Which Chair Do You Sit In?

Experiencing Spiritual Breakthrough by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson

This book is divided into four sections: Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs, Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs with God, Experiencing Spiritual Breakthrough in your Marriage, Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs in your Parenting.

The illustration of the Three Chairs is key to understanding the purpose and principles in this book. Each chair represents a level of commitment to God.  The First Chair believer has a personal relationship with Christ exemplifying the word Commitment.  Their life is rooted in obedience to God’s Word and willingly submits to His authority. The Second Chair knows about Christ and may attend church. They are lukewarm Christians and vacillate between a Christian lifestyle and the lure of the World. The descriptive word is Compromise for this group. The Third Chair represents the person who has no responded to a person God. They may have been brought to church but rejected the faith of their parents.  There description is Conflict. Wilkinson uses generations in the Old Testament to show the progression of a First Chair parent with a Second Chair child.

I started the book but it did not hold my attention. My pride placed me in the First Chair and I really didn’t grasp the charts with the Snapshot of Three Generations.  Section Two was easier to understand and relate to my life. It helped me see ways that I need to rededicate to the LORD. Self and Pride are always the area of weakness for me. This book gave some real-life illustrations which hit home with me and showed my need for growth.

Skipping the Chapter on Marriage, I thought that Section Four on Parenting had some merit. Indeed the section is filled with illustrations of parenting styles and list Seven Steps to Raising Godly Children. It will be a good resource book for Godly Living.

This ebook was supplied by WaterBrook press for my review.

Widow of Saunders Creek

Widow of Saunders Creek  by Tracey Bateman
When the novel first arrived I was so excited, until I read the back cover and the first chapter a bedtime. I decided to lay the book down because I was not ready to handle demons and spirits. Depending on your spiritual upbringing, this could be a scary book.

It took me several weeks to try to tackle this book again; and I'm so glad that I did.  Not only is it a fast-paced mystery, but also a touching love story. Throughout the book Tracey Bateman depicts two opposing areas of spiritual beliefs present in the Missouri Ozarks. Through the character of Eli and his mother, Bateman interjects Christian beliefs and biblical proof that all spirits are not from God. The key character, Corrine, is grieving the death of her husband, Jarrod. She moves into the old family place that Jarrod had inherited. In a sad state of disrepair and need of much work, Corrie is soon met with slamming doors, creaking swings, missed placed items, and a strange feeling that there is someone else in the house. Jarrod's family has mixed feelings about a non-family member moving into Granny's house. There is much drama and a lot of personal interaction in the book. I finished reading it in two days and when it ended I said aloud, "That really was a good book!"

As a Christian, I know that Satan does not have power over me. Demons may aggravate us and try to weaken our trust in Jesus, but they cannot touch us without permission from God. (See Job and Peter.) The Sovereign Almighty God uses all the circumstances in our lives to help us grow and mature and to fully put our trust in Him. This is a good book to instruct teenagers of the dangers when dabbling in the spirit world and the occult. Read Ephesians 6 for your battle armor. ¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

This book was supplied by WaterBrook press for my review.

Disappointing Account of Heaven

This review is from: To Heaven and Back: A Doctor's Extraordinary Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angels, and Life Again: A True Story by Mary C. Neal M.D.

I was anxious to read this book written by a real doctor. Her experiences in heaven were briefly described and in an analytical style of a physician. There was not the joyful proclamation of events as noted in other books on heaven. There was lots of background of her family and their trips, especially the kayaking trip in Chile when her fatal accident took place. The book chronicles an amazing story of her healing and recovery. Not the dramatic inspiring revelation of other books in the same category which give us hope and desire for eternal life in heaven.

This (Paperback Edition) book was given to me to review by Blogging for Books - WaterBrook Multnomah. waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks