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Grandma, Granddad, We Want to Praise God
Grandma, Granddad, We Want to Praise God is the third book in the Families Growing in Faith series. This beautiful children’s book follows children as they question their grandparents about how and when they should praise God. They want to know what praise is and how they should go about offering praise to God. The answers they get sometimes surprise the children, and they are astonished at all the ways that they can show God thanks and praise each and every day.
Author Vanessa Fortenberry, with illustrator Sharon Grey, tells the heartwarming story of children, from all ethnic backgrounds, asking their grandparents about God. Each page shows a different family and asks a different question. The rhyming stanzas will engage and entertain young readers and make for fun family reading. Each situation can be read and discussed as its own topic, making this a great study book for young children as well. Kids will love seeing how things they love to do each day, like singing, dancing, and attending church, are all ways that you can praise God.
The illustrations are done in a soft portrait style using a combination of bold and muted colors to create dynamic images that will capture the attention of children looking through this book. The diversity of scenery and subjects makes it so that each child can find a situation they can personally relate to in this fantastic book.
Grandma, Granddad, We Want to Praise God is a beautifully written picture book that captures the meaning of faith and love for God. The lyrical story combined with the memorable images create a children’s book that preschoolers and kindergarteners will love to read over and over again. Adults will find the story meaningful and will want to read it as much as the kids. This lovely book will teach praise and worship in a gentle and engaging manner.
Pages: 30 | ASIN : B08SJ1N7M6
The Covenant Names of God
In The Covenant Names of God, Richard Sones shares scriptures and tales from the Bible that show how God reveals himself to human beings. I highly recommend this book to readers trying to find God and those new to Christianity. Richard Sones writes in-depth, discussing various aspects of the Bible, religion, and human beings. The author lists the many covenant names God is known as. They are Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Ropheka, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Shamah, Jehovah Zidqenu, Jehovah Mqaddishcem, Jehovah Ro-ih, and Jehovah Shalom. Richard Sones introduces readers to names they may never have heard before and discussed the significance of these covenant names.
As a reader, you experience a new wave of biblical knowledge. Richard Sones writes as an expert and gives the reader a clear view of God. I enjoyed reading the content in this book as it strengthens one’s faith as a believer. In addition, there are different examples the author uses to show the reader how beautiful life can be when you trust in God.
There are many reasons that made the reading experience a delight. I like how the author uses different characters in the Bible, makes comparisons with the modern man, and expounds on how living during the Bible’s time was different from life today. The author is patient with his readers and explains even the most basic concepts. Richard Sones will get you to understand the Bible in the simplest way ever. I applaud the author for focusing on uplifting, enlightening content and nourishing the soul of the average believer. Reading about the covenant names of God exposes you to a diverse side of religion.
This book is spiritual, and the language used is inviting. The tone in the book is convincing, and one is assured that the words they are consuming will help them in the future. There is no better way of understanding our creator than reading this amazing book. You get to learn about covenants and are taught the various covenants of agreements human beings made between themselves and God.
The biggest lesson in this influential book is love and kindness. The love of God is more significant than all. The lessons shared in this book will enable you to become a better person and better understand faith. Richard Sones’s style of writing is distinct. The author infuses rare elements in his writing that make the book more striking. Richard Sones made me more aware of who I am and allowed me to learn about Jesus on a broader scale.
The Covenant Names of God is a fantastic supplement to the Bible. It is something to be read and give deep thought to. The encouraging words in this divine book will push readers to pursue things that will help them on their physical and spiritual journey.
Pages: 126 | ASIN : B09FFW3S5G
Colleen’s Confession
Colleen is an orphan who has taken up a job as a laundress for the Clark family at the Comfort Island house. Colleen meets new people, some of whom are nice to her for what seems like the first time in her life. She dreams of becoming a wife and artist.
This eloquent story takes place in 1914, on the cusp of World War 1, where men run things and women are meant to support them. There is also a great divide between those who have and those who have naught. Jack Weiss is an Austrian immigrant who befriends Collen but is torn between his possible love for her or returning to Austria to fight in the war for his homeland. Will Colleen’s dream of being an artist come true, and will Jack finally woo the girl of his dreams?
