Rhonda's Doings !

Review of Worship Changes Everything: Experiencing God's Presence in Every Moment of Life by Darlene Zschech An Invitation to Praise and Honor God in Every Area of Life It can be easy to have a heart filled with worship on a Sunday morning as the church band is playing your favorite song. But then comes Monday morning's commute and Tuesday afternoon's pile of laundry. How do we maintain a heart of worship in the daily grind? Darlene Zschech has spent her life thinking and teaching about worship. With wisdom and contagious joy, she shares her thoughts on what worship truly is and how it should invade every facet of our being. Everything we do can be an act of worship to the Lord, transforming our work, our friendships, our churches, our families. It's all about living in His presence--being aware of the Lord by our side and at work in our lives.  Learn to live a life of worship. You will be amazed by the purpose and freedom it will bring. MY REVIEW:   I fe...

Review of The Storm Before the Calm by Talbot Davis The Storm Before The Calm Storms. They shake us. They soak us They scare us. But what if they did something more? What if the real purpose of storms is to prepare us . . .  . . . for the calm that follows? That’s the perspectives of the sermons I have collected together in this short volume. Rather than the usual mindset of “the calm before the storm” -- a mindset that sees calm as the exception and storms as the norm – I wanted to approach the subject from that very different angle. Calm can – and should – be our life’s experience.  So the sermons you will read take a look at some of the best known storm stories in Scripture, ranging from the two builders of Jesus’ parable to Paul’s shipwreck in Malta and ultimately to Noah’s embarrassing moment after the storm to end all storms in Genesis 9. These messages were delivered in real time to a real congregation: Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, a modern & mu...

Review of Eve by Wm. Paul Young The Shack  shattered our limited perceptions about God.  Eve  will destroy harmful misconceptions about ourselves. From the author of the 25-million copy bestseller  The Shack  comes a captivating new novel destined to be one of the most important and talked-about books of the decade. When a shipping container washes ashore on an island between our world and the next, John the Collector finds a young woman inside--broken, frozen, and barely alive. With the aid of Healers and Scholars, John oversees her recovery and soon discovers her genetic code connects her to every known human race. She is a girl of prophecy and no one can guess what her survival will mean... No one but Eve, Mother of the Living, who calls her daughter and invites her to witness the truth about her story--indeed, the truth about us all. Eve is a bold, unprecedented exploration of the Creation narrative, true to the original texts and centuries of schol...

Review of How God Grows a Woman of Wisdom:  A Devotional Journal  by Anita Higman & Marian Leslie  How God Grows a Woman of Wisdom  is the first release in a brand-new devotional series designed to enhance your spiritual journey. Featuring two hundred–plus devotional readings complemented by scripture selections and prayers, this lovely collection offers a powerful blend of inspiration, encouragement, and motivation for every area of your life. Touching on topics like beauty, blessings, conversation, joy, patience, prayer, relationships, work, and more, you will find yourself drawn ever closer to your heavenly Father as you meditate on each reading and open your heart and mind to God’s Word. MY REVIEW:   The price of wisdom is beyond rubies.  Job 28:18          Each devotion features a lovely piece of insight from Anita Higman and Marian Leslie along with scripture and a short prayer that the woman can use to enri...

Review of The Heart of the Amish:  Life Lessons on Peacemaking and the Power of Forgiveness by Suzanne Woods Fisher Everyone has been hurt. Everyone experiences conflict, great and small. Everyone has someone to forgive. But sometimes we just can't bring ourselves to forgive someone who has wronged us or we don't take the need to forgive seriously--not like the Amish do. Forgiving others in order to live at peace is woven into the very fabric of their faith. To the Amish way of thinking, "You can't love the stream without knowing the source. " We must forgive others, they believe, because God forgave us.  "The Heart of the Amish" invites readers into the world of a people renowned for their ability to forgive. Through true stories gathered from a variety of Amish communities, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher illustrates how they are able to release their pain and desire for revenge, and live at peace with others. Her in-depth, personal re...

