Unto the Lord

Heaven is for Real...

2011-11-01T17:04:00.000-07:00

When I saw this book available for review on Booksneeze I jumped at the chance of getting it. I have been interested to read it and just see what it was like for a while. I started reading it and was into the story so much that I actually read the whole thing in one reading! (It took me about 3 hrs from cover to cover although I skipped the first chapter or two as I had read this before). Heaven is for Real is about a boy named Colton who becomes gravely ill with appendicitis and rushed to the hospital. Over the few weeks that proceed, the Father (Todd Burpo - co-author of the story) tells of the ups and downs of surgery and his recovery.

There will be people that are cynical and say that this didn't happen. There will be those that hold onto every word. I agree with Todd's commentary that this is a 3/4 yr old (at the time) boy who wouldn't know about various details like whom Jesus' cousin is, various things he saw in heaven and physical details about people that he met. This truly had me captivated. It is a simple read which doesn't try to preach about visions, Theology, supernatural encounters and why they are right or not. Just that this happened, its in the Bible and we are treating this as though it happened. I liked this book. I'm sure there has been intense debate about whether this is true or not. I would encourage the reader to approach this book with childlike faith and and open heart, especially if you don't believe in these things to begin with. There is a real message of God's love and how He cares about His kids that, although not preached directly, permeates the book.FYI - I received this book via booksneeze.com. The opinions expressed are my own and booksneeze.com has not in any way encouraged me to give a good review of this book. I just like it.

The Love & Respect Experience

2011-10-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

The latest book that I've 'read' (I say 'read' because i haven't read all of it...yet!) is the Love & Respect Experience. If you haven't read the Original "Love & Respect" and you are married or looking to become married in the near future then you should stop reading this now and go out and buy THAT book first. It is a great read and touches on many aspects of married life. Maybe when you read it you may not relate to it if you are newly-wed. Keep it for a few years and go back to it. It is on my 'recommendations' list. If you haven't read "Love and Respect" then the author gives a brief chapter on concepts like 'the crazy cycle' and 'pink and blue lenses', all which feature in Love and Respect. Back to this book. The love and respect experience is a devotional book for couples. It comes in a 'leather style' binding which makes it feel rugged and more manly than some of those pink devotionals and that is the point. The author feels like men do not want to do devotionals or if they do it usually focuses more on them fixing themselves or 'getting in touch with themselves (not a bad thing but maybe a cynical stereotype) rather than a true 'couple' devotional. He admittedly aims some more points at women to balance out this view. One thing I found helpful at the beginning of this book was that they recommended that you READ IT SEPARATELY. For some that may be a no-brainer. I guess it makes sense to me but to have permission from the author to do this felt freeing. Read it THEN discuss it after you both have read it. As I have mentioned already, I havent read all of this yet. What I have read has been down to earth, practical and helpful in growing in Love and Respect for each other. I do recommend this book but would recommend the original "Love and Respect" first then read this book for more practical application & discussion.FYI - I recieved this book from BookSneeze.com for free. I have been asked to give my honest opinion on this book. All opinions are mine and have not been solicited from Booksneeze.

The Blessing...

2011-09-24T07:00:00.001-07:00

The Blessing was something that caught my eye. A clean cover and the promises it gave were pretty high. When i first requested this book (see full disclosure below!) I didnt realize that this was the first part of 2 books. The other book was just recently released and I cannot remember the name of it currently. I did feel like this book did take some time to get going. I throughly enjoyed the book though. Some of the beginning was some basic and elementary teaching about God's love, and statistics of 'love' in this world. The reality is we all need to hear that (even if the beginning was slow!) and highly appreciated the foundation that they built. I appreciated extra insights in the updated version and there was even some weblinks that you could go to (I had the physical copy but I think that the e-copy would probably have direct links etc. which would make this book even more interactive on your iPad etc.). This made this book highly interactive and was fun when you got to the end of a chapter to watch the videos (although they were not at the end of EVERY chapter).Full disclosure - I received this as part of Booksneeze.com. All the opinions above are my own.

The Final summit

2011-06-12T07:49:00.001-07:00

I am not usually one who reads novels. I didnt read much of this one. Book Sneeze was offering this on top of another book i was reviewing at the time and so took advantage of it. In saying this it also looked intruiging.What i didnt know at first about this was that it is part of a series. Not that this was a deal breaker as you can get into it pretty quick. This book is about a quest given by the Archangel Gabriel to find 2 words that will unlock a door. I dont really want to go too much into the details of the book but needless to say, it is probably a fun read to possibly read on vacation etc.
FYI - i recieved this book through Thomas Nelson’s Book Sneeze Program. The opinions expressed are my own and have not be coerced by Book Sneeze.

