Susan Titus Osborn, Kosman, Karen L., and Gordon, Jeenie. Too Soon to Say Goodbye: Healing and Hope for Victims and Survivors of Suicide. Birmingham, AL: New Hope Publishers, 2010, 205pp.

This book deals in depth with the many aspects of suicide. It dives into the tide of emotions which engulfs those who attempt and/or commit suicide as well as the emotions of those friends and loved ones involved in that persons life. The book contains twelve chapters that take you along the journey of understanding suicide to healing and living life freely once again.

As I read this book, I couldn’t help but be drawn into it because the authors use stories of persons who committed suicide and the stories of their loved ones living in the wake of such a great and tragic blow to their life. It captivated me as my heart ached for each person as they told their story. The book brings excellent understanding on how to minister to those who are dealing with the loss of a loved one by suicide—highlighting those things we often say that do more harm than good. Just as importantly, it explains how we move on and neglect to continue ministering even when they are still grieving and hurting. By far though, my favorite aspect of this book was the little sections titles “Words from Jeenie.” In these sections, Jeenie gives tidbits about possible motivations for suicide, stages of grief, and realities of life for those experiencing the loss. Even if someone didn’t want to read the entire book, much could be gained simply by thumbing through and reading these sections alone.

As great as this book is, I must warn you that it deals with a very depressing topic and you will most likely find yourself experiencing a lot of different emotions—from depression to sorrow to astonishment and down the line. If you are someone who has personally dealt with suicide or the loss of a loved one by suicide, this book will most certainly bring out all of those emotions you experienced when you first began dealing with your grief. For those who are not strong in their emotional stability, I would recommend that you plan to have something happy and uplifting planned for the times following your reading of this book.

All in all, this was a very well written book discussing a subject that has become taboo in American culture. However, it is a subject in desperate need of attention as this is something which affects such a large portion of our population.

You can purchase this book at Amazon.com or from the WMU Store.

I received this book free from New Hope Publishers as part of their New Hope Book Review Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Brian Tome. Free Book. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2009, 230 pp.

The title to this book might be somewhat deceptive. However, if you read the somewhat lengthy subtitle it becomes really clear what this book is all about. The author, Brian Tome, has a burning desire for freedom in the daily Christian life. After all, Brian points out in the very first chapter 2 Corinthians 3:17—Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Using fifteen chapters, he takes you on a journey to understand true Christian freedom and how to gain that freedom in your life.

The Free Book was definitely a very interesting read. I would not consider myself a fanatic about freedom, but I would most certainly say that I have a passion that Christians experience the freedom that God desires them to have in their lives. Brian brings out a lot of really great points in the book concerning Christian freedom. For example, he spends some time explaining how most Christians really don’t have freedom; rather, they have placed themselves under bondage in many areas of their lives. He explains how these areas can be identified followed by how to deal with them.

His writing style is very easy to read and understand. The chapters are short and lend well to those who might only have ten or twenty minutes at a time to read. However, there is really only one caution I would give you, the reader, when considering this book. If edgy language bothers you, then you may want to consider not reading this book. In the first chapter for example, he is explaining how trading in Christian freedom for bondage makes him angry and he wrote, “I hate the assumption that getting close to God means more rules and restrictions. I am also pissed that I’ll have to fight to keep the word pissed in this book because the publisher will want to cave to more conservative types who want to keep everyone boxed into a certain type of language.” I certainly wouldn’t characterize anything he says as cursing in the book, but I do realize that some people just don’t care for words like pissed off or the like. On the other hand, I think there are a great number of people who will find it easier to relate to his message because of his writing style and the way he expresses himself. It is only a point that everyone should be aware of before reading the book. Regardless of your position on the language, Brian Tome does an excellent job of explaining Christian freedom, what barriers we often face, and how to overcome those barriers and begin to experience true biblical freedom in our lives.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Sarah Young. Jesus Lives: Seeing His Love in Your Life. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2009, 359 pp.

This is a devotional book that is written from the perspective of Jesus speaking to the reader. It is also written with a very specific topic in mind—the unfailing love of Jesus Christ. Each of the devotions is designed to bring you to understand that love and experience it in a new and/or fresh way. Life brings with it many challenges and difficulties that may cause us to question the love of our Savior. Sarah Young hopes to help those who use this devotional to “’see’ His Love in [those] moments of our lives.”

