F.I.R.S.T. Wildcard Presents Let Us Die To Make Men Free

It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter!



You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Chris Plekenpol

and his book:

Faith in the Fog of War Volume II

BookSurge Publishing (March 5, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Chris Plekenpol graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1999. He served in the Army for 7 years as an Airborne Ranger qualified officer. He deployed from South Korea to Iraq in 2004 as a tank company team commander responsible for one hundred men and 85 million dollars worth of equipment. The toughest part of his job was losing six men under his command. Chris is a dynamic public speaker and now attends Dallas Theological Seminary.







Product Details:
List Price: $14.99

Paperback: 244 pages

Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (March 5, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1419662392

ISBN-13: 978-1419662393

MY REVIEW:
The second volume of Faith in the Fog of War : Let Us Die to Make Men Free is another very powerful book from the pen of Chris Plekenpol. Once again, he takes daily events from his time in the Iraq War and shares his heart and a powerful spiritual application with each event. The chapters are short, and each ends with some thought provoking questions and a scripture reference. This volume deals with some very difficult circumstances such as the injury and death of troops in a sensitive and humbling way. After reading this book you will not only understand God’s mighty power to save, but you will understand that spiritual warfare is a lifelong battle. For those who are fighting as soldiers for our country right now, the battle is more urgent than ever.

I think this two volume set would make an awesome gift for anyone who enjoys a thought-provoking personal devotion. Plekenpol doesn’t hold anything back, and he often is looking in the mirror at his own personal shortcomings. In doing so, he make scriptural application that any Christian can apply in their personal daily walk with Christ. Wartime is an especially poignant backdrop for these observations, and oftentimes I found myself really ashamed about some of the “problems” that I have allowed to hinder my daily walk with Christ. Truly, we are blessed beyond measure to be living in such a great country, and our military has been abundantly blessed by the service of Chris Plekenpol! Pick up your copy of this great book today!


AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:





Chapter One

Fourth of July

July 4, 2005

“Men, happy Fourth of July. You can take it off when you are done with your shift,” I quipped.

“Thanks sir.”

“Now get out there and don’t forget, it is better to let a bad guy get away than to kill a civilian. Try not to start a fireworks show out there.” I smiled.

“Roger.”

Unfortunately, the fireworks display did come. LT Klemcke was commanding his tank in Charlie sector enjoying the dusk and the escape of the daily heat. Out of nowhere, LT Klemcke heard a loud crack and it felt like someone was pulling on his helmet. He looked to his loader for an explanation and the look on SPC Coddington’s face was one of surprise. They then found a piece of shrapnel on their tank and realized what had happened. An RPG had just struck their tank.

Immediately, LT Klemcke ordered the driver to move out and SGT Cardenas to scan to the south to the location where he thought the RPG came from. As he did so, SGT Cardenas spotted a man with an RPG running from behind a taxi to behind a wall.

“I got a guy with an RPG.” SGT Cardenas alerted his tank commander.

“Fire.” Came the response of LT Klemcke.

“COAX, On the way.” SGT Cardenas replied as he laid down machine gun fire trying to hit the RPG man.

“He is behind the wall.” SGT Cardenas said, “Switching to Heat.”

“Fire.” LT Klemcke replied.

With a massive blast the wall fell down. Not only that but the round skipped off the wall and hit a transformer that was behind the wall causing the transformer to explode. Sparks and fire shot into the air. LT Klemcke moved his tank into the area to further investigate.

Nothing. No bad guys. Another one had slipped away.

I decided to move out there to see if we could find any clues or if the people had any idea as to where this RPG shooter had come from. Moving to the scene I found the fallen wall, and the transformer spilling fire on the asphalt. People had started to gather in the alley.

I dismounted my tank and met SFC Gondek on the ground. He and a squad of infantry evacuated some casualties caused by the blast, nothing too serious. He and I went and interviewed those in the streets. Mohammed, my interpreter, spoke for me. But before we could ask questions, they demanded to know why we had blown up their transformer.

“Why you shoot for no reason?” a man asked in broken English. At this, I wanted to grab the guy and shake him, and ask him ‘do you really think we shoot for no reason?’ However, I maintained composure.

“There was a man with an RPG,” using hand gestures to depict the situation. “One of my tanks was shot at. Did you see anyone with an RPG in your area?”

There was a pause as if the guy was thinking about his response. Then through Mohammed, he said, “We don’t know.”

“You don’t know? How can you not know?”

“Was there anyone here that you did not know with an RPG?”

“We don’t know.”

Mohammed, got frustrated for me. His voice rose as he told them in Arabic. “Yes or No. There is no ‘I don’t know.’”

