Ishbance Conspiracy

I am a fan of Randy Alcorn and enjoyed the previous fiction trilogy with Ollie Chandler. Safely Home was my introduction to Alcorn and I have enjoyed most of his books. His devotional books and nonfiction books on Heaven is a wonderful resource. I even bought the teaching kit for Heaven. This book was torture for me to finish.  This scenario was written more for teens. The author says it is for everyone but not so much. It did give insight to teenage challenges but the text was not as in tune to my taste. I even ordered a copy of Lord Foulgrin's Letters to compare. Maybe because I am familiar with spiritual warfare and teach Bible I thought his demon correspondence was rambling. Sometimes the letters in Ishbane Conspiracy were so long and repetitive I skimmed them. To be fair, I did not finish Screwtape Letters either. The letters calling God offensive names and Satan "master" was hard to transfer in my brain. However, I think Lord Foulgrin's Letters will be interesting. I'll let you know when I finish.

What the Bible Says about Prayer Pamphlet

One hundred key verses on prayer, What the Bible Says about Prayer is a useful pamphlet for those learning how to prayer. It is also a good resource for teachers and counselors. Pages give specific verses concerning how to pray, why we need to pray, and how not to pray. Quotes of well known writers are sprinkle the pages with a colorful bubble. One of my favorite topics is "When God says No." God always answer prayer:  sometimes He says "Yes," sometimes He says "No," and sometimes He says "Wait." The acronym ACTS gives the four types of Prayer: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. My prayer groups actually uses this same method for ordering our prayers. The Lord's Prayer is explained on a handy chart showing the "petition" and the meaning of each phrase. Three pages highlight famous characters and heroes in the Bible including the who, what, when, where, and why they each prayed. This will be useful to me as a Bible Study teacher. This handy little booklet will be a great resource for my library. Rose Publishing provided this PDF for my review.

Heath bar cake

Butter pecan cake mix and one cup broken pieces Heath bar me

Bake as usual when finished poke holes do you use a wooden spoon or want one can Eagle Brand milk sweetened condensed milk pour on top let cool how much slather generously with William

Hope Crossing Ada House trilogy

I reviewed The Bridge of Peace (book 2) in 2011 and never had the opportunity to read book 3 in the Ada's House trilogy. What a delight and final completion to read all three books in proper order! The Hope of Rescue opens with the story of a troubled young woman and her daughter running from the big city and a stalker. Cara Moore reaches into her past to remember a time with the Amish. Making choices contrary to the code of the "Ordnung," the German word for order, discipline, rule among the Amish, Old Order Mennonite, Cara cause trouble for the only one willing to help her learn their ways. The Bridge of Peace follows the relationship of Cara, her daughter Lori, and Ephraim while bringing two more romances to fruition. Deborah Mast has heartache turn to joy in book two. Deborah moves from her father house to live with Ada and Cara as they develop their bakery into a year round attraction. Deborah discover the devices of her former beau and finds true love with her best friend, Jonathan.  Lena is perhaps my favorite character because she is a kind and caring school teacher, risking her career to help those hurting around her.Lena endures harsh teasing, unkind words and vicious untruths from the new family in the community. But Grey, her childhood friend and neighbor comes to her rescue in more ways than one. Finally the third book Harvest of Grace unite all the characters in loving relationships and introduces a new member to the Amish community. Sylvia left her own family and inheritance to moves to the community to help the Blank family keep their floundering farm. Months later the prodigal son returns to sell the farm and move his parents to town. What a wonderful community united in caring and love for each other in the church. This was a wonderful book of loving grace and the importance of truth and forgiveness. Aaron reveals the depths of his addiction to his family and the help Lena had provided for him to be healed. Sylvia and Aaron have a love/hate relationship. What will be their fate? Hope, grace, and peace are wonderful unifying themes in this book-Hope Crossing. I was provided a copy of this book from Blogging for Books- Waterbrook for free in order to write this review.

Understanding the Book of Revelation PPT

The book of Revelation has 22 chapters. My group is starting an 18 weeks session on the Study of Revelation. This PPT resource has a wonderful introduction that will definitely be useful in my class. There are 115 slides with one map used eight times with an arrow showing the locations of the seven churches and some repetition of images. The main focus of this resource seems to be the four view of Revelation: Historicist, Preterist, Futurist, Idealist. The worksheets include a very thorough chart for comparing these views. This is not the reason for my study of John’s vision. I think the author missed the mark by slighting the last three chapters in the book: Satan’s downfall and the description of heaven on earth when Christ returns to set up His kingdom. Of the 10 pages of worksheets, only two are fill in the blank questions and one page of Discussion questions. There are 3 pages of terms used in Revelation. This was concise and handy to use.

