Several months ago, I was asked to review a new Bible study, entitled “Chase”, written by Jennie Allen.  The Bible Study can be used as a standalone study guide or used as part of a DVD series presented by Allen herself.

The Chase study.    The study itself is thorough and scriptural.  The eight-week study uses the example from the life of King David to help us discover what God really wants from believers.  The questions are interactive and are best used in a group study.  During the study, you will learn about identity, courage, obedience, belief, repentance, surrender and being chased by God.

Are you chasing after God or after the things of this world?  Are you searching for your identity in Christ or in yourself, your roles, your talents, or even your spouse and children?  “Chase” will show you how to apply the truth of Scripture to your own life and, through the support and accountability of a small group, will guide you to a better understanding of who we are as believers in Christ.

I enjoyed the study itself.  I believe a small group experience would make this study an excellent short study for a short period of time.  However, depending on the size of the group, the length of each session will take longer than one hour.

The Chase DVD.  The package comes with one study guide, one leaders’ guide, conversation card and a DVD containing eight short videos 8-12 minutes in length.  Jennie Allen holds a masters’ degree in Biblical studies from Dallas Theological Seminary.  Her passion is communicating a bigger God through writing and teaching.

I was not impressed with the video presentations.  I was distracted by the volume of the background music as well as the constant use of her hands as she spoke.  She was trying too hard to be relational and conversational, but she couldn’t compete with the music.  They added nothing to the study as it was all about her personal experiences but didn’t contain much more than what the study included.

In my opinion, in a DVD study, the video should complement and/or add to what you have studied throughout the week.  On a positive note, the $30.00- $40.00 price makes it an inexpensive alternative to some of the other studies that cost over $100.00.

In summary, this is a great summer time study.  It will take about an hour to complete the study guide each week and at least an hour and half for the discussion meeting.  It is designed to be a women’s study.  The DVD would be best suited for girls/young women ages 17-25.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Robin Jones Gunn, author of some of my favorite books (think Sisterchicks), has written a book of encouragement that will touch your heart in deep places.  Robin lets us into her heart as she shares some very personal, heart-breaking events matched with some awe-inspiring works of God that proves that He does, in fact, have a plan for our lives and every little thing matters.  How awesome it was that Robin shared her experience and revelation with us.  There is hope for us after all.  God doesn’t leave us alone.

I had expectations for this book.  First, I thought this isn’t going to be that great.  Why do I want to read this?  But I am so glad I read it.  I feel like shouting “He loves me.  God really loves me.”  Thank you, Robin, for writing this book.  By sharing your heart and how God worked in your life, I have hope for mine.

Okay, now that I’ve gotten the praise out of the way, let me explain why I feel this way.  Mixed in with Robin’s testimony, she shares how God has worked in the lives of women in the Bible who were victims of grace—Hannah, Eve, Hagar, Rebekah, Mary Magdalene, Mary…  Woven throughout “Victim of Grace” is a story of God’s goodness in the midst of trials, disappointments and pain.  We are all victims of God’s grace.  He pushes us from a place of feeling rejected to a place where we are able to receive His abundant grace and our heart is set free to overwhelming possibilities only God could orchestrate (if only we’ll let Him).

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from BookSneeze, as part of Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Why did you join your church?  Did you join your church like you would join a gym or a country club?  Do you walk out of church each Sunday wondering why you even bother?  Do you serve or do you go to soak in the music, the message, the fellowship or something altogether different?

Being a member of a church, unlike a country club, is not all about you and your needs and desires.  Just because you give an offering or a tithe to your church doesn’t entitle you to complain about the service or threaten to leave when things don’t go your way.

Thom S. Rainer has written a short and simple book entitled “I am a Church Member” that can be read in about an hour.  Each chapter contains a pledge you sign as a church member agreeing to a certain attitude you are willing to either give up or take on as a member of your church.  Discussion questions follow which will help clarify what Rainer has covered in the chapter and make you think about your own church membership.

If you have struggled with church membership, Rainer will show you how to overcome them and why the problem may be a selfish problem.  By understanding which attitudes are necessary and which ones should be cast aside, we will become better church members and your church may become just what you’ve needed all along.