“I don’t know.”

“Mohammed turned to me, “Same s___, suhr, they say they don’t know anything.”

I could not understand it. There was something they were not telling me. I wasn’t going to beat a confession out of them. The American Justice system in Iraq would prevail, even if it was to the prolonged violence for these people. Why did these people not want to end the violence? Not want to turn in those who would bring destruction on their own people due to cross fires? I couldn’t understand it. Freedom from war was only a breath away. I couldn’t understand it. What in the world was keeping them from wanting to experience freedom?

I gave them a speech through Mohammed expressing my desire and my heartfelt prayer that they would experience freedom. I told them that we needed to work together and grip hands so that together we could defeat the insurgency and bring peace to this land. They smiled and agreed at the words, but I wondered what was going on in their hearts.

I turned to head back to my tank. Behind me a woman shrieked and a man came running at me as fast as he could. He held out a little girl not older than 10. She was bleeding and her breathing was labored. SFC Gondek took the girl in his arms and raced back to the Bradley. I radioed ahead.

“This is Apache 6, he have a dying little girl and we need to get her medical attention now. We are bypassing the clinic and taking her straight to the hospital. Tell battalion to let them know we are coming! This girl was hit by shrapnel from the firefight with the insurgent.”

“Roger that.”

As I rode back, I mulled all these things over in my mind. These people were in between a rock and a hard place. Many people would call the US for help and we responded to where a bomb was planted and blew it up. Unfortunately terrorists would often respond to that with a gangster style drive by shooting leaving the informant dead. Or we would arrest a terrorist, but due to insufficient evidence we would have to return him in three months to the population and he would seek his revenge. So although the Iraqi people wanted to be free, the cost of personal safety became too great. They had families to think about. And when a little girl would get hit by shrapnel in a firefight, there was one more reason not to trust the Americans. They had their lives to think about. And for them, better to live in fear than risk it all.

I began to understand and then I thought of my own life. Many times I find myself in the midst of the same quandary. I want to do what is right. I want to exhibit freedom in Christ. Yet, there are times where I find myself lingering on in my sinful nature. Can I give up safety and what I know for the risk of what God wants and desires for my life? Sin, although not God-honoring, can be comforting. For me, my secret sins provide me a release to escape life for a moment.

My sinful nature hates the light, so when I step into a confrontation of the Holy Spirit in my times alone with God there is a cleansing and a renewing of faith. There is a sense of clarity on life and everything is in order. However, I know that I become even weaker if I think I can grow stronger by willpower, or if I think I can handle my sinfulness by myself.

Jesus points this out in Luke 11:24-2-6, “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”

My heart, when confronted with sin can repent and receive full cleansing. Yet, for me there is always an extreme battle as darkness tries to overwhelm the light. The enemy uses whatever he can to intimidate, to create doubt, to instill a sense of powerlessness in our lives. And there have been times where I have believed the lies and found myself worse off than when I began trying to get closer to God. The end result was losing the battle and falling further away from the Lord.

I don’t know if you have ever been there. I don’t know if you can relate to that, but I don’t think I am too different from you. I find that there really isn’t a super spiritual answer other than rely on others to hold me accountable so that I don’t find myself in the self-destructive habits of sin.

Ecclesiastes says, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:12)”

The insurgents in Iraq threaten civilians and make them feel as if they have talked to everyone in the entire town, and if they even mention their name even to their neighbor, they will be killed. My prayer is that these Iraqi civilians would become a united front against the insurgency, because a cord of three strands is not easily broken.

In the same way, my prayer is that we as Christians would overcome fear that we are the only ones dealing with whatever sin that we are struggling with and unite. That we would look to our fellow believers in Christ and take a stand and lift each other up and defend each other from the grip of the enemy.

Are you in the depths of sin, chok-slammed by the enemy, feeling as though he has the upper hand and will not let you go? Are you afraid to tell anyone for fear that you may be hurt, or looked down upon, or face the consequence of your sin? Are you willing to step out of the darkness of fear and into the mercy of God?

Faith In the Fog of War Volume I by Chris Plekenpol

It is truly an honor to read and review the work of Chris Plekenpol. As the wife of a former Army Officer, I understood a lot of the vocabulary related to his work in a very intimate way, and the Lord truly used his words to speak to me in a new way about many things! I want to begin by saying that everyone who has questions about the War in Iraq should read this book. Everyone who has questions about God’s ability to use bad situations for our good and His glory should read this book. Everyone who loves our Country and understands what a privilege it is to wake up every morning in the United States of America should read this book. Why? Because Chris Plekenpol has captured the essence of what it means to have a close, daily, intimate walk with the Savior, and he shares his heart in such a way that you cannot help but be moved and challenged!

