The Simplified Guide: Paul's Letters to the Churches by David Hazelton

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

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

Today's Wild Card author is:

David Hazelton

and the book:

The Simplified Guide: Paul's Letters to the Churches

Deep River Books (September 5, 2013)

***Special thanks to Emily Woodworth for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Like Paul, David Hazelton's professional background is in the law and business. He is a senior partner in a law firm in Washington, D.C., one of the nation's five largest firms. Dave's passion is teaching Sunday School and leading Bible studies in his home, church, and workplace. He serves as an elder at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church.

Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Paul wrote to "all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor. 1:2). Far from works of abstract theology, his letters provide practical instruction to people without any special theological training or educational credentials––regular people like you and me. In The Simplified Guide, David Hazelton collects Paul’s instructions on specific issues as faithfully and completely as possible. Rather than promoting a particular interpretation, Hazelton guides readers to make their own observations about applying Paul's instructions to their lives.

Product Details:
List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Deep River Books (September 5, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 193775684X
ISBN-13: 978-1937756840

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

 PART I: RIGHT BELIEFS

Paul explains the essentials of the gospel message of salvation in simple and straightforward terms. Rather than focusing on a rigid set of rules, or a detailed set of rituals, or a complex system of theology, Paul focuses on the person of Jesus Christ, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead. If we understand the gospel correctly, everything else will follow. Before we worry about any other issue, Paul wants us to under­stand the gospel in all of its clarity, beauty and majesty.

We therefore begin in chapter 1 with Paul’s explanation of this pure and simple gospel. Due to its central importance, Paul issues strong warnings against any additions to or subtractions from this gospel as discussed chapter 2. While insisting on strict faithfulness to the essentials of the gospel, chapter 3 discusses Paul’s declaration of our freedom in practices and personal convictions on secondary matters. Chapter 4 next explains that Paul relies on Scripture as the foundation for understanding the gospel and, more generally, what we believe as Christians. In chapter 5, we conclude Part I of our study by discussing how Paul takes a practical approach to “theological” issues, which brings us back, again and again, to the gospel.

CHAPTER 1

The Pure and Simple Gospel

This is the most important chapter in this book. As Paul makes clear, the gospel is the basis for our salvation. It is the foundation on which all of his other instructions are built. If we build on any other foundation, everything else that we believe or do will crumble in the end.

The gospel message as declared by Paul is easy to understand but often hard to accept. Almost everyone can readily grasp the essential elements of the gospel at a basic level. But many want to make it more complex than it is, perhaps because it is difficult to accept that something so important can be so simple. Paul is very clear, however, that the gospel message of salvation is simple, straightforward, and available to all who come in faith. Let’s examine the foundation for Paul’s teaching—and our faith—and what it means for us today.

WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIALS OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE OF SALVATION?

In 1 Corinthians 15:1–4, Paul states plainly the gospel by which we are saved:

I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

Paul provides quite a buildup before identifying the essentials of the gospel message. “By this gospel you are saved” (1 Cor. 15:2). It is the “gospel I preached to you,” the gospel “you received and on which you have taken your stand,” the gospel to which you must “hold firmly,” and it is a matter of “first importance” (1 Cor. 15:3). Having emphasized its importance, Paul states the essential elements of the gospel in a few simple words: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (2 Cor. 15:3–4). Clearly, nothing is more important to Paul than the person of Jesus Christ, his death, and his resurrection.

The book of Acts documents that Paul preached this very gospel message to the churches when he was with them in person. When arriving in a city, it was the “custom” of Paul to go to the synagogue where “he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,’ he said” (Acts 17:2–3). Thus, in his sermon recorded in Acts 13:13–41, Paul presented the “message of salvation” (v. 26) and “the good news” (v. 32) by focusing on the historic events of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. Specifically, he pro­claimed:

The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. (Acts 13:27–31)

Similarly, when put on trial for preaching the gospel, Paul explained: “I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:22–23). We are often tempted to complicate the gospel, but when his back was to the wall, Paul stood firm on a simple statement about Jesus Christ, his death, and his resurrection.

Paul’s insistence on this pure and simple gospel wasn’t limited to his preaching. In his letters to the churches, Paul repeats again and again the simple gospel that he had preached. In 1 Corinthians 2:1–2, he explains: “When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him cru­cified.” Similarly, Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 1:23 that “we preach Christ crucified.” He identifies “the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:8–9).

