Recently I read and reviewed Randy Singer’s forthcoming new book, Fatal Convictions. I thoroughly enjoyed this John Grisham-esque legal thriller. You can read my review for more details. You can also read a special Q & A session with the author, Randy Singer.

Tyndale House Publishers is promoting Fatal Convictions with a blog tour, of which The Randleman Review is a part. One of the features of this blog tour promotion is the opportunity for me to give away a copy of Fatal Convictions through The Randleman Review.

So, over the next week, I will conduct a contest to determine a worthy recipient for Fatal Convictions.

This is not a typical book giveaway. Rather than giving away the actual book, we will be giving away gift certificates good for a copy of the book from the winner’s local Christian bookstore. If the winner does not live near a Christian store, or the store won’t accept it for some reason, it can be redeemed directly through Tyndale. All of the instructions will be on the back of the certificate. Along with the certificate for the book, the winner will also receive a signed bookplate from Randy Singer. Tyndale House Publishers will handle the mailing of the certificate and book plate. I will notify Tyndale House of the winner, giving them the winner’s name and address.

Here are the rules:

The winner will be selected at random from the comments section of this post using an automated generator, such as Random.org. Comment as many times as you like, however, each person will be entered into the contest only once. (Last time I ran a give-away, I allowed each comment to be worth one entry. This method dissolved into a very entertaining comment war between a few individuals.) This time, the more you comment doesn’t improve your chances of winning at all. But feel free to comment as many times as you like.

The comments must appear on this post, and not on the copy of this post that is posted on my FaceBook account. Comments on the FaceBook note are appreciated, but will not be considered as entries into the contest.

This contest is limited to US winners only. Sorry for any inconvenience to international readers.

The contest will end at midnight on Monday, September 4th. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, September 5th.

Comment away!

If you don’t win, or would simply prefer to purchase your own copy to begin with, you can get it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 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.”

One of the publishers that I review books for on this blog is Tyndale. I recently read and reviewed Randy Singer’ forthcoming book, Fatal Convictions for Tyndale, and posted my review. I really enjoyed the book. It is one of the better legal thrillers, in a style similar to someone like John Grisham, that I’ve read in a long time. You can read my review here. And you can enter to win a copy of Fatal Convictions here. Or, purchase your on copy at Amazon.com.

Part of the blog tour that Tyndale is sponsoring for Fatal Convictions is a Q & A with the author, Randy Singer. Here are the ten question posed to Randy, along with his answers, concerning Fatal Convictions, his life and his next project. Enjoy!

1. Randy, how did you first come up with the idea for this story?

My idea for the book came when I asked this question: What makes To Kill A Mockingbird the best legal thriller of all time? My answer: Because Atticus Finch performed the highest duty of a lawyer, representing a man he believed was innocent, a man nobody else would defend. Then I asked a related question: What would that look like today? My answer was Fatal Convictions. A Christian lawyer defending a Muslim imam accused of honor killings.

I am a huge John Grisham fan. Huge.

And so I have to admit, that when I was told that Randy Singer’s new book, Fatal Convictions, was Grisham-esque, I was skeptical to say the least. I mean, come on. Who can compare to the master in the legal thriller genre? Anyone?

But once I started Fatal Convictions, I couldn’t set it down (which presented a problem, since I started it just before I left to dean a week of junior high church camp). I grabbed every spare moment I could find and simply devoured this story.

The story is simple, at least until you get into it; there are so many plot twists and unexpected occurrences that keep you turning page after page.

Here’s the story. Alex Madison is a part time pastor, and a small-time attorney in Virginia Beach, with a very promising personal injury case involving the wife of an imam at the local mosque. When the wife of another high-profile Muslim leader is murdered, and his client is the one accused of the crime, Alex must make a choice. Will he take the case and defend the imam, who he believes is innocent? Or will he decline, and concentrate his energies on his small practice and small church?

Randy Singer

With the pressures of his church leadership, the media, and building tensions within his own office all weighing heavily on his heart, Alex must find a way to prove the innocence of his client. And the presence of the imam’s beautiful daughter doesn’t help the situation at all; she has her own ideas about how to handle the case.

Alex must decide how best to defend the imam, and prove his innocence, without endangering his own life or the lives of his closest friends and family. Can he do it? Or is he in over his head?

Fatal Convictions is a story that will grip your attention and not let go until you turn the final page. If you are a Grisham fan, then you will need to pick up Randy Singer’s book and check it out. If you love a suspenseful page-turner, then you need to check this one out.

Want to find out more about Fatal Convictions? Check out this Q & A with the author, Randy Singer!

Want to read it for yourself? Here’s a contest you can enter for a chance to win a copy of Fatal Convictions for yourself!

If you are interested in reading Fatal Attractions, by Randy Singer, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 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.”

It’s that time of year again. Every year, as I wrap up the summer and initiate plans and actions for the fall, I try to take a break and review my year spiritually. Every August, I try to limit my busy-ness in ministry and spend some time with family and friends, and spend some time alone to refresh and renew myself spiritually.

At this point each year, I try to set for myself several goals that I want to accomplish. I’ve learned that my goals are more likely to get finished if I break the year down into quarters. I started doing this last year, and my percentage of goals and tasks completed shot up drastically. It is simply easier to view my near future, over the next three months, and accomplish goals in shorter time frames, than it is to view the year as a whole. At least for me, in most cases.

One of the goals that I set for myself for the year is putting together a pretty extensive reading list. I will break this list down into smaller chunks throughout the year, to be read as part of my quarterly goals lists.

