By Nicole

Over the last few months, I have had it in the back of my mind to choose various hymns and research their history.  When I hear a new "contemporary" song that I really like, I often find out that it is actually a re-make of an older hymn.  The Art History major in me is interested in the story behind these hymns.  What was the writer going through?  What did the song mean for that time period?  So, needless to say, I was really excited when I saw that there was actually a book that already did the work for me.  Then Sings My Soul: Book 3 by Robert J. Morgan is the third (obviously) in a series of books that takes a deeper look at Christian hymns and their origins.  After the introduction, Morgan divides the book into four parts: The History of Hymnody, Do You Know These Hymns?, Six Hymn Stories I Love to Tell, and Hymning in Private and Public.  Just the introduction had me.  Morgan gives an exciting explanation of St. Francis of As...

This month, I received Going Deep by Gordon MacDonald.  The basic principle is that today's church leaders need to invest in creating disciples, or deep people, who will impact the church and become tomorrow's church leaders.  Following the rabbinical example that Christ set and applying some business principles, like an elevator story, a training plan and lots of meetings, Gordon tells a fictional account of how his church began to cultivate deep people in their church community over a two year period, from the birth of the idea to the actual completion of their first training program. The book takes some patience to get into. It felt like it started kind of slow.  Maybe it was because I felt like I was missing something because I hadn't read his other book.  It also felt strange because I knew that he was presenting a real idea in a fictional way.  I never could figure out if he had actually put the type of mentoring that he portrays ...

Yesterday morning, I opened up The Grace Effect by Larry Alex Taunton.  And I had to finish.  Since there were lots of other things I had to take care of during the day, I read the book in spurts, but I finished nonetheless.  At just over 200 pages, it is a quick read.  Larry Taunton is a Christian apologist who, inspired by his family's experience adopting a daughter from the Ukraine, explores what society would look like if atheists had their way and what grace has to do with it all.  Long story short, a society without God, without Christ, is a society devoid of grace.  A world without grace has no hope for survival and no reason to care.  Larry begins the book by stating that he not attempting to prove the existence of God nor to defend religion.  He says he is writing the book "with the layperson in mind" to explain why the world needs Christianity, yet it seemed to me that he used quite a few complex words and phrases when there were s...

I just received the entire dvd-based study kit of Stuck by Jennie Allen.  It was perfect timing (it seems it always is lately) for me.  I cried through the first two videos, and I finally had to stop and just look through the leader's guide and the study booklet.  The whole kit comes in this great, sturdy box, which includes a DVD, study guide, leader's guide, and conversation cards.  The guides are a great size, small enough to fit in your purse and pack around all the time.  It's an eight week study, designed for a small group, but flexible enough to be completed with almost any size of group.  The topics over the eight weeks are stuck, broken, mad, discontent, scared, overwhelmed, sad, and unstuck.  All are based on Scripture for discussion and reflection.  Every week gives a mini-lesson, a study section, a "who are you Lord & and what do you want from me?", some projects, and a wrap-up.  The group meets to pray and discuss the home...

I just finished reading Ascent from Darkness   by Michael Leehan.  And, well, to be perfectly honest, I was scared to request this book to review.  I have read every Frank Peretti book at least once, and I absolutely love them... but when the spiritual battle is a real story and is so honest and in your face... it is a lot more sobering.  Michael gives us a clear and honest picture of his life as a satanist and his eventual salvation and transformation through the redemptive blood of Christ.  He is unwaveringly honest and gives enough of a vivid retelling to wake you up to the reality of the spiritual battle waging around us.  His writing is a little choppy, but he states at the beginning that he isn't a writer.  He is blunt and to the point, which is how the story needed to be told. I never felt like he was embellishing or trying to glorify the darkness he was serving at anytime.  I read this book in two sittings (since I was on ...

Well, I am really excited because I am finally able to review a children's book from Booksneeze for the first time.  Night Night Blessings is written by Amy Parker and illustrated by Marijan Ramljak.  The copy I received was a hard back board book.  I read it for myself and then read it to my two and a half year old daughter.  I have to admit that I wasn't a fan of the rhyming attempts... It just read a little choppy at first and didn't rhyme well on certain verses.  However, I really liked the soft, whimsical illustrations. My daughter really liked it.  She was actually throwing a bit of a tantrum when I started the book, but by the time I got to the bubble bath part of the story, she was hooked.  She liked the little pets in the pictures and repeated the end of each verse after I read it.  So overall, a good book.  Any book that can calm a two year old deserves a gold star! Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free fro...

So, for this round of Booksneeze, I requested a book by Nicole Johnson entitled, Fresh-Brewed Life: A Stirring Invitation to Wake Up Your Soul .  I had never heard of it before, and I didn't realize until later that it was an anniversary edition.  The reason I requested the book was because I am coffee lover... okay, addict, and the title kind of enticed me.  Having said that, I now have to admit that while some of her explanations of what coffee means to her and analogies between the process of making and enjoying coffee to our walk with God were great, others were quite a stretch.  Parts almost felt like the sappy, fluffy Christian women's literature that I love to hate. Okay, skeptical criticism aside...  I truly have been challenged by this book.  Nicole (I love her name, by the way!) has a way of getting to the heart of the matter, and she sometimes cuts deep (unlike the sappy, fluffy stuff).  The most endearing aspect of it all is t...

I just finished reviewing the bible study book Same Life, New Story by Jan Silvious.  This is a 10-week bible study designed for women who want to learn about how they can change their perspective to change their life story. Many of us are in life circumstances that we have no control over.  Often, those circumstances are difficult and sad.  All of us have something in our past that we regret. This book is about biblical women who responded to the call of God in their lives, even during times of hardship, and learned how to move beyond their past and into a life led by God. Jan covers the lives of Naomi, Leah, Rahab, Deborah, Hannah, Anna, Jehosheba, Abigail, Naaman's servant girl, and Elizabeth.  What a variety of women with such powerful stories!  She also includes personal  anecdotes and stories of women from today.  All are linked together to walk you through the process of getting over the past, your fears and the things hol...