When describing the message that he preached to the Galatians, Paul declared: “Before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified” (Gal. 3:1). Again, in 2 Timothy 2:8, Paul instructs: “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel.”

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS CHRIST?

Jesus was crucified by the Romans, a regional empire that occupied and controlled Palestine at the time. It seemed like a matter of local politics in a backwater province, where the local Roman governor—a man named Pilate—sought to placate Jewish religious leaders who had a vendetta against Jesus. Yet there was a much deeper meaning to the crucifixion of Jesus—a God­ordained plan to restore the relationship between humans and their Creator, a relationship that was fractured when sin entered the world. It was this deeper, divine plan that compelled Paul.

In his death on the cross, Jesus Christ—who lived a life without sin—took our sin upon himself and accepted the punishment that we deserved. As Paul explains in Romans 5:6–11:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Paul addresses this spiritual reality again and again in Romans, which contains his most in­depth discussion of the gospel and its implications for our lives. After explaining in Romans 1:18 to 3:20 that every person is a sinner who is without excuse before God and under God’s wrath, Paul declares that we have access to forgiveness through Christ’s death on the cross:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. (Rom. 3:23–25)

To ensure that his readers understood the eternal significance of the crucifixion, Paul returns to it again and again. Romans 4:25 states: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” In Romans 6:6–7, we read: “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.”

The life­changing power of Christ’s atoning death is emphasized in Paul’s other letters as well. Ephesians 1:7 explains: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” In Colossians 2:13–14, Paul declares again that “you were dead in your sins” but:

God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

Thus, as Paul states emphatically, the fact that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” is a matter of “first importance” (1 Cor. 15:3) because his death provides the basis for God’s forgiveness of our sins.

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JESUS CHRIST’S RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD?

We humans are afraid of countless things. We fear spiders, clowns, heights, public spaces, public speaking, and a thousand other terrors. From the silly to the serious, fear is an unavoidable part of what it means to be human.

Yet there is one fear that rises like a specter above all others, that sounds a sinister echo in the background of our daily lives: the fear of death. Nothing is so terrifying as the realization that we will, sooner or later, die and confront the uncertainty about what will happen to us on the other side of this life. The inevitability of death makes it no easier to accept; its permanence forces us to come to grips with fundamental issues.

It is in this profoundly human context that Christ died as a man, just as every man, woman and child will eventually die. Yet Christ conquered death through his resurrection. As sons and daughters of God, we share in Christ’s victory over death and his promise of eternal life.

Paul’s most extensive discussion of the significance of Christ’s resurrection is in 1 Corinthians 15:12–57. In that passage, he begins by correcting those who deny the resurrection, explaining that “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (v. 14) and “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (v. 17). He then declares in verses 20–22:

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

On the day of our resurrection to eternal life, our decaying material bodies will be exchanged for glorified and imperishable bodies. Christ “will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Phil. 3:21). Much as a seed is planted or sown in one form but then emerges from the earth as something new and better, Paul explains:

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. (1 Cor. 15:42–44)

He compares our current mortal bodies to “jars of clay” (2 Cor. 4:7) and an “earthly tent” which we will exchange for “an eternal house in heaven” (2 Cor. 5:1). The glory of what God has in store for us is beyond our comprehension. “‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).

This resurrection power not only has eternal significance, it also has the power to transform our lives today. Emphasizing the connection between the resurrection and the power to live a holy life today, Paul explains in Romans 6:4–10 that:

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

Again, Paul explains in Romans 8:11 that: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”

Jesus Christ took our sins upon himself when he was crucified on the cross, but it was his glorious resurrection that conquered death and prepared the way for our resurrection and eternal life. The great human fear of death is conquered in the triumphant resurrection of Christ. His victory over death changed everything.

WHO IS JESUS CHRIST THAT HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION COULD HAVE THIS SIGNIFICANCE?

Paul emphasizes the primary importance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in all his teaching. Yet crucifixions were all too common during that period of human history. And while resurrections were exceedingly rare, the Bible records others such as Lazarus who were raised from the dead. What was it about Jesus Christ that, above anyone else who ever lived, his crucifixion and resurrection could have such eternal and earthshaking significance?

