A Century Turns

Where is America going? Just look at the decades between 1988 and 2008.

As America collectively exhaled at the end of the Cold War, we loosened our grip on the fear of nuclear confrontation for the first time since WWII. Some scholars even characterized the collapse of the Soviet Union as the end of history itself. Peace as palpable.

In A Century Turns, by William J. Bennett explores America’s recent and momentous history – the contentious election of 1988, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of global Communism, the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton, the technological and commercial boom of the 1990’s, the war on terror, and the election of America’s first black president.

I received this book compliments from Thomas Nelson Publishers and besides just being another history book this one provides you with so much detail and behind the scenes information that I never knew before. He really gets in depth with the key players and discusses the success and failures that has made history in America what it is today. For me it provided me with a profound look at history the way our current school book are missing.

For more information on this book, including where to purchase a copy, please click on the link below:

http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=1595551697&title=A_Century_Turns

Jesus Lives ~ Book Review

I had the pleasure of reviewing the book Jesus Lives by Sarah Young.

Each day greets you with a glorious challenge: Will you trust in Jesus’ unfailing love? Though the world specializes in separations and losses, the Bible says that nothing in all creation can separate you from Jesus’ love. Have you experienced His presence in your hardest times? Do you enjoy Jesus’ love for you in this very moment? He is closer than the air you breathe.

Jesus Lives is a devotional book filled with topics ranging from adversity to emptiness all the way through worry and worship. The book is laid out with a simple topic at the top of the page and then a message from God as though He himself was speaking directly to you regarding this particular situation. On the adjoining pages lie scripture references from the Bible.

This book is a highly recommended one because so often people come to us with a variety of issues impacting their lives both in positive and negative ways. We are asked for advice and sometimes we can’t always find just the right thing to say. This book does just that. In the Table of Contents are listed various situations you may find yourself or a friend in and offers just the perfect advice to uplift, encourage, and motivate people to find hope and faith in their circumstances.

I received this book from Thomas Nelson publishers to review and once again would highly recommend it to anyone seeking a quick and easy reference book to life’s problems.

Fear Less ~ Book Review

I have two words we should all be doing more of, Fearing Less or in this case of my most recent book I have read and am reviewing for Thomas Nelson Publishers is Fearless by Max Lucado.

It is simply an amazing book that you can’t put it down once you begin reading it. Face it everyone is afraid of something, losing a home, a job, a child, your faith, your life, the end of the world, that we are worthless, life is too hard, violence, loss of income, or what if God just isn’t real! Any of those cross your mind lately or do you know of someone that is has?

This is a perfect book because each of those fears is taken on from a Biblical perspective one at a time, in the Max Lucado’s form of writing that we all come to love. He keeps it in a real perspective using stories of what he himself has encountered to draw us further into this book.

Fear has gotten so much publicity lately they have even named a book and a game after our silly fears called, “Worst Case Scenario”! I mean how many of us will take one little thing and keep adding more and more things to it that by the time we reach the end, we are on our death beds just waiting to die.

I love Max’s explanation on what happens when we fear things.

“These real fears, born out of legitimate concerns. Yet left unchecked, they metastasize into obsessions. The step between prudent and paranoia is short and steep. Prudence wears a seat belt. Paranoia avoids cars. Prudence washes with soap. Paranoia avoids human contact. Prudence saves for old age. Paranoia hoards even trash. Prudence prepares and plans. Paranoia panics. Prudence calculates the risk and takes the plunge. Paranoia never enters the water.” – Max Lucado, Fearless, pg. 80.

It just shows you have far our fears can control our very lives if we let it. In today’s economy, we have some of the greatest fears you can imagine. Losing a job, which leads to no income, which leads to not paying bills, which leads to foreclosure on your home, which leads to living on the street, which leads to no food or shelter, which leads to death. So we have to worry about losing our job because we have no hope right?

Wrong, here is my favorite part of the book. “God owns everything and gives us all things to enjoy. He is a good shepherd to us, his little flock. Trust HIM, not stuff. Move from the fear of scarcity to the comfort of provision. Less hoarding, more sharing. “Do good…be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share.” And most of all, replace fear of the coming winter with faith in the living God. After all, it’s just Monopoly money. It all goes back in the box when the game is over.” – Max Lucado, Fearless pg. 112.