The layout of this devotional is topical. This is different from a great majority of devotionals available that take the format of lining out the devotions according to the calendar. Of the 180 devotions contained in the book, some of the topics on which you can find devotions are: Adversity, emptiness, His forgiveness, idolatry, prayer, sorrow, worship, etc.

All in all, this is a wonderful devotional book. I like how the author writes as though Jesus were speaking directly to the reader. The other thing I really like about this book was that every devotional was accompanied by several Scriptures to meditate and reflect upon as you read the “message from Christ.”

I am typically not big on devotional materials as I think they very often times tend to simply give Christians the feeling that they have spent time in the Word of God when they have only read one verse. This devotional is slightly different than most and has some value for those who would like something to help them with understanding certain topics better. For example, if someone is struggling with trials in their life, there are five devotions that address that very topic. And each of those devotionals will point them to several places in the Scriptures that will help them better understand trials. Therefore, I don’t think this is a devotional that one would sit down and read from cover to cover; but I think it is one of those books you turn to at different points in your life when you need a fresh perspective on something.

I am a book review blogger for Thomas Nelson Publishers. brb.thomasnelson.com

Tom and Kim Blackaby. The Family God Uses: Leaving a Legacy of Influence. Birmingham, AL: New Hope Publishers, 2009, 188 pp.

A lot of parents want to make sure they are raising their children up properly. As we parents so often joke about though, children don’t come with owner’s manuals. This leaves a lot of parents wondering if they are raising their children the best way possible, or is there a more effective way? Tom and Kim Blackaby give parents some guidance in one aspect of parenting—instructing them in their faith. They begin by laying the foundation of what a Godly family is and God’s design for families. Then they address how that works out in church life, in the home life, and in your interactions with your children. They finish by giving some tips to help your family become a family God uses.

I struggled to stay focused as I read this book. It is not because the book is poorly written, but because of how I learn. This book presents the material in a very personal and example driven method. Tom and Kim give the biblical principles and then show how that principle played out in their lives. So this book will strike a real chord with those who learn best from hearing how a principle was lived out in other peoples lives as opposed to simply being given the principle and how it applies to our lives and our families. I just don’t learn best like this because I feel like the principle is lost in the wealth of information given. In other words, I feel like I am looking for the light switch in a dark room that I’ve never before seen. If you are like me and learn best from simple straightforward presentation of principles, then you might struggle to read this book and learn from it. On the other hand, if you learn best from hearing how a principle was lived out in someone else life before you “get it,” then this book will be perfect for you. The book has a great message with solid biblical principles for families, which is needed in our nation of growing broken and blended families. This book can be purchased at Amazon.com or from the WMU bookstore.

Greg and Martha Singleton. Setting Up Stones: A Parent’s Guide to Making Your Home a Place of Worship. Birmingham, AL: New Hope Publishers, 2008, 158 pp.

This book is aimed at helping parents make worship a regular part of the home. There are two sections in the book. The first section covers some of the philosophy of why worship is an important aspect of family life in the home. The second section covers some of the practical ways that worship can be created around typical family events like holidays, birthdays, etc.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I found myself thinking of how I could help to improve my family’s worship as I went through the different chapters. The book presents the material in a very straightforward and easy to understand format. It was also very easy to read. The chapters were not too long or uneven. I found it easy to comfortably read through a chapter in 10 or 15 minutes. There were some features of the book that I really enjoyed. Hints, tips, and ideas the authors provided were placed on the edge of the page and set apart in a shaded area. After reading through a book like this it is nearly impossible to absorb all of the information. These sections will allow easy reference in the future to an idea you might remember but don’t know the exact chapter or page on which it was located. Another feature that will help accomplish the same goal is an activity index contained in the back of the book. The index lists all those hints, tips, and ideas that are contained in the sidebars in one location sorted by different categories such as “Bible Focus,” “Physical Activity,” “Creative Arts,” etc.

I think any family looking to make worship a regular part of their family’s life or just looking to improve upon their family’s worship together should read this book. I am sure I will be referencing it in the years to come. You can purchase this book at Amazon.com or the WMU.

Gigi Schweikert. Church Nanny SOS: Teaching Discipline Essentials for Preschool Ministry Volunteers. Birmingham, Alabama: New Hope Publishers, 2007, 198 pp.

Church Nanny SOS is a book aimed at helping preschool ministry volunteers navigate the many hurdles of ministering to young children. Volunteers often have lots of questions about how to handle the different aspects of the ministry. Gigi Schweikert takes up the task of answering many of those questions. This book begins by explaining how to prevent many of the problems that seem to plague preschool ministries. It does not, however, neglect how to handle problems when they do arise. In fact, the last chapter in the book contains a quick-reference guide to help understand and properly address some of the common behavioral problems of preschoolers.

