Martin Luther King Jr.-The pastor who had a daring dream: A Review

This book was first published in 1997 by the Scandinavia Publishing House in Denmark. This new edition of the book is published by Autumn House publications in England and is distributed in America by Pacific Press Publishing Association. It is part of the Heroes of Faith and Courage series.

Sharon Jones, the author of this 50-page book, tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr with illustrations by Andrea Jula.

I was in Memphis April 4, 1968 the day that Dr. King was assassinated. While at that time I knew very little of Dr King or the Civil Rights movement, I have been inspired since then and through the years by the story of Dr. King.

Martin Luther King Jr. led the non-violent Civil Rights Movement in America with such conviction that he became known as the drum major for his people. Those who followed him during his lifetime learned the same lesson we can learn from his legacy today-“the few” speaking God’s truth will always prevail against “the many” believing a lie.

Sharon Jones tells the story of Dr. King’s childhood and traces how he grew up in the segregated south.  His parents taught him that he was just as good as anyone else. Martin was a very intelligent person. He graduated from Morehouse College when he was 19. He then attended Crozer Theological Seminary and graduated with his master’s degree and subsequently earned his doctorate from Boston College.

Martin was a leader. He became a pastor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery Alabama in 1954.  Rosa Parks was a faithful member of Dr. King’s church.

This book is written especially for young people. I believe it is important for young and old to remember how God has led in the past and this book is a great reminder of His leading in the Civil Rights movement. Dr King’s legacy of “Non iolent Resistance” is something that should be emulated today.

I would encourage you to pick up a book at your favorite store for young people in your sphere of influence or you can go on line to order a copy by clicking here.

Memorable Encounters: A Review

            There is a first encounter.

And the last one will come.

Between both we all have many more.

Some of them change the course of life.

But there is just one that can make it

Attractive and everlasting.

Now you can delight in learning

Through encounters of men and women

Who had the decisive one.

You can experience the same today.

I enjoyed this book by Roberto Badenas in which he describes in the 16 chapters encounters of people who met Jesus while He was here on earth. From John the Baptist by the river Jordan to Cleopas on the road to Emmaus, Nicodemus, who visited Jesus at night, the unnamed woman at the well at Samaria, and many more the author describes the life changing encounters these people had with Jesus.

The author states:

God does not evaluate us by what we are now, but by what we can become. He knows that the powers now dominating us are, in the end, alien to us. He knows that if we choose to let them go they will become nothing more than a foggy memory of our past existence.

In spite of what we have been taught, we do not need to be “good” in order to receive His grace. He accepts us as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us in our present condition. His eyes see beyond our painful present to a victorious future. And so He comes to lift us from the quagmire of our life. He extends to us His outstretched hand and His grace so that we can become “good.”

The author does a masterful job of describing the circumstances and the locations e.t.c., where these people encountered Jesus.

Look for this book at your favorite store or order on line by clicking here.

Anxious for Nothing-Finding Calm in a Chaotic World: A Review

This is one of the most recent titles from the pen of Max Lucado who is America’s bestselling inspirational author.
Lucado has a masterful way of putting words together and I enjoyed this book very much.

The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety is optional. Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one. Fear screams, Get out! Anxiety ponders, What If?

Fear results in flight or fight. Anxiety creates doom and gloom. Fear is the pulse that pounds when you see a coiled rattlesnake in your front yard. Anxiety is the voice that tells you, Never, ever, for the rest of your life, walk barefooted through the grass. There might be a snake…somewhere.

Max Lucado asks:

Are you laughing less than you once did?

Do you see problems in every promise?

Would those who know you best describe you as increasingly negative and critical?

Do you assume that something bad is going to happen?

Do you dilute and downplay good news with doses of your version of reality?

Many days would you rather stay in bed than get up?

Do you magnify the negative and dismiss the positive?

Given the chance, would you avoid any interaction with humanity for the rest of your life?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, I have a friend for you to meet. Actually I have a scripture for you to read….

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things. Philippians 4:4-8.

For some of God’s healing will include the help of therapy and/or medication. If that is the case, do not for a moment think that you are a second-class citizen of heaven. Ask God to lead you to a qualified counselor or physician who will provide the treatment you need

I highly recommend this book. I would encourage you to purchase one at your favorite book store or you can order it on line click here.

Refreshed Parables: A Review

This is the latest book written by Charles Mills, one of my favorite writers. In the gospels there are many parables (stories) that Jesus told to illustrate important spiritual truths

Charles Mills has picked out 25 of these and told a modern-day parable/story to illustrate the same spiritual lesson and then at the end of each modern-day parable is the parable from the Bible taken from the Easy English Clear Word Paraphrase so one can easily read the verses from the Bible which has the original parable. You can also look up the texts in whatever version of the Bible that you enjoy and use.

