Review - Grieving God's Way: The Path to Lasting Hope and Healing by Margaret Brownley

I chose to review this book because I am studying to be a counselor and I knew that the issues of grieving and loss will come up eventually in my practice. I am a Christian so I wanted to look at something from this perspective. Grieving God's Way is a 90-Day Devotional. Each day begins with a description, talking about the stage of grief that the person may be going through. It shares a Bible verse and talks about the meanings behind it as it relates to grief. It gives tips to get through it: deep breaths, prayer, exercising, etc. It is divided into three sections: Healing the Grieving Body, Healing the Grieving Soul, and Healing the Grieving Heart. Although it does not necessarily take one through the classic stages of grief that I have learned about in my counseling courses, it is a nice resource for a spiritual person to use when they are grieving the loss of a loved one. I would encourage anyone that is having issues with grief to seek counseling or even just reach out to others who have gone through the same thing. Yes, a book like this can be helpful, but it should not be the only resource someone turns to in a difficult time such as this.
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I receive these books free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review - I am a Follower: The Way, Truth and Life of Following Jesus by Leonard Sweet

I decided to read this book because I am in a job field right now where it is all about leading people in the right direction and getting them to follow you. What I have seen and heard about churches and pastoring is quite similar. If you are a good pastor, your church will be on the right path and following Jesus. I thought this book would help me to discover a little more about how to follow Jesus, but I think I would have been better off simply reading the Bible and learning more that way. This book was very dry and hard to get into. That is why it took me so long to read it. I enjoy books that flow well and keep you interested, and this was not one of them for me. It was presented as a new concept, but as a Christian I already know that I should be following Jesus, and I hope that I can learn about following simply from the Bible. Isn't that kind of the point? If you are unsure of where to get started, maybe you should read this book. If you are a pastor that is doing more leading than following, maybe you should read this book. I just could not get into it so I cannot really give it a good review feeling the way I do. My recommendation - the best book every written - THE BIBLE!! That will show you how to be a follower of Jesus!
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I receive these books free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review - Why God Won't Go Away by Allister McGrath

It's been a while since I've done a review. I've been reading so much for school I haven't really had a chance to read for recreation or to write reviews.
This book was quite an interesting read, but a little disheartening to me at the same time. To read about people who claim that everything can be rationally explained and then turn around and give completely irrational arguments to try and support their claims just boggles the mind. There is a lot of information in this book, so to really know what I am talking about, you have to read the book. McGrath does a great job of presenting a kind of history of the "New Atheism" which is not just not believing in God - it's almost an anti-God movement. I have always read in the Bible how we should be prepared for those working against us Christians. I had never really encountered anything along these lines until recent arguments on Facebook with people who claimed they wanted rational argument, but fell apart as soon as I presented what I felt to be a very rational explanation of God. Social media really has brought these ignorant ideas to the forefront. McGrath speaks about this in the book as well, detailing how the New Atheist's movement has grown as well as crashed and burned through social media. All in all, an interesting read if you want to know what we are up against as Christians.

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I receive these books free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”