free cuisine

Each chapter begins with a list of each item in that chapter with the page number it is on.

There is also a thorough index by types of foods, and there are things to make in the slow-cooker I never associated with a slow-cooker: Beverages, breads, dips, and also foods you more accosicate with slow-cookers like soups and stews.

The directions are concise and easy to follow, and there is a wide variety of foods to make in a slow-cooker. This book is for people who are serious about using their slow-cookers.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Frantic by Mike Dellosso. FIRST Blog tour

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!




You never know when I might play a wild card on you!








Today's Wild Card author is:




and the book:


Realms (February 7, 2012)

***Special thanks to Jon Wooten of Charisma House for sending me a review copy.***




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:




Mike Dellosso is the author of numerous novels of suspense, including Darkness Follows, Darlington Woods, and Scream. He is an adjunct professor of writing at Lancaster Bible College and frequent contributor to Christian websites and newsletters. Mike is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers association, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, the Relief Writer’s Network, and FaithWriters, and he plans to join International Thriller Writers. He earned his BA degree from Messiah College and his MBS from Master’s International School of Divinity. He lives in Hanover, PA, with his wife and daughters. Hometown: Hanover, PA





Visit the author's website.




SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:






Gas station attendant Marny Toogood thinks it’s just another ordinary day on the job until an urgent message from a young girl in the backseat of a car draws him into a daring rescue attempt. Now he is on the run with Esther and William Rose from their insane “uncle” who thinks it is his mission from God to protect William, a boy with incredible faith that gives him supernatural powers.



As they face kidnapping, underground cults, and other evils, can Marny trust the simple faith of a child and stand his ground against a power so twisted?





Product Details:

List Price: $13.99



Paperback: 304 pages

Publisher: Realms (February 7, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1616384808

ISBN-13: 978-1616384807





AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:






    The night Marny Toogood was born it rained axheads and hammer handles.
His grandfather made a prediction, said it was an omen of some sort, that it meant Marny’s life would be stormy, full of rain clouds and lightning strikes. Wanting to prove her father wrong, Janie Toogood named her son Marnin, which means “one who brings joy,” instead of the Mitchell she and her husband had agreed on.
But in spite of Janie’s good intentions, and regardless of what his birth certificate said, Marny’s grandfather was right.
At the exact time Marny was delivered into this world and his grandfather was portending a dark future, Marny’s father was en route to the hospital from his job at Winden’s Furniture Factory where he was stuck working the graveyard shift. He’d gotten the phone call that Janie was in labor, dropped his hammer, and run out of the plant. Fifteen minutes from the hospital his pickup hit standing water, hydroplaned, and tumbled down a steep embank- ment, landing in a stand of eastern white pines. The coroner said he experienced a quick death; he did not suffer.
One week after Marny’s birth his grandfather died of a heart attack. He didn’t suffer either.
Twenty-six years and a couple of lifetimes of hurt later, Marny found himself working at Condon’s Gas ’n Go and living above the garage in a small studio apartment George Condon rented to
1




    Mike Dellosso
him for two hundred bucks a month. It was nothing special, but it was a place to lay his head at night and dream about the dark cloud that stalked him.
But his mother had told him every day until the moment she died that behind every rain cloud is the sun, just waiting to shine its light and dry the earth’s tears.
Marny held on to that promise and thought about it every night before he succumbed to sleep and entered a world that was as unfriendly and frightening as any fairy tale forest, the place of his dreams, the only place more dark and foreboding than his life.
On the day reality collided with the world of Marny’s night- mares, it was hotter than blazes, strange for a June day in Maine. The sun sat high in the sky, and waves of heat rolled over the asphalt lot at the Gas ’n Go. The weather kept everyone indoors, which meant business was slow for a Saturday. Marny sat in the garage bay waiting for Mr. Condon to take his turn in checkers and wiped the sweat from his brow.
    Man, it’s hot.”
    Mr. Condon didn’t look up from the checkerboard. “Ayuh.
Wicked hot. Newsman said it could hit ninety.”
    “So it’ll probably get up to ninety-five.”
    Mr. Condon rubbed at his white stubble. “Ayuh.”
He was sixty-two and looked it. His leather-tough skin was

