Congratulations to Jenny Dunivan who is the winner of our contest to give away a copy of Andy Andrew’s The Heart Mender: A Story Of Second Chances.

This was the first contest giveaway for The Randleman Review, and it seemed to go well, so I’m thinking of doing more of this in the future, with a few adjustments to the rules. In fact, I have already been given a few other books for this purpose. Any thoughts about this?

Note: The winner was determined by using Random.org’s generator. I entered the total number of legitimate comments and it gave me a random number to determine the winner.

John Day has created an easy to read, yet profound, examination of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. It’s called Truth Standing on Its Head: Insight for an Extraordinary Christian Walk from the Sermon on the Mount.

Breaking these chapters down into more manageable segments for closer scrutiny, Day has written twenty-two separate studies of Jesus’ largest public discourse.

Each of the twenty-two chapters is fairly brief and to the point. And yet each chapter contains some significant thoughts and ideas pertaining to the passage at hand.

Keeping his comments concise, Day has still managed to communicate the depths of the Sermon on the Mount effectively. While at times his writing style isn’t as engaging or captivating as other chapters within the same book, Truth Standing On Its Head is difficult to put down.

The Sermon on the Mount has seeming been viewed as Christianity simplified. Day draws out the deep meanings of Jesus’ teachings and creates something fresh and new from a topic that is covered frequently in the realm of Christian publishing.

Truth Standing On Its Head is a helpful resource to have on the shelf when studying the Sermon on the Mount. This book easily deserves four stars.

If you are interested in reading Truth Standing On Its Head, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Nordskog Publishing in order to read and review on my blog. 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 recently reviewed Andy Andrew’s new book The Heart Mender: A Story of Second Chances.

I really loved the story. In fact, I’ve enjoyed every book by Andy Andrews that I’ve ever read. I encourage you to read my original review for my overall impressions, but I assure you: it is highly positive.

I received an extra review copy for free from BookSneeze.com, and so I thought it might be fun to give it away through my blog.

And so, over the next week, The Randleman Review will conduct a contest to determine a recipient for The Heart Mender.

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. Therefore, the more you comment, the better your chances of winning the book.

The comments must appear on this post at The Randleman Review, 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.

The contest will end at midnight on Thursday, May 27th. The winner will be announced on Friday, May 28th.

Comment away!

If you are interested in reading The Heart Mender, by Andy Andrews, 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.”

I’ve enjoyed every book by Andy Andrews that I’ve had the opportunity to read. And The Heart Mender is no different.

Andrews has a unique manner of storytelling, unlike any other author I’ve found. Couple that with his impeccable research and historical accuracy, and you have a compelling tale that is impossible to put down.

The Heart Mender is based on actual lives and set in a turbulent time in America’s history: the German U-boat blockade of the Gulf of Mexico during World War II. The story started when Andrews found several historical artifacts buried in his own backyard. In the process of learning more about these articles, he uncovered an unbelievable story of love, forgiveness and second chances.

The Heart Mender is a captivating story that kept me from putting the book down; and it saddened me when the story was finished. I wanted the tale to continue.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Heart Mender, and wholeheartedly recommend it as an excellent allegory explaining the reality of forgiveness and how it can heal even the hardest hearts.

I highly recommend that you read The Heart Mender, by Andy Andrews. 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.”

One of the books on my 2009-2010 reading list is Celebration Of Discipline by Richard Foster. I read this book my freshman year at Ozark Christian College, for my Christian Life class. And it has rested on my shelf since then, used somewhat frequently as a resource, or to read an excerpt or chapter as needed. But I haven’t sat down and read the entire thing from front to back since college.

This year, I decided to re-read it in its entirety. And I am blessed because I did.

Foster set out to write a much needed examination of several spiritual disciplines that can deepen the spiritual life. These are by no means the only disciplines that can help one grow as a Christian; but they are many of the most ancient, and most recommended by the church fathers throughout Christian history. The practice of these (and other) disciplines is what Foster calls “the door to liberation.”

Foster breaks a list of twelve disciplines into three major categories: the inward disciplines, the outward disciplines, and the corporate disciplines.

The Inward Disciplines are a set of four spiritual disciplines that each individual needs to incorporate into his personal, daily life. These are the things that will help one grow personally in a relationship with the Savior. These include meditation, prayer, fasting and study.

A Long Obedience In The Same Direction was an intriguing read. Subtitled Discipleship In An Instant Society, it caught my attention as an opportunity to increase my understanding of the concept of lifelong discipleship. And I wasn’t disappointed.

As Peterson’s first book, A Long Obedience In The Same Direction causes you to ask why so many publishers turned it down before IVP picked it up (It was turned down seventeen times before being published). There is a lot of great material here. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that wants everything now. And a discipleship that takes the course of a lifetime is extremely unappealing to most people.

Peterson uses the Psalms of Ascent, Psalms 120-134, as his outline. Each of these Psalms reveal a characteristic of Christian discipleship, if we are patient enough to pay attention.

He explains that the Psalms of Ascent were very likely sung, possibly in sequence, by Hebrew pilgrims as they journeyed to Jerusalem for Israel’s great worship festivals. And that same journey can be used to describe, metaphorically, our journey up towards God as well.

Peterson examines fifteen different character traits of discipleship in A Long Obedience In The Same Direction: repentance, providence, worship, service, help, security, joy, work, happiness, perseverance, hope, humility, obedience, community and blessing.

I did NOT like this book. And I suspected that I was going to strongly dislike it quite early in my reading. The Selfless Gene is poorly researched and incredibly inflammatory towards people who take God’s Word literally. Foster’s attempt at marrying science and the Word is poor scholarship at best, literary treason at its worst.

Foster starts off his book with several provocative statements, directed at both creationists and Darwinists. It seems as if his goal is to alienate both sides of the issue as quickly as possible, and to satisfy neither side.

In hopes that this trend would change, I continued to read, looking for solid research and intriguing dialogue in the next few chapters. Sadly, I never found it. Foster slaps first one viewpoint and then the other, looking for a compromise that just doesn’t exist. He can’t have his cake and eat it too. Either God created, or random evolutionary mutations account for all that we see. There is no combining the two.

It saddens me greatly that we keep attempting to marry the idea of science “that we know to be true” to the Word of the One who is the Truth. And Foster’s attempt to wed the two fails just a greatly as every previous attempt.

To be perfectly frank, I almost felt dirty after reading The Selfless Gene, it disgusted me that much.

In my opinion, do not waste your time reading this. It’s not worth the time to wade though all the deception to find… nothing.

This is a worthless book, and I can’t recommend it to anyone whatsoever.

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. 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.”