This book obviously does not cover all of the problems of preschool ministry nor does it cover them in an in-depth manner. The best way to characterize this book is to liken it to a primer or somewhat of a handbook. It gives a great introduction and overview on preventing and handling the common problems of ministering to preschoolers. It is organized into chapters that cover the “essentials” of ministering to preschoolers. What I found, however, was that many things were repeated throughout the book. Perhaps this is because those are things that are important. Perhaps it is because some of those things are part of several of the essentials, consistency for example. This book consistently mentions consistency in several of the essentials. There must be consistency in the routine, there must be consistency in enforcing the rules, there must be consistency in pick-up and drop-off, etc. The other thing I found particularly distracting were the many lists. These lists often broke the flow of the text and interrupted the thought stream. I believe many of these lists could have been placed at the end of the chapters and referred to in the text of the chapter. This would have been far less distracting. On the other hand, the content was solid and the advice was helpful. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone struggling with how to address problems in their preschool ministry.

You can purchase this book at Amazon.com, the WMU by clicking on the above photo of the cover, or by clicking HERE.

Collins, Travis. Directionally Challenged: How to Find and Follow God’s Course for Your Life. Birmingham, Alabama: New Hope Publishers, 2007, 214 pp.

There is often a question that lingers in the minds of many Christians: How can I know God’s will for my life? Many Christians desire to be obedient to the will of God in their lives, but often times struggle with how to determine what his will is. In this book, Travis Collins takes up the task of helping Christians discern the will of God in their lives. He begins by pointing out that there is no passage in Scripture one can always turn to, there is no formula for determining the will of God, and there is no checklist to making sure we are in the will of God.

A statement Travis made on page 21 really stuck out at me. He wrote, “The Bible doesn’t talk a lot about ‘God’s will for our lives.’ It does talk a lot about how people find great fulfillment and make great contributions by finding their place within God’s mission.”

Overall, I think Travis does an excellent job helping people to understand how to find the will of God in their lives. He explains this in terms of a “call.” In other words, finding the will of God for your life is almost synonymous with answering the unique call God has placed upon your life. To help locate both of these, Travis proposes a “COMPASS” to help navigate. This serves as the illustration to help readers understand the many aspects of finding and staying in the will of God, which he discusses in this book.

There are really only two critiques I could offer. A few times The Message is quoted in the book as though it is Scripture. I would have preferred this translation not have been used as a Scriptural source because it is a paraphrase translation. Aside from that, the only other thing is that I felt like there was no cohesiveness among chapters four and following. The first three chapters flowed beautifully together. Each successive chapter covers an important aspect of the journey to finding and following God’s course for our lives, but doesn’t flow as well as the first three chapters.

In short, this book is well worth reading for those who might be struggling with the question of determining God’s will or even the question if one is still following God’s will in their lives. You can click the image in this post to purchase this book from the WMU or you can purchase it from Amazon.com if you prefer.

This book is excellent overall. It covers a wide range of issues that frequently arise in discussions among Christians, Atheists, and everyone in between. It begins discussing truth—particularly, is it knowable and objective or not? It moves forward into discussing the universe and how it came into existence. Some time is spent discussing evolution. Other important topics are covered as well, such as: the reliability of the Bible, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and are the things we read about Jesus and the things he taught as recorded in the New Testament reliable and trustworthy.

Norman Geisler and Frank Turek do a good job of covering these issues with some depth in only 388 pages. The only critiques I would offer is that in some places they use some technical language (without explanation) that the average person reading wouldn’t understand without going and looking-up the meaning of the word(s). Other than that, this book really covers a good chunk of issues that Christians face and some questions that non-Christians ask. It is certainly worth reading.

I was given the great honor of reviewing another book for the folks over at sbcIMPACT! The book I reviewed this time is entitled Sunday School in HD by Allan Taylor. It was an excellent book. I encourage everyone to look at my full review by clicking here or the image on the left.

Everyone who knows me in person, knows that I am very involved in student ministry. I was recently given the opportunity to review a book about student ministry. The book is entitled Simple Student Ministry. This great privilege was offered to me by the wonderful people over at sbcIMPACT. My complete review is available at their site by clicking here or on the image to the left. I would love for all of you to head over there and give them some visits.