The Return

Review: Take Hold of the Faith You Long For: Let Go, Move Forward, Live Bold Sharon Jaynes Baker Books 2016 A new author to me, but she has several other books which means I’ve been hanging around in another place.   I’ve got to say that I’m so pleased to have made her acquaintance now, though.   I mean, like I even went and found her blog and everything.   It’s a nice one if you’re interested.   But what about her latest book?   It grabbed me from the start.   She has hit right where I have lived too long and too frequently.   I suspect I’m not along either and that in itself is a help.   She uses fresh illustrations and examples in her narratives while she gently encourages the reader to let go, move forward, and live bold.   That sequence forms the basis for her encouragement and earned her another star from my point of view.   While she does use some personal stories, this is not a book on how she survived to write ...

Review: Adventures in Saying Yes: A Journey from Fear to Faith Carl Medearis with Chris Medearis Bethany House Publishers 2015   I must say that I agree with the back cover quote from Lynne Hybels, “Reading Adventures in Saying Yes is so much fun you don’t realize at first how profound it is.”   Each story told by Medearis gives the reader a fresh perspective on not only the adventure he and his family traveled, but also another way to move from fear to faith.   Things incredible, things tragic and the full range in between those poles are part of this book.   The author’s style is so readable you feel like he is across the table telling you all these adventures.   If storying is an effective way to relate to some people groups, then this guy has it down pat. So yes, I do recommend this book.   It accomplishes its goal in illustrating his journey from fear to faith in a soft spoken, life lived way.   It also is a great look ...

Review: Abraham: One Nomad’s Amazing Journey of Faith Charles R. Swindoll Tyndale House Publishers 2014 Swindoll revisits the life of Abraham and shows that the faith journey of a man who lived many years ago is not that different from ours today.   This easy reading book does not mean that the author glossed over some important issues.   Life styles, decisions, attitudes, doubts---it’s all there along with the successes that Abraham experienced within the twenty chapters that Swindoll included in this book. Do not attempt to devour this book at one sitting. There’s too much in each chapter to consume in that manner.   It would make a good devotional reading or a companion read to the Genesis account of the life of Abraham.   The final chapter title, Portrait of a Hero…Warts and Everything, (247) best describes the picture of Abraham the reader will find here and will presumably be encouraged by it. One other thing I liked about this book that ...