1 O Lord,
how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way? 2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will
die. 4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
King David – Psalm 13:1-4
Doubtless we’ve all been at points
in our life where we’ve felt like David did while writing this psalm. Where is God when it hurts? Why is God
ignoring me? Does he even listen to my prayers?Why do bad things happen to good people? We read the annals of the
Bible and see at God personally stepping down and manifesting Himself to His
followers and we wonder why he does not do the same for us today. In a concise
volume, Dr. Gary Habermas tackles these tough questions and works it out from a
Biblical perspective.
Dr. Habermas is not a psychologist
or counselor, rather he’s considered one of the leading scholars on the issue
of the Resurrection. Frankly, having read Dr. Habermas’s 18 (or in that range)
books covering that topic, it was refreshing to hear his thoughts on another
topic. And though he’s not “qualified” like a psychologist or counselor might
be. He, like you and I, has experienced that pain. Some years ago he went
through the pain of losing his first wife to stomach cancer. This served as a
catalyst for him to intensely study this topic.
Dr. Habermas makes the suggestion
that maybe God does work more in our lives than we at first imagine, and that
instead of focusing on the majority of times God in with us, we focus on the
negative and ask where He is. Second, he suggests that while God can and does
supernaturally remove some from pain, his modus
operandi is to walk with us through the pain. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not
fear, for You are with me… Lastly, Habermas suggests that the majority of
our pain is caused by our own poor thinking. We believe God is ignoring us, and
thus we exclude all evidence that says otherwise.
Why Is God Ignoring Me? is a succinct, well-written look at the problem of pain,
focused on the level of the layperson. With insight and clarity, Habermas
offers practical examples and real-life stories to mesh with his Biblical
principles. While not the philosophical end-all treatise on the issue, this
book is sure to comfort those who feel that God is ignoring them and lead them
to the Psalmists conclusion:
5 But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me. 6 I will sing to the Lord
because he is good to me.
You’ll
recall the Biblical story of Hosea: called by God to marry a prostitute
in order to demonstrate the love God has for His people and to portray
in vivid detail how His people are sinning against Him. The picture we
get from this comes from God’s perspective. But what of the woman? What
of this soul so broken that she finds it hard to love herself let alone
another?
Broken is not the story of Hosea retold, but just maybe it is Travis Thrasher's Hosea story. When Travis read my review, he asked to be allowed to post it on his website. Well, I certainly wasn't going to say no, so you can check out the rest of the review HERE!
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m twenty years
old, single, and never been in a relationship. I’m married to my work—which
goes far beyond just this, or even my real
job, and is ultimately just following God’s calling in my life. I’m married to
God. Metaphorically, I’m His bride.
That doesn’t mean I plan on being single all my
life, it just means that whoever God does bring into my life will need to be
someone that is willing to run hand-in-hand with me as we sprint into the arms
of God.
But enough sentimentality. If I use it up now, I won’t
have any leftover for Valentine’s Day. The book is entitled Love
and War and is subtitled Finding
the Marriage You’ve Dreamed Of. Standard
reading material for a twenty year old single guy, I’m sure. Written by a couple
of 22 year veterans of the Love and War known as marriage, John
and Stasi Eldredge speak bluntly and transparently on the things that make or
break marriages.
And while the precepts they put forth are Biblical
and timeless, it is their transparency in throwing themselves into the
situations, admitting where they’ve grown or faltered or messed up, that
ultimately makes this book a winner. Because honestly, I don’t want to read a
book from someone who tells me their marriage is perfect. Anybody who says that
there’s no way their marriage could get better has a marriage in dire trouble,
and they’re too stupid to realize it.
Coming together with advice both practical and
spiritual, the Eldredge’s show that marriage cannot and will not be easy, but
two flawed individuals can come together and complement one another in the most
intimate of relationships. In the end, their advice really isn’t completely
novel. It’s not a push-button philosophy that says “do this and have the perfect
marriage.” Instead, they take the general principles of relating and
communicating with anybody, and then apply them within the context of marriage.
Be honest, yet tactful in communication. Put the needs of the other ahead of
your own needs. Let the little things be little things. Realize that both you
and your spouse are broken people, complemented by each other, but completed in
Christ.
Whether you’re like me and just beginning to think
about what lies ahead relationally or if you’re a fifty year veteran of
marriage, there’s something that you can learn from in this book. Take a look
at it here.
This book was provided for review by Waterbrook Multnomah.
Sex, drugs, the blues, and a Hollywood career: The
Famous Oneby Nicole
Petrino-Salter has it all. It’s a coming-of-age story about Joey Parr and his
reluctant rise to fame. Joey’s a troubled boy from a dysfunctional family. Life
isn’t easy and Joey only finds solace in novels about the detective Joe
Pavarone. There is an emptiness in Joey’s life that he just can’t seem to fill.