Paul states the answer plainly in Colossians 2:9: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” While Jesus “as to his earthly life was a descendant of David” (Rom. 1:3), he is also “in very nature God” (Phil. 2:6). He “is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). Detailing several of the fundamental characteristics that distinguish Jesus Christ from the rest of humanity, Paul continues in Colossians 1:15–20:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

In Ephesians 1:19–21, Paul explains how God’s “incomparably great power” was demonstrated when God raised Christ from the dead and “seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” Paul continues in verses 22 and 23: “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

As declared by Paul, Jesus Christ’s unique nature as sinless God who became man is the reason why his death could pay the price for our sins and thus provide the basis for our salvation. Outside of Jesus, there has never been a death that could provide forgiveness for our sins, and there has never been a resurrection that could conquer death and pave the way for our resurrection.

HOW DO WE RECEIVE THE GIFTS OF FORGIVENESS AND ETERNAL LIFE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE GOSPEL?

Christ paid the price for our forgiveness and conquered death so we could have eternal life. We are helpless without him. Salvation is therefore a gift received freely in faith, not something we earn through good works. Paul’s letter to the Romans again contains his most systematic discussion of the role of faith in receiving salvation through the gospel. Emphasizing this important distinction between faith and works, he declares in Romans 4:4–5 that:

Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

Paul emphasizes the important role of faith for salvation again and again in Romans. “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’” (Rom. 1:17). “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Rom. 3:22). Explaining that we “are justified freely by his [God’s] grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus,” Paul declares that “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood— to be received by faith” (Rom. 3:24–25). “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Rom. 3:28). “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (Rom. 5:1–2).

Driving the point home that faith has always been the basis by which people are justified before God, Paul points in Romans 4 to Abraham, the forefather of the Jews who lived more than 2,000 years before Christ’s crucifixion, as a model of someone justified by faith. “‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness’” (Rom. 4:3). “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed” in God’s promise that he would be the father of many nations (Rom. 4:18). “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old” (Rom. 4:19). “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness’” (Rom. 4:20–22).

Paul is emphatic that salvation in Christ must be received in faith. Indeed, in Romans and his other letters to the churches, he refers to “faith” more than 100 times. For example: “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). “The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). “Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because ‘the righteous will live by faith’” (Gal. 3:11). “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit” (Gal. 3:14). “In him [Jesus] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Eph. 3:12).

In his personal testimony, Paul declares that he is found “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith” (Phil. 3:9). This small sampling of Paul’s references to “faith” reflects his conviction that Christ has done it all, that we cannot save ourselves, and that we only can accept salvation in Christ through faith.

Perhaps the best definition of “faith” is found in the New Testament book of Hebrews. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1). “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb. 11:6). Unless received in faith, the gospel message has little meaning for the one who hears it. “For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed” (Heb. 4:2).

Faith does not require that we understand the mystery of the gospel in its fullness to accept it. When explaining “the message concerning faith that we proclaim,” Paul states the simplicity of the expression of faith required for salvation:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Rom. 10:8–10)

When we genuinely believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths, it is the Spirit of God at work in us. For “no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3).

WHAT DO PAUL’S INSTRUCTIONS MEAN FOR US TODAY?

How does this gospel—the unbelievable, life­transforming, history­shaping good news declared by Paul—affect our lives today? As we close this first chapter, we pause to reflect on the practical implications of Paul’s instructions. This opportunity for reflection is not intended to prescribe specifically what we need to do or how we need to change in light of the truths declared by Paul. Instead, these few questions can encourage us to come before God and seek his guidance on how to respond to the truths taught by Paul.

1. Why should God let us into heaven?

2. What would be our eternal destiny if God gave us what we deserved rather than the forgiveness we can have through Christ?

3. Can we be saved by following rules and performing rituals? Why not?

4. What is the significance of the fact that salvation is a gift to be received in faith rather than something to be earned through good works? What is the significance of this fact to our daily walk as Christians?

5. What is the significance of the fact that the gospel is centered on Christ and what he did, rather than on us and our efforts? How should this reality affect our daily walk as Christians?

6. What does it mean to accept the gospel in faith? At an intellectual level, how do we accept the gospel? How does receiving the gospel in faith go beyond intellectual acceptance?

7. Can we fully understand the mystery and miracle of the gospel? Why not?

8. If we cannot be saved by our own good works, what is the role of good works in a Christian’s life (which will be discussed at length in Part II of our study)?