Review of The Drop Box by Brian Ivie Brian Ivie was filled with compassion as he read an  LA Times  article about Pastor Lee’s solution to unwanted newborns in South Korea—a baby drop box. Brian traveled halfway around the world to film the documentary  The Drop Box . But God had even bigger plans. For in the midst of filming the plight of these abandoned and forgotten children, Brian realized his own spiritual brokenness. At its heart, this is a story of spiritual orphans—young and old—discovering their true identity as children of God. MY REVIEW:  Can you imagine an actual box lined with blankets outside a home with a bell that alerts the inhabitants of the addition of a baby?  An actual live infant?   Such a thing actually does exist for a home in South Korea.  The drop box provides a safe place for people to place unwanted, deformed babies.  Pastor Lee and his wife provides a home and love for these babies.  Brian Ivie was ...

 Review of Jaded by Varina Denman As a child, Ruthie was shunned by the local congregation. Thirteen years later, Ruthie's heart begins to stir when an attractive single preacher arrives. But their relationship is bitterly opposed—unearthing a string of secrets which threaten to turn the church, the town, and her world upside-down. Jaded  is the rare novel that is both love story between a woman and man ... and God and His church. Plunging deep into the waters of shame, forgiveness and restoration, it will resonate with every woman who's experienced a loss of heart ... and a thirst for hope. MY REVIEW:  This is Varina Denman's first novel and it is such a wonderful way to enter the world of writing and fiction!   I was very intrigued by the description of this novel as I was a pastor's wife in several small towns, one in Texas and two in North Carolina.  I, too, have been injured by one of those churches and it caused my heart a great deal of pain...

Review of Heaven Help Heidi by Sally John From bestselling Christian fiction author Sally John comes the second book in a series featuring new beginnings and unexpected romance. Welcome to the Casa de Vida--eleven quaint bungalows located three blocks from the Pacific Ocean in tiny Seaside Village, California. Owner Liv McAlister never advertises vacancies beyond a small hand-lettered sign out front, preferring to trust that God will send the right tenant at just the right time. And He always does. Heidi Hathaway's life has been turned upside down. After an accident leaves her injured, unable to work, and incapable of negotiating the stairs in her multilevel oceanfront condo, she leases her home and moves into a cozy little cottage in the charming garden complex where her friend Piper lives. There she finds so much more than a place to rest and recover. Piper Keyes knows Jared is not coming back from Afghanistan. After making it through the fifth anniversary o...

Review of A Woodland Miracle by Ruth Reid For a disadvantaged young woman and a displaced young man, alasting love is going to take more than chance—it’s going to take a miracle. Muscle weakness has left Grace Wagler with a broken body—and her childhood best friend has left her with a broken heart. She can hold her own in the timber camp (and do everything else the other women in Badger Creek can do),but in an Amish district where women outnumber men three to one, marriage is an unlikely prospect for a girl with bad legs. Ben Eicher just arrived in Michigan from Pinecraft, Florida. When his most recent shenanigans proved too much for his  daed ’s patience, Ben was sent to the Upper Peninsula to work in the lumber camp—and he’s neither proud of his behavior nor thrilled about his new home. But when Ben meets Grace, the struggling young woman quickly piques his curiosity.Of course, the last thing Grace wants is another friendship with a man who pities her. Tired of ph...

Review of  A Rooster Once Crowed: A Commentary on the Greatest Story Ever Told by Bryant Cornett From a one-room Sunday school class--the lesson that's been downloaded over 8,000 times in 54 countries--comes A Rooster Once Crowed, A Commentary on the Greatest Story Ever Told. We live in those few moments between the first and the second crow of the rooster: between decision and indecision, between knowing and being known. But do you even care? Small decisions made today establish our path for all time, and yet we piddle with a piece of this and a taste of that. We diet on wisdom from antiquity and gorge on culture that is next month's joke. This story is an opportunity to gorge on Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, in context. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and an opportunity to see for yourself what it actually is, rather than what we mold it to be, and to finally choose whether or not to care. Through small stories and a modern context, this book will help you ...