Faith in the Fog of War is a unique book. It is laid out in short devotional-type chapters and includes pictures from Chris’ time in Iraq. Each chapter takes an event – sometimes mundane, sometimes horrific, sometimes unusual – and after describing the details of the event, Chris shares the spiritual application the Lord impressed upon his heart at that time. You will be astounded at the practical, scriptural applications that can be made during war time from a soldier’s point of view! Whether you are male or female, a new Christian or a seasoned Christian, there is something for everyone in this book.

I have been using Faith in the Fog of War as my daily devotional for a couple of weeks now, and I have been abundantly blessed at the many ways that the Lord has spoken to me through this book! I feel like I have a much better understanding of how to pray for our troops and for the leadership of our nation. I encourage everyone to check out this book as well as it’s most recent edition Volume 2 Let Us Die to Make Men Free. Visit Chris’ website today to learn more about this very special spiritual warrior.

F.I.R.S.T Wildcard Presents Beyond the Night by Marlo Schalesky

ABOUT THE BOOK (from the publisher)
They say love is blind. This time they’re right…

As a woman lies unconscious in a hospital bed, her husband waits beside her, urging her to wake up and come home. Between them lies an ocean of fear and the tenuous grip of memories long past. Memories of wonder. Of love. Memories of a girl named Madison and a boy named Paul…

Madison Foster knew she was going blind. But she didn’t want pity–not from her mother, not from her roommate, and especially not from her best friend Paul–the man she secretly loved.

Paul Tilden knew a good thing when he saw it. And a good thing was his friendship with Maddie Foster. That is, until he started to fall in love.

With the music of the seventies as their soundtrack and its groovy fashions as their scenery, Maddie and Paul were drawn together and driven apart. Then one night changed everything…forever.

And only now, when life tiptoes past the edge of yesterday, along the rim of today, can they glimpse the beauty that awaits them…beyond the night.

MY REVIEW:

“Don’t worry man. It’ll be alright. You just need to trust Jesus and do your part.”

“What’s my part?”

“I dunno. But it ain’t His part. Leave His part to Him. You do that and I’m betting you’ll know what your part is too.” (pages 248 – 249)

There is a love greater than all of our earthly sorrow. Christ’s love sustains us beyond circumstances we cannot understand nor make it through without Him. In many ways, even though we gain spiritual sight when we trust Him as Savior, we still depend on His strong hand to guide us through the darkness of our lives. For only He can see tomorrow, and we have to take hold of His hand and follow – even when we can’t see and we don’t understand.

Marlo Schalesky has written a love story that will leave you in tears. It will leave your heart tender. It will leave you thankful that you have a Savior who loves you even when you don’t trust Him enough to bring you through difficult circumstances. I have been blessed to witness a great love story like the one Marlo writes about in her book. My grandparents shared such a love. Truly, it is God’s greatest gift to us this side of eternity. Read this story…and remember how much God loves you! You will remember this story long after you finish the final page!

Go HERE to read an excerpt!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: (from the author's website)
Marlo Schalesky is the award winning author of six books, including her latest novel, Beyond the Night, which combines a love story with a surprise ending twist to create a new type of novel that she hopes will impact readers at their deepest levels. Marlo’s other books include Veil of Fire, a novel about finding hope in the fires of life, Empty Womb, Aching Heart- Hope and Help for Those Struggling with Infertility, and Cry Freedom.

She’s had over 600 articles published in various Christian magazines, including Today’s Christian Woman, Decision, Moody Magazine, and Discipleship Journal. She has contributed to Dr. Dobson’s Night Light Devotional for Couples, Tyndale’s Book of Devotions for Kids #3, and Discipleship Journal’s 101 Small Group Ideas. She is a speaker and a regular columnist for Power for Living.

Marlo is also a California native, a small business owner, and a graduate of Stanford University (with a B.S. in Chemistry!). In addition, she has recently earned her Masters in Theology, with an emphasis in Biblical Studies, from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Marlo lives with her husband and four young daughters in a log home in Central California.

When she’s not changing diapers, doing laundry, or writing books, Marlo loves Starbucks white mochas, reading the New Testament in Greek, and speaking to groups about finding the deep places of God in the disappointments of life.

