Friday, June 17, 2011

Book Review: "You Were Born For This" by Bruce Wilkinson with David Kopp

     I'll come out and say that I was a fan of "The Prayer of Jabez" book by Mr. Wilkinson.  I didn't think that is was some miracle prayer that was going to solve all my life's problems.  I did like how it made me more focused on the opportunities God puts before me each day to expand his kingdom.  This title from Mr. Wilkinson is right along the same line.
     I really have enjoyed reading this book.  I look forward to being more willing to be a conduit of God's power.  That sounds kind of cheesy when I read it back but it's true.  This book points out that we have to be a willing participant in God's plans for us.  It's that whole free-will thing.
     This book's main premise is that God wants to perform miracles on Earth everyday.  God uses the Spirit to make these miracles happen.  Where is the Spirit located?  In each of us.  Thus, we need to be willing to follow the Spirit and be used by God to deliver miracles.  The trouble, he points out, is that people have stopped listening and following the nudges and directions that God gives us.  We rationalize those feelings as silly, of no consequence, or not needed.   We tend to think that God only wants to perform the crazy big miracles like we read about in the Bible.  That just doesn't seem to be true.  God wants to let us know that he cares about the little things, that to us, as individuals, will be a miracle.
     I read one negative review about this book.  It said that the author was trying to make the readers turn God into their own personal genie.  I totally disagree with this.  I think that he is trying to get each of us to listen to the Spirit of God and act on what we feel.  He gives specific advice on how to better listen but never gave me the impression that it was the ONLY way to be an active listener.
    To sum it up, I enjoyed this book.  I liked the message.  I think that for those out there that need a reminder of how and why to listen to the Spirit, this is a great read.

I was sent this book by Waterbrook Multnomah publishing group for my honest review

Book Review: "The Seraph Seal" by Lenoard Sweet and Lori Wagner

I was really excited when I was given this book to review.  I love historical thrillers, under normal circumstances.  I like how they weave real life into these fictional situations.  This book  seemed like it was going to fit right into this idea.  It is set in the future, 2048, and the time for the Apocalypse is at hand.
The first part of this book was very interesting.  It was an essay titled "Engaging the Apocalypse: A Nonfiction Essay on Scenarios and Semiotics for the 21st Century."  That is quite a mouth full!  Although it sounds daunting, it was the best part of the book.  It talked about using things that are happening in our world today and using them to project/predict what may happen in the future.  The purpose being,  if we think about the "maybes" we will be better prepared if and when they become realities.  I found this to be an interesting concept and enjoyed learning the scientific word for this process, semiotics.
The beginning also talks about the term engaged fiction.  This concept deals with the idea that the reader should be an active participant in the story.  Using this idea, the authors have added a rather large section at the back of the book with additional information.  The reader is encouraged to use this information to develop their own theories and ideas for the story and the future of the real world. Again, very cool idea.
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the actual story that the authors wrote.  It just was so jumpy for me.  I found it very hard to follow where I was in the story.  I had trouble remembering who the secondary characters were and if they were good guys or bad guys.  The main bad guy just seemed a bit to fantastical to me.  Maybe I just don't know enough about Revelations to "get it," but it was just too much.
So, after having high hopes, I just didn't enjoy the story.  I enjoyed the concept and ideas that went into the book but not the actual story.  Oh well, I guess you can't enjoy every book out there.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”