At the end of each chapter there is a fill-in-the-blank review page to help the reader grasp the lesson that the story is teaching.

I encourage you to click here and read the first chapter online from this new book.

John Byington: A Review

John Byington was the first president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He was the 2nd choice for the Committee charged with the task of finding and hiring a president for the organization when the church was officially formed in 1863. Their first choice was James White, but he turned them down, so they elected 65-year old John Byington, a farmer-preacher who served the Seventh-day Adventist Church well.

Prior to joining the Seventh-day Adventist Church, John Byington was a licensed Methodist minister who was a Circuit Riding Preacher for the Methodists from 1822-1852. When he became a Seventh-day Adventist, he continued his circuit riding preaching as a Seventh-day Adventist.

Byington served as President of the SDA Church from 1863-1865 and much of that time  he was traveling from church to church. So, in reality, between his 30 years as a Methodist Circuit riding preacher and his 35 years as an Adventist preacher, Byington preached for 65 years.

During all his years working for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Byington did not accept a regular salary but supported himself by his farm. He was also able to give funds for the support of the church and he and his wife often helped those in need.

While serving as a Methodist minister, he was very active in supporting abolitionist societies and also was strongly against Secret Societies like the Masons.

To a significant degree, Elder Byington remained a circuit riding preacher throughout his life. Unlike his Adventist ministerial colleagues, he did not receive a salary either from the Michigan conference or from the General Conference; he did not conduct evangelistic tent meetings to convert non-Adventists; he did not preach long doctrinal sermons or write book on theology. Instead he and Catharine (his wife) set out to cheer the discouraged, reconcile differences, urge repentance, and build faith and unity by holding revival, testimony, prayer, quarterly, social and business meetings; by preaching short homilies about heaven, grace, prayer, conversion, and perseverance and by visiting and praying with every family in every congregation in his vast parish. To prepare for this mission, John and Catharine began every year with fasting and prayer. Then they covered hundreds of back roads by horseback, buggy, sleigh and on foot and traversed muddy quagmires, snow-drifted fields, dusty paths, and rock strewn highways, facing carriage accidents, disease, and frequent opposition. Yet during his thirty-five year ministry, Elder Byington witnessed stronger congregations, faith healings, hundreds of baptisms, and a tightly unified, rapidly growing denomination.

Click here to read the first chapter of this inspiring autobiography on line for free and for information on ordering copies of this book.

Seekers: A Review

Seekers the most recent book by the popular author Bradley Booth is based on Matthew 13:44.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid and for joy over it goes and sells all that he has and buys the field.

              This parable illustrates the value of the heavenly treasure, and the effort that should be
              made  to secure it. The finder of the treasure in the field was ready to part with all that he
              had, ready to put forth untiring labor, in order to secure the hidden riches. So the finder of 
              heavenly treasure will count no labor too great and no sacrifice too dear, in order to gain
              the treasures of truth.

In the parable the field containing the treasure represents the Holy Scriptures. And the gospel is the treasure.

Bradley Booth enlarges on the parable Jesus told by telling a story of Micah and Koz and their father Harim and how they were working in a field for Master Shaphat, the richest landowner in the area and they discovered hidden riches; gold, silver and jewels. It was an accepted practice in Bible times that one who found treasures in a field could own them if they bought the field and became owners of the land.

The author tells a fascinating story of how the two brothers and their dad saved their money and eventually sold their house, their property and almost everything they owned to be able to buy the field.

They then legitimately owned the treasure as well. Booth has done excellent research in the history of the people who lived in this area where the story is set and creates a very fascinating story.

Of course, the real lesson in the story is we should be willing to give everything we have to gain the gospel treasure.

You can learn more about this new book and read the first chapter on line by clicking here.

The Hidden Power of Relentless Stewardship: A Review

Author Don Jernigan, PhD discusses 5 Keys to Developing a World-Class Organization:

            Compelling Mission

Here is the test to find out whether your mission on earth is finished. If you’re alive it isn’t.

            Powerful Vision

Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.

            Critical Values

If you think of vision and mission as an organization’s head and heart, then the values it holds are its soul.

            Healthy Culture

The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture.

            Outstanding Leadership

Our business in life is not to get ahead of other people, but to get ahead of ourselves.

Jernigan serves as president and CEO of Adventist Health System-the largest Protestant not-for-profit healthcare system in the United States, which comprises 44 hospitals with 77,000 employees serving over 4.7 million patients a year. He has also served as a naval officer, a university professor, and president of three hospitals.

Throughout this book Jernigan uses examples and anecdotes from his career to illustrate the 5 Keys to Developing a World Class Organization.

For more information about this book and to order your copy on line click here.

