Christian faith

 Ben and Joseph lose their mothers, but find a family looking just for them. Antonio is rescued from what seems like a hopeless situation. Caitlyn dares to trust that truth will set her free. Jorani is delivered from slavery into the arms of grace.

 

Follow these real-life stories as they take you on a journey to foreign places and extreme struggles. Travel through their challenges and see the hand of the great Storyweaver – our Defender God shielding and defending the defenseless in the amazing ways only he can.These are the tales of the ones left wounded and weak-ones made whole and strong . . .

Follow these real-life stories as they take you on a journey to faraway lands and unknown faces. Travel through their challenges and see the hand of the great Storyweaver writing endings you’d never imagine!

Joel dares to ask for what he can’t have. Seraphina sacrifices what she can’t afford to give. Ibrahim looks for an answer buried out of reach. Christiana, saved by a mission, searches for her own.

These are the tales of the ones the world doesn’t see . . . the tales of the not forgotten.
In this collection of four real-life stories written for preteens, a compelling storyteller paints a picture of God’s dynamic movement in four foreign cultures, inspiring children to trust that God is weaving a story in their lives as well.

This resource will shrink the macro picture down to approachable, individual stories of real children and teach about fundamental survival issues. The stories address some of the challenging questions that kids have and weave God’s promises to orphans into each one.

The Tales of the Not Forgotten Leader’s Guide is a 6-session kids’ missions resource (sold separately) that walks adults through an easy-to-follow guide for making the abstract real and for designing an action plan to help others.

Preteens will be challenged to answer the questions:How do I pray? What can I give? Where can I go? Who will I serve?

The stories in this book are amazing.  I’ve always loved reading about how God works things out in just the perfect way, as only He can, but when He shows up for children who have so little, the stories can be difficult to read.  The cover of the book contains a warning under the author’s name that states that “These stories may change the way you see the world,” and it’s true.  I read this book on a lazy afternoon while watching my children play with friends, and I kept thinking that they were all going to wonder why I was crying over a book on a gorgeous summer’s day.  After reading these stories, it’s difficult to see the world as ‘out there’ instead of ‘next door’ and impossible not to want to help more children like these.

That’s where the leader’s guide comes in.  The leader’s guide is absolutely perfect.  Somehow I missed the boat and expected a video-like teaching series that could be part of a study, but what the CD actually contains is so much better.  It’s not a DVD at all but a data CD that contains everything you would need to turn this book into a series of mission lessons for kids.  It is a simple set of Word documents set up in a systematic hierarchy containing skits, memory verses, pictures of real kids to serve as visuals, recipes, math problems, activities to send home for families to use, and simple mission projects that the kids can do to take action within their own communities.  With this guide, you won’t need to search for ice breakers, printables, or ways to involve families, because it’s all here.  The research and planning has been done for you, so you can gather your children and begin.  It’s truly perfect for young youth groups, homeschool groups, Sunday School classes, etc.

That’s exactly what we’re going to do.  I knew after reading this book that it would be great to share these stories with my family for a few reasons:  they make great lessons of God’s faithfulness, and as a homeschooling family,  the format of the book is wonderful.  Each story is a separate chapter, and notes are spread throughout the book disguised as postcards and stamps that define foreign words and terms and help clarify customs that we might not understand.  In this way the book itself is very educational, but combined with the lessons and activities in the leader’s guide, it’s a complete class.  After sharing this information with my pastor, we’re meeting today to determine how we might use this resource best within our church.  I’m excited that our children will be doing this with their friends, but if that hadn’t worked out, we’d be doing it at home as a family.  Guckenberger has made it that easy – and it’s that important, too.

I read many great books, and some stick in my head for a long time afterwards.  Some I’m eager to share with my friends and family because I don’t want them to miss such a great read, but never before have I had plans to share a book with so many others within days of turning the last page.  As the cover states, your worldview will change as you read this book, but you also can’t help but want to be a a part of someone else’s story – to have a hand in helping them see that the God of the Universe has not forgotten them.

This book will show you how.

For more other reviews about Tales of the Not Forgotten, visit the blog hop here.  To go ahead and purchase your own copy of this book, click here.

