The Message 100

There are a lot of bibles on the market for readers to purchase. Every so often a new bible format comes out that really brings the bible and the stories alive for the reader. The Message bible has been around for a few years in both old and new testament. Eugene Peterson translated from the original Greek and Hebrew Scriptures and put the Message bible together. The Message combines God's Word with conversational English that is readable and understandable.

I have read the Message and loved how easy it was to understand.  I always felt like it was more in story form than the regular bibles I have read. Now, with the Message 100 bible, I can read it in a fresh new way.
The bible is designed into 100 reading that tell the unfolding story of God as he reveals himself to the people he loves. This bible is a collection of stories, speeches, prayers, and letters that will immerse you and you will see what God wants to teach you. You can do one reading at a time and go at your own pace. Each reading begins with a brief reflection from Eugene Peterson to orient you for what you are about to read. Enjoy the journey and see God in a whole different light.

This bible will be my Christmas gifts to family members this year because of how much this has impacted my life in reading this story of God in sequence.

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for my free copy to read and review just for my honest opinion.

It's Good to be Queen

 

Come alongside as Liz Curtis Higgs, with her unique writing style, delves into the story of a queen that we know little about, Queen of Sheba. Her biblical story is found in 1 Kings 1 and ends with verse 13. Only 12 verses but packed with a lot of insight on this queen. The Queen of Sheba travels to Jerusalem to test the mind and heart of  King Solomon but she came away from that meeting with much more than she envisioned when she started her journey.

There are 10 chapters that will enlighten you with humor and truths.  Each chapter starts with a personal fictional narrative from the Queen of Sheba then the author enhances each verse in that particular chapter with lots of commentary. The chapters deal with boldness, openness, seeking wise counsel, honesty, encouragement, praising God, giving, receiving graciously, and ending well. Sheba not only left Jerusalem but her former way of life, her old gods, her old beliefs so she could put on the new self. She left he old life-full of disbelief, distrust, disobedience and embraced a new life that honors God. He journey was orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. Sheba didn't travel to Jerusalem to be changed, but she was. You will be changed after reading her story and it may challenge you as it did me in many areas.

Not only do we learn about the Queen of Sheba through story form and insights but there are lots of notes and references along with discussion questions and chapter by chapter study guides perfect for bible study.

Thanks to Waterbrook, Blogging for Books, for this free copy just for my honest opinion.

Agents of Babylon

Get Ready. The end is closer than you think.. In David Jeremiah's latest book,The Agents of Babylon, you will find  ancient Old Testament brought to life in Daniel's story. Dr. Jeremiah is a noted prophecy expert and this book explores the visions, dreams and prophecies that are in the biblical book of Daniel. He not only tells what the prophecy is but what they mean and how we can apply them to the world we live in now. In reading the story of Daniel, we read about Babylon and just how evil and cruel they were. They were clearly against God. Written is a style of his previous book, Agents of the Apocalypse, each chapter starts with a fictional narrative about the subject of the chapter and ends with an explanation of the Scripture behind the story. The fiction drives the truth into our hearts, and the Scripture behind the fiction drives it into our minds.

So many things made this book enjoyable. Loved each chapter introduction and then the Scripture behind the story..made for some great insights. Learned a new theory about when Daniel was in the lions den. When the guards left Daniel, he slid to the ground of the den to make himself comfortable for the night. Soon two cub lions moved in his direction very friendly and one lay on each side of Daniel, to give him warmth and protection in the chilly dungeon. He gently stroked their backs as they each turned their heads and licked his hand. They all slept soundly in perfect peace and tranquility. What a scene, I never thought of that way, serenity and peace under the will of God.  Fascinating book just like Dr. Jeremiah's first book. Make sure you read both, you will gain a new understanding of Revelation and of Babylon and Daniel.  David Jeremiah makes the bible come alive in his writings. You will be very enlightened when you finish his books.

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for giving this free copy to me just for my honest opinion.

The Sea Keeper's Daughters

There are many great Christian authors that tell stories and then there is Lisa Wingate who is a storyteller that weaves magical stories . I first started reading her last fall and have read everything she has written and am amazed how magical her stories are. They are real people with real struggles trying to find how to keep going in life.

This story follows Whitney Monroe who owns two restaurants in Michigan, one struggling to keep afloat, and a cousin running the other one. She finds that she has inherited  a decaying Gilded Age hotel on the Outer Banks.  She thinks she can go down there to clean the hotel out and sell it to hopefully fund her failing restaurant. One problem, Whitney's stepfather, who she is at odds with, is staying there and will not budge.  He is in failing health and she figures she can find a center to take care of him. Since this is a three story historic building, the downstairs tenants want to save the building and not see it sold. Whitney has her work cut out for her when she arrives.  She thinks she has it all figured out until as she is weeding stuff out and trying to figure out what is valuable and what is trash, she comes across an old necklace among letters that date back to the 1930's. As Whitney puts the letters together she realizes that there are family secrets and memories she wasn't prepared for. The letters are to her grandmother from her sister.  The sister, Alice, was hired by the WPA to chronicle the lives of people throughout the Blue Ridge Mountains. You learn about the cruelty and prejudice in the mountains and how it affected Alice.

Absolutely fascinating how she wove the past and present together to create a story I was sad to see end.  Wish she could have gone on and on with the story. When you read Lisa's stories you will be thoroughly entertained and hooked on her stories as I am.

