Every Body Matters by Gary Thomas

Every Body Matters by Gary Thomas is a book truly needed for your time and generation. It is to no ones surprise that Americans health has been declining but it may be a surprise that Americans spirituality has been on the decline as well with over 7.9 million people leaving the church annually, this equates to 150,000 people walking away from the church each week!! But is there a correlation? Gary Thomas suggests that there is. Gary reminds us about the importance of our health and how it affects our spiritual life. I personally am not obese or overweight but nonetheless I found this book to be a great reminder to be cautious of my eating habits and my lifestyle.
I’ve known that that the body is the temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19-20) but I’ve never thought how disregarding my fitness level and occasional unhealthy eating my relationship with God. In this book Gary offers us solutions to living healthier and being more spiritual.

The book has also been endorsed by:
Ryan Hall – American long-distance runner and U.S. record holder in the half marathon
Dr. Ed Young – Senior pastor of Second Baptist Church in Huston Texas

I appreciate Gary writing this book because he can relate to the average Joe experiencing problems that the rest of us have when it comes to eating right and exercising. This is a great book with an important message for all believers.  
This book has been sent to me by Zondervan for an honest review, the thoughts expressed are based on my honest opinions.

Ascent From Darkness by Michael Leehan

Wow! I had no idea what to expect when I began reading Ascent From Darkness by Michael Leehan, but once I started I didn’t want to put it down! I am amazed at Michael’s courage and humility to tell his story through this book. No Christian, let alone human, could ever be proud of the acts and lifestyle the Michael lived, yet remarkably Michael lays out the details of his life. The book begins with Michael’s early years and how he had turned from God and decided to make Satan his master. The story then unfolds to tell of his divorce and his sex driven, deadbeat, purposeless lifestyle that would revolve around self-emulation, sacrifices and a life devoted to Satan.
            Michael reveals secrets of his diabolical lifestyle and leaves little behind. Throughout the book we see godly people trying to bring him back into the light but to no avail. It isn’t until the very end that we learn how God had supernaturally saved his life before his suicide attempt.
            I recommend this book to EVERYONE. I truly believe this book could be made into a movie because it grips the reader and doesn’t let go. The whole way through I thought to myself “ok I know he is a saved Christian now, but how in the world did he get himself out of this mess!?” So I kept reading, and reading, and reading.
            One of the BEST books I have read recently, captivating, fascinating, intriguing, and most definitely a great BLESSING.
            This book has blessed me and I know it will bless you too. Read it. You have to, you can’t miss out not too. I’m not sure how the rest of you will feel, but my spiritual life and understanding will never be the same.
            This book has been provided to me by Thomas Nelson publishers for an honest review. I did not have to give a favorable review of the book and the opinions described above are 100% my own.

Journey To Christmas

Why should you watch this documentary? 

Visually this documentary is stunning! The sights and sounds are authentic, the tour is spectacular, immerses you into the culture, and one can really visualize what Christmas is truly about.

I appreciate that the documentary is not biased and has individuals of different backgrounds that contribute to the Christmas story each with a unique way of thinking.

I also enjoyed the bit of history and insight that is provided throughout the documentary of the different places shown. However, it is also the failure of doing this point well that might drive you away from enjoying this documentary (explain below).

Why you might not enjoy this documentary?

To complete the point I made about the history and insights in this documentary, I am glad that it is somewhat contained in this documentary, however, if you are looking for detailed historical analysis, this is not the documentary to watch. 

If you don’t like reality television shows, this is also not the documentary to watch. They have interviews (kind of like in survivor) where they have the people sit and talk about the experience and such. This is somewhat annoying especially if you are watching this documentary purely for a Christmas insight and to gain knowledge – I know the people I watched it with were annoyed at the “reality t.v.” feel.

The biggest reason you might come away disappointed after watching this documentary (as is the case with me) was the lack to biblical and spiritual content. It is interesting that though the documentary is about Christmas, the amount of actual scriptures read regarding Christmas was minimal. And spiritually? I did not come away enlightened or “blessed.”

Conclusion:

If you would like a stunning view (tour) of the holy land, you won’t be disappointed. You will feel immersed in the culture, you will see the sights, hear the sounds, and could even smell the smells (with a little imagination).  This documentary provides a different view of Christmas and moves away from the commercialization of Christmas that the North American society has made the holiday to be. But ultimately, spiritually it does not contain much depth.  

I received this DVD free from Tyndale House Publisher for the purpose of providing my honest review. I was not required to give a positive review.