creased with deep wrinkles. Lots of smile lines. Marny had worked
for him for two years but had known the old mechanic his whole
life.
    Mr. Condon made his move then squinted at Marny. Behind
him Ed Ricker’s Dodge truck rested on the lift. The transmis-
sion had blown, and Mr. Condon should have been working
on it instead of playing checkers. But old Condon kept his own
schedule. His customers never complained. George Condon was
the best, and cheapest, mechanic around. He’d been getting cars
and trucks through one more Maine winter for forty years.
    Marny studied the checkerboard, feeling the weight of Mr.
Condon’s dark eyes on him, and was about to make his move
    2


Fr antic
when the bell chimed, signaling someone had pulled up to the pump island. Condon’s was the only full-service station left in the Down East, maybe in the whole state of Maine.
Despite the heat, Mr. Condon didn’t have one droplet of sweat on his face. “Cah’s waitin’, son.”
Marny glanced outside at the tendrils of heat wriggling above the lot, then at the checkerboard. “No cheating.”
    His opponent winked. “No promises.”
    Pushing back his chair, Marny stood and wiped more sweat
from his brow, then headed outside.
    The car at the pump was a 1990s model Ford Taurus, faded blue
with a few rust spots around the wheel wells. The windows were
rolled down, which probably meant the air-conditioning had quit
working. This was normally not a big deal in Maine, but on a rare
day like this, the driver had to be longing for cool air.
    Marny had never seen the vehicle before. The driver was a large
man, thick and broad. He had close-cropped hair and a smooth,
round face. Marny had never seen him before either.
    He approached the car and did his best to be friendly. “Mornin’.
Hot one, isn’t it?”
    The driver neither smiled nor looked at him. “Fill it up. Regular.”
    Marny headed to the rear of the car and noticed a girl in the
backseat. A woman, really, looked to be in her early twenties. She
sat with her hands in her lap, head slightly bowed. As he passed
the rear window she glanced at him, and there was something in
her eyes that spoke of sorrow and doom. Marny recognized the
look because he saw it in his own eyes every night in the mirror.
He smiled, but she quickly diverted her gaze.
    As he pumped the gas, Marny watched the girl, studied the
back of her head. She was attractive in a plain way, a natural pret-
tiness that didn’t need any help from cosmetics. Her hair was rich
brown and hung loosely around her shoulders. But it was her eyes
that had captivated him. They were as blue as the summer sky, but
so sad and empty. Marny wondered what the story was between
the man and girl. He was certainly old enough to be her father. He
3




    Mike Dellosso
looked stern and callous, maybe even cruel. Marny felt for her, for her unhappiness, her life.
He caught the man watching him in the side mirror and looked at the pump’s gauge. A second later the nozzle clicked off, and he returned it to the pump. He walked back to the driver’s window. “That’ll be forty-two.”
While the man fished around in his back pocket for his wallet, Marny glanced at the girl again, but she kept her eyes down on her hands.
You folks local?” Marny said, trying to get the man to open up a little.
    The driver handed Marny three twenties but said nothing. Marny counted off eighteen dollars in change. “You new in the
area? I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. Lately, seems more people have been moving out than in.”
Still nothing. The man took the money and started the car. Before pulling out he nodded at Marny. There was something in the way he moved his head, the way his eyes sat in their sockets, the way his forehead wrinkled ever so slightly, that made Marny shiver despite the heat.
The car rolled away from the pump, asphalt sticking to the tires, and exited the lot. Marny watched until it was nearly out of sight, then turned to head back to the garage and Mr. Condon and the game of checkers. But a crumpled piece of paper on the ground where the Taurus had been parked caught his attention. He picked it up and unfurled it. Written in all capital letters was a message:
    HE’S GOING TO KILL ME
    4

I reviewed this book already, but am posting this to give Mike some more publicity

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Exceptional Life by Stephen Arterburn

You know you want more from life.



