Review: Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All?

Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All? by Mark Steele
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All?

From the Cover

It may feel like authentic faith. It may even look like the real deal. Yet it's often easy to settle for the souvenir t-shirt—the appearance of a transformed heart—instead of taking the actual trip through true life-change. We find ourselves settling for a personal faith that's been polluted by culture, and diluted by other people's take on spirituality.

Christianish tells the story of one man's journey to move from the in-between to a life that's centered on Christ. To move forward, author Mark Steele goes back to the beginning, to examine Christ's life and words. Through stories and insights that are sometimes profound, often hilarious, and always honest, Mark delivers a compelling look at what our faith is all about.

My Review
This was a great book to read. Jesus tells us he will spit lukewarm Christians from his mouth (Rev. 3:16). This author challenged himself to step out of that lukewarm mode to become boiling hot! Throughout the book he uses examples and stories to engage the reader. At the end of each chapter, he provides a diagram and questions to help readers stretch to that boiling point. I appreciated that this was not hit you over the head preaching but subtle urging to give our all to Him. It took me longer to read this book because I had to "stew" on each chapter days to absorb it. I definitely recommend this book for those who are looking to reach beyond the stretch.

Love and Blessings!
Margaret

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Christian Book Review: Exposed: Inexcusable Me... Irreplaceable Him by Shannon Deitz #christianbookreview

Exposed: Inexcusable Me...Irreplaceable Him by Shannon M. Deitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shannon Deitz did not have a fairytale life. Although she had wonderful caring parents, two of her siblings turned to drugs and Shannon was well on her way to following them. In her book Exposed: Inexcusable Me... Irreplaceable Him she describes the challenges she faced as she grew up. Twice she was raped, several times she experienced spiritual warfare to the point where the demons took human form. Throughout her life she felt she was worthless, otherwise, why would these things keep happening to her?

Then one day she decided to stop fighting, to surrender her life. She completely submitted to God and gave up all control of her life. His will became her will. Even at this point, she did not understand how God could love someone like her, how He could forgive her for all of the things she had done, how He could make her clean. But He could, and He did.

I really enjoyed this book. I could see several parallels in my own life which allowed me to connect emotionally with her story. As she went through the horrors that she faced, she knew God was there.  She didn't want to face Him, but she knew He was there.  Many times in my life, I've allowed the negative thoughts to keep me from the truth like Shannon did.  Thankfully I too surrendered my life to Christ and I now try to let Him lead me each day.

I found it unusual that there were many, many references to faith but I don't recall a lot of scriptural references other than at the beginning of some of the chapters. This was a little disappointing because I know how important it is to be grounded in the Word, especially when you are facing spiritual battles.  However, I did appreciate the candid approach that the author took when describing the events of her life.  

Overall, I thought this was a good book for the Christian woman who struggles with feelings of unworthiness and negative thinking.  It's a wonderful example of someone who had been dragged down to the depths, but was lifted up by Christ when she turned her life over to Him.

You can find more about the author on her website www.shannonmdeitz.com.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from B&B media for the purpose of review.  I was not required to write a positive review. 

Love and Blessings Always!

Margaret

Book Review: Amish Prayers: Heartfelt Expressions of Humility, Gratitude and Devotion #christianbook

Amish Prayers: Heartfelt Expressions of Humility, Gratitude, and Devotion by Beverly Lewis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Amish Prayers is a book of common prayers used by the Amish. They are heartfelt, prayers and a nice guide to use when you don't know exactly what to pray. They tend to be on the formal side but that does not take away from the content!

Overall I gained much from the forthrightness and humility of these prayers. This is a book I will keep on my phone/kindle for reference.

This was a free download from Barnes and Noble, part of my personal collection.

Love and Blessings Always,
Margaret


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Book Review: Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs #christianbook

Bad Girls of the Bible: And What We Can Learn from Them by Liz Curtis Higgs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Bad Girls is a collection of relatively short stories about women in the bible. You meet each one first through a modern day story which helps you relate to the character. Then Ms. Higgs begins to talk about the biblical character using scriptures and humor to support the lesson. In the book she helps us to understand the motivations of these women and where they came from.

I've had this on my to read list for quite some time and I'm glad I finally read it. I treated as a devotional reading it a little bit each day for a six week period. I really got a lot out of this book!

I loved the format of using the modern day story followed by the biblical story. The former was important to helping you relate to the women in these stories. While they were fictional, they really could be any woman that you meet on the street today. The biblical stories were supported by the scripture that told about these women. They brought out points that you wouldn't normally think about when reading these stories in the Bible. I really appreciated that!

Overall, I thought the book was well written. It did drag out a bit at points but it wasn't too bad. The author's writing style is refreshing and educational at the same time!  Her questions at the end of the chapter really helped bring the lessons home. As a Christian woman, I am always looking for enriching devotionals and this definitely fit the bill. 

This is a book from my personal collection.  You can find it here:  Bad Girls of the Bible: And What We Can Learn From Them

Love and Blessings Always!

Margaret

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Book Review: Church Missing Black Men - Women Going Alone: Get Saved Man! by Lydia Paul #christianbook

Get Saved Man! by Lydia Paul
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Sorry I don't have a picture of the book cover for this one.

The premise of this Christian book is to show Christian women that there are many of us who have husbands who do not attend church regularly. What I was expecting was guidance in prayer and conduct for Christian women who want their husbands to attend, but not be overbearing or nagging. What I got was a book that described various situations the author faced with her husband who is not a church attender.

The book certainly had some golden nuggets. I love how she said nagging will not work, instead choose prayer and fasting. She gave some great advice on setting an example of godliness rather than using manipulative measures. I had to shake the pan to get rid of the dirt to find the gold nuggets, but the search was worth it when I found them! 

What I didn't like what that there was a LOT of information, but it was disorganized.  For example, there are a lot of links and references to books on Amazon in this book. That was very distracting to me, I would rather see traditional bibliography or footnote. In physical books, I rarely see a link unless it's directly related to the subject, not a reference document.  It seemed like the author got tired of researching the subject and just referenced other people's work. I really didn't connect at all even though I'm in a similar situation. This was certainly disappointing.

As a Christian book reviewer, I think the book needs a bit more work, maybe a review by a professional editor would have addressed my concerns. It definitely has potential and could be a good resource for women in this position. As a Christian reader, I would like to see a shorter version of this book that just sticks to the challenges of having a Christian husband who does not attend church and how she coped
with it.

Love and Blessings Always!

Margaret

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