The Return

Review: The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast Kristen Feola 2010 Zondervan This is a fast?!   It looks like something I might actually be able to do.   This book could be almost be called the Daniel Fast kit.   The author discusses fasting, the Daniel fast, includes meal planning and recipes, and a set of devotionals and Scripture passages to read during the fast period.   Your part in this is the fast and the shopping.   She has tips for meal preparation, too.   Makes all the excuses I’d used empty.   The recipes look good to me, but I didn’t kitchen test any of them.   I do make the assumption that they all are tested and accurate as to ingredient proportions.   The photography included in this book makes the different dishes feature look quite tasty.   They would present well without being part of a fast.   There is nothing boring about this particular fast plan. What I missed was the nutritional listings for the recipes.   Serving sizes are included though just t

Review: Beloved Dust// Drawing Close to God by Discovering the Truth about Yourself Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel Nelson Books 2014 I was intrigued by the title of this book.   Dust? It’s been quite a while since I had heard that word used in the way these authors use it.   This dust reference comes directly from Genesis 2.   They are talking about you and me and the rest of us in this book.   It took me some time to get on board with that terminology even if it isn’t new.   So the early part of the book was a bit of struggle for me.   The style is not difficult.   In fact, these authors have an engaging way of drawing the reader into the text.   They seek to help the reader discover the truth about themselves, paraphrasing the title, and the place they start is the beginning.   Their descriptions in no way denigrate the worth of man to his Creator, but neither does it place man in control of the universe.   Once that is firmly established they go on to prayer.   Thi

Review: Portraits of Devotion Beth Moore B&H Publishing Group 2014 I absolutely loved this little book---even before I read any of it.   It is beautifully bound and printed. The cover is a soft imitation leather, embossed with lovely scroll work.   Inside the pages repeat the scroll work at the borders, and printed in a forest green tone coordinated with the cover scroll work…I could go on and on just about this physical presentation of this book, but some of you might want to know about the content. It is drawn from several of Beth Moore’s Personal Reflection Series that centered on the lives of Jesus, David, John, and Paul.   I cannot comment on whether the individual devotional readings have been edited for this book as I have no experience with that series, but the devotions presented in Portraits of Devotion are well done.   They are insightful, encouraging, and do not stray from the context of the biblical passage chosen for the day.    The days are num