Popular author, speaker, and talk radio host Stephen Arterburn identifies eight roadblocks to living the life you've always wanted, including guilt and shame, resentment, fear, anger, or isolation. Candidly sharing his own story of setbacks, mistakes, and disappointments--and ultimately how he overcame them--he helps you identify the things that are holding you back. With wisdom and insight, Arterburn also provides easy-to-follow steps that will help you tear down the negative barriers in your life, resulting in a life of hope, love, trust, forgiveness, connection, and so much more.


Here's your opportunity to have the fulfilling, exceptional life you've always wanted.

My review:
Stephen Arterburn is one of those authors who, when you see a book authored by him, you know it is worth reading. Such is the case with this book. Some Christians may tend to shy away from books that sound like self-help, and this book may sound like a self-help book, and in some ways it is. Though the end result is God helping, anyone dealing with the issues in the book needs to take the steps themselves to get help.

There are eight steps Stephen describes that we need to do to have an exceptional life. They are:

1) Give up guilt and shame,  Get back hope.
2) Give up resentment, Get back love
3) Give Up fear, get back trust
4) Give up anger, get back forgiveness
5) Give up instant gratification, get back patience
6) Give up learned helplessness, get back power
7) Give up isolation, get back connection and community
8) Give up addiction, get back freedom

Each chapter breaks down into:
1) what needs to be given up
2) why it needs to be given up
3) how to go about giving it up
4) what you'll gain from God in giving it up
5) what you'll be able to do and be once you've given it up

Also included are discussion questions at the end of each chapter.

This book is easy to read, yet deals very well with some issues that hold too many Christians back and bound. The author gives illustrations throughout the book of people who dealt with the issues being discussed and how they did or did not overcome them. I admit to needing this book, and found it not just interesting, but helpful and full of hope. I'd recommend it to anyone who may be struggling in one of the mentioned areas.

About the author:

Stephen Arterburn is founder and chairman of New Life Ministries and host of the nationally syndicated New Life Live! daily radio broadcast. A nationally known speaker, he's been featured on Oprah, USA Today, US News & World Report, the New York Times and many other media outlets. Steve founded the Women of Faith conferences and is a bestselling author of more than 70 books including the multi-million selling EVERY MAN'S BATTLE series. Steve and his family live in Fishers, Indiana.


The Exceptional Life is available from Bethany House Publishing.

Thanks to Bethany House for the review copy.

A Darkly Hidden Truth by Donna Fletcher Crow

Felicity Howard, a young American studying for the Anglican priesthood at the College of the Transfiguration in Yorkshire, has to learn more about church history if she and Father Antony are going to unravel their second mystery. Past and present mix as the words of Julian of Norwich and the arcane rights of the Knights of St. John of Malta lead to a present-day killer. And as the friendship grows between Antony and Felicity, will Felicity choose a life dedicated to God as a nun or one with Antony?


My review:

   This book seemed to start off slowly, and I had a little bit of a hard time getting into it at first, but then it picked up and I got into the story. This is a sequel to A Very Private Grave, and is #2 in the Monastery Murders. I read and reviewed the first book, and it was great to get reacquainted with some of the same characters from the first book, especially Felicity and Anthony.

In addition to writing a great mystery, the author also does a great job of setting the scene in the monastery setting. I don't know much about monasteries and the life of monks and nuns, and disagree a lot theologically with those who practice that religion, but I still find it interesting to read about what goes on in such a setting, especially during Holy Week.  The amount of services is rather daunting (52 in one week, if I remember correctly).

I like it when an author spends some time on character development, and though much of that was done with the main characters in the first book, there is still more of that in this book. I liked the characters, especially the main two, who seem to get involved in solving murders whether they want to or not.

Although this wasn't as fast of a moving suspense novel as I usually read, I still enjoyed it and look forward to reading more in the series.