CFBA presents Love Starts with Elle by Rachel Hauck

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
She's the last of five sisters to find true love. So, when Elle Garvey's wide receiver-turned-pastor boyfriend, Jeremiah Franklin, proposes, she answers an enthusiastic, "Yes." Until . . . she discovers the engagement comes with unexpected sacrifices.But every relationship requires compromise, and as Jeremiah takes on a large Dallas pastorate, Elle's life purpose and calling is challenged. As she stays behind in Beaufort, South Carolina to plan the wedding and sell her beloved art gallery, doubt shadows her engagement decision.Meanwhile, New York lawyer Heath McCord needs a change of scenery and moves with his young daughter to the low-country with dreams of starting over and writing a novel.As Heath renews his hope and heart, Elle's life begins to unravel. Crushed when Jeremiah ends their engagement, she heals morning by morning, praying in a dilapidated chapel, searching for passion and purpose.In the midst of crisis, God's love ignites her heart, and as her friendship with Heath blooms into love, Elle understands beauty always rises from the ashes.



MY REVIEW:
Many times in life our hearts will wrestle between what we want and what God wants for us. Many times God must remove something from us so that we may clearly see and understand that His plans are always designed for our good and His glory. Often, we choose our own path only to find that God, in His goodness and mercy - and in His time - redeems our wrong choices and creates something more wonderful than we could ever imagine.

I honestly believe Rachel hauck has written a book that beautifully tells a story of God's perfect love filtered through the broken hearts, shattered dreams and painful consequences found in the lives of her characters. I was delighted to discover some of the same folks in Loves Starts With Elle that I loved so much in Sweet Caroline! In Love Starts with Elle, Rachel Hauck brings Elle to the forefront of the story as she struggles to find God's plan for her life after her own dreams have been stripped away. During this time, God brings a grieving widower and a powerful prayer warrior into Elle's life, and slowly but surely her goals and dreams begin to turn in a new direction. In the mean time, Elle's sister Julliane is facing her own wrong choices head on, and as she watches Elle struggle, the Lord begins to awaken hope of redemption in her life as well.

Rachel Houck writes this tender story with words as warm and fragrant as a plate of Bubba's Buttery Biscuits at the Frogmore Cafe. The message will melt into your mind and warm your heart, and you will discover the same truth that Elle eventually finds in her own life: "(God) had always been with her - now and then - in the moments of darkness, in the times of light, when she doubted, and when she believed." (p. 319) Go ahead and purchase your own copy here today and enjoy this wonderful story yourself!



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Rachel Hauck is a graduate of Ohio State University, and is a former software trainer. She published her first novel in 2004. Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband, Tony, a youth pastor. Please visit her website here today to learn more about this terrific author and all of her great books!

The Five Senses of Romantic Love by Sam Laing

It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Sam Laing

and his book:

The Five Senses of Romantic Love

Dpi (February 1, 2007)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sam Laing is the author of seven books on the topics of marriage, parenting and spirituality. Known for his spiritual wisdom and insight, Laing has ministered to people for more than thirty-five years both in the US and abroad. His books include Be Still, My Soul, The Guilty Soul's Guide to Grace and Friends and Lovers. He and his wife, Geri, have a passion to help others find the joy and meaning that they have found in their marriage. They live in Georgia where Sam is a teacher and an evangelist.


Product Details

List Price: $13.00
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Dpi (February 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1577822234
ISBN-13: 978-1577822233

MY REVIEW:
From the point of view of a woman married for almost 20 years, mother of two teens, I think the concept of this book is timely. I believe with godly guidance this book would be the perfect gift for newly-married couples. This book scripturally addresses the role of sexual intimacy between a husband and wife, and it assures us that God created such relationship to be a beautiful, vital part of marriage. The world has robbed our society of the beauty, the purity, the completeness of sex within marriage. It needs to be reclaimed, and it needs to be enjoyed in its fullness just as God intended.

I appreciate Sam Laing for writing this book. There are lessons to be learned for all married couples. So whether you are just beginning life with your spouse, or whether you have enjoyed your marriage for many years, you can benefit from the effort of reading this book. You will gain new insight into one of God’s most precious creations – the intimate relationship between a man and woman joined in marriage

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


Chapter One

Holy and Hot


Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—

for your love is more delightful than wine.

Song of Songs1:2


“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.” Sounds a little like dialogue from a torrid romance novel, doesn’t it? Or, maybe a line from one of those x-rated sexual enhancement manuals flooding the market these days. We read these words and think they came from the kind of book we would read with hesitation and misgivings, and with the fear that we might be found out.

Worse yet, we might even assume that these words are the come-on of a loose woman, the sultry enticement to a passionate, but illicit sexual liaison.

But the words above are not taken from a trashy romance novel or a vulgar sex manual, nor are they the alluring invitation of a woman of the night. No, these words are the opening line of a book in the Bible—in the Old Testament, mind you—and they are spoken by a virtuous wife to her faithful husband, the man she married and loves. And this is only the beginning—it just keeps on heating up! There is much more that this married couple have to say to each other about their sexual desires, feelings and experiences.