My guess is that the people who should read this book won’t and those that read the book will learn from it.  However, the book doesn’t address the reality that some churches have leadership problems and a lack of accountability between pastors and staff.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Shelton Interactive as part of their book review blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

David Wilkerson is best known for his early ministry to drug addicts and gang members in New York City.  His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade which was made into a movie in 1970.  For many years, Wilkerson struggled with the New Covenant and how to put that into practice having grown up with legalism and works theology.

“In my later years, I have concluded that laying hold of the New Covenant is the only way to break free from the power and dominion of sin” writes Wilkerson in his introduction to “It is Finished”.  It’s not about hard work to make up for the bad things you’ve done.  It’s about the redeeming power of the New Covenant.

“It is Finished” is composed of messages Wilkerson preached at Times Square Church in New York City.  Wilkerson has filled his book with basic covenant truths with deep explanations in order for you to apply God’s truth to your life.  If you have ever struggled with sin and grieved over them and sought freedom from them, Wilkerson’s powerful teachings will show you how to stop the cycle of sinning and confessing.

Wilkerson helped me understand the New Covenant concept better than any other pastor or teacher ever has because he struggled with this himself and diligently sought the truth.  Thank goodness he was able to share this knowledge with us through the generosity of his estate.  It is a book you will devour as you read.  I am grateful this book was written and that I was able to receive this book I so desperately needed at this time in my life.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Baker Publishing Group as part of their book review blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

“Jesus, the One and Only” is an invitation to know Christ personally.  Beth Moore, writer and teacher of best-selling books and Bible studies, uses the book of Luke as her guide as she leads readers through a study that will open your eyes to the life and character of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This book complements Moore’s “Jesus, the One and Only” Bible study but can also be read separately.  Beginning with the story of John the Baptist and ending with the ascension after the death and resurrection of Christ, Moore uses her talent of teaching the Word to present truths about Jesus that will help you understand His teachings so you can apply them to your life.

Moore takes a biblical approach but does take some liberty in imagining what would have been going on which some may find off-putting.  However, she does let the reader know when her imagination takes over.  I enjoy these little diversions as she shows us the culture of the time and what Jesus might have been doing and what others were thinking as He taught and preached.

This book will enhance a study of Christ and will lead to a better understanding of the time period He lived in and why people reacted the way they did.

Click here to order from Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Shelton Interactive in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

There is something about this nine-year-old girl named Louisa.  She most probably saved Jake Tucker’s life, but she just appeared out of nowhere.  She couldn’t remember her last name or her parents or nothing of any value that would have helped anyone find out who she was, but she was in Virginia Mills for a reason.

Some say she has a gift—to heal, to know, to say the right things.   Others call her an angel sent from God to save them.  Nevertheless, Louisa becomes the town hero.  Jim and Amy Spencer have just suffered the loss of their unborn child.  Amy is still locked in depression.  Jim is struggling to move on while at the same time trying to comfort his wife.

When Louisa comes into their lives, Jim is accepting while Amy is reluctant, hesitant, scared.   When a serial killer comes to town and they suddenly become targets, Jim and Amy fight to keep Louisa safe, but does Louisa know something they don’t?

In his sixth book of the genre, Mike Dellosso delivers another suspenseful story that will haunt you until the end.  With a brief tug at your imagination, Dellosso pulls you into a story that will leave you wondering—was that really just a story?

Click here to purchase from Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Realms a division of Charisma House Book Group, and as a member of The Darlington Society. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

There are lots of books about couponing and even a television show.  You’ve heard the stories.  You’ve seen the pictures on Facebook of purchases and savings.  There are couponing classes.  Quite frankly, I don’t have the time or money for a class or a bunch of books especially when there’s tons of free information available online if you know where to look.

I, for one, don’t have time to clip coupons, scour sales flyers and plan accordingly.  I barely have time to make a complete grocery list, and, to be honest, my time is worth more than my money these days.  I suppose because I have more time than money.  Yes, I want to save money, and quite frequently I do by using coupons for products I would buy anyway and trying to plan accordingly when there is a sale.  I may be foolish, and maybe someday I will put forth the effort to coupon.

Kasey Knight Trenum believes in responsible couponing.  She doesn’t advocate the extremes some go to in order to save money though she does stockpile certain items.  In her book, “Couponing For the Rest of Us,” Trenum suggests ways to find and use coupons and save money.  You may not find much difference in Trenum’s book and others available; however, she does respect your time and shows you how to use it wisely and still save money couponing.  She shows you the benefits of stockpiling items that you will use not just purchase because of the money you save.  She explains why some of the excuses you might use for not clipping coupons do not apply and helps you master the art of saving money not just coupons.

