16. Warrior: How to Fight for Your Faith, Family, Finances, and Future

This book was sent to me in exchange for an unbiased review.

We are in a battle, and Ed Rush makes that abundantly clear as he walks the reader through the life of Christ, the Warrior King and a man on a mission. I like that the author is fairly self-effacing about himself. He is transparent about his weaknesses and foibles. I also appreciate what he did for our country as a fighter pilot in Iraq. All those are things in this author's favor. 

Rush talks of the power available to us through the Holy Spirit and that prayer, fasting, and obedience are part of the "power pattern," and this is awesome. He talks of Jesus telling His disciples to wait until they are clothed with "power from on high" (Luke 24:48-49). He talks of the authority we have been given by Jesus' Great Commission to "go and "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:18-20). 

This results in Rush concluding that you should make disciples by choosing fellow warriors who "love to spend time with Jesus, who understand his word, who cast out demons, and who make disciples" (Location 1433-41). Amen! Loved that. 

Rush clarifies the mission:

 "So what is our new mission on earth? Here you go: exercise our authority and crush Satan."  

But then he doesn't go on with that. He doesn't flesh out what it means to make disciples of all the nations. I would have liked to hear more about the Great CoMISSION to go out making disciples of all peoples of the world. This was disappointing because part of "crushing Satan" is seeing his dominion diminish throughout the darkest parts of the earth (Matthew 24:14)! That is what the disciples did after they were clothed with power on high (Acts 1:8). Where is the call to go to the ends of the earth to start disciplemaking movements throughout the most unreached people of the world? Where is the call to a lifelong commitment to disciplemaking? It builds up to that crescendo about halfway through the book, and then it falls short for me.

Warrior did not "wow" me like it did all the other reviewers on Amazon.com. But most of those reviewers were written by men. Rush gives solid biblical advice. I wish he would have given a William Wallace war cry to go into enemy territory and fulfill the Great Commission, but that doesn't always sell books and fill stadiums. 

Rush is a man's man. So I think he is probably speaking to the men out there who need a good military kick in their personal lives and families, there is nothing wrong with that, but Rush built up my expectation to believe that his charge would be bigger and beyond that, and I have to admit I was disappointed! So close, yet so far. 

For more on what you can do to take up the battle cry, go to Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: http://www.perspectives.org/site/pp.aspx?c=eqLLI0OFKrF&b=2806295

15. Of Virgins and Martyrs: Women and Sexuality in Global Conflict by David Jacobson

First of all, let me say that this is the coolest cover EVER for any book I have ever read. The woman's eyes are amazing against the purple head covering. Perfect.

I finished this book two weeks ago, and I cannot tell you how many times I have referred back to it whenever I hear a news report or have a discussion with others about what is happening around the Muslim world. This book will inform your perspective in very profound ways. I cannot recommend it highly enough. 

In his introduction, the author states, "I have endeavored to make the text as accessible as possible to the interested general reader, while (I trust) not sacrificing the rigor of argument and supporting evidence" (p. 18)

I believe he strikes the perfect balance between good scholarship and readability for the common man! I could not put this book down. 

Jacobson explains global terrorism in its cultural context rather than generalizing and blaming it all on the religion of Islam. He does this by using the Tribalism Index:

The Tribalism Index is able, on its own, to explain a remarkable 68 percent of rates of religiously motivated violence (based on data drawn from tabulations of the National Counterterrorism Center [NCTC] for 2005 to 2010.) This influence is dramatic— the likelihood of a national from a country with a tribalism score of 1.0 causing a terrorist incident is 6.5 million times higher than a national from a hypothetical state scoring 0. If we add additional variables of social globalization, Muslim percent of population, and per capita GDP, we can account for 93 percent of the religiously motivated violence. . . we are able to isolate tribal patriarchy as a major factor in driving religiously motivated violence when we seek to predict the patterns shown in NCTC data. We are able to state, with assurance, that a state’s movement from one end of the tribal patriarchy spectrum to the other predicts an extraordinary increase in the production of religious violence on the part of nationals. (p. 118)

Simply put, Muslim societies are somewhat less violent than their non-Muslim counterparts if we factor out the presence of tribalism. However, when increasing Muslim population is combined with high levels of tribal patriarchy, religiously motivated violence is more likely to be exported across national borders. (p. 118) 

On top of this, he is able to predict how tribal patriarchy affects groups of people who migrate to other countries, specifically Britain and France. He comes to the fascinating conclusion "the French republican model, with its stress on assimilation, works better than British multiculturalism, with respect to Muslim women’s progress and to national integration in the respective countries" (p.18). So fascinating!