I was given this download of Understanding the Book of Revelation by Rose Publishing for my honest review. If you want information on the four views this is the resource for you. It was not in depth enough for my taste.

When Mercy Rains by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Kim Vogel Sawyer is a favorite author of mine. The theme is the treatment of an a pregnant teenager in an Old Order Mennonite community. Some things surprised me since I read mostly Amish fiction, but it was interesting to view the differences in the treatment of phones and cars and electricity. Suzanne was called home nearly twenty years later to care for her mother. When she arrives with her nineteen year old daughter tension is high. Alexa is bright and creative and wins the heart of all she meets. The author did a splendid job showing each person's point of view in the unfortunate event of twenty years ago. Would they have changed things if they could? Will Paul now marry Suzanne, his first love? God's timing is perfect and His mercies are new each morning. There is a lot of mistakes to be forgiven; a lot of lost time to regain.

This book was given to me by Waterbrook Press to review for Blogging for Books.

A Love Undone

Cindy Woodsmall has got to be my all time favorite Amish writer. All of her books of that I have read have depth of character, unexpected twist to the plots, and very unpredictable endings. A Love Undone is a novel of shattered dreams. Jolene Keim was marrying the man of her dreams and had her whole life ahead of her. The death of her parents caused her to sacrifice her future to keep her younger siblings together. Jolene’s character is most unselfish, and has resigned herself to the cruel fate of a living alone never to have children of her own. A new friendship turns into a love interest that seems impossible. This kind of book has you rushing through to the end to find out if there's a happy ending. Absolutely one of the best novels I have read in a long time. I was given an ebook for my review of this book by Blogging for Book.

Thief of Glory

This book took me a while to get an idea of what was going on. In fact you do not determine the reason for the title until the last chapter. Historical fiction describing life in a jappenkamp, a Japanese-run internment camp for civilian during World War II. The description is vivid and very graphic regarding treatment by the fictional Japanese commander, Nakahara. It was difficult for me to comprehend such cruelty. Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies flipped the world upside down for Jeremiah and his family. The men and teens were removed from the family, leaving ten year old Jeremiah to care for his younger brother and sisters as well as his fragile mother. The theme throughout the book is the love of Jeremiah for Laura and the circumstances of their final meeting. The book starts in the present then plunges us into the past reliving the years when met and parted and then remarkably both ended up in the horrendous condition of the  jappenkamp. Their faith in God and Jeremiah's determination to take care of his family held them together until their release. Years later the couple meet in America to spend what is left of their life together. The ending was part I enjoyed the most. I like the idea that Brouwer built the story around the love story of his own parents Willem and Gerda. The author includes photos of his family bringing the story to life. This book was given to me by Waterbrook Press to review for Blogging for Books.

Discovering Who You Are and How God Sees You

I received a pdf file of this book about Discovering Who You Are and How God Sees You from Rose Publishing for an honest review. God is not only the creator he is the orchestrator. Do you believe in coincidence? I believe in divine intervention into our lives whether we notice it or not! Only God could “park” a file on my computer and the supernaturally share it as I am looking for images for this week’s lesson.

The book opens with a woman who by outward appearance has it all; wearing the right clothes, carrying the name brand purse and draped in a designer scarf. When she entered the counselors’ office the façade is dropped and she exhibits her fragile identity.   

Many identity losses are felt because the foundation we base our identity on is shaky. Who are you? As a youth you may have depended on your looks or you personality to join the “right” group of friends. In college I became a little fish in a big pond. After college we are our profession; marriage 

offers new titles-wife then mother. Living alone at the moment I know who my foundation is built. 

Jesus is my rock. My song for the week has been How Firm a Foundation. I know, right!God is so good.I have learned that who I am is not tied to physical abilities and roles and emotional ties in life. Who I am is determined by my creator, my potter, sovereign LORD. Who I am is determined by “Whose I am!”

The author has created a book for your Christians who may not have attained the wisdom and knowledge to realize their identity is not tied to their work, their family, or their social status. Their beliefs of where they receive their significance are out of focus. There is space in several chapters to write down what you believe about yourself. Chapter three is the meat of the text: how to let go of your false identity and accept the grace we receive through Christ. We need to know what the Bible says about our identity. There are several scriptures in the third chapter which are valuable to know and memorize to maintain a belief that we are a treasured possession and Christ’s death has paid our debt in full. Now we can approach the Father complete in Christ.

