Book Review: "Keeping the Heart: How to Maintain Your Love for God" by John Flavel

Book Review: "Keeping the Heart: How to Maintain Your Love for God" by John Flavel

If you are looking for a short book that packs a big punch, then Keeping the Heart is for you! If you want a great book that will prompt deep conversations about the things of the Lord when you meet for discipleship or in a book club, then Keeping the Heart is for you! If you are longing for a solid, devotional type read that will encourage your walk, then Keeping the Heart is your book!

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Book Review: "Lost in the Middle: MidLife and the Grace of God" by Paul Tripp

Book Review: "Lost in the Middle: MidLife and the Grace of God" by Paul Tripp

Paul Tripp is well-known and loved for his many biblical counseling works. But of all that I’ve read from him, Lost in the Middle: MidLife and the Grace of God is my favorite. To me, it is his magnum opus, just as it seems that Trusting God was for Bridges. Lost in the Middle lovingly points out our wrong thinking about God and our circumstances, while supplying the truths from Scripture to get us back on the path of right and biblical thinking, that will ultimately heal our hearts and bring praise, glory, and honor to the Lord.

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Book Review: "The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers" by Abner Chou

Book Review: "The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers" by Abner Chou

For anyone who faithfully and diligently studies God’s Word, and who desires above all else to put God on display by letting Him speak through the clear, literal, historical, grammatical, contextual message of the text, then this book is for you! If you love looking for authorial intent, then this book is for you! If you seek to dig out of the text what God has placed there and put it on display, rather than foisting your own interpretation upon the text, then this book is for you! In fact, you will find the book a huge, “Atta boy! Keep doing what you’re doing!”

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Book Review: "For the Love of Discipline: When the Gospel Meets Tantrums and Time-Outs" By Sara Wallace

Book Review: "For the Love of Discipline: When the Gospel Meets Tantrums and Time-Outs" By Sara Wallace

From the opening pages of For the Love of Discipline: When the Gospel Meets Tantrums and Time-Outs by Sara Wallace, my little heart went pitter-patter. I loved this practical, God-glorifying book. I’m always on the lookout for books I can recommend to young moms—and this is one I will be urging them to read!

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Book Review: "The Fruitful Wife" by Hayley DiMarco

Book Review: "The Fruitful Wife" by Hayley DiMarco

I wasn’t more than a few pages into “The Fruitful Wife” before I broke out my highlighter, and my love affair with this book was born. The book is well written and engaging. Hayley DiMarco herself writes honestly about her faults and struggles in applying Galatians 5:22-23 to her life. She is sympathetic and understanding of our struggles too, but she is no pushover.

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Book Review: "The Food Ain't the Problem" by Carole Holliday

Are you a discipler? The Food Ain’t the Problem is for you. Are you counseling someone? The Food Ain’t the Problem is for you. Are you struggling with your weight? The Food Ain’t the Problem is for you. Are you struggling with any kind of well-loved sin? The Food Ain’t the Problem is for you. This one book contains the answer for each of those scenarios and more! Part systematic theology, part counseling guide, and part weight-loss primer, Carole Holliday writes with frank wisdom and loving compassion as she details the profound heart transformation that took place when she submitted her appetite to God.

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Book Review: "Selina, Countess of Huntingdon: Her Pivotal Role in the 18th Century Evangelical Awakening by Faith Cook

The magnificent moving of God’s Spirit throughout Great Britain during Selina’s time is breathtaking to behold and makes one long for a similar revival in our land. Yet, the most compelling part of Selina’s story is the undeniable fact that one person can be of great use for the Kingdom. Selina lived with her eyes upon the Prize of Jesus Christ and endeavored to give whatever resources she had available for His use and pleasure.

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Book Review: "Green Leaf in Drought-Time" by Isobel Kuhn

"Green Leaf in Drought Time" is the story of Arthur and Wilda Mathews, who were the last China Inland Missionaries to leave China during the communist takeover in 1953. Theirs is the extreme story of life in lockdown, yet they survived with grace and faith, and in the process put God on display in a way "normal life" never would have.