9. What is your relationship with Christ? Is he both your Lord and Savior?

10. How should we live differently in light of the gospel? 

The Christmas Project by John Schlitt - REVIEWED

Grammy and Dove Award winning vocalist John Schlitt, one of the most distinctive voices in Christian music, has never recorded a Christmas song--until now. Schlitt's The Christmas Project is slated to release digitally and through online retailers November 19, with a brick and mortar retail store release to follow in 2014.

The full-length CD is comprised primarily of beloved traditional Christmas carols, but that doesn't mean The Christmas Project is all egg nog and holly. This album rocks with the unmistakable John Schlitt style that legions of fans have come to know and love. The icing on the Christmas confection is an original tune, "What Christmas Needs to Be," which is destined to become a seasonal classic. 

Schlitt launches The Christmas Project with what is arguably the greatest Christian song of all time, "The Hallelujah Chorus." While Handel's masterpiece has been interpreted by a multitude of musicians over the past 250 years, no one sings "hallelujah" like Schlitt. "The Hallelujah Chorus" transitions seamlessly into a guitar-driven, barn-burning version of "Do You Hear What I Hear." "Little Drummer Boy" gives Schlitt the freedom to explore his full range of vocal prowess, starting at a muted whisper before embracing his full-throttle, wailing rock roots while holding fast to the traditional melodies of the beloved carol. Fans can look forward to a music video of "Little Drummer Boy" by the award-winning Saylors Brothers (Israel & New Breed: Live From Another Level Concert DVD) in time for the holiday season.

 Schlitt reins in his potent vocals for a gentle, reverent interpretation of "Oh Holy Night," then ratchets up the intensity on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," a rock-inflected fist-pumper that is guaranteed to get the listeners' blood flowing. The versatile vocalist shifts moods to one of pure fun with the funky Irish reel "Good Christian Men Rejoice," then slides comfortably into the mellow, bluesy "That Spirit of Christmas."

  Melancholy keys and strings embellish Schlitt's emotion-laden vocals on the traditionally arranged "We Three Kings." The gently rocking "What Christmas Needs to Be" leads into the project's closing tune, the reflective "What Child Is This." "What Child Is This" provides the perfect foil for Schlitt's signature vocal stylings, allowing him to channel his passionate delivery through a filter of awe at the enormity of this central event in history. 

Schlitt utilized the popular crowd funding platform Kickstarter to raise financial support for the new album. To purchase The Christmas Project, visit schlittshop.com. For more information on Schlitt and The Christmas Project, visit johnwschlitt.com  or follow him on Twitter (@johnwschlitt) or Facebook (facebook.com/johnwschlitt).  

My Thoughts:

"What would Christmas be without the things
We dread
What would happen if we choose to give ourselves
Instead
It’s not about the gift we're bringingIt’s more about the song we're singing"  (What Christmas Needs to Be)

Everyone has a different style of music when it comes to worshipping our Savior.  John Schlitt brings his unique style to Christmas music, and I have to say I really enjoyed this album!  Schlitt's style isn't one I choose often, but his style adds a celebratory feel to traditional Christmas music that I really loved!  What Christmas Needs to Be was my favorite on the album folowed by O Holy Night, God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman and Good Christian Men Rejoice.  I liked the rest of the album too, but these four I kept replaying!!

If you want to pick up an album with a great celebratory feel to it, pick up John Schlitt's Christmas Project!!  You can rock your way through the entire season!!

The You Plan: A Christian Woman's Guide for a Happy, Healthy Life After Divorce - REVIEWED

About the Book:

Live, Laugh, Love Again—Divorce Recovery for Christian Women

You never thought divorce would happen to you. But it did. You may feel traumatized, relieved, hopeful, afraid, or all of the above. What choices will help you heal? How can you minimize the trauma for your kids? When is too soon to date…and what about sex? How can you learn from your mistakes instead of repeating them? And where is God in all of this?

Michelle and Connie have been where you are. They’re Christian women who are a little ahead of you on the journey. Michelle was divorced seven years and now is happily remarried. Connie is ten years into the journey and at peace with being single. They’ve each made good choices and their fair share of mistakes. In this book they rally their collective experience to help you navigate some of the twists and turns of the post-divorce journey, avoid pitfalls, and emerge stronger and more confident.

