Tag Archives: Review

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Devotions For Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas

A Book Review for The Randleman Review

Devotions For Sacred Parenting by Gary ThomasAs a parent of a large family, I see the need for spiritual guidance in the life off my family as a key element. Because of this, I am always looking for resources that can help my wife and I lead and train our children to be the best that they can be, and all that God desires them to be.

Over the years, we have gathered quite a collection of great parenting resources, from inspirational books, to DVD based curriculum. But we haven’t really found a devotional that focuses on parenting that really impacted us where we felt like we needed it.

That changed when we found Devotions For Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas. This book is a phenomenal resource that we have found to be very useful. I have been through the book more than once over the past couple of months, and my wife is excited by what I have shared with her. She is looking forward to utilizing it in the coming days and weeks.

Most devotional books seem to be brief and shallow. But Gary Thomas has created a book full of devotions that are more than a brief snippet of inspirational thought. They have meat to them, and leave you with a few questions to consider afterward. The book is not a daily devotional, but a weekly one, with only 52 devotions included. But that doesn’t present a problem, since we have found that it takes more than a few days to fully digest the topic that Thomas sparks in our thoughts and prayers.

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Formula Of Deception by Carrie Stuart Parks

A Book Review for The Randleman Review

Formula of DeceptionMost of the time, I read books that create an opportunity for growth and give me things to think about. But occasionally, I feel the need to throw a fictional novel or two into the mix and simply enjoy a good story. That is what I have done for the past couple of weeks, and especially so with this book, Formula Of Deception, by Carrie Stuart Parks. I have only read a couple of her books, this one and When Death Draws Near, which I reviewed in the fall of 2016. And so far, I have enjoyed them both.

Formula Of Deception is a story set in Alaska in modern times, but with a family secret that has been lurking under the surface since World War II. Murphy Anderson is trying to survive life after the death of her twin sister, and is having trouble getting her feet underneath her. When she falls into the opportunity to use her artistic skills as a forensic artist, she stumbles upon a secret that has been buried for more than half a century.

As she discovers more and more, she falls deeper into the grip of a family determined to keep the truth hidden, and begins to question her own sanity in the process. With several plot twists and turns that will catch you off guard, the story that Murphy Anderson unravels will keep you riveted to the point that you won’t be able to put this book down.

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What Blooms From Dust by James Markert

A Book Review for The Randleman Review

What Blooms From DustRecently, I have enjoyed reading several books by a new author to me, James Markert. This week, I was able to read another of his novels, What Blooms From Dust. I really enjoyed the previous two novels from Markert, All Things Bright And Strange and The Angels’ Share. But this one was a bit different.

In the end, this one may be my favorite of them all; it just took a while to get to that point. I even considered giving up on trying to finish it, but am really glad I stuck it out.

What Blooms From Dust is a story set in the Dust Bowl era of western Oklahoma in the mid-1930s. It begins when a man named Jeremiah Goodbye escapes from prison after nearly dying in the electric chair. With the flip of a coin, he returns to his hometown in the panhandle of Oklahoma, where there are a lot of secrets, mysteries, and tensions, especially among his own family, and even the whole town.

What happens while he is there is nothing short of miraculous. And the town needs a miracle, especially after years of relentless dust storms and drought. Jeremiah learns something about his family, and the town learns something about Jeremiah, and they all learn something about love and kindness.

For the first half of What Blooms From Dust, the story plodded along at a miserable pace, and I found it extremely boring, almost to the point of giving up. But as tensions began to rise, the plot began to pick up, and by the end of the book, I was thoroughly intrigued. Again, it might just be my favorite of all his works that I have read.

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Send Down The Rain by Charles Martin

A Book Review for The Randleman Review

Send Down The RainI am always on the lookout for a good story to read. Though most of my reading lies in the area of nonfiction topics of interest, a good fictional story is always welcome. And that’s what I found in Charles Martin’s book Send Down The Rain – I found a good story.

I was surprised almost immediately at the storyline. Without giving too much away, the main characters are all in the later stages of life, not old by any means, but no longer young. The story begins when they were young kids, and there are some flashbacks that help to explain the beginnings of the story, but the majority of the book rests in the present day, with characters in the mid- to late-sixties.