Jesus' Family Tree: Seeing God's Faithfulness In The Genealogy Of Christ

I had the privilege of a sneak peek of the first chapter of this title from Rose Publishing. It is organized well with colorful charts and lineage posters. All those year of reading the "begots" in the Old Testament were not that interesting to me until I discovered the importance of learning the heritage and lineage of Jesus. One page shows genealogy from the books of Luke and Matthew from Adam through Jesus. The attractive chart sharing the different viewpoints from each of the four gospels was simple and understandable. I enjoy the segmented table because it shows all the brothers and their offspring. Genesis means beginning.  We are lead through the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. Full color photographs pepper each page. One large chart showing the traits of God in a comparison with the traits of Jesus illustrates that Jesus was divine and as well as human. Another page compares Adam and Jesus. The sins of the parents and the sins of the Cain are shown in parallel. Descendants for Cain and Seth are well done.  It is so wonderful of God to share His plan from the beginning for our salvation through Jesus Christ.

from the Publisher:

Packed with REPRODUCIBLE pages, timelines, family trees, and simple summaries, this incredible reference book gives a fantastic overview of 30 key people in Jesus' ancestry. Perfect for students, pastors, Bible study teachers, and those interested in seeing God's faithfulness throughout the Old and New Testament.

The remarkable heroes and heroines in the ancestry of Jesus teach us a lot about God's faithfulness over the centuries. Each character in Jesus' family tree gives us a glimpse of how God works all things—even the tragedies and missteps—together for good.

Enjoy Covering 30 Key People from Jesus' Family Tree!

Looking at the dozens of names listed in Jesus' genealogy (family tree) can be quite overwhelming—and it can be hard to know what's important. Now you can easily dive into the fascinating lives of 30 key people from Jesus' family tree, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ruth, David and more with this full-color reproducible book.

• See how God fulfilled his promises through the generations—despite the strengths and weaknesses of each individual.


• Deepen your understanding of how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah's ancestry—he was from the family line of David, from the seed of Abraham, from the stem of Jesse, and more.


• Find out fascinating facts, such as why 5 women were mentioned in Jesus' family tree (when they were usually never mentioned).


• Enjoy having quick overviews that will add depth to any study on Jesus Christ and his link to the Old Testament, starting in the Book of Genesis.


• Get incredible charts, maps and time lines showing hundreds of facts at a glance.

BONUS! Genealogy of Jesus Diagram: A fold-out family tree from Adam and Eve to Jesus Christ. Shows every person in the Bible who is listed in Jesus' direct ancestry.

Help for the Hurting Teen

Being a grandparents I did not choose this book but Katelyn ask me to review this new author. Suffering through the teenage years as a single parents, it seemed I could review with some credibility. This book is so perfect for our times. Two days ago an eleven year old girl got of the bus and a shot was heard. Her mother found her daughter dead when she arrived home. Helping you Hurting Teens applies to any Middle School age or older child. My grandson just turned eleven but I readily saw ways to help the communication between my daughter and her son. Conversation starters and how to talk/listen to teens. Different way they grieve and why they grieve. I could see this so clearly in my grandson entering Middle School and playing on a  sports team. Being rejected by peers or not winning a game is a BIG DEAL. They cannot see past the pain of today. It brought back to me the crisis felt by my teenage daughter and trying to do something to help. Parents, teachers, grandparents buy this book

Through the Deep Waters

Congratulations Katie Auten. You are the winner of my book giveaway.

30 Ways a Husband Can Bless His Wife

This was the hardest book for me to review since I am divorced. But I read this for my son-in-law to give ideas on how to treat my daughter. A blessing is not merely spoken it is an action in your everyday life to live up to the commitment you made when you took your wedding vows. Marriage is not for the faint of heart. It is all about building relationships. It is all about building relationships. Relationships require time together, talking, spending quality time together. Some practical tips as well. Practice good hygiene. Brush your teeth at least twice a day. Take a shower before you kiss on her. Use breath mints. Comb or brush your hair. •Make sure your wife has an emergency car kit in her car. •Throw her towel in the dryer when she’s getting ready to step into the shower; then hand the hot towel to her when she steps out. •Go for a walk together. •Open the car door for her. Treat your wife like she has great worth or value. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
This was the hardest book for me to review since I am divorced. But I read this for my son-in-law to give ideas on how to treat my daughter. Like the three other books in the series John Trent introduces the five elements that characterize a blessing as taught in the Bible.

1. Meaningful touch- a back rub at the end of the day can lower her blood pressure

2. Spoken message – In the Bible the word LOVE occurs over three hundred times

3. High Value- Forty times in eight short chapters in the Song of Solomon, he praises her.

4. Special future -give her a picture of the potential you see in her that can lead to a special future.

5. Active commitment-devote one hour to help your wife at the end of the day before you put your feet up

A blessing is not merely spoken it is an action in your everyday life to live up to the commitment you made when you took your wedding vows. Marriage is not for the faint of heart. It is all about building relationships. Relationships require time together, talking, spending quality time together. The marriage relationship is always under constant stress, but scripture tells us to put others needs first and foremost in our decisions and in our plans.