About the author:

Donna Fletcher Crow is author of more than thirty-five novels. She has twice won first place in the Historical Fiction category from the National Association of Press Women, and has also been a finalist for "Best Inspirational Novel" from the Romance Writers of America. She is a member of The Arts Centre Group, and Sisters in Crime. Check out her website at www.donnafletchercrow.com.

A Darkly Hidden Truth is available from Kregel Publishing.

Thanks to Kregel for the review copy.

Into the Free by Julie Cantrell


This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Into the Free
David C. Cook (February 1, 2012)
by
Julie Cantrell




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



A speech-language pathologist and literacy advocate, Julie Cantrell was the editor-in-chief of the Southern Literary Review and currently teaches English as a second language to elementary students. She has been a freelance writer for ten years and has published two children’s books. Julie and her family live in Mississippi where they operate Valley House Farm.



Julie served as contributing editor to MOMSense magazine and wrote content for Mothers of Preschoolers, Intl. for nearly a decade. Additionally, she has contributed to more than a dozen books. Into Th Free is her first book.



ABOUT THE BOOK



Just a girl. The only one strong enough to break the cycle.



In Depression-era Mississippi, Millie Reynolds longs to escape the madness that marks her world. With an abusive father and a “nothing mama,” she struggles to find a place where she really belongs.



For answers, Millie turns to the Gypsies who caravan through town each spring. The travelers lead Millie to a key which unlocks generations of shocking family secrets. When tragedy strikes, the mysterious contents of the box give Millie the tools she needs to break her family’s longstanding cycle of madness and abuse.



Through it all, Millie experiences the thrill of first love while fighting to trust the God she believes has abandoned her. With the power of forgiveness, can Millie finally make her way into the free?



Watch the book video:







If you would like to read the first chapter of Into the Free, go HERE.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Six Ways to Keep the Good In Your Boy by Dannah Gresh

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!




You never know when I might play a wild card on you!








Today's Wild Card author is:




and the book:


Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2012)

***Special thanks to Karri James, Marketing Assistant, Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:






Dannah Gresh is a bestselling author, a speaker, and the creator of the Secret Keeper Girl live events. Her books include Six Ways to Keep the “Little” in Your Girl, 8 Great Dates for Moms and Daughters, And the Bride Wore White, and Lies Young Women Believe (coauthored with Nancy Leigh DeMoss). She and her husband have a son and two daughters and live in Pennsylvania.





Visit the author's website.




SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:


Bestselling author Dannah Gresh empowers moms of with six proactive ways to raise sons age 8-12 to be honest, confident, and respectful. This encouraging, practical resource shows how the formative years can shape a godly, healthy teen and adult. Includes engaging activity ideas, and Scriptures to pray over sons.




Product Details:

List Price: $13.99



Paperback: 208 pages

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (February 1, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0736945792

ISBN-13: 978-0736945790






AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:






Is There a Mouse in
That Cookie Box?