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Book Review: "The Pursuit of God" by A. W. Tozer

Are you hungry for more of God? Do you long for a deeper and more intimate relationship with your Savior? Then you will find a sympathetic and helpful friend in Tozer. Tozer teaches us, reminds us, wins and woos us to a soul-satisfying, deeply respectful friendship with God Himself.

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Book Review: "Lady Jane Grey: Nine Day Queen of England" by Faith Cook

This excellent book is a must read for anyone interested in the monarchy of England, the Puritan reformation, and how the Lord strengthened the faith of one young girl to withstand pressures most adults would find challenging. Lady Jane's story is a testimony that God’s ways are not our ways, that He uses pain and trial to sweeten our faith, and that all who are His will persevere until the end.

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Book Review: "50 People Every Christian Should Know" by Warren Wiersbe

Each chapter in Wiersbe’s book is like eating half of a warm, chocolate chip cookie; his goal is to tantalize you enough that you’ll get up off the couch and swipe the other half off the counter to relish. Wiersbe the Bookworm wants to beget other bookworms by whetting our appetite for more from each of these faithful spiritual giants. Take your time to read this book, but make sure you read it!

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Book Review: "Treasures of the Snow" by Patricia St. John

I recently reread Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John, which I read to my kids when they were young. This treasure of a book has been too long buried in the drifts of time and obscurity, but it’s time it was dug out and reintroduced to a new generation of readers and families that can benefit from its lessons.

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Book Review: "The Thought of God" by Maurice Roberts

"The Thought of God" by Maurice Roberts is the perfect book for daily reading or going through together in a discipleship group. The book contains thirty chapters for your soul's nourishment; thirty chapters to read daily in a month; thirty chapters to challenge and encourage your walk; thirty chapters to provoke thought and prayer. Don't miss reading this easily accessible book as there's enough meat within its pages to satisfy even the most ravenous thinker.

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Book Review: "Rescuing Ambition" by Dave Harvey

Don’t be put off by the title if that word “ambition” scares you. Rescuing Ambition is a book about following Christ. It’s about entrusting the Lord with all your hopes, dreams, and aspirations. The “rescue” comes when we wait upon the Lord to bring those goals and hopes about rather than ramrodding them through ourselves. If you like praying about what you’re reading, being prodded to examine your heart, and encouraged to press on in your walk then you’ll enjoy this book. And then there’s the “I-can’t-see-the-page-because-I’m-laughing-so-hard” bonus of Dave Harvey himself whose stories usually pack a convicting wallop at the end. Rescuing Ambition is a pleasure to read that leads us to live lives pleasing to the Lord.

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Book Review: "Be Still, My Soul: Embracing God’s Purpose and Provision in Suffering", edited by Nancy Guthrie

A friend sent me Be Still, My Soul: Embracing God’s Purpose and Provision in Suffering and I’m so glad she did! Twenty-five short chapters, twenty-five authors, and twenty-five ways to address trials, troubles, and afflictions. Some authors I wasn’t familiar with and some chapters were more pertinent to me, yet every chapter had some meat for me to sink my teeth into and gain some soul-nourishment.

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Book Review: "Transforming Prayer: How Everything Changes When You Seek God's Face" by Daniel Henderson

Worship-based prayer is what this book is all about and Daniel Henderson explains it this way: “Worship-based prayer seeks the face of God before the hand of God.” He goes on to explain what that means, saying, “I have learned that if all we ever do is seek God’s hand, we may miss His face; but if we seek His face, He will be glad to open His hand and satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts (page 27).”

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Book Review: Recommended Books for Boys

One of the sweetest scenes for a parent is to see their children curled up in the corner of the couch reading, oblivious to the what's happening around them because they are caught up in another world. Our kids have all carried that love into adulthood and enjoy talking books with parents and children who are looking for more reading material. Our son Mark has compiled a list of recommended reading that other boys and growing young men might enjoy. Take a moment to read his comments below before whizzing through the list.

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