Monday, April 22, 2013

Book Review The Full Armor of God

The Full Armor of God: Defending Your Life from Satan's SchemesThe Full Armor of God: Defending Your Life from Satan's Schemes by Larry Richards
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Book Description:
"Respected scholar and speaker Larry Richards offers a balanced, evangelical-friendly approach to spiritual warfare based on the book of Ephesians. Unique among books on warfare and deliverance, this easy-to-follow handbook draws riches from the Bible, while also offering tactical guidance for conquering the demons of fear and doubt that assail believers. Framing his teaching on Paul's armor of God passage in Ephesians 6, Richards uncovers strategies of Satan and analyzes the armor piece by piece to reveal how God provides protection from every attack of the enemy. Hands-on exercises at the end of each section, plus in-depth, analytical appendixes, help readers identify and stand against powers of evil--and experience true freedom."

This is a well written and very timely book. In the Bible, the book of Ephesians is where we find the reference of putting on the full armor of God. This book starts with Understanding Spiritual Forces and takes the reader all through the various elements; Helmet of Salvation, Shield of Faith, Sandals of Peace, Breastplate of Righteousness, and the Belt of Truth.
I do believe that we all are locked into a daily battle with the devil and it takes a strong mind and will to overcome this. This is called a "tactical handbook". Like it or not, we all need this information and need to learn to put it into practice on a daily basis. This book guides us through that process.
I received this free book from Baker Publishing Group, Chosen Division, for my honest review.

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Book Review Revealing Jesus: A 365-Day Devotional

Revealing Jesus: A 365-Day DevotionalRevealing Jesus: A 365-Day Devotional by Darlene Zschech
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From the cover:
"Bestselling Author and Renowned Worship Leader Darlene Zschec has led millions of Christians in worship as she's written and performed such songs as "Shout to the Lord" and penned bestsellers Extravagant Worship and The Kiss of Heaven. This collection of all new thought-provoking devotions has been designed to accompany her upcoming live album, which will be produced by four-time Grammy award winner Israel Houghton, and will include guest performances by Kari Jobe and Michael W. Smith.
Each devotion will reflect on grace given to the reader through Christ's life, death, and resurrection. This beautifully packaged book will be released in conjunction with the album. Perfect for Christians looking for fresh readings on the passion and resurrection of Christ, or as a thoughtful seasonal gift."


Darlene Zschech has done a wonderful job of bring a daily devotional to us. It's formatted as one page a day, starting with January 1 and ends, of course, with Dec 31st. Each day offers scripture, and a wonderful life-application detailing and explaining the scripture. Each day ends with a prayer. I love it and I really love the nice, heavy hardback cover of the book. The pages are all nice and heavy too. (Crazy thing to comment on perhaps, but I love how good paper feels in your hands.)
The colors on the cover are beautiful and mesmerizing. Cover design gets an A++.
This would make an excellent gift, as the whole package is so attractive.

I received this as a free preview from Bethany House.


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Thursday, April 4, 2013

Book Review True Love

True LoveTrue Love by Jude Deveraux
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was really pleased and excited to get a preview copy of Jude's newest book through NetGalley. What a thrill to be able to review one of my all time favorite authors!
I am happy to see a new trilogy come out, simply because that means more stories to come!

 From the Cover:
"Jude Deveraux, the New York Times bestselling author of unforgettable romance, returns with a breathtaking first book in a fantastic new series—the Nantucket Brides trilogy. Set on the magical Massachusetts island, True Love introduces characters from a new generation of Montgomery-Taggerts, the beloved family from Deveraux’s classic novels.

Just as Alix Madsen is finishing up architectural school, Adelaide Kingsley dies and wills her, for one year, the use of a charming nineteenth-century Nantucket house. The elderly woman’s relationship to the Madsen family is a mystery to the spirited Alix—fresh from a romantic breakup—but for reasons of her own Alix accepts the quirky bequest, in part because it gives her time to plan her best friend’s storybook wedding.

But unseen forces move behind the scenes, creaking Kingsley House’s ancient floorboards. It seems that Adelaide Kingsley had a rather specific task for Alix: to solve the strange disappearance of one of the Kingsley women, Valentina, more than two hundred years ago. If that wasn’t troubling enough, Alix must deal with the arrogant (and extremely good-looking) architect Jared Montgomery, who is living in the property’s guesthouse."


I wish I could give this 5 stars, but there were a few issued I felt kept it from perfection. I had a hard time jumping into this story and following along with who was who. Most characters are believable and very loveable. After thinking about this for a few days, I believe it was because there were so many characters in this story. Too many, in my opinion. I like the idea of bring basically a whole mini town into a story, but I don't think it was effectively done in 350-ish pages. I would have been happier with the handful of important characters and work to develop them further. Between the real characters and the ghost characters, I found myself not caring about any of them as much as I wanted to.

The ending wedding was really, almost too much to believe. I mean, really. No one wants a wedding quite like that.

All in all, I was a little disappointed. But, will I read the next in this series? Absolutely.

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