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By bethany (dreadlockgirl), 18,February,2010 21:29

Closer: Devotions to Draw Couples Together

Devotions need to be a priority, weekly, daily- that is up to you, but there needs to be time set aside to nurture and grow that relationship which is of utmost importance- the one between a couple and towards God. So often when you don’t it is easy to nag each other, pick fights or feel like your marriage is a working relationship, or maybe a black hole depending on how dramatic you are. Over the years love hits the backseat and romance has departed for good after you spend a good amount of time pushing your spouse away. I suggest devotions together, they bless us every time we do it, and we see the rewards big time. It doesn’t have to be this book, it could be one that speaks to you, or reading the Bible together- but don’t put it off.

Brad and I have made our way peeking into several different devotion books over the 8 years of our marriage. I thought this one would be the same, but this time this book hit the mark. The initial devotions seem a little to simple and straightforward (just blah) so we almost tossed the book into the pile of devotional books that haven’t quite cut it.However, Closer gets better and better (or was it my attitude that improved?) I recommend sticking with it through at least the first 5 devotional sessions and you will find yourself and your spouse in a deeper place with God and a closer place as a married couple.

Jim and Cathy Burns co authored this book, I have been blessed by them in the past as Jim Burns wrote several amazing books for age appropriate sex education which I love, LOVE. This devotional book is good, and I recommend it. Our typical devotions set begins with some worship, then we read and answer the questions from on chapter of Closer: Devotions to Draw Couples Together, then read a chapter of the Bible, and close it off with prayer for each other. We have grown, and God has grown in us through this time. There is nothing more we could ask!

Do you have a favourite couples devotional book that you could recommend to me?? We’re going to be done with this one and I would love some suggestions on ones that aren’t cheesy and that really dive deep. Ideas anyone??

ISBN:9780764207037
Subtitle:Devotions to Draw Couples Together
Author: Burns, Jim And Cathy
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Subject: Christian Life – Devotional
Christian Life – Love & Marriage
Publication Date: October 2009
Pages: 222

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By bethany (dreadlockgirl), 4,January,2010 22:08

How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph: A Practical Guide for Growing Great Kids

If you are a parent, you know that a parent does what a parents gotta do-that is just the way it is. We drive the kids around, we make sure they brush their teeth, we take them to school (or even Homeschool them) we aim to do everything short of coddling them in order to have them turn out into able bodied adults and well rounded individuals. However from so much scheduling and activity the most important aspect of a whole person, which is the spirit and soul is many times neglected, or passed off as “the Sunday school teacher’s job”. We aren’t doing our job as parents who love Jesus if we aren’t intentional in instilling faith into our children.

How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph is a book, or even more a type of help manual which goes through each age and stage of the child from preschool through high school and equips parents with the tools necessary to pour a passion for what is right into their children. It is called How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph because no matter what the situation, Joseph (yes as in the Joseph with the coat of many colours) was able to make the right decision even when life really was not seeming to move in his favor. God gave him a dream as a boy and he must have thought many times that it was just a hoax and that God was no where close- however the faith that he kept when it came time to make the right choices is to be admired. He was surrounded by a people who didn’t know God, who worshiped all different sorts of gods and he didn’t even have a local home Bible study to go to, or a youth group and still he stood strong.

That is what every christian parent should aim to nurture in their child, not that everything is up to the parent, but it is nice to know when your kids grow up that you did what you could with the gift that God blessed you with. It isn’t up to a youth leader to train your children spiritually, just as much as it isn’t up to the pastor make you grow. The biggest problem with kids and adults alike is that they think they go to church to be challenged and to grow- and the result is that church has never been so full of saggy and faithless Sunday-only Christians. It is up to the individual to trust God, to place their feet on steadfast ground, no program for adults or kids will ever fashion that on its own. With or without programs and church events, we as parents are called to guide our children into a real relationship with Christ.

How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph is not a step by step guide on how to raise all children, it is a guide for creating a personalized and practical plan to best help your children bloom into teenagers who know, love and serve their Lord. I will use this book with my kids. We have started working with it and I love the scripture verses that it has for each different age group. Modern-Day Joseph is an excellent book for parents to keep on hand.

Title: How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph
ISBN: 9781434765314
Subtitle: A Practical Guide for Growing Great Kids (An Awana Resource)
Author: Linda Weddle
Publisher: David C. Cook
Subject: Christian Life – Family
Publication Date: June 2009
Pages: 220

I am an affiliate of TOMS SHOES and Powell’s Books and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any item you buy using my links. Thank you!

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By bethany (dreadlockgirl), 28,November,2009 00:07

God*Stories: Explorations in the Gospel of God
by Andrew Wilson
302 Pages
Non-Fiction
Christianity
July 2009
David C. Cook

I started this book last night and finished it this morning. I couldn’t put it down! The author, Andrew Wilson stormed the gates of hell when he drafted this one up, no question. GodStories is a powerful, life-changing yet incredibly digestible book on putting the punch back into God’s word. The truth is that it has always been there, but we Christians have minimized it down to suit ourselves and fill our little cups. GodStories is about ambushing our limited view of God, and what He has done by the study of key verses and very short (most not even 3 pages long) devotional type blurbs that will cause the reader to think, remember and be transformed all in the same breath.