This is not one of those authoritative, “do as we say” tomes. It’s a woman-to-woman, been-there-done-that, faithful, and hopeful approach to such topics as acceptance, forgiveness, loneliness, online dating (or “CON-line dating”), sex, money, respect, finding friends, and caring for your physical, financial, and spiritual health. Most of all, it’s a powerful reassurance that no matter what has happened or what may happen next, God still has good plans for you. You will live and laugh and love again. This book can help you do it.

My Thoughts:

“The Christian journey is not about a walk of performance, a walk without trials or tribulation; it’s about entrusting our lives to Christ no matter what.” 

Divorce affects many Christian lives.  Sometimes the choice is one you make, but more often it is a choice made outside your control or your wishes of keeping your lifetime covenant of marriage.  Either way, the consequences are devastating on many levels, and you are left to make new choices.  The choice to heal and become emotionally, spiritually and physically healthy or the choice to allow bitterness and unforgiveness to choke the joy and life right out of your heart.  Michelle Borquez and Connie Wetzell write from two different perspectives about life after divorce, but they write with the united purpose of encouraging women with information they have learned along their journey and the shared insight of regaining wholeness in Christ and living life to the full in Him.

My 22 year marriage ended a year and a half ago, and I am still reeling from its effects in many ways. But I have done the hard work of healing, working with counselors, friends, church leaders and family, and I can say that the You Plan contains effective, practical advice that many will find helpful in their journey.  I will be honest and say that a lot of it deals with relationships you will build with others after divorce and the healthy approach to those relationships.  For me, that hasn’t even been on the radar of life, and after reading this book, I am glad, because I know just how much healing still needs to take place in my life with God.  I’m thankful there isn’t a schedule to any of this!

I look forward to the day I find out what God’s plans are for my life when I am once again healed and whole.  Right now, I am faithfully raising my sons and seeing them through college. I know I can trust God for every single step of the journey!  In the mean-time, I have really good advice from folks further along this the journey to guide me!  For that, I am very grateful!! This is a candid, honest look at pitfalls and successes of life after divorce.  The good news is, life awaits to be lived to the full in Christ!!

About the Authors:

Michelle Borquez hosted and co-produced I-Life Television’s SHINE with Michelle Borquez on INSP, and is creator, producer and host of a new DVD series for women, Live Again – Wholeness After Divorce. Michelle has authored several books and currently lives in Nashville with her husband and 4 children.

Connie Wetzell, a former popular Christian radio personality and current voice-over recording artist, is the author of The Healing Word of God, a CD audio series that combines original music and scripture created as a “medicine for the soul.”

Boring: Finding and Extraordinary God in An Ordinary Life by Michael Kelley - REVIEWED

About the Book:

What is it?

In Boring: Finding an Extraordinary God in an Ordinary Life, Christian writer and speaker Michael Kelley evaluates the problem of how we define significance and offers a new perspective on living a “boring” life. Kelley asks, “What if a life of great importance isn’t found by escaping the details but embracing them? What if God actually doesn’t want you to escape from the ordinary, but to find significance and meaning inside of it?”

Boring lays a path for starting to see every day at work, every relationship, and every moment for what it is: a part of God’s plan. Kelley, who confesses to be a regular, “boring” guy, includes biblical truth in each chapter to show how God is present time and time again in everyday situations, and to awaken readers to the myth of “ordinary.” Because, as Kelley writes, “There is no such thing as ordinary when you follow an extraordinary God.”

Why is it relevant?

People fear being ordinary, especially in a society that believes the pathway to significance is paved with the big, the showy and the grand. People “pin” their dream lives and pine for that something more. But the reality is a typical day for most people doesn’t involve meeting with world leaders or climbing Mount Everest, just ordinary, boring tasks: wake up, take the kids to school, work an office job, drive home, eat dinner with the family, go to bed and repeat.

How is it different?

Boring is less a challenge and more a new set of lenses to see the greater purpose in the seemingly small and mundane details of life. For example, parents aren’t just changing diapers, they are warriors in a greater battle. Kelley’s goal is to eliminate the word “just” from readers’ vocabularies because, as he writes, when Jesus enters a situation even the most mundane things become extraordinary. 

Who is it for?