The title of this oft misunderstood and neglected book in the Bible is the Song of Songs, or as it is sometimes called, the Song of Solomon.1 Similar to the double appellation “Lord of Lords” given to Jesus—meaning that that he is the greatest of all Lords—so the title “Song of Songs” means that this song is the greatest of songs, or perhaps, the greatest of Solomon’s songs.

Let’s think about that for a minute. Whatever that title may precisely mean, we begin to get the idea that God, in his wisdom and love, has placed in the Bible a book devoted to telling us how exciting, adventurous and fulfilling sexual love in marriage can be—and should be.


God Says Sex Is Good

As we noted earlier, Song of Songs is found in the Old Testament. That’s right, in the Old Testament—the first part of the Bible that some of us erroneously think of as the dusty, negative, rules-laden, joy-robbing volume; that part of the Bible written before Jesus came along and brought the good news. It is right in the middle of this Old Testament that God showed he is a life-affirming Father who plans for his children to have zest and excitement in marriage.

Now let’s be honest: most of us think that when it comes to sex, the Bible has nothing but warnings and condemnation. We have the notion that the Bible only identifies sex as the forbidden fruit, the tool of the devil, and the destroyer of our souls. At best, we may think that the Good Book permits sex for the practical purpose of procreation. The idea that married couples could or should have a passionate, delightful, adventurous, all-five-senses love life together seems, well…a little heretical.

And down through the ages the church has been one of the greatest culprits in perpetuating this notion. In failing to recognize and proclaim the beauty of God-given sexual pleasure in marriage, and in its one-sided preoccupation with the biblical prohibitions against sexual sin, the church has done us a great disservice. Let me say it straight up: this wrong-headed teaching is one of the greatest travesties ever foisted upon the human race by well-meaning, but misguided, churchmen and theologians.2

Even to bring up the subject of sexual enjoyment in marriage raises eyebrows and caution flags. Some think that such a discussion is outside the bounds of God’s word and inappropriate for Christian people to talk about; that to address the topic is immodest, undignified and borderline unholy.

I beg to differ. Furthermore, God, in the Bible, begs to differ. If you want to learn from God about having a great sex life with your spouse (and who doesn’t!), read the Song; understand what is really going on between these married lovers, and imitate their example. In the Song we have an unbeatable combination: the holiest and hottest sex manual ever written!


Warnings to Protect the Gift

Yes, there are plenty of warnings in the Bible about the abuse of sex. But we need to ask ourselves why they are there. These prohibitions are not in the Scriptures because sexual pleasure is innately wrong, dirty or selfish. Quite the opposite. It is because sex is such a wonderful gift that such ominous warnings are issued concerning its abuse. With its great potential for good, there is an accompanying possibility for evil if the gift of sex is used apart from the way God designed it.

Listen to this warning to young men from the book of Proverbs:


For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil;

but in the end she is bitter as gall,

sharp as a double-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death;

her steps lead straight to the grave.

She gives no thought to the way of life;

her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.


Now then, my sons, listen to me;

do not turn aside from what I say.

Keep to a path far from her,

do not go near the door of her house,

lest you give your best strength to others

and your years to one who is cruel,

lest strangers feast on your wealth

and your toil enrich another man’s house.

At the end of your life you will groan,

when your flesh and body are spent.

You will say, ”How I hated discipline!

How my heart spurned correction!

I would not obey my teachers

or listen to my instructors.

I have come to the brink of utter ruin

in the midst of the whole assembly.” (Proverbs 5:3–14)


Pretty scary, isn’t it? We know what not to do. But what is the best defense against the illicit affair? What is the best reason not to give in?

Let’s keep reading…


Drink water from your own cistern,

running water from your own well.

Should your springs overflow in the streets,

your streams of water in the public squares?

Let them be yours alone,

never to be shared with strangers.

May your fountain be blessed,

and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

A loving doe, a graceful deer—

may her breasts satisfy you always,

may you ever be captivated by her love.

Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress?

Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife? (Proverbs 5:15–20, emphasis mine)


What is a husband’s best defense against illicit sex? What is the compelling motive to stay faithful to his spouse? It is the excitement and allure of lovemaking with his wife. Look at the passage again and see what it is actually saying. The breasts of this man’s wife were to “satisfy” him. The love of his wife—specifically, her sexual love—was to “captivate” him always (v19).”3 This doesn’t sound like boring, dutiful, mechanistic sex does it? It sounds like something thrilling, exciting, adventurous, and as I mentioned earlier—with all holiness and reverence—something hot. And no little part of the reason for the heat is because this intense pleasure is to be utterly enjoyed without shame, with the full approval of our holy God.

