Book Review: Grieving God's Way

This is a 90 day devotion that starts you on the process of grieving in a healthy way; God's ways.
Not written by someone with a great "idea" of how things should be done
but a living, breathing, person who has walked in the shoes of  deep grief.   Often not something we want to look at but something we all will face.  

At the end of January 2011,  a close friend and pastor died.  He was in his early 50's, bigger than life and deeply loved by family, friends, the community and his church.   We ALL are in this grief process together and its odd but many don't realize that they are STILL grieving.   His wife has been one of my closest friends for many years and I find that this book is spot on with many of the things that she has been going through.   One thing that stood out is a person's pain at the loss and how each time they have to do something for the first time without that loved one, how much it makes the ache get worse.  I love the fact that the author re-named her grief support group her courage group.  And the insight about a friend being able to help give you courage when you have to do difficult things.  My thoughts are that our whole church needs to read this book; because we can't walk in my friends shoes but we can be that Courage Group for her and I have seen signs of some of this; my hope is that we are in it for the long haul.  I believe this book could help many of us in that. 

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Book Review: Submerged By Dani Pettrey (I Loved it)

A story of two people who have a lot of history and pain in the setting of  Yancey, Alaska.   They last saw each other ten years ago when Bailey Craig  became known as the town tramp and  fled the town breaking Cole McKenna's heart.    She never, ever wanted to return to Yancey but HAD to because of the death of a beloved family member.  They both share the love of deep water diving which comes in handy as they both are thrown together, almost against their will, to help solve murders as they continue to crop up and to try to stop the killer before he strikes again!  
I really, really enjoyed this book.  The characters of Bailey and Cole were so well developed as were the additional family members and members of the town.  You really got involved in their personalities and were drawn into caring about their stories. I  know that's not always easily done but I believe the author did a bang up job of it.  As soon as I started reading it, I didn't want to put it down; of course I had to at times because of my reading time being interrupted.  But I picked it back up at the first opportunity; as soon as I could.  I haven't read any modern fiction in a while, Christian or otherwise, but really liked how  the subtle flavor of Jesus was placed in the story without being preachy.  I'm glad this was my first trip back into modern fiction.  I also noticed that this is Alaskan Courage "Book One"; I will be watching for the next one, Book 2.  Wish I had it in my hands right now!! 


I got this book FREE from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.  

Book Review: Faith and Other Flat Tires

Andrea Palpant Dilley



A Christian woman's memoir of her struggles of faith, questioning how could God
allow all the suffering, death and evil in the world.    Why does He seem so distant, hard to find, why does His church seem so ineffective in helping  make a difference?    She shares stories of her being a missionary kid, her unique family and different churches and people who helped shape her faith and those who helped cause more struggle against her faith.

I both liked and disliked this book.  What an odd thing to have to say.  I found interesting the things she shared about her family, about part of her life as she was raised in Africa, and her coming back to America and feeling out of sync with this new life.   Unfortunately her references to "The Pilgrim's Progress" were wasted on me.  I have vaguely heard of it but that's all; so that wasn't helpful to my reading the book at all.  One thing I come away with is what her mom had raised her with: the acronym Go M.A.D.  meaning  Make a Difference.  Ironically the very thing her mother helped plant as a desire in her heart was also one of the things that she was searching so hard for and feeling like it just wasn't possible.  One of the things I didn't enjoy about the book was that it seemed to be endless with confusion, her going around and around in circles, but then again can't life be like that when we're searching?

I received this book FREE from  Zondervan.  This is my honest opinion of the book.

Book Review: Confronting JEZEBEL by Steve Sampson

Great identifying signs to help you recognize its not just a persons "issues"or  patterns but a warning list of " You've just entered the Jezebel Zone".   Flat out manipulation and control with the desire to dominate without conscience.  Sounds harsh, but its out there and this book helps identify it and like the title says to, confront this spirit that is working through severely  hurt people. The idea is to restore if possible; although often people driven by this spirit simply will not; they have a different agenda and simply move on.   The author points out how important it is for us to go to deeper levels of  true humility in order to be effective and not allow this spirit to run rampant in our lives, and  churches and also to keep a check on ourselves that we don't have any influences of that spirit on us.
I loved this book and the depth the author went into.  This is going into my personal library; and I will be using it as an often read resource study book.  I do understand that there are those that simply do not believe in this type of spiritual battle.  But as an intercessor I find it extremely insightful and easy to read and study. Having encountered a few people who have an influence of the Jezebel spirit but not having a full blown Jezebel agenda, I found myself nodding my head and saying," I totally get this! " I believe it would be extremely helpful to other intercessors and Christian people in general . Its well balanced, something that many people fear that books of this nature are not going to be.  We can't look at all people as a Jezebel but we can be informed on yes, there are some out there.

I was given this book FREE through Chosen Books in exchange for an honest review.  These are my own words and thoughts on this book.

McCormick Grill Party for Crowdtap Challenge

 *Spiced Brandy  & Herb Marinade used on Carrots
(not shown here) but Great flavor!
*Montreal Steak Seasoning on Corn
* Memphis pit BBQ Rub on Pork
*Brown Sugar Bourbon BBQ Sauce on Chicken
*Molasses Bacon seasoning on Venison Burgers
( 1/2 of the burgers had this seasoning & pineapple
and 1/2 had the seasoning only)  made into  Sliders.
But all were done slider style!