At the beginning of this fascinating book, I felt that Colleen was a difficult character for me to root for. Yes, she had a horrible upbringing with abusive nuns and forced child labor, but she did not help me sympathize or empathize with her. Instead, she was continuously unfriendly to Jack and her roommate Tara. However, as the story progressed and Jack kept battering down her walls, I found myself really liking her character, and that slow evolution of her character was all the more enjoyable.
The author has done an excellent job at taking Colleen’s character through tremendous growth. She also created a fantastic villain that you love to hate, Mrs. Marshall. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Jack is trying to boost Colleen’s morale when he talks about how Colleen’s skill with art has nothing to do with being rich or poor that, in fact, being poor allows them “to be rich in what really matters.” As a result, they might be able to appreciate the little things more than those who have everything. I thought that that was the book’s central theme—the dichotomy between rich and poor.
Colleen’s Confession is a heartwarming novel of healing, hope, and forgiveness. With the time period set at the beginnings of WWI, there is a historical element to the storyline. The love story is sweet and keeps a Christian focus throughout. This is the perfect novel to read when you want a great period piece to sit down with.
Pages: 163 | ASIN : B09K4XKQXS
Jesus Came for People Who Need Help
Nobody Left Out – Jesus Meets the Messes is an encouraging Christian-based Self-Help devotional for readers struggling in life. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I wanted people to see the love and compassion Jesus has for people who don’t have it all together. I have a heart for people who feel left out.
I have cerebral palsy, and while I love the life I have, I understand the feeling of being left out. So it was important for me to remind people who feel the same way that Jesus came for people like them. Jesus came for people who need help, not for people who are perfect!
The Bible can be an intimidating piece of literature, and it’s hard to know where to begin. If you are struggling in life, I would say the best place to start is by reading stories about Jesus. There are so many stories in the Bible about Jesus meeting people in their mess and brokenness. I chose eight of these stories to highlight in the book, and honestly, there were many more I could have included. I tried to pick stories that encompassed a wide variety of struggles and situations. In some stories, the characters find themselves in a mess due to their choices and mistakes. But in others, they were thrown into a mess through no fault of their own. Either way, Jesus doesn’t forget them. He includes them in God’s story.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The biggest theme is Jesus’ love for people in the middle of a mess. My heart breaks for people who think their lives must be “perfect” for God to love them. It also breaks for people who have been harshly judged by Christians. As Christians, we should be the least judgemental people on the planet! The theme that Jesus meets us in our mess and brokenness is one that I hope will resonate with people. I know it’s a message I need to be reminded of every single day.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your book?
That God’s love is big enough for everyone! It’s my hope that as people read these eight encounters, they will see themselves in the stories. I think we can relate to a lot of these messy situations. By seeing how Jesus met the characters in their mess, I pray people will see how Jesus can meet them in theirs. I want readers to know that no matter what situation they are dealing with right now, Jesus doesn’t want them to be left out of the story God is writing.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
The next book in the Nobody Left Out series is titled Waves of Grace. It’s based on the book of Jonah in the Old Testament. Most people are familiar with the story of Jonah getting swallowed by the big fish. But there’s so much more to the tale than that! The story of Jonah is a true “Nobody Left Out” story. It’s a story about how God’s love is for all people and the lengths God will go to prove that. It’s also a pretty funny book that uses satire to get its message of grace across. I’m excited to “dive into” this story with others. Nobody Left Out: Waves of Grace will be released on May 17th, 2022!
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
An unwelcome dinner guest.
A death-row criminal facing his final hours on earth.
What do all of these people have in common?
They all faced the messiness of life. Some made the mess themselves. Some were thrown headfirst into a mess through no fault of their own.
Then something changed. It wasn’t that they suddenly became unmessy. But they each came face to face with Jesus, and he invited them to be part of God’s story. He didn’t leave them out.