Beth Guckenberger and her husband, Todd, are the founders of Back2Back Ministries (based in Cincinnati, OH) which communicates a lifestyle of service by sharing the love of Christ and serving God through service to others. Back2Back Ministries connects willing workers to open hearts through international and local ministry opportunities. Their ministry is currently caring and providing for orphan children and needy people in Mexico, Nigeria, India and most recently, Haiti.

Beth travels and speaks regularly at women’s and missions conferences, as well as youth gatherings and church services. Her topics include orphan care, missions, parenting, marriage/intimacy, and faith. Her story-telling style captures audiences, and she draws from her field experience as a missionary and parent for illustrations to biblical concepts. In addition to her latest release, Tales of the Not Forgotten (Standard Publishing 2012), Beth has writtenRelentless Hope (Standard, 2011) and Reckless Faith (Zondervan, 2008).

The Guckenberger family lives and serves in Monterrey, Mexico where they have hosted thousands of guests on their ministry campus. Between biological, foster, and adopted additions to their family, Beth and Todd are raising nine children.

Learn how you can join Beth in ministry at www.bethguckenberger.com or www.back2backministries.org.

I received a free copy of Tales of the Not Forgotten from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

Several thousand years ago, God held the sun still for a full 24 hours in answer to Joshua’s audacious prayer and His own promise.   Pastor Stephen Furtick of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina believes He’ll do the the same for us today – we need only ask Him.

Based on stories of miracles throughout the Bible and those who believed that God would make them happen, Furtick’s book details how to activate your own audacious faith soundly.  He explains how to pray using God’s own Word and how to fully realize God’s plan for your life.

Furtick is young and it shows in his writing.  His style is easy to read and grabs your attention with his blunt word choice, but his passion for God clearly shows through.  The book is full of stories that he personally vouches for about how strongly active God is today, and despite his age, Furtick has a wealth of experience and has well researched his topic.

This book will definitely captivate you and want you to dive deeper into your relationship with God.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone!

I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an unbiased review.

Lorilee Craker was your typical Michigan soccer mom until the recession hit – and it hit her family.  During a period of Extreme Thrift, as she calls it, she learned that the Amish were thriving financially despite the poor economy, and she determined to learn their secrets.  This book details what she learned and how she’s applying it in her own family.

Craker’s writing style is simple and humorous.  She sketches word pictures in your mind that are just plain funny and adds asides to point them out.  While I feared that a money book would be monotonous and boring, this book was anything but – I couldn’t wait to finish it!  As a girl who grew up in a frugal farming family and in an Amish area, I felt that many of the tips Craker shared were basic, but they were explained well.  The examples she told of her Englischer friends using these tips detail how we can make these work in our lives, even in a more secular society.  Really, who wouldn’t want to know how a farmer with 14 children is able to bank $400,000?

The best part of this book is that it’s not meant to be a quick-fix-then-forget-about it-solution to your current money issues, but a way of life that’s honoring to both God and His creation.  That message stands out in each chapter.  Need to get your family on board with that idea, too?  Read Chapter 7 – Craker plans for everything.

For anyone wanting to simplify their lifestyle and focus on what is really important in life, Money Secrets of the Amish is a must-read.

I received this book free from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review.

 

The God Puzzle is a colorful, easy to use tool to help you communicate to your child the rich truths about God, His ways, His will and His love. The God Puzzle will help you address doctrinal themes of the Christian faith in a kid friendly way, present Bible lessons in an interactive way that will hold the child’s attention and deliver quality teaching with no preparation needed. 75% of children leave the church when they leave home. Something isn’t working. Sunday School isn’t doing it all. Kids need answers, good ones. And they need them from you, the parent. This book enables you to give them simple, clear answers.

 

What makes The God Puzzle unique?

• ready made discussion questions for parent to ask their child in each lesson
• can be done at any pace that works with your family . . . every night, once a week, 10 minutes here, 30 minutes there . . . it fits into realistic family life
• puts the pieces together for a child to understand God, the Bible, and the Christian faith
• in each lesson the responds to the truth so they understand their relationship to God is personal and life transforming
• any parent, whether they know nothing, or a lot about God can start teaching their child today with no prep
• deep theology put into language a child can understand
• deeply Biblical, each lesson points to Christ
• put in an order that starts with creation, and teaches the Bible as one story that all points to Christ
• child stays engaged by filling in blanks, crosswords, drawing, matching and using their Bibles as they learn

 

The premise of this book is an important one:  to teach kids about how the entire Bible fits together.  We often teach individual Bible stories to little ones, but do we show them how far and wide and intricate the love story of the Bible really is?  How it’s not a bunch of separate stories but our history as God’s created and chosen people and how He has been patiently loving us since the time of Eden?