Like everything else God made, we can use sex selfishly, outside the bounds of his will. When we do that, we sin. The greater, the more powerful and the better the gift, the greater potential for harm there is in its misuse. That is why Satan, our enemy, has taken sex away from God’s purposes. Like everything else he lies about, he lies about this. He tells people that the best sex takes place outside of marriage. He tells people that the way to sexual fulfillment is one-night stands, or uncommitted relationships, or time-limited experiments with an escape clause. He tells us that married sex is at best routine, and at worst boring, and headed for obsolescence. And it seems there is some truth to his lies. Yes, the worst lie has an element of truth in it—but it is twisted truth, skewed truth, polluted truth.

Some people may have had some thrilling trysts and exciting encounters when they broke God’s rules, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The fulfillment of our sexual needs and the answer to our sexual frustrations is found only within marriage. The story goes on beyond one night, one week, or even many years. The story has to do with our long-term satisfaction, our permanent value as human beings, and our final standing before God. Any other approach, no matter how thrilling it may seem, just won’t work out in the end. That story ends in emptiness, heartbreak and disappointment…in this life and in the next.


Function Follows Form

God is a Father who loves us more than we can know, and who made us with the capacities we have for love and sexual pleasure. And certainly, God did not make us with a sex drive so he could torture us or test us. He made us this way in order to bless our lives; to give us joy, fulfillment, excitement; and to experience a loving union with our spouse

Think about it this way: in creation, function follows form. That is, the Creator built our bodies in the way he wanted them to function. We are given the drive of hunger and the taste for food to motivate us to eat and survive. We are given the reflex of breathing to supply life-giving oxygen to our bodies. We are given the instinct to socialize with others so that we may love and be loved. And we are given a sexual drive so that we may reproduce, to be sure, but also as a means, in marriage, of satisfying our needs and bonding us to another person. If, as some theologians contend, sexual union between humans was only for the purpose of reproduction, it would seem logical to me that we should conceive children after just about every encounter. But as we know, this is not the case (thankfully!). The physical union of man and woman throughout their married lives serves even greater purposes: the expression of mutual love, the enjoyment of sexual pleasure, and the experiencing of closeness and bonding.

What we need is a radical—really radical—alteration of our view of God and his intentions for us. We need to revise our view of how he made our bodies and of the purposes he had in creating sexual desire within us. We need to come to a true biblical understanding. We can then revise how we look at sexual love and sexual pleasure in marriage. And when we do, the truth, as Jesus said, will set us free.


Total Freedom in Marriage

The Song starts out with the woman—yes, the woman—calling for the man to kiss her, and to kiss her repeatedly. She talks about his kisses being more delightful than wine, and in a later passage she says how his kisses glided over her lips and teeth. She invites him to kiss and explore her entire body. She says these things so clearly that it may astonish you, but they are unmistakably there.

Her husband, her “beloved,” also says that her kisses are like wine, but he adds in rapturous, poetic language that her lips “drop sweetness as the honeycomb” and that “milk and honey are under her tongue.” He says that the fragrance of her breath is like apples and her mouth is like the best wine. She responds to this by saying, “May my wine go straight to my lover, flowing over lips and teeth” (7:9).

Are you with me? Do you think we may be on to something here?

But that is just the start. There is more—much more—described in the pages of the Song. Their lovemaking is more intense, heated and intimate than kissing on the lips. Their entire bodies are involved. If this part shocks you, just hang on. Read the rest of the Song, and my brief exposition of it in this book, and you will see just how bold, exciting, excited and adventurous these married lovers really were. You will begin to see how they experienced and enjoyed their lovemaking with all five God-given senses.


It is the thesis of this book that sexual love in marriage is the hottest, best, and most fulfilling and enjoyable sex on the planet. It is so because it was designed by our Creator to be so, and God just flat-out knows how to do things right.


Married couples need to claim the Song of Songs as their ultimate love manual, their own divinely-inspired romantic handbook. More than that, married couples need to make this book their emancipation proclamation—the claim of liberation from a limited, shy, tentative, simplistic, functional, boring sex life. We need to let this book do what God intended: set us free—free to enjoy sexual love with our spouse and free to experience a lifelong adventure of discovering each other’s bodies, in all of their ever-changing intricacy and delight. God wants married couples to experience as a lifestyle the exciting, thrilling, adventurous and free sexual life that he, through the Holy Spirit, describes for us in this amazing book. If that is not why the Song is there, then why is it in the Bible at all?4


A Word of Caution


Remember that I do not intend to place pressure upon you or your spouse to perform sexually or to make either or both of you feel inadequate and guilty. Nor is my purpose to cause either one of you to compromise your conscience or your scruples. Those who are more adventurous must exercise loving and patient respect for their more modest mate; the more modest spouse should not judge the more adventurous one. Neither of you is “better” sexually than the other. The Song does not focus on performance, but upon love, encouragement and affection. The precise sexual activities and specific sexual results are left shrouded in mystery. And that is the beauty of sex in marriage: God gives each couple their own pleasures and joys, and these are treasured between the two of you as a private, sacred gift from him.

