I’ve enjoyed every book by Andy Andrews that I’ve had the opportunity to read. And The Heart Mender is no different.

Andrews has a unique manner of storytelling, unlike any other author I’ve found. Couple that with his impeccable research and historical accuracy, and you have a compelling tale that is impossible to put down.

The Heart Mender is based on actual lives and set in a turbulent time in America’s history: the German U-boat blockade of the Gulf of Mexico during World War II. The story started when Andrews found several historical artifacts buried in his own backyard. In the process of learning more about these articles, he uncovered an unbelievable story of love, forgiveness and second chances.

The Heart Mender is a captivating story that kept me from putting the book down; and it saddened me when the story was finished. I wanted the tale to continue.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Heart Mender, and wholeheartedly recommend it as an excellent allegory explaining the reality of forgiveness and how it can heal even the hardest hearts.

I highly recommend that you read The Heart Mender, by Andy Andrews. You can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 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.”

One of the books on my 2009-2010 reading list is Celebration Of Discipline by Richard Foster. I read this book my freshman year at Ozark Christian College, for my Christian Life class. And it has rested on my shelf since then, used somewhat frequently as a resource, or to read an excerpt or chapter as needed. But I haven’t sat down and read the entire thing from front to back since college.

This year, I decided to re-read it in its entirety. And I am blessed because I did.

Foster set out to write a much needed examination of several spiritual disciplines that can deepen the spiritual life. These are by no means the only disciplines that can help one grow as a Christian; but they are many of the most ancient, and most recommended by the church fathers throughout Christian history. The practice of these (and other) disciplines is what Foster calls “the door to liberation.”

Foster breaks a list of twelve disciplines into three major categories: the inward disciplines, the outward disciplines, and the corporate disciplines.

The Inward Disciplines are a set of four spiritual disciplines that each individual needs to incorporate into his personal, daily life. These are the things that will help one grow personally in a relationship with the Savior. These include meditation, prayer, fasting and study.

A Long Obedience In The Same Direction was an intriguing read. Subtitled Discipleship In An Instant Society, it caught my attention as an opportunity to increase my understanding of the concept of lifelong discipleship. And I wasn’t disappointed.

As Peterson’s first book, A Long Obedience In The Same Direction causes you to ask why so many publishers turned it down before IVP picked it up (It was turned down seventeen times before being published). There is a lot of great material here. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that wants everything now. And a discipleship that takes the course of a lifetime is extremely unappealing to most people.

Peterson uses the Psalms of Ascent, Psalms 120-134, as his outline. Each of these Psalms reveal a characteristic of Christian discipleship, if we are patient enough to pay attention.

He explains that the Psalms of Ascent were very likely sung, possibly in sequence, by Hebrew pilgrims as they journeyed to Jerusalem for Israel’s great worship festivals. And that same journey can be used to describe, metaphorically, our journey up towards God as well.

Peterson examines fifteen different character traits of discipleship in A Long Obedience In The Same Direction: repentance, providence, worship, service, help, security, joy, work, happiness, perseverance, hope, humility, obedience, community and blessing.

I did NOT like this book. And I suspected that I was going to strongly dislike it quite early in my reading. The Selfless Gene is poorly researched and incredibly inflammatory towards people who take God’s Word literally. Foster’s attempt at marrying science and the Word is poor scholarship at best, literary treason at its worst.

Foster starts off his book with several provocative statements, directed at both creationists and Darwinists. It seems as if his goal is to alienate both sides of the issue as quickly as possible, and to satisfy neither side.

In hopes that this trend would change, I continued to read, looking for solid research and intriguing dialogue in the next few chapters. Sadly, I never found it. Foster slaps first one viewpoint and then the other, looking for a compromise that just doesn’t exist. He can’t have his cake and eat it too. Either God created, or random evolutionary mutations account for all that we see. There is no combining the two.

It saddens me greatly that we keep attempting to marry the idea of science “that we know to be true” to the Word of the One who is the Truth. And Foster’s attempt to wed the two fails just a greatly as every previous attempt.

To be perfectly frank, I almost felt dirty after reading The Selfless Gene, it disgusted me that much.

In my opinion, do not waste your time reading this. It’s not worth the time to wade though all the deception to find… nothing.

This is a worthless book, and I can’t recommend it to anyone whatsoever.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze blogger 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.”