 

With that goal in mind, the chapters in the book walk kids step-by-step through a study of the important beliefs of Christians, and that’s a distinct difference from what I expected: it’s not a walk through the Bible, it’s a walk through God’s love story to us.  There is a great deal of scripture in each lesson; some for the kids to look up, some to think about, some to pray about, some to ponder, some to copy.  The scripture references do not go in either Biblical or chronological order, but are pulled out according to the topic that they address.  I think that this trait alone bumps up the difficulty level of this book. 

 

The readers are not unpacking just one verse, but instead studying how various parts of the Bible all support God’s plan of salvation for His people.  If the kids are not familiar with their Bibles, these lessons will be a bit time-consuming  as there are lots of scripture references to find, but then again, becoming familiar with the Bible is also a very good thing.

 

Each chapter is a lesson and takes about four pages of the book.  There is an activity for the kids to do in nearly every lesson – something like a word puzzle or something to color.  There are also review or discussion questions located at the end of each chapter.

I have only one big concern with this book.  While the lessons come straight from scripture, we know that different people interpret those scriptures differently – and one of the biggest differences among Protestants is how baptism is handled.  The God Puzzle takes a decidedly Baptist view on the issue, which may be very confusing for Methodists or those with similar ideas.  For those people, I’d recommend being prepared with your views and scriptural basis for why you believe what you do and be ready to discuss it thoroughly.  Isn’t that basically what we’re supposed to do, anyway?

 

According to the author, this book is geared for ages 7 to 12.  My Big Helper is eager to get started, and she’s 8 – but I do think that the lessons are very meaty and deep.  That’s a good thing – but it may be too much to do one lesson in one sitting.  I can see this book being a great resource for an upper elementary or middle school youth group.  It could be fun to have different groups of kids looking up different scriptures and then sharing their thoughts with the whole group – think-pair-share style.  I also thought of many art and extension activities that might help the lessons to stick for visual or kinesthetic learners.

 

As a bonus, the back of the book contains a list of scripture verses according to topic that kids can look up to find out what the Bible has to say about given things.  Worrying?  Scared?  There’s verses there for you.

 

The God Puzzle is a fantastic resource for parents at home and for young youth groups.  This book tackles the Bible in a way that even adults sometimes miss – and it shows how every piece of the Bible fits together like a puzzle to make up God’s plan.  As adults, we need to be studying this.  As parents, we need to be teaching this to our children.  We cannot neglect the big picture look at the fine details of God’s plan.

 

This is the perfect resource to help you do it.

 

Click here to read other reviews on this bloggy hop or here to purchase your own copy now.

Valerie Ackermann has a BA in Theology and has been a full time Children’s Ministry Director at Parkwood Community Church in California for over 10 years. She is also a weekly Sunday school teacher, wife, and busy mom of two boys ages 9 and 11. She has hands-on experience as a children’s ministry professional, teaching and leading children of all ages. Growing up in a Christian family in the small town of Saskatchewan Canada, she has wonderful memories of knowing God from an early age. She has a passion for kids to know the deep truths of God. 

Find out more at LeadMeToGod.com.

I received a free copy of The God Puzzle from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.

Suddenly realizing that he was the lone male in a house with five women rapidly approaching the teenage years, Greg Wright determined to “not mess up” as a father.  Wright decided take a business-like approach an destablished both a mission statement and a plan to develop a close relationship with his four daughters, and he used his best relational gift:  the date.  This book is an explanation of what he does and how it has worked thus far.

Wright’s plans are fabulous.  Simple, yet based on research, he explains differences in personality types and communication styles between men and women, and the details ways to bridge the gap.  His writing style is funny yet shows many great truths about how children want to relate to their parents.  This book serves as a great resource not only for fathers to their daughters, but can also be used by husbands for their wives and generally by any person towards any other when a close relationship is desired.

This book would make a wonderful gift for new fathers or for Father’s Day gifts.  My husband will be getting a copy!

I received a free copy of this book from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review.