Make no doubt about it: this book is the story of
Joey Parr. It begins with his childhood and progress throughout his life and
career, oftentimes reading like the most intense, gripping, and intriguing biography
I had ever read. Joey’s sense of emptiness and aloneness is evident from his
childhood, and we watch as he grows up and tries to fill his emptiness. Sex.
Drugs. The blues. It’s his ability to sing the blues that jump-starts his
Hollywood career. And that takes us from a story about Joey Parr, the kid, to
Joey Parr, Hollywood superstar.
Reluctantly thrust into the spotlight, Joey embraces
his acting with a passion, trying to make it fill the emptiness in his soul.
Finally, it appears he has it all together. He’s found love, has a family, and is
America’s most critically acclaimed and beloved actor. But there’s still that
emptiness. And as Joey Parr comes to find out, there is only One that can fill
the void in his soul.
As I was reading The Famous One, the thought
kept running through my head. This is the
best coming-of-age story I’ve ever read. I wept when Joey wept. My heart
was broken when he made the wrong choices. I felt the despair of his loneliness
and emptiness. But the story has a turning point. When despair leads to prayer,
Joey finds his life completely and utterly changed by Jesus Christ.
It was then that I realized that this was not a
coming-of-age story. It wasn’t about a boy overcoming the struggles of his
life, pulling himself up by his bootstraps and making himself The
Famous One. It is a coming-to-lifestory, and tells the compelling
journey of Joey Parr’s journey into the hands of God.
Nicole Petrino-Salter has crafted an exquisite story
of redemption, with well-written true to life characters that will inevitably
remind you of somebody you know. The book is written so viscerally, it seems so
real, that oftentimes I had to remind myself that it was a work of fiction. Without shying away from subject matter such as sex or drugs, Petrino-Salter handles the topics with subtlety and dignity, and gets the story across without diving into explicitness. The
dialogue is crisp and precise; the plotting is tight and controlled. Though the
book covers a series of circumstances that ultimately leads to the climax, not
one scene can be seen as extraneous or out of place.
The
Famous One is absolutely outstanding. You will not
be able to read this book and not be touched by it.
Every
breath you take and every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take, I'll be watching you…
Every
Breath You Take – The Police
The father holds his daughter daintily in his strong
arms. Love swells in his heart and he thinks he is going to cry just by looking
at her adorable face. He sings to her softly, trying to put his love into words
for her. He thinks he’ll always be there. But he can’t be.
In a powerful and gripping love story with a
supernatural twist, Travis Thrasher takes an overdone, hackneyed, and sappy
theme and turns it into a vibrant demonstration of the nature of love. Let’s be
honest. “Love” stories are everywhere. Whether it be harlequin or Amish, a soap
opera or a chick flick, the basic premise of this novel is way, way, way
overdone. In short: a girl must decide between two guys.
But despite the thousands of variations this theme
has received, Thrasher puts himself a notch or two (or three) above your
run-of-the-mill love story not only through his memorable characters or
supernatural twist, but through his honest and raw depiction of true love.
Kayla was only two years old when her father died.
Now she’s 26 and engaged to a wonderful man named Ryan. But while out with
Ryan, she runs into Billy – a man she shares a lot of history with, and a man
she seems destined to keep running into.
Such a fate may be certain, because the heavens
themselves have decided to join in to help Kayla decide who she loves. Her
father Thomas is sent back to earth with the mission to help Kayla see the
situation more clearly, under the orders that she cannot know who he is.
Every
Breath You Take is not just a love story between a girl
and a boy – though certainly it is. It’s more the story of a father’s love for
his daughter, who gets a second chance to be a part of her life, if only for a
while. And the ending…well, it makes the book. It completes Thrasher’s theme of
finding true love and takes the novel to a whole other level. It breaks the
mold that love stories are often forced into and makes for an astounding read.
There are only 2,676 copies of Every Breath You Take in
existence. I know not how many remain to be sold. I strongly suggest you pick
up a copy before you miss out on this unique and soul-filled story entirely.
Because of the unique journey this book had to
publication, I wanted to take some time with Travis Thrasher to learn a little
bit more about what went on to get to this finished product:
TCC: Alright,
Travis, you're the published author of almost a dozen novels, yet you made the
decision to self-publish Every Breath You Take. What first gave you
the idea to self-publish?
Travis: I've wanted to do something
like this for several years--a special book for my friends and fans. After
working hard on this story and getting close to selling it, I decided that I
would go ahead and publish it myself. My father helped with some of the upfront
costs--in a sense, we basically started a publishing company (complete with the
name of Lucas Lane and the logo that I had designed a few years ago). Having
said that, I am and always will be a writer, not a publisher.
TCC: You literally creating your own
publishing company? You definitely involved yourself in every step of the
process. How much work was that? And what, if anything, did you learn about the
publishing side of writing a book?
