Category: Books

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Books Fun Non-Fiction Reviews

Book Review: Raising Passionate Jesus Followers


I didn’t quite know what to expect when I was asked to review Raising Passionate Jesus Followers by Phil & Diane Comer. The fact that the foreword was by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs of Love & Respect fame piqued my interest so I went ahead and agreed to review the book. To say that I was thoroughly impressed would be an understatement. While I was reading this book I recommended it to everyone that asked me what I was reading. The authors present a fantastic framework for raising your children. I think one of the reasons this particular book resonated with me so well is that it is in lock step with what I believe the only answer to raising kids or doing anything. As my Pastor Whit George says the only hope that people have is knowing the real Jesus. Phil and Diane to a phenomenal job of laying out a framework for raising your children that has a foundation rooted in Christ. There were several personal stories that helped me relate to the authors and see my struggles in raising my children in the scenarios they gave. There was only one part where I differed from the authors from a theological perspective. However, that one difference was in a section where the authors were relaying their personal list of the ten things you have to teach your kids. The authors share their list but encourage the reader to develop a list of their own so the theological difference is easily dismissed, not anything to throw the book away over. I do not want to spoil any of the book for you so I will end this review but strongly encourage you to pick up a copy of Raising Passionate Jesus Followers by Phil & Diane Comer.

*Note: I received a free copy of this book in order to review it and the links above may be affiliate links where I receive commissions.

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Books Fun Non-Fiction Reviews

Book Review: Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald

ordering_your_private_worldIn recent years I can only think of 2 books that made me seriously reevaluate my life and make significant changes because of that particular book. Those two books are Servolution by Dino Rizzo and Level Up Your Life by Steve Kamb. Both of these books made me sit up and take notice. There were significant changes I implemented in my life because of these two books. You might ask why I am talking about two other books in a book review about a third book. The reason is I now have 3 books in this category. Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald stopped me short and made me seriously evaluate where I was at in my walk with God to the point that though I only finished the book this week it has already had a profound effect on me and how I structure my days. It is not very often that I feel like a book reads me but the comment I put on the title page for chapter 3 was, “This chapter! WOW! has me pegged on #’s 1 & 3!” There are several dog-eared pages in my copy of this book. In my current phase of life I lead a couples small group for our church with my wife and I do not have the time to also lead a men’s small group. When that day comes though, I will be requesting that I can lead using this book. This book is a must for anyone who is a leader or aspires to be one. I won’t stop there, anyone who is a believer that wants to have a vibrant relationship with Christ needs to read this book. I don’t know what else to say other than to say, buy this book!

Full disclosure: I was given a review copy of this book and the links above are affiliate links.

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Books Fiction Fun Reviews

Book Review: Of Stillness and Storm by Michele Phoenix

Of-Stillness-and-Storm

I was very surprised at this book. I wasn’t paying attention very well apparently because the tagline for the book had me thinking this was a sci-fi/fantasy novel so when I was offered a review copy, I jumped at the chance. As I started reading, I thought I had been suckered into reading a romance novel, I was wrong again. What I found was a very compelling cautionary tale for anyone involved in full-time ministry. The character development in the story is very good and I found myself having visceral reactions to each of the three characters as I read the novel.

The book outlines the story of a family of three (including giving the background of how the husband and wife met) of a missionary family in Nepal and the struggles that full-time ministry puts on them including the sometimes drawn-out preparation process. The surprise ending really brought the author’s point home, I will not say any more because I don’t want to spoil the ending.

I’m glad I read this book, it was definitely an eye-opener. Anyone in full-time ministry should pick up of stillness and storm.

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Books Fun Non-Fiction Reviews

NIV Ragamuffin Bible: Meditations for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, & Brokenhearted

NIV Ragamuffin BibleThe NIV Ragamuffin Bible blends the wildly popular New International Version of the Bible with reflections of the late Brennan Manning (1934-2013), author of The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out. This bible contains 104 devotions, 250 reflections, & 150 quotes from the late Brennan Manning. For those who are unfamiliar with Brennan Manning, he is the author of what many would consider the best books on grace ever written, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out. I read this book over 10 years ago and still view it as one of the best Christian books ever written. The tagline on the back of this bible sums it up best: “Do you believe that God not only loves you, but that he also likes you?” This question is pivotal in our walk with Christ and the aim of this bible is to use the scriptures of the NIV and the reflections of a great man to draw you closer to God and help the reader understand how much God not only loves them, but also likes them! My plan, once my current Bible reading plan is finished is to use a year long Bible reading plan and read it in the NIV Ragamuffin Bible, stopping along the way to read the wonderful reflections, devotions, and quotes, I hope you’ll join me.

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Books Fun Non-Fiction Reviews

Ingredients for Success: 10 Best Practices for Business and Life – Joseph James Slawek

ingredients for successIngredients for Success: 10 Best Practices for Business and Life is a quick little read but packs a pretty good punch. Joseph is the CEO of FONA International an flavor company that creates flavors for the beverage, confection, grain, savory, healthcare, and dairy/dessert industries.

In his book, Joseph outlines his strategy for  business and life based on the parables of the Ten Virgins, Talents, and the Sheep and the Goats taken from Matthew 25. I will not steal his thunder and tell you what those 10 best practices are but I will say that if you were to implement those 10 best practices, you would be successful.