I don’t know why, but that surprised me. Thinking about it, I’m sure I have read other novels with similarly aged characters, but I can’t really point to one specifically. After my initial surprise, I dug deeper into the story and was fully immersed before the first few pages were turned. Those kids, the ones who were young when the story started, are now adults, lives lived all over the place, with joys and tragedies, wars and careers, and the scars of life to show for it.

And then life brings them all back together and seems to give them a second chance… Or does it?

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Book Review – Miracle In Shreveport by David & Jason Benham

Miracle In ShreveportI am not too much of a sports kind of guy, but if I were, that sport would be baseball. I am intrigued by baseball, and find it more pleasant to watch than almost any other sport out there, except for perhaps curling. So when I was given the opportunity to read and review Miracle In Shreveport, written by David and Jason Benham, I couldn’t pass up the chance.

I was not disappointed. The Benham brothers weave a spellbinding tale of God’s involvement in their baseball careers, through Little League and high school level sports, into the college scene, and finally to the professional level of playing baseball. And always, in the back of their minds, was the prayer that they one day might play together, on the same team, at the stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Through many twists and turns, this story unfolds, and it’s an incredible tale to read, as these two brothers chased what they felt was a God-given dream, leading them all the way to their ultimate desire: Shreveport.

The story was entertaining and captivating, but the writing style could have used some more attention. Since both brothers were writing this together, and both were writing in the first person, sometimes it was extremely confusing as to which one was telling the story. Too many times, I had to flip pages back and forth to figure out who was writing at any given moment. A little more attention to detail in this area would have made this a much easier book to read.

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Book Review – All Things Bright And Strange by James Markert

All Things Bright And StrangeThis is not the first book by James Markert that I have read and enjoyed. Not too long ago, I read and reviewed another book by Markert, The Angel’s Share, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I entered into this novel expecting no less, and I was not disappointed.

All Things Bright And Strange is once again set in the early 20th century, immediately after World War I, and in the rugged hills of Appalachia, near Charleston, South Carolina. The town is Bellhaven, and there is something strange going on in the woods. The leader of the community is a man by the name of Ellsworth, who after his experience in Germany during the war, doesn’t really want to lead anyone anymore.

And yet events begin to unfold that draw him into a struggle between good and evil, between life and death, for both him and those he loves, and the community as a whole. As he discovers the history of the chapel in the woods, the meaning of all the birds in the area, especially the cardinals, and the strange draw the town has on people, he must make a difficult choice to lead the townspeople in a direction they may not want to go.

I really enjoyed the supernatural element of All Things Bright And Strange. Markert has a knack for weaving an amazing tale of reality, filled with elements of the supernatural, in a way that leaves you hungry for more. I could hardly put the book down, and will probably seek out more of his work in the future.

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Book Review – Becoming A Welcoming Church by Thom Rainer

Becoming A Welcoming ChurchI have long been a fan of Thom Rainer and his books on church leadership and church growth. But one of his most recent works may just be his best yet. Although it is small, and you can sit down and read it in a couple of hours or an evening, Rainer’s book, Becoming A Welcoming Church, is one of the most vital works on how to attract people to our churches, and how to retain them. To use a phrase he repeats often within these pages, it’s a gospel issue.

Let’s face it. Church culture in western culture is largely running from 35-50 years behind the times. In other words, what worked in the 60s, 70s, or even in the 80s or 90s, doesn’t work anymore in 2018. And if we are going to present a life-saving message to a word that needs to hear it, our methods need to change to something the culture can hear and respond to. That means, among other things, that we need to make sure that when we have a guest in our churches, we make them feel loved and welcome, and give them a reason to come back. Because the more they return, the more they have the opportunity to hear the message of the gospel. It’s that important.

Rainer’s book covers every aspect of what a first time guest might experience. From the church website to the welcome center and greeters, he covers it all. To read this through in one sitting is easy. But to really absorb what he is saying, you might need to read it again and again, and pass it on to other leaders in your church.