• The “Average Joes” (i.e., most people)
• Nine-to-fivers who feel stuck in their daily routine
• Stay-at-home parents struggling to find purpose in their vocation
• The “American Idol generation,” who were raised to believe that grandeur is always just within our grasp
• Graduating students seeking the next step in their journey
• Pastors and church leaders looking to help their congregation find meaning in the mundane
• Anyone who feels like they’re missing that “something more”

My Thoughts:

“We must, in a sense, fight to not fight to escape the ordinary.  When we do, we’ll find the extraordinary lurking inside what has become ordinary to us.”

“What if those ordinary details of life are actually the mechanism by which we get to see and experience God and His redemptive plan in a living and vibrant way?”

“But this perspective change isn’t something that suddenly comes upon us.  Instead, it’s something that must be actively sought out and even fought for.”

Michael Kelley asks some bold questions and makes even bolder statements in his book, Boring.  Truly, this is probably one of the most important books I’ve read all year.  From our jobs, to our marriages, to parenting to our finances, Kelley makes it very clear that God is in every single detail of our lives.  Nothing we do…NOTHING…is without eternal consequence if we are Christ’s disciples.  Every interaction, every conversation, every word, every attitude is infused with the presence of an extraordinary God who loves us and gave His only Son that our lives might be transformed in miraculous and eternal ways.

It’s all about perspective.  As Christians, we have been inundated with the world’s perspective of what is ordinary and what is extraordinary.  We become bored with our lives because we begin to feel bored with the sameness of it all.  We lose sight that God gave everything to redeem us as His own children and we serve a God who in present in every single detail of our lives.  Once we understand that, I mean REALLY understand that….nothing is ever the same! We are free to serve God in all we do and with all of who we are, because we understand that we have purpose in this life that matters for all eternity!

Isn’t that great news?  Oh dear reader, if I can recommend only one book to you this year, Boring is that book!!! It is filled with Scriptural examples from both Old and New Testaments of God’s eternal, transforming, extraordinary presence in our lives! Every single detail of our lives! We are loved! We have purpose, and we DO NOT live boring lives!  God is ever working in our lives to transform us into the likeness of His Son! Isn’t that incredible?! 

Go!! Pick up a copy of this book today!!! You will be so GLAD you did!!

About the Author:

Michael Kelley is director of Discipleship at LifeWay Christian Resources and the author of Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal: A Boy, Cancer, and God. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama, and lives with his wife and three kids in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Healing Grace by Beth Shriver

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

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

Today's Wild Card author is:

Beth Shriver

and the book:

Healing Grace

Realms (October 1, 2013)

***Special thanks to Althea Thompson for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Beth wrote her first novel in 2002 and a year later it was published. She was a caseworker before starting a family, grew up in Nebraska, and now lives in Texas.

She became interested in writing about the Amish when researching her family history and found she was related to the the Glick families in Europe. Beth also freelances for the local papers in her area, writes columns, devotionals, and novels in a variety of genres in both fiction and nonfiction. Beth followed her passion and now writes full time.

Beth has plenty of company when she writes, with her two cats and a beagle. She visits Amish communities in her area and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When not spending time with her family or friends she helps feed the homeless in South Dallas.


Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Can Abby overcome the pain caused by her father and find acceptance among the Amish? Abby finds more than love and safety when she meets Mose, as she struggles with the faith she left behind after the death of her mother. After time spent with Mose and his family she knows she has to make a choice. Will Abby stay with Mose or go back to her sick father who needs her.

Product Details:
List Price: $14.99
Series: Touch of Grace (Book 3)
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Realms (October 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1621362973
ISBN-13: 978-1621362975

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

"This is all I have.” Abby flashed the money at the horse trader. It was more than she had planned to spend, but the filly was worth it. Did this man know the value of what he had, or did he just feel sorry for her? It hadn’t been all that long since her mother passed away, but he and everyone else in town knew her dad was a swindler. He wouldn’t be empathetic.
“That’s what they all say.” He grinned. “You know your horses.” He leaned back against a wooden post by the stall.

She studied him for a moment, trying to decide if she trusted him. Abby did have a knack for picking horses. Focusing on conformation, temperament, and breed, she also had a good eye to go with her knowledge and experience. All of this told her that this equine had bloodlines for excellent breeding. Abby had learned the process from her father, Jim, who once was one of the best breeders around. But Abby’s dream was to train them for shows, something Jim thought was ridiculous. With a horse like this, they could make it happen.

The last bit of sunlight disappeared, darkening the old barn. She didn’t like this part of town, and she was still unsure about this dealer, but he had the horse she wanted. She flipped her long blonde ponytail behind her and studied the filly before locking eyes with the trader. “She hasn’t been used on the track, has she?”

