The Return

Review: A Beautiful Defeat: Find True Freedom and Purpose in Total Surrender to God Kevin Malarkey with Matt Jacobson Nelson Books 2014 I have to say that I requested this book for review because someone else said they didn’t like it, not for any more worthy reason.   So did I like it or not?   I liked it, but didn’t like the implications for my life.    The defeat that is beautiful is of course the total surrender to God.   That requires all of me, mine, and whatever else I have become attached to.   Malarkey puts out the challenges straight and without any fancy foot work trying to sidestep what the biblical text says.   His final word resembles the Nike™ slogan we all know.    His ten steps are discussed clearly and with examples that are even more clear.   The appendices provide a review and a list of the Bible verses pertaining to each step.   While I am not a fan of dividing things into ten steps, or twelv...

Review: Tempted, Tested, True: A Proven Path to Overcoming Soul-Robbing Choices A rnie Cole and Michael Ross Bethany House Publishers 2013 This book is a straight forward look at some common poor choices most of us make in life at some time or another that continue to plagues us long after the original decisions were made.   Divided into topical chapters the authors address addictions to worry.   As the authors state early on, this book is a guide and a workbook combined into a single volume, one that can be used in group settings or as a personal tool.   The whole point is freedom from whatever it is that has you bound.   It starts off with some necessary steps that take aim on all the excuses we offer for continuing whatever is our major weak point.   You know the one thing that’s “not as bad as all that.”   And once that start point is established the authors delve into some specific areas of weakness that they found more common from surve...