EXHAUST him...

"We can exhaust the enemy with the love of God.
 We can depress him with our joy.
 We can weary him with our peace. 
We can demoralize him with our patience.
 We can discourage him with our kindness.
 We can overcome him with goodness.
 We can debilitate him with our faithfulness.
 We can trouble him with our gentleness. 
We can dismay him with our self control. 
We can dishearten him with our faith. 
We can weaken him with our mercy and
 we can intimidate him with our intimacy."
Graham Coooke

How to Remove Matted Fur - Swagbucks TV

How to Remove Matted Fur - Swagbucks TV

A good video to refer to.

Secrets of the Supernatural Life: Your Gateway to Supernatural Experiences by Shawn Gabie My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have to admit in the beginning, I thought "Ok, he's preaching to the choir on this, I already know this" sorry if this sounds prideful but I was looking for more. I kept reading and began to get that "more" I was looking for. I put many highlights and side notes onto my reader. One of the notes was "instructional" because it was more follow through; brush up on things I may have let slip and even new ideas about some of the things the author has experienced and so have I. When I say "follow through" what I mean is when a certain thing happens; like God trying to get my attention in a way I'm not so familiar with- I'm going to go deeper in it as suggested. There was also the surprise shift in my thinking on at least 2 areas of my wrong thinking about God's ways, that I am now working through. Am I going to share those? Nope, a gal has to have a few things she doesn't share; besides God's still working!!I received this eBook free from Destiny Image Books in exchange for a review. All comments are my own honest evaluation of this book. View all my reviews

EBook Review: Secrets of the Supernatural Life by Shawn Gabie

The titles of some of the chapters are: Prophetic Essentials, Recognizing the voice of God, Heaven on earth through you, Understanding the Language of the Spirit, Detecting Counterfeits, Experiencing the greater works.   This information was available on the original information on several book sites.  Why am I repeating it?  Because I believe  it is worthy of repeating. because this book delivers, what it says its going to.  I truly agree with those who say they wish it had been around when they were first starting out with God.  
Many personal experiences, wise instructions and scriptural balance is all a part of the story.  Its up to the reader to decide if some things they have believed before are really true or not.

I have to admit in the beginning, I thought "Ok, he's preaching to the choir on this, I already know this" sorry if this sounds prideful but I was looking for more.  I kept reading and began to get that "more" I was looking for.  I put many highlights and side notes onto my reader.  One of the notes was "instructional" because it was more follow through; brush up on things I may have let slip and even new ideas about some of the things the author has experienced and so have I.    When I say "follow through" what I mean is when a certain thing happens; like God trying to get my attention in a way I'm not so familiar with- I'm going to go deeper in it as suggested.  There was also the surprise shift in my thinking on at least 2 areas of my wrong thinking about God's ways, that I am now working through.  Am I going to share those?   Nope, a gal has to have a few things she doesn't share; besides God's still working!!

I received this eBook free from Destiny Image Books in exchange for a review. 

All comments are my own honest evaluation of this book. 

• 
  

I WILL NOT.....

God has privileged us in Christ Jesus to live
above the ordinary human plane of life.
Those who want to be ordinary and live on a lower place can do so,
                 but as for me, I will not.


—  Smith Wigglesworth----

meal Train | Help - FAQs

meal Train | Help - FAQs
Just thought that this link might be helpful in answering some questions!

meal Train | Learn the Basics - What is a Meal Train?

meal Train | Learn the Basics - What is a Meal Train?

This is a program that our church has used and it has worked beautifully.
Of course we also make the opportunity to bring a meal available to those in our
church who do not use computers, yet.  Something that I think we need to keep
in mind so that no one is left out.  Oh, did I mention that it is FREE?
I noticed on their site that we use the Classic that is free.  But they also offer
Meal Train Plus for a small fee.  Why not check it out?

Book Review: Your Heart's Desire by Sheri Rose Shepherd

A book good for both personal learning and also a good small group teaching.   It is arranged in a way that many different kinds of people are addressed in this book  from those who are single desiring to be married, those who are now married experiencing challenges,  those desiring a better marriage, and those of us who are desiring to raise sons to be good husbands.  A very thorough study of male/female relationships in marriage following God's way of doing things.  Many personal stories have been added to round out the teaching. At the end of each chapter is a Coaching Session and a prayer to pray for each situation.

I found this book very helpful and my personal favorites were Chapter 3 with its Checklist for Singles.   This checklist is looking at a man ( in this case) and seeing is he really the Christian he says he is or is he just saying it?  A very healthy, non-suspicious way of looking at his actions that could really be applied in some ways to both men and women.  I have 2 singles friends who will benefit from this chart.   My other favorite had to do with  Chapter 9- it had wisdom's on how to raise godly "future husbands" for the future wives you have been praying into their lives.  Now to some this praying for the "future spouses" may be a new idea but to me it was quite the normal part of my walk; although I didn't come into the information until later in my children's lives.   The book was well worth reading if that was the only things I got out of the whole thing; but thankfully I got much more.

To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission,I am mentioning as part of every Web or Amazon review that Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book. All they asked for in return was an honest review; which I have now given.