When he hesitated, Abby moved toward the horse.

“’Course not,” he scoffed.

She lifted the filly’s upper lip. No tattoo, the mark of a racer. She didn’t want a three-year-old burned-out horse. “Just checking.”

His dark eyebrows drew together, changing along with his demeanor. “I’m an honest horse seller, unlike your old man.”

Abby froze and stared at the horse until the heat in her face cooled down. She tried to think of how to respond, but she knew he was right, so she decided to ignore the comment. “Can I see the papers?”

“Sure.” He pulled some folded documents out of his back pocket and handed them to her. “Sign this one, and our business is done.” He pointed to the line where she was to write her name.

Abby paused. This was all the money her mother had given her—money Jim didn’t know about. How would she be able to explain this?

She looked over at the bay-colored mare. The brown tones contrasted beautifully with the white socks on all four of her legs, and her sleek body structure was the making of a fine competitor.

“Second thoughts?” His tone was flat, not friendly, but not flippant either.

“No…I—”

“You can wait and come back another time and see if she’s still here.” He almost sounded sincere.

She looked up at him to see a confident smirk appear. She knew the lines and had heard every spiel. Jim was the master of horse-selling tactics.

“You know better.” There was something about him she didn’t trust, so she stuck the money back in her pocket. “And so do I.” He was getting a good deal, and Abby hoped she was too.

He grunted, amused, then conceded with a nod.

She signed the papers and kept her copy. “This way you’ll know I’ll be back,” she said. Abby took one more look at the filly. “Yeah, this is the one,” she whispered, and she walked out of the barn. 

Merry Humbug Christmas by Sandra D. Bricker - REVIEWED

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Merry Humbug Christmas B&H Books (October 15, 2013) by Sandra D. Bricker

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

For more than a decade, Sandra D. Bricker lived in Los Angeles. While honing her chosen craft of screenwriting in every spare moment, she worked as a personal assistant and publicist to some of daytime television's hottest stars. When her mother became ill in Florida, she walked away from that segment of her life and moved across the country to take on a new role: Caregiver.

The author says that it was her 8th novel that opened the door to finding her way as a writer. "I'm a Christian woman, first and foremost," she says. "So it was a bit of a dream-come-true when Summerside Press chose me as one of two authors to launch the Love Finds You line."

Sandie's real-life role as cancer survivor has parlayed into her steadfast commitment to raising awareness and funds for ovarian cancer research. Spearheading a series of devotionals for Summerside Press (such as the popular His Grace is Sufficient...Decaf is Not), the author has stipulated that a portion of each contributor's proceeds will go to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.


"Being allowed to combine my faith and my humor with raising funds for my pet projects ... and still pursue my writing dream," says Bricker, "well, that's the best of all worlds, as far as I'm concerned!"

And one of the author's pet projects is animal rescue, evidenced by the special bond she has created with one particular formerly-abandoned puppy -- a red-haired collie with "killer brown eyes and the heart of the class clown."

ABOUT THE BOOK

A Merry Humbug Christmas features two holiday romance novellas from hilarious and heartwarming author Sandra D. Bricker. -- the perfect gift to yourself or someone else at this most wonderfully stressful time of year.

 In "Once Upon a Jingle Bell," A Bah! Humbug cruise to the Mexican Riviera is Joss Snow’s answer to this year’s quest to avoid the holidays completely; at least until she’s rebooked on a different kind of cruise altogether. Candy canes, holly wreaths, reindeer and ornaments seem to be stalking her on the 12 Days of Christmas holiday cruise extravaganza. An escape back to land is her only goal . . . until she meets a kindred spirit in rugged Irishman Patrick Brenneman, and then the game is on! Avoid Christmas festivities at all costs . . . except maybe for that one stop under the mistletoe.

In "It Came Upon a Midnight Deer," Reese’s guilt over abandoning best friend Joss on their holiday tradition of avoiding all things Christmas is trumped by the joy of her recent engagement. Meeting Damian’s family for the first time on idyllic Sugarloaf Mountain is about as far from that Bah! Humbug cruise as she can get, and Reese can hardly wait to get there. But from the moment they hit that deer in the road just two miles from the cabin, everything seems to go wrong. There are no drummers drumming or pipers piping this particular year! And once she sets her future in-laws’ family cabin ablaze, she’s pretty sure there won’t be even ONE golden ring in her future.