Travis: After working 13 years in
the publishing industry, I already knew a lot about publishing. But this was
such an educational experience! I didn't go through a subsidy publisher nor did
I work with a company that does the work for you. I did everything from working
with a freelance editor, proofreader, designer, and typesetter. I paid them
what a publisher would pay them. The freelance editor is one I've worked with
on six other novels, so I trust her. The designer who did this is also the
designer who worked on my second novel, The Watermark.
I was fortunate to have contacts to
work with. A few people helped me out tremendously with the use of their
resources and time.
The biggest thing I learned was
this: if something went wrong, the blame would land on me since I was the
publisher. Let's say there was a glaring typo in the book. I'd be the one
responsible for it. This made me appreciate publishers a lot more because there
are so many things that can go wrong with a traditional printing. And I didn't
just print one hundred copies. I did the lowest quantity I could for the best
price, which ended up giving me 2,676 copies.
TCC: If Every Breath You Take was so much a product of you, then where am I
supposed to buy it? Amazon? eBay? Are you selling them door-to-door?
Travis: It's been too cold to go
door-to-door. I'm waiting for springtime! No, seriously, the only place to get
it right now is my website. Ultimately, my hope is to sell through the print
run and then years down the road have those copies be worth something.
TCC: Website it is, then. Once again,
handling all aspects of it yourself. Now, if you knew before you started this
project what you know now about what it would take to pull this off, do you
think you'd have even considered it?
Travis: Yes, I still would have done
it. But at certain times I questioned the time and the money I spent on this
project. If I had those two things in abundance, it'd be a different story. I
still believe the story was worth publishing. I'm delighted to hear the
response so far.
TCC: Besides this project, you also have
some other irons in the fire. Mind illuminating us on those?
Travis: I have two books coming out
this year--Broken in May and Solitary in August. The story I'm
working on now is due to come out in 2011. There's some other exciting news
that I'm dying to share but I can't at the moment. All I'll say is this: it's
amazing to see which doors God opens and closes.
TCC:
That’s great! As one who has had the privilege of reading Broken already, let me just say wow. I’m looking forward to being
able to share that review with my readers! Moving on to the last question...Well,
more of a demand. You're a major LOST fan. I've not ever seen an episode, but
I'm an honest seeker, definitely intrigued by it all. In three sentences or
less, make me a fan of the show.
Travis: I love to see real, flawed
characters on journeys of redemption. I also love when things aren't always
explained or when stories don't always fit into a box. Lost is about
characters I've grown to love who are all on a surreal journey toward hope or
damnation.
TCC:
Well, I think that love is reflected in your own writing. Thanks for taking
time out of your schedule to allow my pestering you. Maybe if I can ever get my
nose out of a book, I’ll check out this phenomenon that is LOST. Readers,
remember – 2,676 copies total – once they’re gone, they’re gone. Don’t miss out
on this unique opportunity to get a great book. And you can only buy it here.
Angels. We certainly do have a fascination with
these ethereal messengers of God. Even those who do not believe in God may
ascribe to the belief of angels. We picture angels as transporting the dead to
heaven, fighting in heavenly battles, saving people from mysterious accidents,
or some other phenomena. Perhaps we remember the author of Hebrews, when he
mentioned that some had entertained angels unaware of the heavenly nature of
their guest.
But what does the Bible say about angels? Dr. David
Jeremiah takes us on an extensive study of angels, determining their Biblical
function and purpose, and what that means for us today. With clarity and
reason, Jeremiah cuts through the hype and warns us to be cautious in ascribing
any unexplainable phenomena as the doings of angels. Moreover, Jeremiah reminds
us that the angels are created beings, as we are, and not on the level of God.
Therefore, we must be careful not to make angels an idol.
After this caution, Jeremiah proceeds to explain
what angels are, when they appear, and how they compare and contrast to humans.
Done in a straightforward manner, Jeremiah pulls together all the Scriptural
data regarding angels and draws his conclusions based upon the Biblical data.
Also included are chapters on named angels (Gabriel, Michael) and their
appearances in Scripture. Jeremiah also spends time discussing the Angel of the
LORD, his appearances, and the theological debate as to whether this is an angel
or the pre-incarnate Christ.
Altogether, Angels
is a solid theological read, yet is easily accessible to the layperson. It is
easily the most informative and helpful study of angels that I have read. It
shies away from the sensationalism that much discussion of the topic engenders,
and even cautions against it. For the Christian lost in the modern “spiritual”
concept of angels, this book is a must-read. It removes the modern stereotype of
an angel as a “nice feeling” and restores it to the Biblical sense as the
created spiritual messengers of God.
You can buy Angels here. Review copy provided by WaterBrook Press
Doubtless we’ve all been at points
in our life where we’ve felt like David did while writing this psalm. Where is God when it hurts? Why is God
ignoring me? Does he even listen to my prayers? Why do bad things happen to good people? We read the annals of the
Bible and see at God personally stepping down and manifesting Himself to His
followers and we wonder why he does not do the same for us today. In a concise
volume, Dr. Gary Habermas tackles these tough questions and works it out from a
Biblical perspective.
