Journey to the Heart of God: A Review

S. Joseph Kidder the author of Journey to the Heart of God, covers the following:

Journey to the Heart of God:

                Through Seeking and Experiencing His Presence

                Through Worship

                Through Prayer

                Through Feeding on His Word

                Through Outrageous Forgiveness

                Through Christian Fellowship

                Through Fasting

                Through Giving

                Through Touching Lives

Kidder relates that recently when former president Barak Obama came to Chicago for a fundraiser, tickets for the dinner were more than $50,000.00 each. If you wanted to also have your picture taken with him the cost $250,000.00 each.

Kidder says, “Thankfully, I don’t have that problem when I want to spend time with God. He invites me to come into His presence for free. Being in God’s presence provides me with a banquet of blessings. He remembers our time together, and He not only knows my name but also the number of hairs on my head (Matthew 10:30). Every detail of my Life is important to God.”

In the section on Outrageous Forgiveness, Kidder tells the story of the king whose servant owed him “ten thousand talents of gold.” The king forgave him but then he would not forgive his fellow servant who owed him “a hundred silver coins.” The king took back the forgiveness of the “ten thousand talents of gold.” See Matthew 18:23-35. As Jesus said in the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Ten thousand talents of gold is equivalent to 150,000 years’ wages. That’s an amount obviously the servant could never pay back.

In the section on Giving, Kidder tells the story of a member  of a church that Kidder pastored who came to him and said, “I don’t see how I can give ten percent of my income to the church when I can’t even  keep on top of my bills.” Kidder asked him, “If I  promise to make up  the difference in your bills if you should fall short, do you think you could try tithing for just one month.” The member thought about it and responded, “Sure if you make up any shortage, I guess I could try tithing for one month.”

Kidder responded “You say you’d be willing to put your trust in a mere man like yourself, who possesses little materially, but you couldn’t trust your heavenly Father, who owns the whole universe.” The member got the point and decided to take God at His word and began paying a faithful tithe.

Within two years he was out of debt.

I believe you would be blessed as I was by reading this book; for starters, please click here and you will be able to read the first chapter of this book on line for free.

One Trip To Kenya: A Review

The author David Edren lives in Australia and believes story sharing changes the world more than anything else. He spends his days as a chaplain listening to the stories of primary school children. He is also a professional storyteller, writer, and mentor who travels and shares stories.

David says “I love children and Africa is filled with children. I always knew that one day I would go to Africa, with my visit focusing on children. My dilemma was choosing where to go.”

So, when Carole Platt and her husband Leon, who both worked with Education Care Projects in Kenya contacted David about making a three-week trip to Kenya, he was very interested in going. The plan was that he would tell Bible Stories to the children at the various Education Care Projects in Kenya

In December 2016 and January 2017, David, along with the Platts made a missionary trip to Kenya. David’s main emphasis as planned was to tell Bible stories to the children, and write a story about the people he met and the story of the mission trip.

Africa- one word with so many meanings: people, poverty, resources, dirt, wealth, war, safari, starvation, children, genocide, beauty, abuse, power, orphans.

Africa is home to every seventh person on Earth. Within its fifty-four countries, nearly two thousand languages are spoken; each represents a unique people group and a distinct culture.

It is a fascinating story of one week in Maasai country and one week in the town of Mosoriot. 

In addition to telling gathered children stories, a week-long revival meeting was added to the itinerary with two meetings per day, one before lunch, and one after lunch. People walked for hours to come to these meetings, which was something to behold.

During David’s 3 weeks in Africa, he wrote more than 30,000 words about his experiences which he blogged about and when he got back home to the US, he created the book One Trip to Kenya, based on these blogs. Please click here to read the first chapter of this amazing book.

The Rookie: A Review

As a lonely child, Jim Morris took one thing with him wherever his family moved-his ability to hit and throw a baseball. For Jim, the passion of becoming a major-league ballplayer was his anchor and inspiration…until injuries and life got in the way. A decade after Jim walked away from the minors and began a life of fatherhood and mortgage payments, he made a promise to the hardscrabble high-school team he coached: if they could win their local championship. He would try out again for the big leagues. They did-and he did. Now, in this wondrous, heart-tugging  book, Jim Morris tells the story of his remarkable life and his amazing journey to the Big Show at the age of thirty-five…and how he finally fulfilled his childhood dream.

Wow! This is one of the most incredible stories that I have read. Jim as a child loved baseball. He liked to spend his time with a ball, didn’t really need any one else along to make him happy. Of course as he got to where he was going to play a game it does take more than one person.

He played in various school teams and got into the minor league, but he just could not make up the ladder to the Big League.

Meanwhile, he got married, bought a house and along with that came mortgage to pay and the children started coming along with even more costs and expenses to meet.

As he got into his thirties, his job included coaching a high-school baseball team. Kids liked him because he treated everyone including them with respect. But somehow his team was not making the grade.

Then the team came up with a bargain. We win the championship you try out again for the big league!