This review cannot possibly convey the brilliance of this book. It is revolutionary and should be a part of college global studies courses and read by anyone dealing with the Muslim world.  

The only drawback of the Kindle version is that the author's charts are difficult to read and cannot be enlarged, but I was able to find similar charts online here:

http://citizenshipinitiative.org/tribalism-index/ 

The difficulty reading the charts has nothing to do with the content. Therefore, I still give this a full five star rating. 

I was sent a complimentary Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

14. Getting Out of Bed in the Morning: Reflections of Comfort in Heartache by Alice Wisler

 I received a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. 

This book is beautifully written, hitting all the points of working through grief in a way that is not overly sentimental but focused on the God who daily bears our burdens. I love her reflections and prayer walking ideas. I would definitely recommend this for any one who needs to gain perspective when the journey of life seems hopeless. This woman has been through the Valley and has come through it with a depth of relationship with God that is mature and beautiful. She will mentor many through this book.

ISBN: 0891124195

8. Keeping Christ in Ministry by John H. Harrison

 Unlike a previous review, I enjoyed that the scripture in this book was printed out, and I didn't have to go and look up each verse reference in my Bible. The author quotes scripture after scripture that spoke of Jesus as Prophet, Priest, King, Warrior, Light, Shepherd, Servant, Teacher, Creator, Brother, and Immanuel. It was like a topical study on the character of Jesus, and how we can reflect His character in ministry. 

But that is really all it is: a topical Bible study about Jesus. If it had been titled The Character of Christ, I would not have been disappointed, but the title and introduction build up my hope that it would be more about the different approaches to ministry--especially in America--that are "suspect at best, and unbiblical at worst" (Kindle Locations 36-48). 

In the introduction, the author promises: 

The final chapter presents an approach to ministry that is based on the perspective presented in this book. It illustrates how people’s unique creation by God— their passions, personality, and spiritual gifts— enables them to participate in the ministry of Jesus in a unique way. This chapter also explains the role of the “ministry mentor” in helping people and provides an example of an overall approach.
Harbison, John H.. Keeping Christ in Ministry (Kindle Locations 99-102). Kirkdale Press.  

I came to the end of that chapter and said, "That's it? Also, his discussion of passions, personality, and spiritual gifts are something I teach on, and it a very basic regurgitation of the S.H.A.P.E. (Spiritual Gifts, Heart Passions, Abilities, Personality, Experience) already developed by others many years ago and doesn't really contribute anything new to the dialogue.

While I wholeheartedly agree that much of the church has resorted to methodology over theology, I do not think this book does much to counteract that trend. 

6. The Flying Creatures of Fra Angelico by Antonio Tabucchi

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. 

I really wanted to like this book. The Italian author is a beautiful writer, but the stories did not grab me. I don't even know if you can call them stories. As admitted by the author, they are more like "fragments" that are quite disjointed. Some are letters and some are embryos of short stories but do not seem to have a real conclusion to them. I liked the embryo of the story, but I felt frustrated by them too.

I did learn quite a bit about European history, as the letters were about people I had never heard about. So, I went and looked them up and learned quite a bit in the process.

If you have been a fan of Antonio Tabucchi's other stories, I think you will probably love this book of reflections. Because I had not read his other stories, I was a bit lost. Again, I thought it writing was beautiful, and I enjoyed reading a modern day book by an Italian author; but it just didn't do much for me. 

On more thing, I do love the cover and style of the book. It is very precious and beautiful. 

4. Pocket Your Dollars by Carrie Rocha

This is a wonderfully solid book that gets to the underlying reasons why we spend money. Rocha and her husband were $50,000 in debt and set out to understand why they were that way. The set out purposefully to manage their money and pay down their debt.

This book was perfectly timed for our family as my husband recently was cut back in hours, and we are living on 75% of what we had before. While I have never had the debt issues that Rocha and her husband had (we don't even have a home mortgage), I did want to put aside money for our upcoming anniversary trip, and Carrie gave me the motivation and helpful advice for doing it. 

I picked up many tips (Did you know that gas is cheaper on Tuesday? I never did, but I have checked for the last two weeks; and the prices really do dip on that day!). This will be a valuable, easy-to-read addition to the books on gaining a financial foothold in difficult times. 

The publisher sent me a copy of the pre-published book in exchange for an unbiased review. 