This year, part of my “down time” was with the family, as we took a few days and spent it at some friends’ home on Table Rock Lake. I prayed over this list extensively. Hopefully, I will be able to take a couple of days early in September to get away with a few of these books and my Bible, just to spend some time allowing God to completely refresh me.

And so, I’ve gathered this collection of books, most of them over the course of the last several months, placing them in a stack ready for this year’s reading. Of course, there are other books that will be added to this list as the year goes on; books that catch my eye at the bookstore, or that are recommended to me by a friend, or a new book out by a favorite author (Ted Dekker). And, as always, there were several books that didn’t make the list. Some of these are sitting in my office, waiting for next year, or the off-chance that I might get to them this year.

I just finished reading The Fruitful Life by Jerry Bridges. And I have to say that I am pretty impressed.

In The Fruitful Life, Bridges addresses the nine Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. To these, he adds the characteristics of humility and devotion.

In my opinion, this is an excellent resource that can help a person really start to dig into a practical understanding and application of these attributes. While each of these spiritual qualities aren’t dealt with in close detail; they are addressed in such a way that one can easily grasp and begin to apply some direction for each characteristic into daily life.

At the end of each chapter is a fairly well-written series of questions and Scripture passages for further study or memorization. These are great discussion starters or thought provoking ideas, but there isn’t quite enough there to really facilitate an extended discussion within a small group setting. That being said, it would be easy to deepen these to the level needed for a small group to easily use this book.

The only drawback is that the qualities of kindness and goodness were lumped together into one chapter. I realize their similarity; however, it would have been nice to hear a bit more of a distinction between the two.

All in all, I felt like The Fruitful Life was a great help to me in continuing to understand the Fruit of the Spirit. And we may just give this book a deeper look in my small group in the near future.

If you are interested in reading The Fruitful Life, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 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.”

I’ve always enjoyed history; particularly American history. One of my goals has always been to read more of the documents written by and referred to by our Founding Fathers.

I’ve had access to several resources over the years that allowed me the opportunity to peruse many of these early American documents. But those resources have been many and varied.

Not so, any longer. Thanks to Joel Miller and Kristen Parrish, an enormous selection of crucial founding documents has been compiled together in The Portable Patriot.

The Portable Patriot includes the obvious, such as The Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights and the Amendments. But it also includes selections from The Federalist Papers; many sources of personal correspondence from people like John and Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington; the Mayflower Compact and much more.

The editors have broken these early documents into sub-era categories: Beginnings, Pre-Revolution, Revolution, Founding, and Republic. This small volume is of inestimable value, reminding us of our roots, not only as a nation beginning on the shores of a new continent, but of our roots as a nation founded upon the principles of God himself, and based upon his Word.

My copy is already beginning to look dog-eared. The Portable Patriot is a convenient tool and resource for any American, whether you are a student of history or not. Grab one today!

If you are interested in reading The Portable Patriot, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 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.”

Today’s post is from Denise Willbanks. Denise is a recently graduated high school student in our teen ministry, The Journey, at Mountain View Christian Church. Denise has decided that her life needs to be dedicated to missions. She has a huge heart for Rapha House, a ministry that rescues girls from the sex-slave trade in Cambodia. Denise will travel to Cambodia in October with several other people from Rapha House to learn more about this ministry and how she can best fit into it.

This is her review of the book Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. This book has totally transformed her life. I’ll let her tell you all about it…

Crazy Love, by Francis Chan

Wow what can I say… Crazy Love has completely changed my life. I was not a disciple of God at all. I was fooling myself and everyone around me into thinking that I was a Christian. I thought I was a Christian and living how God wanted me to but in reality I was just looking and listening to what I wanted to hear and see. I have grown up in the church; my dad is an elder of my church and my mom teaches Junior Church, and pretty much my whole family goes to my church, or should I say our church.

I was baptized at a young age and I was living my life for God, or so I thought. I read my Bible every day, prayed and was always at church and I had an okay relationship with God. However, this book made me look at my life and come to terms with what it means to become a Christian. I was making God follow my life and I was leading him on my journey instead of the other way around. Crazy Love made me think about how I was living for me and how I was thinking about my life and all the troubles that I had. After reading this book I realized that it’s not about me or my troubles but about God and serving him. God loves us so much; we can’t even comprehend how much and all we give him is maybe an hour of our day. We live our lives without thinking about Him; all we do is go about our day with our to-do lists and appointments. I did not love God until I read Crazy Love. This book made me grasp that I was just doing what I had to do in order to get to heaven; I really didn’t love God.

Since I have finished this book I have actually listened to the Holy Spirit and to what God wants instead of what I want to do with my life. All my life I knew I was going to be a Kindergarten teacher when I grew up, but listening to God, and his plans for my life instead of mine, I am now going to go overseas to Cambodia and help with the sex slave trade. God has been telling me for some time now but I was not listening, just going about my life, ignoring him.

I encourage everyone to read Crazy Love but only if you are ready to change your life. Crazy Love will make you reevaluate your life and how much you give God. This book will take you on a journey that is amazing and bring you closer to God than you have ever been before. Francis Chan is an amazing writer and tells you how it is instead of beating around the bush.

I pray that after reading Crazy Love you have the courage to listen and do God’s will, whatever that may be, and give him everything instead of giving him only half of what he deserves.

If you are interested in reading Crazy Love, by Francis Chan, and seeing what impacted Denise so deeply, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 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.”