Jim agreed to it not really expecting them to win. But they did!  He believed in keeping his word so he went for a try out and amazed the judges. So he headed home…

By the time we walked into the house, my answering machine had a dozen messages from the Devil Rays, each one more eager than the last. The last caller had been Dan Jennings, the Tampa Bay scouting director

“We want you,” he said. “When can you start playing?”

I highly recommend this book. Check with your favorite book store or order on line from Amazon.com.

My Favorite Prayer Stories: A Review

This is one of my favorites from the various books in Joe Wheeler’s My Favorite…Stories.

Joe Wheeler writes, “I firmly believe that prayers are not meant merely to supply our wants, although God does grant a surprisingly large number of such prayers. Rather, they are meant to deepen our friendship and companionship with our Maker.”

This collection of stories which Joe has compiled certainly will lead the reader to a deeper friendship and companionship with the Lord.

Joe quotes several quotes from Phil Yancey’s book Prayer.

As if by instinct we cry out to God when trouble strikes

We tend to place God’s activity in a different category from natural or human activity; the Bible tends to draw them together. Somehow God works in all of creation, all of history, to bring about ultimate goals.

Please click here and read the first chapter of this book and you will probably be hooked and want to read the entire book. There is information on the same website for ordering the book or check with your local bookstore.

The Tinderbox: A Review

I love reading books by Beverly Lewis about Amish people.  Beverly Lewis grew up living near Lancaster County Amish Farmland and has been interested in the Amish people all her life.

With her parents’ twentieth anniversary approaching, eighteen-year-old Sylvia Miller finds her father’s cherished brass tinderbox left unlocked. Against her better judgment, Sylvia opens the heirloom, not realizing what she is about to discover will splinter apart her happy life and alter everything for her close-knit Old Order Amish Family. As the long-kept secret emerges into the light of day, can the Millers find a way forward through the turmoil to a place of forgiveness?

Sylvia’s Dad, who is her Dat in the way of speaking for the Amish had been raised as an Englisher also known as fancy. He had come to the Amish country to find a peaceful life married Rhoda and to all appearances had adapted well into the Amish lifestyle. As Mamma said, “it’s like he was born to be Amish.”

Dat learned the clock making trade and became a well-respected member of the Amish community and well-known for the clocks he made as well as the repairs he made for those who needed them.

Sylvia wanted to know more about his background but he did not talk much about that.

You need to read this book to find out what Sylvia found in the Tinderbox. One can learn about relationships from this story specifically how things are done in the Amish community; however, the principles evinced in the Amish lifestyle as shown in these stories can apply to anyone in and outside the Amish community.

You can learn some more about this book by visiting your local book store  or you can click here for some more details.

Religion in the Real World: A Review

This is Charles Mills most recent book.

In the Introduction he asks this question. “Have you ever seen a straight river? They’re rare—for a very good reason. Rivers don’t just flow; they meander.”

Mills goes on to say that some Christians are like the river that just sort of meanders along. Then he says, “But then there are also Christians who don’t; they set their eyes on the prize-heaven- and charge ahead, blasting through barriers, tunneling through obstacles, brushing aside obstructions, and not yielding to the many stumbling blocks that get in their way.”

These men and women, boys and girls are attempting to live God’s love in the real world. They’re determined that nothing, absolutely nothing, is going to permanently alter their course to the Promised Land.

They also know that absolute, straight-line perfection isn’t possible in an atmosphere of sin. Christianity is never mastered, but it can be-and should be-practiced –daily.

I am glad that Charles Mills included that last sentence.

The purpose of this book is to motivate and inspire us for our journey through the twists and turns of life on the way to the wonderful Promised Land.

Charles Mills makes a number of statements in this book which I especially like.  Here is one of my favorites after he discusses the parable of the king’s banquet hall he says:

The new earth, like the king’s banquet hall, will be filled with those who are too sinful to save but have wrapped Christ’s robe of righteousness about them so completely that their filthy rags have vanished from view. They’ve accepted the invitation and dressed accordingly.

Please click here to read the first chapter on line of this new book.

To The Last Man-A Story of Courage and Loyalty: A Review

I like Biblical narratives, and this one is an amazing retelling of the story of Jonathan, who was the crown prince of Israel and in this book author Glen Robinson brings his story to life.

Not just David’s best friend, Jonathan is a biblical hero in his own right. Groomed to be the next king of Israel, Jonathan struggles with maintaining a faith in God as he watches his father the king drift away from the God who gave them victory. Samuel anoints David as successor, and Jonathan has to balance God’s plans for Israel with his responsibility to his father.

I found it very interesting to read the story of David and Jonathan from the perspective of Jonathan.

Robinson’s research into the biblical story and his storytelling abilities have created a fascinating book to read. He tells Jonathan’s complete story, starting with his father, Saul, who was chosen as the first King of Israel all the way to the end when the Israelites were defeated in battle with the Philistines.

Saul, the king took his own life and Jonathan was killed in battle. Some way Jonathan had a relationship with God that made it possible for him to accept that David would be king and not Jonathan.

You can click here and read the first chapter of this book for free on line and also for information for ordering this book.