A box of cookies and a dead mouse.
The combination conjures up one of the proudest memories of mothering my wonderful son, Robby. (If you meet him, you can call him Rob. But I can’t. He’s still my Robby even if he’s the size of a linebacker.) He was a freshman at Grace Prep high school and was just returning from a school-assigned Random Act of Kindness when these two mismatched objects—mouse and cookies—mingled together to create an equally odd mixture of emotions.
Just hours earlier, armed with nothing more than a few boxes of cookies and several rakes, he and a few friends had set out to do some good. They’d come back a little flustered, but laughing their experience off like four cool 15-year-old boys should.
“We just got yelled at,” said Robby, wearing the words like a badge of courage.
“By whom?” I asked.
“Some crazy woman who thought there must be a mouse in the cookies we were trying to give her,” he answered defensively.
“What!” I was just a little aggravated, having been the one who had issued the assignment. How could anyone react with anger and suspicion (particularly in our small, friendly town) to a box of cookies and an offer to do yard work? Surely they must have misunderstood. “Tell me what happened. Play-by-play,” I said.
“Well, we knocked on the lady’s door to give her the cookies and ask permission to rake her leaves,” Robby answered. “When we tried to hand her the cookies she looked afraid and angrily said, ‘Is there a dead mouse in that box?’   ”
The other boys snickered. I could see that they thought it was funny, but that it also bothered them.
I was having a hard time believing it.
“We promised there wasn’t a mouse in there, but she just couldn’t believe we were there to do anything good. So one of the guys said, ‘Look, we just want to show you God’s love in a practical way.’   ”
This made me smile. It was what they’d been taught. “Transfer the credit of this good act to God,” I’d said in class.
“What’d she say when you said that?” I asked.
“She grabbed the cookies, said, ‘Rake if you want to,’ and slammed the door in our faces!” said Robby. “So, we raked.”
I could tell that the guys were still a bit shaken, and I was a bit angry that they hadn’t been met with the reward of a simple “thank you.”
A few weeks later, God brought the whole thing full circle with a letter that came in the mail. One of the members of Robby’s group got to read it out loud in chapel. I wish I still had it. It went something like this:
Dear Grace Prep:
Recently some boys from your school came here to deliver cookies to my daughter and me. They also raked our leaves. I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t trust them. I am sorry. (For the record, they were really yummy cookies.)
I think God sent those boys here.
You see, my husband—my daughter’s father—died recently and it has been tough. Just that morning my daughter and I kind of put a test out there for God. We prayed, saying, “If you’re really there and you really see us, show up!”
When he did, we didn’t recognize him right away. But I have no doubt that God sent those high-school boys to remind us that he sees us.
Thank you.
You could have heard a pin drop in that room of high-school kids when the letter was read. We were all simply struck with the power of goodness.
But here’s why this wonderful memory not only floods my heart with pride, but also makes me sad: We’ve lost our faith in the goodness of boys and men. And not wholly without reason.
Where Have All the Good Men Gone?

A title of a recent Wall Street Journal article inquired, “Where Have the Good Men Gone?” A current Amazon bestseller seeks to answer the question, Is There Anything Good About Men? Since the 2004 coining of the word “adultescent,”  1 we’ve had something to call the young adult male who is so busy playing Call of Duty on his PlayStation 4 that he has no real-life call of duty. No honor. No integrity. No goodness. Just a seventh-grade mind-set and responsibility level trapped in the flabby body of an adult who often still lives at home or in a tacky bachelor pad with other adultescents. The phenomenon is what caused Kay S. Hymowitz to pen the book Manning Up, in which she writes,
Not so long ago, average mid-twentysomethings, both male and female, had achieved most of the milestones of adulthood: high school diploma, financial independence, marriage, and children. These days [the males] hang out in a novel sort of limbo, a hybrid state of semi-hormonal adolescence and responsible self-reliance.  2
High-school English teacher Joe Carmichiel has written a book entitled Permanent Adolescence: Why Boys Don’t Grow Up, because “a large number of today’s teenagers, especially boys, see no reason to accept or pursue adulthood since it is of so little value to the larger culture.”  3 So, with no motivation todo anything, many of these young men remain in a state of wimpy complacency well into their twenties, even thirties.
Along with this state of immaturity that many boys will embrace as they grow older is a culturally acceptable pressure for boys to be bad—both complacent and void of character. By the time a boy is finished with high school, he is likely to have three crucial areas of character ripped right out of him:
  1. Over 50 percent of young men will have become sexually active in a casual-sex culture where they’re likely to have an average of 9.7 sexual partners before they graduate from college.  4 (There goes his purity.)
  2. Most of them will be exposed to porn as a tween or early teen, with the median age of first exposure being about 11. This catapults many of them into a world of double-mindedness where they are one boy at home and in public—and another entirely in their private world. (There goes his integrity.)
  3. Many will have succumbed to an emasculated version of manhood that strips them of their drive to be leaders and protectors who do good. (There goes his honor.)

Our boys need to be taught to grow up.
And to be good.