With not much more than a wing and a prayer, Audra Grace Shelby, her husband, and their three children headed off to Yemen to serve as Christian missionaries.  Feeling God’s call but uncertain as to how she could serve her new veiled neighbors, Audra Grace slowly reached out, prayed hard, and began to make a difference in the far East.

Written as a narrative story, this account follows her family from the application process through nearly all of their time abroad.  Through serious illnesses, culture shock, severe weather and new languages, Shelby explains how her family adapted and reached out through many differences to share the love of Jesus with their  new neighbors.

Shelby truly personalizes the culture through her story.  Though many of us may be aware of some oppressive cultural customs that exist in the Middle East, we may not be aware of just how those are actually carried out – and how the women living under these restrictions really feel.  This book will both make you aware of our Eastern neighbors and of their great need:  need for love, need for prayer, and need for understanding, just to name a few.

Behind the Veils of Yemen would make a wonderful introduction to Muslim culture and the life of an Eastern missionary. Don’t miss this book!

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Madison’s heart has been closed for years. But one summer can change everything.

In the years since her twin brother’s tragic drowning, Madison has struggled with her ability to trust God–or anyone else, for that matter. It was her brother’s dream to win the annual River Sail Regatta in their small harbor town of Chapel Springs, Indiana. And Madison’s determined to honor his legacy by making his dream her own. Maybe then she can finally find closure.

But learning to sail means learning to swim. And her instructor is Beckett O’Reilly, a man who already has two strikes against him in Madison’s eyes. Being on the water terrifies Madison. But Beckett’s calming presence and unwavering confidence eases her fear. And as much as she’d like to deny it, the chemistry between them is electrifying.

As her feelings for him grow, a fledging faith begins to take root in her soul, as well. With Beckett, Madison feels alive for the first time in years–carefree and confident she can win the regatta, maybe even find love.

But Beckett harbors a secret that will test the limits of their love and the depth of Madison’s faith. Will their love survive summer’s challenge? And will achieving her brother’s dream give Madison the peace she desperately seeks? 

Barefoot Summer will sail past your springtime reads and pull you into summer drama.    With an electric cast of characters, each haunted by a past beyond his or her control, you won’t be able to put it down.  I couldn’t.  I finished it in a single afternoon.

There were several things that kept pulling me back to this book each time I was interrupted.  First, I truly couldn’t wait to find out what happened to Madison’s brother.  It was obvious that there was more to the story than the author was sharing with us, and she excels at drawing out the suspense.

Secondly, Beckett and Madison were truly hurting, and they were upstanding, honorable people.  That’s a combination I can’t refuse, especially when someone has overcome the obstacles that Beckett has.  I always want to know more about a knight in shining armor.

Lastly, there were some fascinating loose ends in this story – rabbit trails with the extraneous characters, you might say.  For example, why exactly did Madison’s sister run away, and why won’t she give anyone details about her new life?  I smell another story brewing here!

While Barefoot Summer is about a summer, it’s certainly not your typical lighthearted beach romance.  It’s much, much more – but with a hero and heroine that you’ll gladly take along to the beach.

Visit here to read other reviews in this bloggy hop.

The Truth About Sex and Waiting . . . Uncovered Purity.

Sex. Boys. Waiting. There’s something about those words that makes everything complex in a heartbeat, and raises more questions than answers. Is there something wrong with me if I don’t kiss a boy after a date? Or am I doomed if I DID? What if waiting is just a one-way trip to life as a crazy cat woman? And what if I tend to, um, think about a certain boy in a certain way? It seems that the lady at church and your friends have two very different opinions on the subject. And ‘Your Budding Womanhood: Staying a Beautiful Flower for Jesus’ just isn’t cutting it. Bekah Hamrick Martin knows the waiting game isn’t easy or straight-forward. In The Bare Naked Truth, she lays everything on the table—including some embarrassing moments—as she explores the honest, naked truth behind what God means by purity. With additional entries from popular authors, you’ll see the bare naked approach to waiting isn’t always easy, but it’s worth the risk.

I like this book.  Martin writes in a style that’s fun and easy to read, but more importantly, she’s providing valuable information in a way that young women will relate to.  The narrative doesn’t sound like your crazy school nurse or your with-an-agenda mother coming at you, but instead like a trusted friend or mentor, someone who has been there and done that and is ready to help you get a handle on this subject.