The Voice New Testament: Step Into the Story of Scripture

The Voice New Testament: Step Into the Story of Scripture by Thomas Nelson is truly a one of a kind bible translation. I have read plenty of Bible translations, King James, NKJV, NIV, NLT, RBS (Russian translation), and most recently The Message, from Genesis to Revelations. Unfortunately I only read the New Testament of this translation, but I hope to one day soon read the Old as well.

It is truly one of a kind reading experience for it presents the Bible to the reader in a form that we are all familiar with. We all watch movies, shows, and some perhaps read plays; well reading this translation creates a similar experience. The Voice is written as a narrative, it provides background information and fills the readers in on the gaps (some contextual, some from Old Testament, etc.) so the reader is never lost. But it is the actual writing itself that is so beautifully, and well written in my opinion. It is simple to read but never losses the initial intent of what is being said.

In the beginning the authors point out the reasons for writing The Voice and how exactly it was created. They do a beautiful job putting all the pieces together to actually give the reader a FRESH experience, read the Bible in a way like never before. As the authors point out this is both a word-for-word and thought-for-thought translation of the bible. It never twists or manipulates the words and is ultimately an exciting, simple, pleasant and informative way of reading the Bible.
In my opinion I believe EVERYONE should own and read a copy of this translation. It has improved my understanding and has given me a new way of thinking but some subjects. I highly recommend it.
Note: This Bible was given to me by the Thomas Nelson Publishers for a honest review. 5/5 stars!

The Runner’s Devotional: Inspiration and Motivation for Life’s Journey…On and Off the Road. By Dana Niesluchowski and David R. Veerman

The Runner’s Devotional: Inspiration and Motivation for Life’s Journey…On and Off the Road. By Dana Niesluchowski and David R. Veerman
I was really looking foreword to receiving this book. I was not disappointed. I love running, but I’m a fairly new beginner at the sport. I didn’t know techniques, equipment or anything… All I knew was how to put on my shoes, head band and out the door I went. I lacked the motivation to do it continuously, and when I did go out running I tried to put my thoughts on God and wholesome things. With my background I thought this would be a perfect book to read!
At first I thought “hmmmm, this book does not seem to be telling me anything I don’t already know” but that was not the case at all as I kept reading. The training tips are wonderful and encouraging. The best part is that this book motivated me to actually get out and run. Every time I read this book I wanted to go running.
The book others stories, training tips and advice, weekly logs, plans and put’s a spiritual component into each chapter. Although the authors went light on the spiritual aspect, nonetheless it was a pleasant little add-in to each section and tied in well with what the authors were communicating.

This book is meant to be read as a devotional, a weekly one (one chapter a week) not per day (although you can). I would recommend this book for anything seeking motivation, tips and advice, and a little change from the usual running experience. I have already passed it on to other friends and recommended it to all runners, I found it very helpful book and definitely received a physical as well as spiritual blessing from it.
Note: Tyndale Publishers provided me with this book for an honest review and opinion.  

Has God Spoken? Proof of the Bible’s Divine Inspiration

Has God Spoken? Proof of the Bible’s Divine Inspiration by the Bible Answer Man Hank Hanegraaff started out very promising. I loved diving into the book and seeing from the start that this man knew what he was talking about. He knew other religions and seemed to know his bible. He did a fantastic job describing the different archeological, anthropological, and sociological evidences that prove the Bible’s validity. Anyone who question’s the validity or authenticity of the bible will really have only their lack of faith to blame if they choose not to believe the evidence in front of them.
The problem I ran into was maintaining my interest to finish the book. Usually I have no problem, but this was a rare exception. Although the book started out fantastic and I was thoroughly impressed with Hanegraaff’s knowledge I got bored really quick. I love historical and archeological books (I’ve even gone on a few archeological digs in the Middle East) but this book lost it’s luster the more I read it. By the time the archeological evidence ended I was breathing a breath of fresh air. It wasn’t fresh for long.
Although I respect other’s interpretation of the Bible I disagree with how Hanegraaff almost bullies his ideas to the reader. I personally disagree on much of his interpretation of certain scripture, and being a theology major I have ample reason and proof to show where Hanegraaff is wrong with his interpretation. The bigger issue to me is that the way he presents his interpretations is “his way or the highway” and I don’t respect how he bash’s other religious groups who think differently then he does.
Overall the evidence is virtually spotless and I would say the validity is proven but the book has it’s downfalls. It all depends on why the reader is picking up this book: to find proof for the Bibles authenticity or gain a deeper theological/ spiritual understanding of God and religion – that you (at least I) did not get.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through their bloggers review 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 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”