While Six Ways to Keep the “Little” in Your Girl    cried
out for us to band together against the culture’s pressure for our little girls to grow up too fast, this book pleads with you to join us in raising sons who are prepared to embrace the responsibility of growing up.
It’s been our goal to create a character base for our son to be a man of integrity, honor, and purity. Bob and I want him to be good. Fortunately, our life work led me into the depths of research, and I learned that we had to start building a foundation for our son to rise to the call of manhood…when he was still just our “good boy”! Raising a son to reflect your value system when he is a man is—in part—a matter of introducing those values to him in an age-appropriate manner when he is a tween. Social science offers us statistical lines of footprints showing how a boy will turn out based on what he is exposed to and when. Sadly, our boys have got a tough battle ahead. It’s been a long time since they’ve seen anything but “adultescent” or “bad” examples of manhood dominating our culture.
Why Are Boys “Bad”?

Robert Coles, a pioneer in the field of moral intelligence, brings clarity to the definition badness when he writes,
Bad boys display a “heightened destructive self-absorption, in all its melancholy stages.” In essence, we go bad when “we lose sight of our obligation to others.”  5
Badness is not simply the loss of innocence, purity, integrity, and honor, but also the loss of vision to see the needs of others and to act on them. It’s a complacent, self-absorbed lifestyle that is void of character.
I think we have a bad-boy mentality in our culture for two primary reasons.
The first reason boys become bad is that the feminist movement has told us they are bad. Michael Gurian, author of The Wonder of Boys, though seeming to embrace the feminist movement as a whole, points out a few devastating myths it introduced to convince our boys that they are “bad.” Here are two that resonate with me:
Myth Number One: “that masculinity is responsible for the world’s ills and femininity is the world’s salvation.”  6
Myth Number Two: “males destroy, females create; males stand in the way of positive spiritual/social values; males are inherently violent.”  7
While a deeper study of the feminist movement would betray an agenda to introduce these fallacies, we don’t have to get that academic to see how much we are influenced to believe these myths in our politically correct culture.
Just consider how prevalently they are portrayed in the media. Television alone reinforces them. Two and a Half Men, “the biggest hit comedy of the past decade” according to the New York Times, features a hedonist formerly played by Charlie Sheen. After eight seasons, the show was stalled when Sheen went into rehab for drug use. He was then fired for making disparaging remarks about the show’s producers. On and off screen he was self-absorbed and void of character. Other shows display the contrast of the valuable female to the valueless male. Reruns of The Simpsons portray Lisa as bright and beautiful and Bart as out of shape and selfish. Co-ed television commercials often portray the guy as a doofus and the girl as smart. It’s funny. It really is. But how much of it can we expose ourselves to before we believe it? And that takes me to my next concern.
The second reason boys are “bad” is that they have become what has been expected of them, just like any individual tends to fulfill what has been prophesied about them. Of course, they’ve had help from their parents (or lack thereof), their culture (and its emasculation), their economy (and its consumeristic “me” mentality), and their churches (who haven’t done much to stand against the feminist untruths). But today’s men as a whole have pretty much rolled over and taken it.
It’s probably a good idea for me, Bob, to step in here. I’m a guy. If anyone’s going to throw us under the bus, it should be me. It has always befuddled me that the prettiest, nicest girls are always attracted to the bad boys. From the jock who bullies everyone at school to the kid in a leather jacket who doles out drugs after school, nice girls often go after the bad boys. In the Twilight series, bad boy Edward Cullen makes good girl Bella Swan swoon. In real life, the stars live out the scenario. Kevin Federline was the top bad boy of the tabloids when he nabbed the most famous girl on the planet at the height of her career, Britney Spears. Katy Perry, former Christian music artist gone sexual tease, pledged herself to bad boy Russell Brand.
I think that the constant drip of these scenarios into our spirits makes us want to be bad boys. Let’s be real: A guy desires a beautiful girl, and while the ones in the headlines might not be all that chaste, they’re often portrayed as the good girl taken by the bad boy. And guess what? Guys want nice girls. So, we begin to believe that maybe we’re supposed to be bad.
And if we’re not, we’re boring.
Come on. The media glorifies the bad boys—from Grease’s Danny Zuko to Pirates of the Caribbean’s Captain Jack Sparrow—not the plain-vanilla good guys. I didn’t watch this show, but Dannah says Gilmore Girls played to this big time when Rory fell for beautiful boy Dean until bad boy Jess came to town. The bad boy is so often the one the girl wants and celebrates.
Conversely, there aren’t a lot of movies being made about Billy Graham, the kid who called 9-1-1 and delivered his mom’s baby, or the apostle Paul. These are true heroes…but they’re good. And good is boring, according to movie producers. Since no one rises up to celebrate the good, most guys—though innately built to be conquerors—roll over and become boring.
In some twisted place in our minds, we’d much rather be bad than boring because that’s how you get the girl. But many of us are afraid of being the real bad boy. So we just get complacent. We roll over and stay in some limbo—a state of in-between. Not really bad. Not really good. Or so we think.
In reality, this complacency is the absolute root of badness.
The Tree