To be honest, I was a little skeptical when a good friend recommended that I read Sacred Pathways, by Gary Thomas. I agreed to give it a look, purchased the book and left it on the shelf for the next couple of years until I could “get around to reading it.”

I’ve always been told, never judge a book by its cover, or in this case, by its title; but that’s exactly what I did. Sacred Pathways… It sounded meditative, mystical, and slightly New Age-ish.

However, when I finally “got around to reading it,” I was pleasantly surprised. I’d never read anything by Gary Thomas before, and found him engaging and easy to follow. Sacred Pathways captured and held my interest right from the start.

In Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas identifies and examines nine different spiritual paths. What exactly does this mean? Each of us have different approaches as to how we relate easiest with God. Each of us grow spiritually in different ways. Gary Thomas leads us through nine major categories, showing us the strengths and weakness of each one. And after each of them, he offers a few questions, to help identify if that particular pathway is one of the reader’s stronger characteristics.

I found this rating system especially helpful, and quite surprising. I thought I knew how I best deepened my spiritual relationship with God, but found out that I may have strengths in areas that have remained unrealized in my life. More on that and how I grow later.

Here are the nine pathways, with a quick synopsis of each one:

Ted Dekker is without a doubt my favorite fiction author. And his newest novel, The Bride Collector, is another literary smash hit.

I never cease to be amazed at Dekker’s ability to produce a story that captures my imagination even more than his last written offering.

In The Bride Collector, FBI Special Agent Brad Raines is on the trail of a serial killer, and he continually finds himself a step or two behind his man.

In the process of trying to understand the mind of a psychopathic killer, Raines turns to the Center for Wellness and Intelligence, where he is captivated by one of the residents of this extraordinary mental health care facility.

Paradise is a young woman who struggles with mental illness and severe phobias, but she turns out to be invaluable help to Agent Raines in his search for the killer. And as he gets to know Paradise better, he is drawn deeper into her world, beginning to see things from her perspective more clearly.

And Paradise will discover what it means to love and be loved, to find beauty in all of God’s creations, and trust where she least expects it.

To go any further with this synopsis would be to give up too much of the plot. Rest assured that Dekker is at his best in The Bride Collector. This is definitely a book that you will not be able to set aside until you finish it. It will open your eyes to the reality of the battle between good and evil, as much of Dekker’s work does. But it will also help you to see those with mental illness in a new and more compassionate light.

The Bride Collector is definitely a five star novel.

If you are interested in reading The Bride Collector, by Ted Dekker, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 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.”

NavPress has done it again. They’ve published a great book dealing with intimacy within a marriage. It’s called Intimacy Ignited: Conversations Couple To Couple, and it is an extraordinary resource for newly married couples, as well as couples that have been married for a while.

Intimacy Ignited is a journey through the Song of Solomon, allowing this book of Scripture to teach us about marriage. And it offers plenty of wise, biblical advice and practical suggestions to become a “Servant Lover.”

Written by two couples, Joseph and Linda Dillow, and Peter and Lorraine Pintus, this book is a conversation between the authors and the couple who read it. And they do a great job of communicating truths from Scripture to their readers.

Each of the sixteen chapters covers a specific section of the Song. Within each chapter, the first few pages are very similar to a Bible commentary, explaining the passage and what it communicates. After that, the authors dig into the practical applications of the passage, first to the couple, then to wives and husbands specifically.

It has opened my eyes to the Song of Solomon like never before. The thought that Solomon put into this as he wrote is extraordinary, definitely God-inspired.

In fact, the authors put it this way:

Solomon, write a real-life drama that captures the passion, adventure, and mystery of marriage, but do not ignore the problems of daily life. Be frank and precise when speaking of sexual intimacy, but write in such a way that if a child reads the words, his or her innocence remains intact. Regarding sexual activity, be specific enough to be helpful, but sensitive enough not to offend. Be spiritual, yet practical; wholesome, yet sensuous. And do it all in one hundred twenty verses or less.

I’m pretty sure Solomon achieved these goals. And Intimacy Ignited does a great job of exploring and explaining the poetic imagery of this ancient Song to readers in the twenty-first century.

This is an exceptional book, and can be a tremendous resource for any married couple.

If you are interested in reading Intimacy Ignited, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 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.”