1. Les Miserables Radio Family Theatre by Victor Hugo

DISCLAIMER: I am a Les Miserables fanatic!

I have read the full unabridged version of Les Miserables twice, led a discussion on it with my book club (highest score ever), seen it live on stage twice, watched the 10th Anniversary edition of the stage production and listened to the soundtrack of this edition more times than I can count, and watched the 2012 movie version a week before listening to this audio book.

This audio book will be proudly added to my collection of all things Les Miserables!

What a wonderful three hour abridgment that hits all the important elements of mercy and redemption in this story! It is the perfect way to introduce someone to this timeless message.  It is also sensitive to a younger audience in that some of the "grittier" elements have been toned down (Fantine really WAS a prostitute in the book, but this is not emphasized in this abridgment making it appropriate for younger listeners.) 

The acting is SUPERB. Brian Blessed is a seasoned actor that portrays Jean Valjean wonderfully. 

The musical score is also beautiful. It will move you much like the music from the musical version does. I could not stop listening to this dramatization!

Five stars for this fine production that has been re-released to coincide with the release of the 2012 film.

NOTE: Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this audio book in exchange for an unbiased review. 

52 in 52 Week 49: Time Control by Justin Byers

I received this book as an Early Reviewer in exchange for an unbiased review. 

Unlike the previous one I reviewed from this publisher called Be Happy, this one had quite a bit more meat to it and practical steps! It reminded me a lot of a book I read my freshman year in college called How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life by Alan Lakein. While I think Lakein's book is the best book I have ever read on the subject and goes more in-depth on the subject, this book is a very nice "primer."  It is a quick read and well-written. It certainly motivated me to be more intentional about sticking to my goals. 

52 in 52 Week 48: Be Happy! by Nichole Fisher

I received this as an Early Reviewer copy in a PDF format so I think there is still time for the author to make some revisions. It read to me more like an undergraduate term paper rather than a substantive book. The author defines happiness and the things that make us unhappy and then gives some suggestions for how to "BE HAPPY!"  It is a good basic book on the subject, and it might be good for someone just finding out who they are, but it doesn't have a ton of meat to it. I also did not like the part on "self-hypnosis" that did not really seem to me like hypnosis. I would leave that part out or change the wording. 

The book has potential, and maybe it is worth the $2.99 price on Amazon (or free for Prime users lending library), but I wouldn't even pay that price. It needs more development, but it might be just enough for someone just beginning their journey on the road to self-awareness. 

52 in 52 Week 48: 90 Days Thru the Bible by Chris Tiegree

Disclaimer: Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of this review.

The day before receiving this book from Tyndale House, I met with a group of believers who all lamented the fact that they had never read through the entire Bible and felt like they did not totally understand the overall story from Genesis to Revelation. This book could not have been more perfectly timed! I truly believe that this will be a helpful first step for this group and beyond.

I remember the Walk Thru the Bible Seminars that were very popular many years ago. Chris Tiegree has brought these seminars and more to book form. He really emphasizes the whole point of God's longing for relationship with us and brings out the Scarlet Thread of Redemption pointing to Jesus that is woven throughout all of the Hebrew Scriptures. His writing is beautiful and makes you want to draw near to God. Tiegree communicates the key to what life is all about. Bravo!

Here are a couple of quotes I liked so much that I sent them to friends:

"God's highest goal for us isn't our obedience, our service, our testimony for Him, or any other behavioral outcome. It's that we adore Him. Yes, love has implications in all other areas, but first and foremost, our relationship with God is a matter of the heart. If we don't love Him fully, we're missing our purpose." (90 Days Thru the Bible: A Devotional Journey, p. 33) 

"We are not just travelers on a long, hard road to our destination. We carry evidence of that destination within us. Whenever God's presence fills us to overflowing, we bring glimpses of the destination into the journey itself. Wherever we see something that doesn't look like the Kingdom, we're to bring the Kingdom into that place. Though in one sense the Kingdom will come, in another sense it has already come and still comes--not just to us but through us. The builder of the city isn't waiting for 'someday.' He's working even now" (90 Days Thru the Bible: A Devotional Journey, Ezekiel, p.105).

The only drawback is that I wish it had an encouragement to actually read the Bible all the way through as a challenging yet rewarding next step (www.3yearbiblebookclub.blogspot.com is a possibility). I also would have liked to have more application-oriented kinds of discussion questions at the end of each day. Other than this, it is a great contribution toward helping people toward biblical literacy.