Complacency was at the root of the first bad move among men. (Yes—the bad move of all time.) Adam had the most complacent moment of all when he stood at the foot of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was Eve who wore the pants in the first family during this catastrophic moment. She took the lead and reached for the fruit of the Tree. Adam just got all quiet, passive and…well, boring. The Scriptures don’t note that he was deceived, tempted, or lied to like Eve. Just that he went along with it.
Some theologians believe that there was something in the way that Eve was crafted which made her more vulnerable to deception. (Just consider how often we women are prone to think things like “I’m fat!” Haven’t seen too many guys obsessing over that thought. Or maybe you’ve been prone to believe the lie “No one really likes me.” Men don’t struggle with that as often or as easily. Women are just prone to believing lies.) However, many believe that Satan approached Eve because he was attempting to throw over the created order by getting her to take leadership over her husband. And Adam seemed to passively accept this evil situation to gratify his flesh. Sounds a bit too much like many men of today.
Complacency led to the first sin. (Perhaps, had Adam chosen to speak truth to Eve, he could have led her away from that horrible original sin.) His failure to lead changed the course of history. We believe that the same kind of complacency that showed itself at the foot of the Tree still leads men to badness.
Goodness vs. Badness

While a bad boy’s greatest desire is to live according to his desires, a good boy, according to Robert Coles, has an outward focus:
Good…boys…have learned to take seriously the very notion, the desirability of goodness—living up to the Golden Rule.  8
The Greek word for goodness (used in our take-to-heart verse, Romans 12:21) appears in the New Testament in three forms, all of which are rooted in the Hebrew word tod, which means “usefulness” or “beneficialness.” Are we bringing up boys who understand their call of duty to be useful contributors to society, to be beneficial to others?
Goodness is the quality that makes us put others ahead of ourselves. It’s the moral compass that keeps the world safe, happy, and working. It’s the drive that makes us want to function in families rather than isolation. It’s the internal road sign that takes us away from our own desires and toward the destiny of meeting the needs of others. Without it, we are “bad.” That’s probably why all of us—male and female—are called to goodness.
Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21
God is good
The ultimate reason we must raise our boys to be good is that it reflects the character of God. His goodness is a bedrock truth of Scripture and is inseparable from his nature. If we are to be a picture of him, we must possess goodness. He is good not only in a general sense, but he is good to us and forus. This element of his character expresses his selflessness and desire to exist on behalf of others. When people are good, they act toward and for others, as opposed to losing sight of others as their own needs and desires consume them.


My review:
This book is geared for moms, which I am obviously not, though there is some of the book geared for fathers, which I am not either. However, I thought this looked like a great book to review to get some publicity for it.

I was impressed with what I read. The author has some great ideas, a lot of what she gained as the mother of a son, and the ideas are very practical. Too many boys, even in Christian homes, are growing up to be bad, and/ or have issues like pornography, sexual promiscuity, etc. Reading this book and following the principles in it may not guarantee they will turn out perfect, but I believe it will help.

Thanks to Harvest House for the review copy.