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for sending me a free copy just for my honest opinion.

 Lisa Wingate is a magazine columnist, speaker, and the author of nineteen mainstream novels, including the national bestseller, Tending Roses, now in its eighteenth printing.  She is a seven-time ACFW Carol award nominee, a Christy Award nominee, and a two-time Carol Award winner. Her novel, Blue Moon Bay, was a Booklist Top Ten of 2012 pick.  Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with Bill Ford, Camille Cosby, and six others, as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life.  When not dreaming up stories, Lisa spends time on the road as a motivational speaker. Via internet, she shares with readers as far away as India, where her book, Tending Roses, has been used to promote women's literacy, and as close to home as Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the county library system has used Tending Roses to help volunteers teach adults to read.

War Room

Chris Fabry does it again!. Another spectacular story from one of my all time favorite authors. Excellent sums up how I felt after finishing this book and so look forward to seeing the movie.  I knew this would be a good book but I was not prepared for how this story would impact my life.  We all know that prayer is a powerful weapon and we know we should pray more.  Sounds so simple, but how do we put this into practice and become better at conversing with the "one who made us"?  This book showed me different ways to put the power of prayer into my everyday life and make prayer a priority, which it should be.

The story centers around Tony and Elizabeth Jordan and daughter Danielle.  They have career's, money, and what they think is the charmed life. Their marriage is in trouble which sends this plot into a tale of  what causes this marriage to crumble.  Lots of things are present in their alienation to each other and bitterness is prevalent in Elizabeth.  Since Elizabeth is a real estate agent, God arranges her to meet Miss Clara who is interested in selling her house. That is where this storyline takes off.  Miss Clara realizes that Elizabeth needs help and she challenges her to fight for her marriage and family instead of against her husband.  Miss Clara has a war room where she prays for and encourages those around her to pray without ceasing. Miss Clara wants Elizabeth to start her own war room and begin fighting. Miss Clara tells Elizabeth that "prayer is God drawing us close and asking what's on our hearts. Now most people, if you tell them that, will go to their list. The first thing God wants to do is help you see.  See yourself.  See your sin.  See your helplessness without Him.  And then-He opens your eyes and bring everything into focus".

I have read every book Chris Fabry has written and this is one of the best ever.  Not often, do you highlight and turn corners down in a fiction book to remember what you loved and what really spoke to your heart. This book has plenty of those and it is one I will re-read just to remember how important prayer is. My own prayer life has taken on a new meaning. Please, please pick his up to read and recharge your prayer life.

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for his free copy just for my honest opinion..

Drawing Fire

Drawing Fire is Janice Cantore's latest novel and the first in her Cold Case Justice series and it is another winner.  I am a huge fan and eagerly await her next book. Since she is a retired Long Beach police officer, I am sure a lot of these stories she has lived through which make each novel more interesting.

Two open cases, two dead ends. I won't let them go cold. The storyline follows a possible serial killer that stalks elderly women in Long Beach California.  Abby Hart is a homicide detective assigned to this case.  She is teamed with Luke Murphy who is a private investigator also assigned to this case. Luke saw the suspect flee the scene of the latest homicide but Abby discovers that the latest victim is related to the governor. That brings about it's own set of problems. Other problems are a fire that Abby's parents were killed in 27 years ago.  They never found out who set the fire and how they were killed.  She is set to find out who killed them but all roads and help from the police end up being stalled and  why she should leave the crime alone.  Luke also searches for a missing teen and tries to help runaways.  Interesting how these two story lines coincide  and how in the end they both find hope and forgiveness  along he way.  When Abby and Luke search for evidence buried under years of deceit..they realize someone wants this case to remain cold. She has a way of keeping the reader engrossed in the story and the endings always surprise me.
Now, if she could only write faster.

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for this free book just for my honest opinion.

Legend

This book by Eric Blehm is a fascinating account of a hero, and a legend. My typical reading consists of Christian Fiction so this was a different genre for me. I read Fearless by Eric and was enthralled by his writing. So, when I had a chance to read another book by him, I agreed after reading the synopsis of the story.  I graduated from high school in the mid 60's when the Vietnam war was escalating so this story peaked my interest of the background of things that happened.

 The storyline centers around Staff Sergeant Roy Benavidez who was part of a 12 man Special Forces team.
It starts out with his childhood and how he grew up as a street kid from Cuero, Texas. At age 6 he turned into a "tough mean kid". His mother died and he went to leave with an uncle. He dropped out of school and proceeded to join the military. He was assigned to the 82nd Airborne and eventually went to become a member of the Special Forces. From there the author chronicles Roy's single mission in 1968 in the jungle of neutral Cambodia . This is where the battle intensified and Roy jumped from the aircraft and ran 100 yard thru enemy fire.  He was wounded but refused to abandon his efforts until every survivor was out of harm's way.

This was written with access to family members , survivors of the 240th Assault Helicopter Company as well as declassified military records. Hero's come in different shaped, sizes and skin colors and Roy Benavidez was just that-a hero. This book helped me understand more of the why we were involved with Vietnam even thought I lived thru that era.

Thanks to Blogging For Books for this free copy just for my honest opinion

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 http://www.randomhouse.com/author/153527/eric-blehm