Clipping coupons for Trenum is more about being a good steward of her finances than anything else.  She wants to be able to wisely handle her money as well as be generous to those in need.  By couponing and watching for sales, she is able to do both.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell Books, as part of their Book Review Blogger Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

When Steve met Nancy she was determined to be a missionary, but Steve wanted nothing more than to live his life securely on American soil.  Somehow, even with their differences, they were convinced God brought them together for a purpose and though Steve still assured Nancy active participation in missions was never to be, he would still contribute to missions financially.  Whether Nancy thought things would ultimately change or not, she married Steve and together they created a family.

When Nancy found out she was pregnant at the age of 40, she and Steve were both surprised and excited at the same time.  However, their excitement would soon turn to concern when they were told their child would be born with trisomy 13, a genetic disorder with an extra chromosome on the thirteenth pair.  Most pregnancies do not make it full term or the baby is stillborn, and those who survive live two years at the longest.  Stephen Wrigley Peifer lived eight days.

Seeking to flee the pain of their loss, Steve and Nancy Peifer signed up to be dorm parents at a school in Kenya for a year.  But this one-year experiment became a 13 year journey to end the tears of hunger.

“A Dream So Big” is the re-telling of the events leading up to and including this monumental decision to be an unlikely hero living life in the center of God’s Will after the excruciating pain of losing a child.  It is a story of what can happen when God puts two people together to live life in a world filled with pain and sorrow and how those two people can make a decision to give their lives to help others when they have suffered loss.  It tells of how their hearts became broken for the kids who desperately needed help in order to survive.  Their son, Stephen, through his death, saved thousands of kids in Africa from dying from hunger.  What a marvelous picture of what God did for us—allowing His own Son, Jesus, to die on a cross to save the multitudes of sinners who would later turn to Him in their spiritual hunger so that they could have eternal life.

Click here to purchase “A Dream So Big” by Steve Peifer with Gregg Lewis through Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Zondervan in return for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I want to move to Deep Haven.  I want to meet the Christiansens, the Gibs and Jensen Atwood.  After all, I already feel like I know them like they grew up down the street from me, and I got to watch them grow up.  I love it when a book takes me away to a different place and introduces me to people who, by the end, have become long lost friends.  Ones I will deeply miss.

“Take a Chance on Me” is the first book in Susan May Warren’s Christiansen Family series.  Ivy Madison has just moved to Deep Haven as assistant county attorney looking forward to being a part of a small town.  Little does she know that small towns breed big problems especially when families and friends are torn apart by grief and justice.

Ivy meets Darek Christiansen, Deep Haven’s most eligible ineligible bachelor.  A man held to his past by anger and bitterness.  His wife died in an accident due to the assumed negligence of his best friend.   Ivy wrote the brief that kept Jensen out of jail.  Can she really expect Darek to continue their relationship when he discovers that she is the one who denied him the justice he feels his wife deserved?

The Christiansens are sure to capture your heart as you tag along to family picnics, rehash old memories and look ahead to new adventures.  The only disappointment is that the book had to come to an end.  I am looking forward to the second installment.  Tell me it’s coming very soon.

Click here to purchase from Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers, as part of their Book Review Blogger Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Drawn to Donna Fletcher Crow’s “An Unholy Communion” because it promised an intriguing plot, I was disappointed with the seemingly forever walking journey that seemed to take as long to travel in the book as it would physically.

Felicity witnesses a murder the police label a suicide.  While she and her fiancé, Father Antony, lead a youth pilgrimage through rural Wales, they make some startling discoveries regarding the victim and those who wanted him dead.

I got lost in the book several times and mostly couldn’t wait to get finished.  This book was easily skimmed while retaining the general storyline.  The incessant detail and observations were more about the author than the characters in the story.  It was obvious the author did her homework and even travelled the same route she used in the book.  The beauty of the area captured her imagination but she didn’t translate it to the written page very well.

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Donna Fletcher Crow is celebrating the release of An Unholy Communion with a Kindle Fire Giveaway.


One winner will receive:

• A brand new Kindle Fire
• Books 1-3 in The Monastery Murders series by Donna Fletcher Crow

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on May 12th. Winner will be announced on 5/14/13 {HERE}.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity Group, as part of their Book Review Blogger Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”