This 40-day devotional looks at eight encounters Jesus had with messy, broken people. In short, daily readings, you’ll explore each story and see how Jesus met each person in their mess.
The eight stories we’ll be walking through together are:
Jesus Meets The Lonely Thief
Jesus Meets The Know-It-All
Jesus Meets The Unwelcome Dinner Guest
Jesus Meets The Woman Who Was Exploited
Jesus Meets The Sick Woman & The Dead Girl
Jesus Meets The Blind Man With Perfect Vision
Jesus Sees The Invisible Widow
Jesus Meets The Honest Criminal
Whether you’ve been following Jesus your whole life or have never cracked open a Bible, Nobody Left Out: Jesus Meets the Messes will remind you that God’s love is big enough for everyone….
He doesn’t want anyone left out!
Simple Preaching Prep
![Simple Preaching Prep: A guide to finish your first sermon and flourish beyond. by [Mark Messmore]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41YuL6iJl4L.jpg)
In his book Simple Preaching Prep: A guide to finish your first sermon and flourish beyond, Mark Messmore addresses special ways one can preach to ensure that the message they are trying to convey hits home. Mark Messmore writes about the different methodologies you can use and how you can deliver your message with ease. Readers will realize that by going through and reading the simple preaching prep model that the author has demonstrated in the book, they will become an even better preacher than they were before. The prep model involves interviewing the text, narrowing the focus, stating the main idea, including supporting material, delivering the message, and evaluating the result.
I like this book because the content inside is not only great for preachers, but it also works for public speakers in general. Mark Messmore talks about being a great speaker, how to build your oratory skills and how to address different audiences. He gives a step by step guide for people that have never preached, and encourages both new and established preachers. I like how engaging the author is and how pleasant he sounds. Mark Messmore conveys his message in a welcoming and warm manner. As a reader, you feel at ease reading his book and getting to understand what it takes to be the best preacher or speaker.
What makes reading Simple Preaching Prep: A guide to finish your first sermon and flourish beyond pleasurable and interesting is the bible stories that the author uses as examples. Mark Messmore adds bible scriptures and discusses at length some bible stories. He also includes light moments when expounding on the topics and stories, something that encourages one to keep reading. I loved the biblical references in the book. By reading Mark Messmore’s book, one gets a better insight of the bible and God. The author does a fantastic job of simplifying complex ideas so that reader has a better, more comprehensive, understanding of the material.
One of the many lessons I learned in the book includes how to be in sync with your audience and how to capture their full attention. When talking about various audiences, the author is engaging and cordial. Once you read this book, you will reduce your social anxiety by a good fraction and you will gain confidence and be ready to offer your first sermon. This is an effective guidebook for Christian leaders that provides pragmatic advice to help make you a better preacher.
Pages: 83 | ASIN: B09LSNVBCM
Nobody Left Out – Jesus Meets the Messes
Nobody Left Out – Jesus Meets the Messes: A 40-Day Devotional for Messy, Broken People (Like Me!) is an upbeat book that will help you get out of the mess you are in and also help you know yourself better. Michael Murray uses biblical stories and real-life experiences to talk about the complexities of life and how we can make our living experiences better. The author makes readers feel like they belong and is not judgmental. He understands that all his readers have their shortcomings.
Want to live a righteous life? Picking yourself up? Struggling with understanding the purpose of life? When you read Nobody Left Out, readers will feel the presence of other people that have gone through similar struggles. Reading this book will expand how readers think and improve their reasoning abilities. The author makes readers feel like they are a child of God and unique in everything they have. Michael Murray is not only a talented writer, he has the ability to give readers an encouraging outlook. This book is inspiring and eye-opening.
There are many lessons and messages shared in Nobody Left Out, patience, forgiveness, hope, faith, peace, tolerance, and much more. The biggest lesson, however, is about love. The author, through his text, preaches about the love of God and how God never leaves his people. By loving God and other humans, we get to live graciously and contentedly.
The eight stories the author shares in this book are all-powerful. There are, however, three stories that spoke to me on a different level. The story about Jesus meeting the unwelcome dinner guest, Jesus meeting the invisible widow, and Jesus meeting the honest criminal were the three stories that had me reflect on certain things about life.