This book is written to educate, enlighten and inspire, and to help us think more biblically. My purpose is to uphold a fresh and freeing ideal, and not to create a standard of performance. Some of you face physical and emotional difficulties due to health, past experiences, etc. We all find that as our bodies change, so our romantic life changes. Also, our love life changes as we grow in confidence and in closeness to our spouse. The beauty of God’s plan is that each couple, in the privacy of our own marriage have the freedom to decide for ourselves about our sexual intimacy, and have a lifetime to work out a growing and satisfying response to the teachings we find here.


God’s Plan Is Not the Problem

It is a sad truth that many married couples are sexually unfulfilled. The joy, pleasure and sheer delight designed for married men and women is, for them, the great unclaimed gift. And what is sadder yet is that, many Christian married couples are sexually unfulfilled as well. Most couples just accept this as normal. They subsist with a sex life that barely has a pulse, when they could be having the time of their lives in bed with each other—and for that matter, out of bed in other unlikely—and exciting— places as well.

What is saddest of all is that some married people have gone outside of their marriage, into pornography or adultery, in a futile attempt to find sexual fulfillment.

The problem is not marriage. The problem is not that God’s plan is flawed. The problem is with us—with our ignorance, our unbelief and our low expectations. Though some married couples are not experiencing exciting or fulfilling sex in their marriage, that does not change what God says or promises—not one little bit. If we are not experiencing the promise, it is because something has gone wrong on our end of the bargain. We need to get educated so we can see what we have been missing and also what we have been promised. And that is what this book is all about!

The good news is that “with God, all things are possible.” We can change. And when we change, our marriage changes. As Geri and I wrote in our earlier book about marriage, Friends and Lovers: “Any two people can change. Any marriage can be fixed. Any marriage can become great.”5

And if you are a parent, one of the greatest gifts you can ever give your children is the example of your own exciting love life. Do you want your children to grow up and follow your footsteps of faith? Do you want to increase the chances of that happening? Have a great sex life. Your kids will see it (not literally!) and realize that the sexuality promoted out there in the world is bogus, and that they, if they do it God’s way, can look forward to one day having a great sex life just like their parents have.


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The purpose of this book is to help your marriage, especially your love life, become better than it has ever been. We will delve into the Song of Songs and mine it for its treasures—treasures that are meant to be ours and that every married couple is meant to enjoy. We will see how all five senses can be engaged in making love to your spouse.

Get ready for the ride of your life. Get ready to lose your confining inhibitions. Get ready to dismiss the false idea that out there in the world, out there among the glitterati, out there among those who disregard God’s plan—that “out there,” outside the bounds of marriage, is sexual joy and freedom, and that you and your spouse are consigned at best to righteous, but empty, sexual repetition. Throw out those false ideas and claim what is yours—rightfully and righteously yours—as a precious gift from your Father in Heaven. Claim the joyous union of sexual love that your Creator intends for you to have—a union he wants you to enjoy and celebrate all of your married life.

The Song—your song—is waiting to be sung!

Coming Unglued by Rebeca Seitz

In February of this year, Rebeca Seitz introduced the world to the Sinclair sisters – Tandy, Kendra, Joy and Meg. Set in a small town in Tennessee, the story of these four sisters’ lives creates a series called Sister’s Ink. The second book in the series, Coming Unglued features Kendra, and oh, what a story she has to share! This is the best blend of chick lit and contemporary Christian fiction you’ll ever find, and I’m so excited to share this book with you!

Kendra is struggling. It seems her past is whispering lies into her heart and mind, and she finds herself in a very emotionally volatile place. God has introduced her to a wonderful Christian man named Darrin, who seems to be totally crazy about her. Yet her poor choices in the past have created a pattern of lies and secrecy that has led her step by step into another relationship that threatens her faith, her family ties and someone’s marriage. Kendra’s story is an agonizing and beautiful picture of the emotional/mental war our sinful flesh must wage with our new spirit in Christ.