Martin shares many testimonies from other authors and friends throughout the book.  Some share their story about why staying pure has worked for them – and others share why they wish they had.  Either way, these stories help the reader understand the physical, emotional, and mental consequences of going too far before marriage.  I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of teens may know the what-goes-where, but they don’t know or understand the other ramifications – and Martin does a great job of explaining them in funny and real ways here.

One of my favorite elements of this book is the funny four-question quiz that’s found at the end of each chapter.  Totally un-scientific, it’s meant to help girls understand their own way of reacting to situations so that they can relate this to staying pure.  The quizzes read like something out of a crazy check-out line teen quiz but get the point across with Martin’s usual blunt humor.

As much as I liked this book, there was one chapter which caused a bit of concern.  Not because the ‘stay pure’ message was garbled, but because Martin claims that there’s no Biblical basis for staying pure in this one particular area (but that it’s a good idea, anyway).  I imagine that this particular chapter is one in which you’ll tread carefully, anyway – but be sure to read the book so that you can be prepared for questions when you get there.  In case that’s not as clear as mud and you want to know exactly WHICH chapter I’m talking about, feel free to email me at amybradsher@gmail.com for more information.  This is a family-friendly site.  🙂

I read lots of books.  Some go immediately onto a shelf – or a stack or under the couch – while others, though I enjoy, find new homes.  (There’s only so much room under the couch, you know?)  The Bare Naked Truth has been relocated to a high-up shelf for the next few years, until my Big Helper is just a little bit bigger, at which time I’ll pull it down for us to read together.  The information in this book is too important to miss, and I’m happy to have such a fun resource to read with her.

Click here to read other reviews in this blog hop or go here to purchase your own copy now.

Bekah Hamrick Martin was born in Savannah, Georgia, in an event which her brother keeps reminding her was completely unnecessary. She spent the better part of her high school years vacationing on the north end of her mattress due to an illness, where she developed a deep taste for chocolate and sarcasm. Today Bekah shares with teens about tough times, healing, and surviving their high school years—no matter where they spend them.

Learn more about Bekah on her website: http://misswritebrained.wordpress.com/ 

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Deep Haven Novel

Sometimes the secrets we keep to protect ourselves can be our undoing.

To all who know her, Annalise Decker is a model wife and mother. She’s a permanent member of the PTA, never misses a sporting event, and is constantly campaigning for her husband’s mayoral race.

No one knows that Annalise was once Deidre O’Reilly, a troubled young woman whose testimony put a dangerous criminal behind bars. Relocated through the Witness Security Program to the quaint harbor town of Deep Haven, Deidre received a new identity and a fresh start, which began when she fell in love with local real estate agent Nathan Decker.

Twenty years later, Annalise couldn’t be more unprepared for her past to catch up with her. When Agent Frank Harrison arrives with news that the man she testified against is out on parole and out for revenge, Annalise is forced to face the consequences of her secrets. Will she run again, or will she finally find the courage to trust those she loves most with both her past and her future?

This is the first book I’ve read by Susan May Warren.  Our library doesn’t carry her books, and I hadn’t come across any until now – but I think I might need to go seek some more out.  The premise of this one was completely fascinating.  What would you do if you had to hide to save your life – but then your new life was threatened, too?

We hear about the Witness Protection Program, but I typically hear of single people being hidden – not entire families, and while this book was about a single person being the one who started over, she was not the only one affected by this decision, and I never thought about that before.  The idea that those people might have to pick up and move again and not be by themselves this time was both new and somewhat mind boggling.  As a parent, I kept wondering – how would this affect kids?  Would they have to hide their talents, change bits of their nature to remain hidden and safe?

After picking up this book and digging into the relationship between Annalise and husband Nathan, I couldn’t put it down – I finished this book in a single session.

You will, too.  Really.

You’ll have to.  You won’t be able to put it down.

To read other reviews of You Don’t Know Me, visit the blog hop page here – or you can purchase your copy here.

Susan May Warren is the RITA award-winning novelist of over thirty novels. A five-time Christy award finalist, a two-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Carol Award.

A seasoned women’s events speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!.

Find out more about Susan May at http://www.susanmaywarren.com/.

I received a free copy of You Don’t Know Me from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.