Overall, I thought the book was a good quick read that left me with ideas that I could implement in my life after reading it which is the aim of any writer of a book like this. Joseph has done a good job taking his experiences both working for someone else and running his own company and distilling what has made him successful down into a manageable book that just about anyone with any amount of time can read and glean insight from and does so in a way that doesn’t come across as better than thou or preachy.

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Books Fiction Fun Reviews

Fatal Tide – An East Salem Trilogy Novel by Lis Wiehl & Pete Nelson

fatal tide.cover I really have to stop picking up series in the middle to end of the series. After really liking the Heart of Ice – A Triple Threat Novel by Lis Wiehl I figured I would give her another shot and picked up Fatal Tide. I picked well. Even without the background of the first 2 books, Fatal Tide doesn’t disappoint. Fatal Tide picks up with Reese, a 17 year old student at St. Adrian’s academy being ambushed by demonic beings trying to bring about a dark prophecy and just ramps up from there. The main characters Tommy & Dani have been opposing the demonic forces since the first book and the battle culminates in Fatal Tide.

I was impressed with Heart of Ice and was also impressed with Fatal Tide. Lis Wiehl weaves together a compelling action with great spiritual overtones. I would recommend reading the other two books in The East Salem Trilogy first, but even without them, Fatal Tide does not disappoint.

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Books Fiction Fun Reviews

Afloat by Erin Healy

_140_245_Book.852.coverAfloat follows the inhabitants of Eagle’s Talon, a spectacular floating community, as they deal with a series of events that threaten to tear apart everything that they hold dear. Masks will be torn off, relationships tested, and faith restored.

Initially, I was very excited to review Afloat. I had previous experience with Erin Healy with her collaboration with Ted Dekker on Burn. I quickly found however that what I was drawn to in Burn must have been due to Dekker’s influence more so than Healy’s. Afloat just seemed to be missing something as I read it. I can’t say that it was a terrible book, i just found it lacking. I just felt that things could have been tied together a little easier. My recommendation on Afloat is that if you have the opportunity to read it, go ahead, I just wouldn’t go out of my way to get my hands on it.

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Books Fun Non-Fiction Reviews

Book Review: I’ve Got Your Back – A Leadership Parable – Biblical Principles for Leading and Following Well – Dr. James Galvin

ive got your backThere are several leadership books on the market now, this one however takes a different approach. There are two sections to this book and the author gives you the option to read either section first. The two sections are a story about 4 young adults as they are mentored in their leadership abilities by an old war veteran and former missionary. The second is an explanation of a biblical theology of leadership.

I do not want to give too much away, because I want you to read the book, but I will say I thought the book laid out a very good explanation of how true leadership is about following well. Leadership and followership are two sides of the same coin, you can’t be one without the other. Most leadership books out there will focus on the tips and strategies for being a good leader, but I think Dr. Galvin hits the nail right on the head in that even as a leader, you are still a follower, so the key is to learn to follow well and by intentionally following well, you will know what it takes to be a good leader.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to know how to be a better leader, but I would recommend it as a read for everyone because we can all learn to be better followers.

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Books Fiction Fun Reviews

Book Review: Babylon’s Falling: The Story of Belteshazzar, Also Known as Daniyyel by William G. Collins

babyon's falling

I love this genre. Some of my favorite movies are Gladiator, Braveheart, & The Patriot. Some of my favorite books are The Mark of the Lion Series, & the Sons of Encouragement Series. The reason that I love this genre so much is that it fills in the gaps for me, it gives me a sense of what the people who lived these lives went through. I know that they are fiction, but when one of these authors approaches historical fiction, they usually do so with reverence for the historical part of the narrative and do their homework in such a way that they are able to fairly accurately fill in the gaps. Some people get really angry when books like Babylon’s Falling are written because they feel like it takes away from the biblical narrative. To each their own I guess, but I love the genre so when I was offered the chance to review Babylon’s Falling I jumped at the opportunity.

Babylon’s Falling starts off with Daniel and his friends on their way to Babylon at the beginning of the captivity. It follows his rise in rank through the empire and ends with his return to Jerusalem. I don’t want to get too much into detail because I want you to read the book. I am not a biblical scholar by any stretch of the imagination so take my analysis with a grain of salt, but I think the author took great care in staying true to what really happened during the biblical narrative and stay true to the source material. Overall, I felt like the author did a great job in writing this book and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it to anyone, especially people who like the historical fiction genre.

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Books Fun Non-Fiction Reviews

Book Review: Start by Jon Acuff

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A few weeks ago Michael Hyatt held a random drawing on his blog for 50 copies of Jon Acuff‘s book Start – Punch Fear in the Face | Escape Average | Do Work that Matters. I was fortunate enough to be picked as a winner. This book is awesome! I would definitely recommend it to anyone, especially anyone who wants to be awesome.

Jon starts off by talking about the 5 stages that every awesome life goes through in their life, the five stages traditionally are:

20’s Learning, we consume everything.

30’s Editing, narrowing down what we have learned and focusing on a couple key things.

40’s Mastering, we become experts at those couple things.

50’s Harvesting, we are blessed to reap what we have sown (good or bad).

60’s Guiding, we become educators of the upcoming generation.

Next, he talks about how with the advent of the internet the timeline above is null and void, anyone can reach any of those stages at any point in their life. Anyone can reach awesome…the key is you have to start and that is the hang up for most people, they never start on the road to awesome, so they stay mediocre for their entire life. I don’t want to spoil anymore of the book so I will leave it at that and let you read the rest for yourself, which you should because this is an excellent book. Head on over to Amazon and pick it up here, you won’t regret reading this book.