Green Cuisine for complete health: A Review

This is a new cookbook featuring more than 100 Plant-Based Recipes. Margaret Owens is the creator of this beautiful new cookbook. She has collected and created these mouth-watering recipes.

Dr Hans Diehl founder of the CHIP and Lifestyle Medicine Institute as well as a clinical professor of preventive medicine at Loma Linda School of Medicine has this to say about this cookbook:

When it comes to successfully combating the epidemic of heart disease, diabetes, excess weight, and high blood pressure, nothing in effectiveness trumps a plant-based, whole-food centered diet. This cookbook embodies these principles. You will thrive and experience health, vitality, and joy without the looming threat of chronic disease and premature death.

And you will enjoy these mouthwatering recipes. You can do them.

Besides the mouthwatering recipes in this cookbook with full color pictures so can you see what you are producing. There are several highlights in the book that make this cookbook unique and an interesting read: How to use these recipes; Tips for cooking; Definitions and descriptions of many Healthy Ingredients.

You can read the first chapter on line for free by clicking here. If you like to cook or know someone who does, this is an excellent book to check out.

Sharna of Rocky Bay: A Review

This book, first published in 1957, peaked my interest when I heard about it as a small child growing up in  the smaller Rocky Bay of Washington state. My siblings and I were curious to read the story  because it was about another Rocky Bay which we did not know existed.

The book has been out of print for a number of years and I am so delighted the Pacific Press recently decided to reprint the book. After reading it again, it brought back fond memories from the time.

At the time this book was written, Rocky Bay Alaska was and still is a small fishing village bordering Nothern Canada whose inhabitant’s lives revolve around fishing, sealing and sled dogs. Some of the men would spend part of their time at the Iron Mines.

This book is the story of a young girl who,spent her childhood years in the cold Rocky Bay in a continuous search to learn more about the “Holy Omnipotent Father” and where He lives. She was only in 3^rd grade when the book is written but she decided to complete two grades in one year in case they wouldn’t have a teacher to teach them the next year.

In the book, Sharna is a good student and does accomplish fulfilling the requirements for both 3rd and 4^th grades. She is inspired to want to further her education.

Sharna finds answers to her questions from a new Christian missionary teacher who leads her to a loving and caring God.

I enjoyed reading the book and particularly liked a technique that the teacher used to plant seeds of wanting to further one’s education beyond fishing or working in the iron mines.

The teacher gave three of the older students a beginning of a story and each one had to write a story with that beginning. Here is how the story starts: “Harry stored away his cod traps. No more fishing for me,” he said. “So he…”

You will have to read the book to find out the different scenarios that the students created for Harry, given this beginning of the story. You will need to read the book to find out what Harry did.

You can read the first chapter on line by clicking here

Sharna and Poggy: A Review

This is the sequel to the book Sharna of Rocky Bay. Sharna and Poggy are a sister and brother in a family that has 6 siblings in the little village of Rocky Bay in Alaska. It is a fishing village and generally what the men of the village do is fish or go off to the iron mines and mine iron.

Poggy is 8 years old and Sharna is a year or so older. In the previous book, Sharna of Rocky Bay, story is told of a missionary teacher who teaches at the elementary school for one year and along the way helps Sharna and Poggy to know more about God, who they refer to as “The Holy Omnipotent Father.”

Sharna and Poggy learned from the teacher that God is a loving God and that they could pray to Him about their needs and concerns.

In this sequel, Poggy finds a friend—a boy about his age from “outside” who has come to spend some time with his uncle and aunt. His name is Stephen, but he is called Spud.

Poggy is happy to have a friend about his age but Spud is not a Christian so Poggy decides he needs to let his light shine. Spud responds to the friendship of Poggy and does become a Christian.

The new school teacher is not as Christian as the school teacher the year before, but Sharna and other students are able to share Christian kindness and before the school year is over, they realize that he has changed a lot and is so much more pleasant than he had been at first.

This is a wonderful story that can encourage the reader to “let their light shine” and also to learn about how people have lived in remote areas of this world.

Click here to read the first chapter of this book on line.

Hope for Today's Family: A Review

Willie and Elaine Oliver state in the introduction to this new book:

There is hope for today’s families. Things can get better. Our children can grow up and become positive human beings. We can learn to overcome negative attitudes. As you embrace God’s reasons for creating the family, it is possible to have stronger and healthier family relationship.

Some of the topics covered in this 96-page book are:

The Family.

Marriage

Parenting

Communicating with Grace

How to prevent Marital Distress and Divorce

Finding Peace as a Single Person,

To help you get started click here to read the first chapter for Free on line.

