Brennan Manning and John Blase have created an adorable children's story in Smack-dab in the Middle of God's Love. Set in the village of Hopi with the childless couple Willie Juan and Ana, the story talks about Abba, Willie Juan's name for God and the love he has for all. The illustrations are well done and the children's questions and concerns hit home for little ones learning about God. It got a big thumb's up from my toddler!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Book Review: JRR Tolkien, Christian Encounters Series
Mark Horne puts out a really interesting biography on the life and religion of JRR Tolkien in this edition of his Christian Encounters series. Horne takes a look at the contributions of Tolkien's Roman Catholicism on his writing of the LOTR saga, as well as his relationship with the another prolific Catholic writer of the day, C.S. Lewis. The book examines the life of Tolkien through a Christian lens, and while generalized in some ways, he does hit on important aspects of his religion's contributions to his work. My biggest criticism truly is that he didn't dig deep enough to really allow the reader to come away with a very involved understanding of his motivations to write the books or his faith's contributions to the evolution of the work. On the whole, the book is a good introduction to the world of Tolkien, although for a more indepth view, other books may provide more.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Book Review: Rumors of God, Whitehead and Tyson
Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson set out to examine the declining religious nature of the American public and attempt to enlighten the reader with a more thoughtful, insightful experience with their faith. The premise is that the Christian of today is drastically removed in faith and devotion from the first believers in the church that we have lost our way. They set down guidelines they believe will be both life-changing and motivational, but fall flat. Perhaps it's simply that in this point in my Christian walk I'm not "in this place", so to speak, but I felt it generally oversimplified the faith of today. As a Catholic, I feel that the rich tradition of the Church has continued though the Liturgy. Maybe a Protestant viewpoint may differ, but I feel just as strongly that any believer of today can be just as passionate for the Lord as those in his time. The idea of lukewarm Christianity being a new idea, unique to America and this time, is somewhat lacking and historically inaccurate to boot. I think that this book seems to capitalize on the idea some have that the faith of those around them isn't as strong as their own. It seems jaded at least. I was looking for something less agenda-driven and something more personal, so this book, while having some interesting ideas, lacked any depth for me.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Book Review: God's Love Letters to you
The book God's Love Letters to you is a 40 day devotional piece by Dr. Larry Crabb portrayed as an inspirational quick read. The intent is to give you a snippet of scripture with a dose of prose and prayer and send you on your proverbial way. The entire text can be read in under a minute. Truthfully, I think more insight could be garnered from simply taking the citations and reading them straight from the Bible, rather than the lukewarm look Dr. Crabb gives. I found the book a little too simplistic and not always connected to the scripture passages it contained. I prefer something a little more thought provoking and insightful and I feel this was lacking in both categories. Also, in regard to the inspirational nature and the "...chance to completely change the way you think about love" (taken from back cover), this one definitely falls short. I would possibly gift it to someone learning about faith and Christianity, or to an older child or teen. But as for someone looking for a devotional that could truly deepen your faith experience, I would look elsewhere.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers 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 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers 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 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Monday, June 20, 2011
Summer is in full swing...
Ahhh...can you feel it? Warm, balmy breezes and sunshine...glorious sunshine! Finally, summer has arrived. And boy, did we desperately need it! After the humdrum existence that was this spring, a little light and warmth was just what the doctor ordered :)
Things have been good on the family front. C is officially done with graduate school on Friday! He'll take his certification exam some time in August, but for all intents and purposes we have a full-fledged OT in the family. An accomplishment, for certain. As for AJ, he's successfully avoided all the summer school work I planned on him doing. He just returned from a trip to DC with C's family and is heading to Ohiopyle to go camping on Thursday. I wish I had his social life! Hopefully things will settle down after this next week and we'll get back on our school schedule. It's not essential that he be working right now, but I worry that a break will put us way behind in math and language arts. He struggles a little in both, and he's right in the middle of learning multiplication and division. Those are tricky enough without too long in between lessons. That said, the kid did well this year and deserves a break.
Diva is well...she's got her big girl britches on and is testing my patience with potty training. She is physically ready to be certain, but less than interested in the whole process. If I could slow her down for five minutes, I'd be set!
Things have been good on the family front. C is officially done with graduate school on Friday! He'll take his certification exam some time in August, but for all intents and purposes we have a full-fledged OT in the family. An accomplishment, for certain. As for AJ, he's successfully avoided all the summer school work I planned on him doing. He just returned from a trip to DC with C's family and is heading to Ohiopyle to go camping on Thursday. I wish I had his social life! Hopefully things will settle down after this next week and we'll get back on our school schedule. It's not essential that he be working right now, but I worry that a break will put us way behind in math and language arts. He struggles a little in both, and he's right in the middle of learning multiplication and division. Those are tricky enough without too long in between lessons. That said, the kid did well this year and deserves a break.
Diva is well...she's got her big girl britches on and is testing my patience with potty training. She is physically ready to be certain, but less than interested in the whole process. If I could slow her down for five minutes, I'd be set!
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