And the winners are....

Of their very own copy of the book Dinner with a Perfect Stranger by David Gregory.

Katrina Klauer for liking my page on facebook and Amanda Flessner, she liked a post I posted about the giveaway so she'll get the second book.

Happy Reading!

Giveaway Time

The publishing company has sent me TWO copies of Dinner with a Perfect Stranger.  So I am giving them both away.  Like my Facebook page for a chance to win a copy.  You can find it here.

Giveaway ends July 29th, 2011 at 9pm

Happy Reading!

Dinner with a Perfect Stranger - An Invitation Worth Considering by David Gregory

I was shocked when the book, Dinner with a Perfect Stranger - An Invitation Worth Considering by David Gregory, showed up and it was only 100 pages long.  I was however excited to dive right in.  Nick is invited to have dinner with Jesus.  In the time leading up to the dinner Nick is convinced that his friends are setting him up for some practical joke.

He arrives at the restaurant and proceeds to go along with the "joke."  Here are some of my thoughts from the book.

I grew up thinking that I had to do all these glorious deeds in order to get into heaven. That I had to obey God to a "T". But page 46 states "There's great profit in obeying God.  It just won't get you into heaven."

At one point in the book Nick is talking to Jesus about how he can prove to him that he is who he says he is. Page 74 says "I did that, too. They still didn't believe.  My Father did that at Mount Sinai with the Jews.  They turned away from him within six weeks."  How powerful is that?!  God gives us clues all the time that he exists.  Yet we still turn away from him.

All in all I enjoyed this quick read.  I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Happy Reading!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Know Doubt by John Ortberg

One thing I love about our Friday morning Life Group at Hidden Valley Church is that we read such great books.  Know Doubt by John Ortberg is another good one. 

As an almost 30 year old who was introduced to God and faith at a very young age I thought that by now I wouldn't have anymore doubts about my faith and God.  That isn't true and John Ortberg explains that it's normal.  Page 31 says "If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer, if he burst out from the cross, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' then surely we are permitted doubt."

He goes on to talk about the strange silence of God.  On page 107 it says this "If you don't feel close to God anymore - who moved?"  This really struck me.  There are times in my life when I feel alone.  Then I remember that it's not God's fault.  I withdrew and God is still there waiting for me.

I will definitely be recommending this book to anyone who is having doubts with their faith.

Another winner in my book.  I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Happy Reading!

The Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley

We read this book in our Friday morning Life Group.  The Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley is a book I think that every young person should read before they turn 18.  We all know that the choices we make today affect us tomorrow.  But do you ever stop and think that the choices you make today are going to affect you 5-10-15-20 years from now?  That is what this book causes you to do.

I like how the book made me stop and think about the choices I've made in my life.  And then he gives us a road map for getting where we would like to be.

Some highlights are:

* "To get from where we don't want to be to where we do want to be requires two things: time and a change of direction."
* "Direction-not intentions, hopes, dreams, prayers, beliefs, intellect, or education-determines destination."
* "We should break the habit of drawing a circle around individual decisions and events and dismissing them as isolated occurrences. These are steps. Steps that lead somewhere."
* "Prudent people look as far down the road as possible when making decisions."
* "Christians start talking about forgiveness as if somehow forgiveness serves as an escape hatch from the outcome of bad decisions."
* "When happiness points in one direction while wisdom, truth, integrity, and common sense point in another, that's when really smart people start doing really stupid things."
* "The choices are now. The outcomes are later. The decisions you make today have ramifications down the road."
* "One never accomplishes the will of God by breaking the law of God, violating the principles of God, or ignoring the wisdom of God."
* "I am constantly amazed at how resistant folks are to take their cues from people who are where they want to be."

This is one book I will make sure to have my girls read when they enter high school.

I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars.

Happy Reading! 

Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth

As you know I’m very fond of our local library and visit them on a pretty regular basis.  This is where I picked this one up. 

Once again I heard about this book when Oprah had the author on her show.  While I don’t remember what exactly they talked about I was still curious as to how the author could tie the three together – women, food and God by Geneen Roth.

The author frequently conducts workshops on how women relate to their food and why they eat.  Most of the context of the book comes the women that attended her workshops.  Which was a nice treat to hear from other women that have the same struggles with food that I do.  I read about women that didn’t think they were worth enough to eat right, women who didn’t trust themselves enough to make the right food choices and women who didn’t know how to put themselves first before their kids, husband and careers.  

I was disappointed that the author didn't talk more about God and the role that your spirituality plays in how you relate to food.  But overall it was an OK book.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Happy reading!

There are a lot of reviews coming soon

 I apologize for being so very lax these past few months.  I have read several books since the last post and will get the reviews up soon.

Happy reading!