A Trip into the Supernatural: A Review

Roger J. Morneau, author of this amazing autobiography was born on April 18. 1925 in New Brunswick, Canada. He was raised in a conservative Catholic home by very loving parents. However, there were a number of questions that he was unable to get satisfactory answers to and he came to hate God and turned away from Him

During World War II, he served in the Canadian Merchant Navy and drifted farther from religion.  When he finished his time of service, he became involved with Satan Worship. He was told that the spirits had big plans for him that would make him extremely successful and wealthy.

As he became acquainted with the priest of the Spirits Temple he became more and more involved. One day when the priest was speaking to a group of people and telling how Lucifer and the other spirits worked, the subject of Seventh-day Adventists came up. To quote, the question was “What about the Adventists. You can’t consider them deceived like you say the rest of the world is. Why do they resist the great deception?”

The priest answered:

You are correct. Adventists haven’t been taken in by it. First let me explain why I ignored them. There are so few of them when you consider the rest of the world’s population that I didn’t even think of mentioning them.

Second the reason that they haven’t fallen for the deception is that they are not ordinary people. Permit me to explain. What I am going to say next may upset some of you, but it’s true whether you like it or not.

The fact that Adventists celebrate the biblical Sabbath of Creation makes it impossible to deceive them. The Creator gives them special help and great spiritual insights. So in that sense they are not ordinary people.

Among other things Morneau learned, was fact that the spirits purposely try to bring about discord and war and fighting, including interfering with peace talks at the United Nations.  He was told that peace is not good for the success of Lucifer’s plans.

After a number of weeks, the Satanist priest told Roger and his friend Roland that it was time for them to formally become part of the Satanist group.  Roger said he needed a little time to decide if he would do this. In the providence of God, however, he met a gentleman at his work who was a Christian and studying to join the seventh-day Adventist church. The Jewish boss wanted to know why this non-Jew wanted Saturdays off, and asked Roger to find out. This led to bible studies (28 in one week)

 Roger accepted Jesus as his Savior and soon joined the Seventh-day Adventist church.

Now he was in trouble with the spirits- but he had accepted a more powerful Master, Jesus Christ.

I encourage you to read this book to learn a lot more amazing details of what happened to Roger.

For more information about this book and to order your copy on line click here.

A Pause for Peace: A Review

This book by Clifford Goldstein has just been republished this year in a larger edition with many beautiful full color illustrations

The subject is the Sabbath and Goldstein presents the biblical evidence for keeping the Sabbath as well as giving many of the health benefits of having a day of rest.

Goldstein masterfully shows that the Sabbath was the capstone to the creation week when God created this world and is a sign of His creation of us and the redemption which Jesus provided for us on Calvary.

The Sabbath is intended as a delight, a joy, and a blessing, not a burden.

Far from violating the Sabbath, Christ by His words and deeds, restored its true purpose.

If the Holy Sabbath day had been changed, surely the Gospel writers should have written something about it.

We are accepted not because of what we have done but because of what
Jesus has done for us.

In the new covenant, God will write His law on our hearts and minds.

Jesus himself adamantly taught and kept the seventh-day Sabbath

The Sabbath symbolizes not only the created world, but the soul re-created in Christ.

I recommend this book and encourage you to click here for information about this book and to read the first chapter  for free on line.

Out of Babylon: A Review

S. Joseph Kidder, the author of this autobiography was born in Nineveh, located in northern Iraq. The town itself is now called Mosul but still the modern city and ruins of the ancient city are called the “District of Nineveh.” The region is called “the state of Nineveh”

Up until a few years ago, the grave of Jonah was in the heart of Mosul. Jonah’s grave was, however, destroyed in 2014 by ISIS.

Kidder found Jesus on the streets of Bagdad, Iraq. His cousin Basher was visiting one Friday afternoon and they decided to go for a walk.

By accident or better yet, by divine providence, our walk brought us to the Adventist church. There was a small sign (about 6 inches by five inches) advertising a movie about the life of Jesus Christ and inviting people to go in and watch it.

Kidder relates that that movie is what introduced him to Jesus. He began to study the bible. He wanted one of his own so he saved up the $100.00 needed to order a bible. After ordering the bible, it still took 8 more months to receive it.

Kidder was happy to have his own bible and began to read it.

It can be hard to be a Christian in Iraq. One day nearly 100 friends and family met him at his home and spit on him and beat him up and left him for dead on the street.  But God was with him.

Later two of the young men who had beat him up talked to him and said either you are really crazy or if not we want to have what you have. Kidder was able to lead both of them to Christ.

Eventually Kidder was able to come to the United States to go to school and he became a minister. He has since pastored and taught at Andrews University for many years.

Kidder realized that, had he not become a Christian and left Iraq, he very likely would have been killed in one of the numerous wars that Iraq has waged.

Click here to read more information about this book and to read the first chapter on line for free.