Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Awesome Children's Book!!

I recently received "In Case You Ever Wonder" by Max Lucado for my 8 month old daughter and I loved it!
This book is written to show and remind children how much not only their parents love them, but also their heavenly father. Upon opening the first pages, this is what one reads: "long, long ago God made a decision - a very important decision...one I'm really glad that he made. He made the decision to make you!" How sweet. How precious. How encouraging to our children.
In an age when our children fight for their identity, this book reminds them that their identity can only be found in Christ. What a powerful message to read to our children in a way that they can understand and grasp. I love this book and will purchase it for future birthday & baby shower gifts. May you be blessed as you read this book!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Pleasantly Surprised

I recently received Max Lucado's book "When God Whispers Your Name," and was pleasantly surprised by what I read. In the past, I believed Max Lucado's books to be watered down, and not very deep. This book though, was refreshing and encouraging to my soul.
This book is written to help you hear and know God. In this book, Lucado uses a conversational tone and tells stories in order to help his readers better relate to and understand his writing. As I greatly enjoyed this book, I would highly recommend it!

Inspiring, but unbiblical book

The "God Pocket" is a short read (124 pages) by Bruce Wilkinson with David Kopp is simply put, a book about giving. I have read many books about giving, but this one is not one of my favorites.
In chapter one, the book opens with a fictional story that captivates the audience. It provides the readers with the reminder that all we own belongs to God - "it is God's money." This is profoundly true, but the author elaborates this notion in an unbiblical way. Wilkinson notes that there are seven steps to you maintaining a "God Pocket:" Decide, Devote, Deposit, Depend, Deliver, Declare, and Disciple. Simply put, you choose an amount you would like to give away, and wait on God's direction and guidance to do so. I personally believe that you should allow God to determine the amount you need to give away, instead of trusting your humanly instincts to do so. He is the one in control, not us.
I also disagreed with chapter five, "The Mystery of Multiplying: God's surprising plan to replenish the resources you give." While it is true that God can, and sometime does reward us for our generosity, it is not a promise, and should never be an expectation. We may never know what he had in mind with our gift, and we may never see any fruit from it. To promise Christians that if they give, God will repay them is untrue. We will be rewarded, but it may not be until eternity, and to tell others contradictory to this is unbiblical.
While this book does help open your eyes to giving, there are several other books I would recommend to others before this one.

Enemies of the Heart

Enemies of the Heart, by Andy Stanley, is an easy read that anyone can benefit from. He does a great job discussing ways to defeat the 4 harmful emotions that we all wrestle with: guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy. He's right to say that these emotions control us - and he offers very practical ways to break the chains these emotions have. Andy's writing style is funny, simply, enjoyable and very easy to read. I love this book for that reason - he makes me laugh, and i also get some great biblical teaching from it. This is a book i would recommend to anyone, especially someone who typically doesn't enjoy reading.