Andrew Wilson shatters the ‘Christian’ thinking when he puts God back into the Bible and not just any god, but the God who can actually change things, who is all-out Holy, and who has proved Himself to His people. These GodStories take the reader through the Bible from the Creation of the world to when we will see Jesus face to face in Heaven. By reading the sections I completely understand what the author means when he says, ” If we are not careful, we can take a story about Jesus rescuing creation and reduce it into a story about ourselves. We can turn stories into statements, and poems into punchlines. We can miss the sweeping, triumphant, heartbreaking, and glorious stories that make up the gospel of God” (back cover, God*Stories).

I love understanding scripture better, understanding who Jesus is and how the prophecies led up to Him and the salvation He brought. It is so easy to make the stories about us, to strip them of all that brings transforming change and then wonder why there is no power in the Christians of this day. Why do we not stand where we should? Why do we not feel backed by each other through prayer? What has stolen our joy and life? It is our own lack of knowing God. What is worse is that we don’t even want to know Him because the image we have of Him is so small it makes Him not even worth it.

This book shook me, changed me and made me think about so many things, manly how I myself am completely guilty of this behavour, and that I want to change it now. I recommend this %100, perfect for daily devotional, for small groups, or just to read through it like I did. I loved this book!

Have you ever had a book be the perfect book at the perfect time? What was it and why was it perfect?

I am a Powell’s affiliate and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any book you buy using my links. Thank you!

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By bethany (dreadlockgirl), 16,July,2009 20:10

Author Photo by Audrey Hannah Photo

Secondhand Jesus
Trading Rumors of God for a Firsthand Faith
by Glenn Packiam
217 Pages
Non-Fiction
David C Cook Publisher
Christian Faith-General

Does God believe in the “American Dream”? Is He around just to make cuts feel better and pain go away? Do you really know the God you say you are serving? Are your notions of God secondhand? These are some of the questions Glenn Packiam will run by the reader in his book Secondhand Jesus. He does not cower from the truth, Secondhand Jesus aims to destroy the myths that there are shortcuts to knowing God. While reading this you are likely to realize that you believe many more rumors of God than you would feel comfortable with. If you found Jesus while in search for an easier faith, or CliffsNotes, or just a spiritual journey with beginning and end, you will be challenged in Secondhand Jesus.

When God puts His foot down we all feel the pressure, especially if it is right on top of a dream of ours. Our first thought should be, “well God does know better” and “whatever I am going through will only lead me to know Him more” but that takes a certain level of relationship with God. If that foundation isn’t there, we won’t realize it in the easy times but when the difficulties come around we will curse and scream and quit because He didn’t do what I thought he should. It is time to take God from where we have him at arms length and allow His embrace to cover us, both in the joys of life and the pain.There are many myths that our culture preaches that are not accurate in accordance with what the Bible says about God.

A circular trail of rumors can become verifiable truth, community’s dogma, in less than a generation.

• If you believe it, you can receive it.
• God knows your heart.
• God just wants you to be happy.

It sounds right. People we respect say it, people who know a lot more than we do. And we don’t want to miss out on something that might be true. We’ve heard it for so long, nobody has stopped to ask if it’s true or why we think it might be. (Secondhand Jesus, p. 44)

There are experts in medicine, photography, gurus of even the lost arts of Nintendo and Atari, if we are into that we respect them, we take their word as truth. With God, we do that too, if someone knows better than us many times we take their word as our sole source to God, we get lazy and apathetic thinking the Bible experts will find the verse that we were thinking of, or be able to explain salvation in an easier way to understand. Leaders are good, they are there for a reason, but there place is not that of God, they are humans too, mistakes will be made and they will fail–if your faith is in a human, you will be let down. Don’t live on rumors, on what others say, search the scriptures, know what you are agreeing to when you place God as Lord in your life.

The whole premise of Secondhand Jesus comes from Job 42:5-6 (The Message):

I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand–from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry-forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.

That is the climax of the book of Job, and for me it really cut to the chase. I do not long to know God the way that I should, or enjoy him just for him as much as I need to. Secondhand Jesus re-enforced so many things I already knew and believed and at the same time it brought forth new ways of saying it that broke through to me–powerfully.

Secondhand Jesus impacted my life, Glenn Packiam made me think more clearly of God and who He is, but mostly it told me and taught me to search for myself, not out of guilt, pride or piety but out of love and a hunger to know God better daily. If I am at this same spot spiritually in even one year I will be guilty of living a passionless walk with God. I have heard it said this way, “if you aren’t making an effort to move forward, know that you are drifting backwards”. I loved this book, I am challenged, renewed and stirred–I would recommend it to any Christian, no matter where you are in your walk, it will get you thinking straight and challenge you too. I highly recommend it.

Visit Glenn Packiam’s Blog and read the first chapter of Secondhand Jesus

Hear what Glenn Packiam has to say in this Secondhand Jesus YouTube Book Trailer: