To be honest, I was a little skeptical when a good friend recommended that I read Sacred Pathways, by Gary Thomas. I agreed to give it a look, purchased the book and left it on the shelf for the next couple of years until I could “get around to reading it.”

I’ve always been told, never judge a book by its cover, or in this case, by its title; but that’s exactly what I did. Sacred Pathways… It sounded meditative, mystical, and slightly New Age-ish.

However, when I finally “got around to reading it,” I was pleasantly surprised. I’d never read anything by Gary Thomas before, and found him engaging and easy to follow. Sacred Pathways captured and held my interest right from the start.

In Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas identifies and examines nine different spiritual paths. What exactly does this mean? Each of us have different approaches as to how we relate easiest with God. Each of us grow spiritually in different ways. Gary Thomas leads us through nine major categories, showing us the strengths and weakness of each one. And after each of them, he offers a few questions, to help identify if that particular pathway is one of the reader’s stronger characteristics.

I found this rating system especially helpful, and quite surprising. I thought I knew how I best deepened my spiritual relationship with God, but found out that I may have strengths in areas that have remained unrealized in my life. More on that and how I grow later.

Here are the nine pathways, with a quick synopsis of each one:

Ted Dekker is without a doubt my favorite fiction author. And his newest novel, The Bride Collector, is another literary smash hit.

I never cease to be amazed at Dekker’s ability to produce a story that captures my imagination even more than his last written offering.

In The Bride Collector, FBI Special Agent Brad Raines is on the trail of a serial killer, and he continually finds himself a step or two behind his man.

In the process of trying to understand the mind of a psychopathic killer, Raines turns to the Center for Wellness and Intelligence, where he is captivated by one of the residents of this extraordinary mental health care facility.

Paradise is a young woman who struggles with mental illness and severe phobias, but she turns out to be invaluable help to Agent Raines in his search for the killer. And as he gets to know Paradise better, he is drawn deeper into her world, beginning to see things from her perspective more clearly.

And Paradise will discover what it means to love and be loved, to find beauty in all of God’s creations, and trust where she least expects it.

To go any further with this synopsis would be to give up too much of the plot. Rest assured that Dekker is at his best in The Bride Collector. This is definitely a book that you will not be able to set aside until you finish it. It will open your eyes to the reality of the battle between good and evil, as much of Dekker’s work does. But it will also help you to see those with mental illness in a new and more compassionate light.

The Bride Collector is definitely a five star novel.

If you are interested in reading The Bride Collector, by Ted Dekker, 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.”

NavPress has done it again. They’ve published a great book dealing with intimacy within a marriage. It’s called Intimacy Ignited: Conversations Couple To Couple, and it is an extraordinary resource for newly married couples, as well as couples that have been married for a while.

Intimacy Ignited is a journey through the Song of Solomon, allowing this book of Scripture to teach us about marriage. And it offers plenty of wise, biblical advice and practical suggestions to become a “Servant Lover.”

Written by two couples, Joseph and Linda Dillow, and Peter and Lorraine Pintus, this book is a conversation between the authors and the couple who read it. And they do a great job of communicating truths from Scripture to their readers.

Each of the sixteen chapters covers a specific section of the Song. Within each chapter, the first few pages are very similar to a Bible commentary, explaining the passage and what it communicates. After that, the authors dig into the practical applications of the passage, first to the couple, then to wives and husbands specifically.

It has opened my eyes to the Song of Solomon like never before. The thought that Solomon put into this as he wrote is extraordinary, definitely God-inspired.

In fact, the authors put it this way:

Solomon, write a real-life drama that captures the passion, adventure, and mystery of marriage, but do not ignore the problems of daily life. Be frank and precise when speaking of sexual intimacy, but write in such a way that if a child reads the words, his or her innocence remains intact. Regarding sexual activity, be specific enough to be helpful, but sensitive enough not to offend. Be spiritual, yet practical; wholesome, yet sensuous. And do it all in one hundred twenty verses or less.

I’m pretty sure Solomon achieved these goals. And Intimacy Ignited does a great job of exploring and explaining the poetic imagery of this ancient Song to readers in the twenty-first century.

This is an exceptional book, and can be a tremendous resource for any married couple.

If you are interested in reading Intimacy Ignited, 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.”

“America is a Christian nation…”

Thus declared the United States Supreme Court in Church of the Holy Trinity vs. the United States.

Jerry Newcombe has clearly and concisely laid out significant evidence that the founding fathers were predominantly Christian in their worldview. In The Book That Made America: How The Bible Formed Our Nation, Newcombe presents a case for Christianity as the foundation for this great Republic.

America’s founding fathers were men of faith. Specifically, they were men of the Christian faith; and not deists, or secularists, as revisionist historians would have us believe. And yet, most Americans do not know the rich spiritual heritage of our nation, to their great loss.

Since leaving our Christian heritage, America has fallen into a deplorable state of godlessness; and this can be traced directly to the decisions by our leaders in the past century to leave God out of our lives. In order for America to continue to be a great nation, and a great tool to be used by God in reaching the rest of the world, we need to return to those spiritual roots, to the foundations of our nation, built upon God’s sacred Word, and restore the spiritual legacy our forefathers intended for generations to come.

Fluff.

That’s what I think after reading Charles Stanley’s new book How To Reach Your Full Potential For God.

I really didn’t like the book. Oh, sure. There were some valid points made. In fact, Stanley lays out seven essentials necessary in order to reach your full potential: a clean heart; a clear mind; using your gifts; a healthy body; right relationships; a balanced schedule; and taking God-approved risks.

I agree that each of these seven areas are necessary for growth. However, Stanley’s writing style made me feel a little like I was an elementary student sitting in the principal’s office. I don’t feel like it helped me to grow much at all. That’s disappointing to me.

I did my best to milk what I could out of it. And I will readily admit that Stanley makes some valid points. But maybe it’s his writing style; I felt like he was “talking down” at the reader.

If you are a new believer, then How To Reach Your Full Potential For God may be more helpful for you. Otherwise, I don’t recommend that you read it.

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.”

This is the second part of my review/assimilation of Tamara Lowe’s Get Motivated!

You can read Part 1 of my review here.

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, one of the benefits of blogging book reviews for me is that I can process what I’ve read by writing my own thoughts about it. This helps me own the material much more effectively than otherwise.

So, as much as I’m excited when I see higher traffic to my blog, I would still do this even if no one ever read it, simply because of the help it give me to articulate my thoughts on paper (ok, a screen).

In this second part of my review of Get Motivated! I will try to describe a concise description of each of the six Motivational DNA characteristics. After that, I will reveal what my Motivational DNA looks like, as well as that of my wife, Heather.

So, here goes…

First off, let me just state that this isn’t really a book review. Spiritual Warfare And Missions isn’t even published yet, and has an estimated release date of May 2010.

I was able to read and review a pre-release copy of Spiritual Warfare And Missions, watching for content and clarity.

Suffice it to say that this is an incredible book about missions that has opened my eyes to new thoughts and ideas concerning the strategies of our enemy, as he strives to keep us from sharing the Gospel with the Nations.

Without going into detail here, since the book hasn’t even been published yet, I would recommend that anyone grab this and read it as soon as it comes out. You will not be disappointed!

After the official release of Spiritual Warfare And Missions, I plan to post a review detailing my thoughts and ideas. Stay tuned…