My Thoughts:

I will never sing the Twelve Days of Christmas again without thinking of Sandra D. Bricker! Merry Humbug Christmas has got to be the most endearing set of stories I’ve read in quite some time.  Yes, I said a set of stories – two to be exact.  The first story features Joss Snow’s adventures in the Mexican Riviera as she attempts to avoid the Christmas Holidays.  From Connie Rudolph and Caroline Denture to the Jenkins Von Trap family and Patrick Brenneman, Joss’ world receives an unexpected and total makeover when her Humbug Cruise is cancelled and she winds up on the 12 Days of Christmas Fun Cruise.  Only Sandra Bricker could place her readers squarely in the midst of such an exciting, life-transforming adventure!  Yes, it’s tons of fun, but real-life issues are presented and dealt with along the way, and they resolve realistically and with great satisfaction.

The second story centers around Dr. Reese Pendergrass as she breaks from tradition and spends the holiday with her fiancée instead of her best friend Joss Snow.  Life changes tend to disrupt traditions, and Reese’s introduction into Damion’s family brings about a few disruptions of its own!  Again, Bricker’s humor keeps the momentum building, and deposits her fans into a thoughtful, romantic and satisfying ending.  Truly, Sandra Bricker will make a romance fan out of the most Humbug of hearts! 

Pick up an extra copy of this story to give as a gift to the reader on your list, and then settle down by the fire with a hot cup of cocoa and a copy of Marry Humbug Christmas and enjoy getting acquainted with a fabulous tradition of your own!

If you would like to read the first chapter of Merry Humbug Christmas, go HERE.

Stones for Bread by Christa Parrish - REVIEWED!

About the Book: (from Thomas Nelson)

What do you do when the gift you thought was bread turns out to be stones?

Liesl McNamara’s Wild Rise is not only a popular bakehouse and café in Vermont, it’s an extension of herself. Liesl is an artisan bread maker, like her mother and grandmother before her. Even though she lost her mother to suicide when she was eleven, she keeps this maternal bond alive as she bakes.

Liesl prides herself on living an uncomplicated, unattached life. But that changes when Seamus walks through the door of Wild Rise, lugging the large bags of whole wheat flour from the local food co-op. He and his daughter Cecelia have recently moved to the country seeking simplicity. Despite her best effort, Liesl becomes attracted to this teddy bear of a man who laughs easily and eats strange sandwich concoctions—on her bread, much to her dismay.

Her simple life is further complicated when a popular cooking show features her bakery. The publicity increases her business and brings several offers from larger businesses, all of which she turns down. But it also brings a completely unexpected phone call, one from a woman claiming to be her half-sister.

Liesl’s sense of identity dissolves as everything about her relationship with her mother—and the bread that held them together—comes into question. Has she been given stones rather than bread? And how can she ever take these crumbs and make them whole again?

My Thoughts:

“You can love a someone who is gone and a someone who is here, both together in time,” Tee says           (p. 308)

This statement is PACKED with significance!!!  Truly, it sums up much, if not all, of the essence of this very fine story.  Stones for Bread was a story that took me places that were uncomfortable in their familiarity.  It made me consider my own heart and my response to the people that I love most in this world.  It is a story that made me consider the consequences of my actions and reactions to situations over which I have no control but that affect my life in a profound way.

Yes, this is a story about Liesl McMamara (a baker), her life story past and present, the people with whom she shares life, what she considers to be important and how that changes significantly when she realizes how much she needs to receive the love offered to her by her Heavenly Father.  Her life is also impacted by the introduction of Seamus and his precious daughter Cecelia .  But it is still SO MUCH MORE!!

This is a story that took me on an unexpected journey to the heart of truth, and I thank God for introducing this into my heart for such a time as this!! 

Oh, and as an added bonus, the novel contains 11 Artisan Bread recipes!!

Buy your copy HERE today!!

About the Author:

Christa Parrish is the award-winning author of three novels, including the 2009 ECPA Fiction Book of the Year Watch Over Me. When she's not writing, she's a homeschool mother of three wonderful children. Married to author and pastor Chris Coppernoll, Christa serves with him as co-leader of their church's youth ministry as well as serving as a facilitator for a divorce recovery ministry. She is now also slightly obsessed with the art of baking bread.