Nobody Left Out – Jesus Meets the Messes: A 40-Day Devotional for Messy, Broken People (Like Me!) is recommended to any reader who wants to turn a new leaf, believers, and people who wish to strengthen their faith.
Pages: 126 | ASIN : B08MY583G8
Christianity A Flawed Religion
Christianity A Flawed Religion provides an argument on how Christian dogma keeps humanity in bondage to sin and a suffering world, and how to fix it. This insightful book provides readers with author Warren William Luce’s wisdom and thought-provoking arguments about Christianity and its tenants. This informative book presents details of the philosophy behind why Christianity, like many other religions, is flawed in some aspects. Among the chief reasons for this logic are the arguments of Trials and Tribulations, Change, Excommunication, and how man has inserted their views into the word of Christ. Luce presents a well-thought-out thesis for the arguments made and does a great job of expanding upon those ideas.
The beginning of the book entails a broad view of Luce’s life. It goes into detail about his upbringing, his family life, time in the war, and living a nominal Christian life– that is, being a Christian in name only, instead of abiding by the true teachings of Jesus. Among many arguments made, the details that hindered Luce’s belief in Christian doctrine consist of questions, the validity of his own beliefs, and how professing Christians in the world today do not mirror the Christians found in early church accounts and biblical scriptures. The book closes with a charge from Warren, asking who it is you believe: Christian theologians or Jesus. And if it is Jesus you profess in creed, then to live through the example He set, and the way of life He paved according to the Christian scriptures.
Luce has written a compelling book that brings up good points and ideas to support his argument that Christianity is a flawed religion in some ways. However, it seemed as if the views in this book were relatively negative, but ended with a challenge to the reader, and had plenty of scriptures to support the claims made. I would recommend this book to anyone who might be interested in exploring religion or challenging their own viewpoints of Christianity.
Christianity a Flawed Religion: How Christian Dogma Inadvertently Keeps Humanity In Bondage to Sin and a Suffering World and How to Fix It is a thoughtful book that will interest readers of religious dogma, spiritual texts, and philosophical non-fiction.
Pages: 248 | ISBN : 9781716028793
Lilac Bush: A Poetic Journey and Cultural Awakening for Future Generations
![Lilac Bush: A Poetic Journey and Cultural Awakening for Future Generations by [Pamela Nwokeji]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41SzfVLBtHL.jpg)
Lilac Bush calls attention to the longevity and persistence of discrimination against black Americans. The call comes as author Pamela C. Nwokeji shares with us her negative experiences during her childhood in Roxbury. Beyond this, Pamela also extols her positive experiences and relates them through analogy and poetry to lilac tones.
Within her exceptional writing, the poet shows how education is transformative in everyone’s life and especially in hers. Such movement leads young people and adults who read her work to be more critical and more aware of their role in the world. Persistence and education are words that mark Pamela’s ideals, as being the most powerful key to a person’s development and success.
The obstacles experienced by the author are mostly due to racial and cultural prejudice, and also because she is a woman seeking independence in a society shaped by patriarchy. However, even with all the problematizations implied in this work, the characteristics brought out by the poet is joyful and motivating in several aspects. The representation carried in the title makes all the difference to this milder perspective, which is lilac. This shade chosen by the author carries several positive meanings, among them spirituality, something that the author also addresses in her book.
Her affinity and relationship with God and His purposes are made explicit several times, not only in the religious sense but also in her home and in her strong and united family. The poems by Pamela Nwokeji are inspiring, but beyond all of this, she brings us a portrait of the many evils experienced by African Americans, in order to get to know and, through knowledge, transform this reality. As a reader, I felt graced to have the opportunity to read such a work, which intrigues and delights throughout the journey in the universe of Pamela’s poetry.
Lilac Bush is an inspirational and thought-provoking collection of potent poetry that explores a variety of issues with beautiful and flowing language.
Pages: 207 | ASIN: B09HQ59QGV
LITERARY TITAN 