I love the closeness of the sisters in this series! I love the way they support and rally around each other no matter how ugly the situation becomes. During this story, Kendra’s choices impact all of their lives. In the process, they must learn when to intervene and when to back away and let each other grow – even if it means suffering painful consequences. Rebeca deals with some very sensitive issues that all of us are familiar with, and what I think is most thought provoking is that she clearly shows how our fleshly thoughts do battle with the Holy Spirit’s voice in our lives. She takes us step by painful step down the path of rationalizing bad choices, and then shows us how God works to reveal Himself to us and lovingly show us where we made a wrong turn.

Kendra’s story is a painful one. Forgiveness and repentance are not easy tasks, and she clearly learns that sometimes the biggest messes in our lives are the result of believing a lie from our past rather than clinging to the truth of God’s love. There is a statement on page 241 that sums up a lot of what this story is about; “…human beings can’t heal other human beings. They can only introduce each other to the Healer.” Join the Sinclair sisters as they bring Kendra through a time of healing. You’ll be so glad you did!! This is a series you simply shouldn’t miss!

Publisher: B&H Publishing GroupPub.

Date: July 2008Type:

PaperbackISBN 10: 0805446915ISBN 13: 9780805446913

Product #: 005101602

PaperbackPrice: $14.99

F.I.R.S.T. presents A Mile in My Flip Flops by Melody Carlson

ABOUT THE BOOK: (from the publisher)
Thirty-something Gretchen Hanover is stuck. Seeking solace from a broken heart, she traded her wedding plans for home improvement shows and ice cream—but she knows she can’t live on Ben and Jerry’s forever. She also knows that her enthusiastic Lab puppy has outgrown her tiny apartment.

The perfect patch for Gretchen’s dilapidated plans? She’ll become a first-time house-flipper. As ideas go, it’s daring and genius. She’ll take out a short-term loan, buy a fixer-upper, renovate it, resell it, and use the profit for an adorable house of her own. What could be easier?

But Gretchen’s plans to flip quickly flop when the house turns out to be in worse shape than she expected. She is relying on her retired contractor-father, but he wants to draw in his carpenter friend Noah Campbell. And although Noah is handy with tools, Gretchen isn’t so sure about the baggage he brings with him. Will she be able to loosen her grip on the tools when it seems Noah may be her only help?

A whimsical look at color swatches, mismatched curtain rods, and the building of relationships, A Mile in My Flip-Flops reminds us that it takes faith to renovate the heart, as well as the home.

MY REVIEWNever say never! This is the fourth book I’ve recently read by Melody Carlson. While the other three left me not-so-inspired, I really liked this one! At first, I got a little nervous when the main character (Gretchen) started name dropping brands of everything in her life from furniture (Ethan Allen) to shoes. (LL Bean & Cohn Hahn) I got a bit worried that I was in for another story about a self-absorbed, spoiled rich girl. As it turns out, Gretchen is a kindergarten teacher who was jilted just weeks before her wedding. With her heart broken and her dreams shattered, Gretchen feels like everyone if moving forward in life while she is stuck going nowhere.

After taking a brutally honest look at herself, Gretchen decides to take her life in a new direction. Working off little more than a wisp of a prayer and a passion for home renovation, Gretchen decides to “house-flip” during her summer break from teaching in order to earn money to buy a home of her own. However, in seems God has even grander designs for Gretchen’s life than she could ever imagine! As she begins renovating what seems to be a hopeless house, God starts renovating the broken areas of her heart.

Gretchen’s house-flipping project meets with a host of challenges – contractors running behind, dry rot, busted pipes – even her dad, a retired contractor who has co-signed the loan for the project and agreed to oversee it – suffers a major health set-back. It seems as if the project is truly doomed. But the Lord introduces first one person – Noah – then another – Kristen – into Gretchen’s life, and little by little both her house and her heart begin to reflect a greater trust in God and His ability to bear our burdens and direct our paths in ways that are for our good and His glory.

This book is filled with believable characters that face believable challenges. The ending…well, I won’t spoil it, but I will tell you it is very satisfying! This is a story that is both entertaining and encouraging! I have also learned a valuable lesson myself – never say never! I finally hit upon a story by Melody Carlson that I genuinely enjoyed! Who’d a thunk it?

Oh! One fair warning! You might be kind of tired by the time you reach the end of this story! Poor Gretchen works herself to pieces in the course of this book! But then again, you might get inspired to do a little home improvement of your own! Enjoy!

Go HERE to read the first chapter!!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melody Carlson has published over ninety books for adults, children, and teens, with sales totaling more than two million and many titles appearing on the ECPA Bestsellers List. Several of her books have been finalists for, and winners of, various writing awards, including the Gold Medallion and the RITA Award.

Visit her website here to learn more about her work