Max on Life

2011-06-12T07:17:00.001-07:00

Max Lucado seems to be a very nice chap. He seems like an approachable person whom is laid back. This basically describes Max’s approach in writing - laid back and an easy read. In this book “Max on Life”, Max takes a look at common life questions that people have asked Max throughout the years and Max attempts to answer these questions throughout the book. While most of these topics have an approachable style and a very easy read I wish there would have been some depth in theological stances but in saying this it is a great resource for hard-to-answer questions as well as a nice guide for new believers.
FYI - i recieved this book through Thomas Nelson’s Book Sneeze Program. The opinions expressed are my own and have not be coerced by Book Sneeze.

Story Engineering

2011-06-12T06:45:00.001-07:00

As one who wants to get better in writing and crafting how I write, story engineering caught my eye. Story Engineering overall i believe will be a good book for you to read. While not everything in the book i agreed with this will help you on your quest to craft a story with great tips and points on this topic. At times the author seems to veer of into negative rants about himself and you can tell how sometimes hes been hurt by the book rejections etc.
Overall I recommend this book but remember - eat the meat and spit out the bones.
FYI - i recieved this book through Thomas Nelson’s Book Sneeze Program. The opinions expressed are my own and have not be coerced by Book Sneeze.

Couples Who Pray

2011-04-23T18:18:00.000-07:00

When I saw this book couples who pray i was excited! "Couples who pray" i thought, "wow, now i will be able to pray with my wife more!". Part of what I think excites us about praying together is just that it creates intimacy between my wife and I. Another major part is, obviously, us jointly growing closer to God.
In saying this I found that while the stories were encouraging and it was interesting to hear all the different points of view, I think that this was not necessarily my fav book. In saying THAT i feel that it is a good encouragement for couples as a starting point for greater depth in prayer together and hopefully there is more on the way for depth in prayer as couples. I didnt really find any practical advice until possibly near the end. It was more of a difficult read than what i thought and there was not much in the way of guidance of the 40 day prayer challenge. But maybe this should be classified more as an 'inspirational' book - inspiring people to begin to pray more.
I reviewed this book from Thomas Nelson and received this book for free from booksneeze.com.

Everyone Communicates, Few Connect

2010-04-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

When I first saw this book I had just started to read some literature from John Maxwell and have loved the books that he has written. I was excited to read this book as I have found that sometimes church relationships (mine included) have sometimes become shallow - sometimes reduced to "hi how are you", "im great, how are you", "GREAT", "Thats just great!" - to have depth in relationships is a good thing.

This book doesn't disappoint. One thing that the book emphasizes is that YOU have to be intentional in your relationships and connecting isn't about you. Although these are a couple of the main points of the book I would highly recommend it. It has defiantly helped me in my focus on connection with people and although I haven't been trying it out for long I can see the long term benefits of this book.

Another benefit of this book is that he breaks down how to connect with each type of group (one-on-one, small group and large group/congregation etc.). I sometimes found myself skipping this but is a great tool to go back to and re-read.

About 2/3 of the way through the book I felt may loose some people as he delves into communicating with large groups of people, particularly Church congregations as some people (as he admits in the book) will not find themselves in this situation much. I on the other hand have/will find myself in those situations and so felt it was a good read. I would encourage those who may not think it will apply to them to read through anyways. It may one day help them

Hermie and Friends #1

2010-03-01T13:53:00.000-08:00

I have enjoyed reviewing for booksneeze.com and this DVD, Antonio Meets His Match excited me as my son is getting more and more into the Hermie Series.

The basic premise of the story is 'loving your neighbor'. Antonio the ant (who seems to resemble the ants off of that movie by dreamworks' "Ants") finds that there are some new ants in town and they are really annoying him by being obnoxious and inconsiderate to the ants that already live in the garden. God instructs Antonio to just love them, and he does for a while. Then something just annoys Antonio so much that he 'snaps' and confronts them. Without giving too much else away the lesson is clear and simple. I feel this lesson will come across to all ages. When others may come across annoying, love them. God loves them and asks us to do the same. He has it all in hand.

This Hermie defiantly has a high recommendation, maybe one of the best they have produced so far.

4.5/5

The Tallest of Smalls by Max Lucado

2010-01-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

I was excited to receive my first brb book - The Tallest of Smalls by Max Lucado. Having never read the book fearless which this parable is taken from I was able to read this with only an incling as to what the book was about because of the title. The pictures are bright with a unique style to them. It defiantly made my almost two year old take a good look.

*Potential Spoiler Ahead*

Written in the "Dr. Seus" rhyming style it tells of a small boy who wanted to be like those tall people on stilts. Once He got there he realized that it wasnt all cut out to be.

This teaches some great life lessons on image is not what God looks for and on your identity in Christ. All in all this was a book I enjoyed and would recommend it for all ages, even though the really younguns may not fully understand it.

5/5

Book Review...

2009-10-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

ok so hopefully I am going to write more than just book review's on here...or maybe i'll just share some cool quotes, etc.

Listening to "God you Reign" by Lincoln Brewster...i like it.

Anyways...PEACE

First Post...

2009-10-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

So I decided to restart a blog!

There are many things I can say about what I want to use this blog but hopefully God will craft how He wants me to use it.

So enjoy!

Geoff