Some of my favorite ways of blessing

#7 Hated Chore Blessing- have a Mom’s National Holiday, a whole day when your wife does not have to do a single chore. She can sleep in. Not make the bed. Take a long shower and use up all the hot water. Not cook or do the dishes.

#17 Picture Perfect Blessing, Carry a picture of your wife and your children in your wallet. Use a mug with a family picture on it.Make sure you have a picture of the two of you as well as a photo of just your wife.

#19 Next Generation Blessing. Teach your children to express high value to their mother, even when they’re very young. At Christmas, give each child 20 to spend only on MOM. Step in and stop any child from verbally dishonoring your wife.

#20 You’re Beautiful Breakfast Blessing-praise your wife as being beautiful physically to you . Women never grow tired of hearing that they are beautiful.

Some practical tips as well. Practice good hygiene. Brush your teeth at least twice a day. Take a shower before you kiss on her. Use breath mints. Comb or brush your hair.

· Make sure your wife has an emergency car kit in her car.

· Throw her towel in the dryer when she’s getting ready to step into the shower; then hand the hot towel to her when she steps out.

· Go for a walk together.

· Open the car door for her.

Treat your wife like she has great worth or value—like you did when you first married. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21, esv).

This pdf was given to me for an honest review by Rose Publishing.

Adam Brown is Fearless

Although I do not usually enjoy reading books about wartime and soldiers there were few choices in Christian fiction. Fearless was very interesting to me and I am glad I read it. Adam Brown achieved physical feats beyond the norm. Even after his injuries and loss of an eye he never let it keep him from pursuing his goal to be an elite soldier. The book was easy to read and held my attention until the end. After Adams troubling years as a teen and young adulthood, I marveled that such a character could clean his life up to the point of qualifying for armed services. It is truly a miracle that someone who constantly had to fight the demons of drug addictions, suffer excruciating pain and sustain injuries could qualify for the Navy Seals. His caring and love for his wife and child was evident and also exhibited in wartime with his loyalty to his men and friends. No only does he deserve recognition but his wife deserved a medal for never giving up on him. Truly to find Jesus through the fog of his own self destruction was his families saving grace. Adam's remarkable strength and enduration could only come from a higher power. He was an example to many others on his team. This book was given to me to review through Waterbrook press .


Sent from my iPad

Christian History Made Easy

      

Timothy Paul Jones, PhD is a vibrate speaker in twelve 30-minute DVD sessions. Interesting facts and a subtle sense of humor make for easy listening while discovering the history of Christianity. Included in the complete kit is a colorful and well organized 224 page book.  Each lesson takes a specific period of time and lists events, names, and terms every Christian should know. I have to admit history is not easy for me, it was never my favorite subject, but Dr. Jones DVD sessions and his book has taught me more history of my faith than any other course. Everyone has heard about the Crusades, but the reason behind the events and the slaughter of innocent Christians was shocking and yet knowledge that shaped the division of the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The book has an abundance of photos and paintings for each period. Timelines, key concepts, quotes from Church founders and links to information on the web fill the pages of this resource book. “In case you are confused” “Did you know?” insert boxes are filled with explanations and fun facts that liven up the pages. History can be dry, but this book is a pleasure to pick up over and over again. Sessions with a lively lecture and special animations on a variety of topics from Joan of Arc to the legend of Saint Patrick guarantee you will not be bored. Promotional materials include banners, postcards, and fliers. A variety of learning activities from crossword puzzles to fill in the blank will help participants remember key facts. Resources to lead the study are in the back of the book as well as on a DVD. A Leader Guide and one Participant Guide is included in the kit. The “Know More About…”pages in the participants guide allows for the eager students and unlimited discussions in the group. The Leader Guide is laid out step by step: what to do Before The Gathering, Goals For The Gathering, how to Get Them Talking, Seek The Central Truth, Wrap It Up and Work Together. There are more than 300 PPT slides to expand your teaching and enhance your presentation. Definitions of terms, colorful charts and application questions provide the instructor with all they need to make this an interesting study for all ages. Rose Publishing provided this kit for my unbiased review.

Like a Hammer Shattering Rock: Hearing the Gospels Today

I have repeatedly picked up this book and tried to read it. Each week I prepare a lesson for Bible Study. We are studying verse by verse through the Gospel of John. It was a difficult resource for my layman's mind. This is not easy reading. The author Megan McKenna is described as a theologian and lecturer. She has authored more than 40 books. This book may belong in the library of bible scholars and priests. Indeed the foreword to be book was written by Vatican II Council Father, Bishop of Victoria (retired 1999). Sorry this book is not for a casual reader. I received this book from Blogging for Books and WaterBrook Press for an honest review.