"Israel's Mission" Blog Tour

About the DVD:

What's your mission?

God gave the assignment to His people thousands of years ago: to bring "lost sheep" back into the love and safety of His kingdom. He said to become a "Kingdom of Priests," and put God on display to show the world what He is like.

It's still our task today.

In this thirteenth volume of the That the World May Know ® film series, you'll glimpse the urgency and rewards of welcoming the strangers and prodigals the Lord longs to embrace. Discover the mission that can give your life - and the lives of those around you - greater meaning than you ever imagined.

Join renowned teacher and historian Ray Vander Laan as he guides you through the lands of the Bible. In each lesson, Vander Laan illuminates the historical, geographical, and cultural context of the sacred Scriptures. Filmed on location in the Middle East and elsewhere, the That the World May Know ® film series will transform your understanding of God and challenge you to be a true follower of Jesus.

Designed for use with That the World May Know: Israel's Mission Discovery Guide.

Filmed on location at these biblically significant sites in Israel and Jordan:

-Back to the Father's House - Negev Desert

-Show Them the Way - Timnah

-Prodigal Sons and Daughters - Qatzrin

-Return from the Far Off Country - Jerash

-Welcome Home - Qatzrin

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1KsCFRr

About the author:

Ray Vander Laan is the founder of That the World May Know Ministries and creator of the Faith Lessons video series with Focus on the Family. An ordained minister, he holds the chair of biblical cultural studies as a religion instructor at Holland Christian Schools in Holland, Michigan. He and his wife, Esther, have four children and fifteen grandchildren.

Find Ray online: website

See what other reviewers are saying here: http://litfusegroup.com/author/RVanderLaan

My Take:

My husband regularly teaches a class at our church called "Overview of the Bible." In it he spends six weekly sessions going through every section of the Bible and talking about how God's plan of redemption is seen throughout and how we can apply the Bible to our everyday lives.

This DVD series reminded me a lot of that class. The emphases are a bit different - this series is more specific than my husband's class - but the way it looks at the "big picture" of God's plan is very similar.

I really didn't know what to expect when I started this series - I'm not a huge history/geography buff - but I was blown away by the use of the historically significant sights in this series. It was fascinating to see where these events in the Bible took place, and it was neat to kind of take a tour along with the people in the video.

The teacher - Ray Vander Laan - was a dynamic speaker who did an excellent job of relating the messages of the lessons to everyday life. He was very passionate about the topic, and it was very easy to listen to him.

There is a study guide/book that goes along with this DVD series. The discussion questions and notes in it that relate to the DVD lesson are very good. There are also additional pages that provide an in-depth personal study for each of the five lessons. While the personal study is very good, I think it might be difficult for some people to fit that part of the study into a busy schedule, especially if this was a weekly series. The personal study section for Lesson One is 30 pages, and the one for Lesson Three is about 33. I would love to have an hour or two every day to devote to studying the Bible! But that just isn't able to happen many days.

That being said, this series is meant to be an in-depth series. I did appreciate the thoroughness of the study guide and the videos. If I was doing this with a small group, I would probably stretch it out over 8-10 weeks and really dig into it.

I would also like to add a comment about the camera operation of the videos. At times the videos were very dizzying. This was especially true when Mr. Vander Laan would walk back and forth while he was teaching. Now I don't have a problem with teachers walking back and forth. My husband does it all the time! But when the camera would be zoomed in on him and would try to follow him back and forth rather than using a wider-angle shot, it became very, very dizzying. I realize that this is the new normal for movies and such these days. My eyes/brain/inner ear just can't always keep up!

Overall, I think this DVD series is excellent, and I am looking forward to maybe being able to experience others of this type in the future.




Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Zondervan Publishing and Focus on the Family through Litfuse Publicity. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

"Your New Money Mindset" Blog Tour

About the book:

Your New Money Mindset: Create a Healthy Relationship with Money (Tyndale, October 2015)

Have you ever thought: If I just had a little more money I would be happy? Research has shown this belief to be false.

Through personal experience, Biblical passages and timely research, coauthors Brad Hewitt, CEO of Thrivent Financial, and Dr. Jim Moline, consulting psychologist, reveal that financial happiness and security have little to do with how much money you have, and a lot to do with the role money plays in your life.

Your New Money Mindset isn't just another book about managing finances. It's a book about reshaping your relationship with money by examining your attitudes and beliefs around money.

Your New Money Mindset:

-Defies the consumerism that infects our culture and sickens our hearts.
-Shows us how to replace the tension and fear we feel about money with contentment and peace.
-Guides us to live open-heartedly with our time, energy and money.
-Provides an online New Money Mindset Assessment™, which will help you pinpoint what attitudes about money you could work on in order to develop an openhearted attitude to life.

Regardless of your financial situation, we invite you to journey with us to discover how to transform your relationship with money by remaking your heart.

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1IN4NP7

About the author: 

Brad Hewitt is president and CEO of Thrivent Financial, a not-for-profit Fortune 500 organization dedicated to helping Christians be wise with money and live generously. He speaks regularly on how a redefined relationship with money can help us find and live out our call in life. He and his wife live in Minnesota.

Connect with Brad: website, Twitter, Facebook

My Take:

When I first picked up this book, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Is this a devotional book? Is it a self-help thing? Is it an inspirational piece?

What I found was that, in a way, it was kind of all three of these things.

What I like about this book was that it was easy to read, and for the most part, it kept my attention. Since I read a large chunk of it in one sitting, I felt as if some things were repeated quite a bit. But this is true of any book that focus on one thing.

What was the one thing this book focused on? To me it seemed as if the big takeaway was that in order to "get control" over your money (which is what so many people are looking to do), you need to change your thinking about money. When you think differently about your money, you will feel differently about your money and ultimately act differently with your money. This overall idea was so very similar to what our church does every year during our Stewardship month.

I thought that this book got that point across very well. However, if you are looking for more of a step-by-step, practical budgeting, how-to book, this is not your answer. The book seems to take on the "pre" aspect of getting your financial ducks in a row by focusing on the big picture - the "why" of things - rather than the nitty-gritty.

Overall, I thought this was a good book to get your head in the game when it comes to financial thinking. I wouldn't recommend it as a practical how-to, but if you need some help getting your thoughts in line when it comes to money, it would be a help.


See what other reviewers are saying about this book here -

Landing page:

http://litfusegroup.com/author/bhewitt

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Tyndale Publishing through Litfuse Publicity. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

"Understanding World Religions" Review

Confused by the varying religious viewpoints in your workplace, neighborhood, even your family?

Understanding World Religions—contrasting 50 world faiths with Christianity—can help.

Christians believe Jesus’ claim to be “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6), though dozens of other religions propose varying pathways to God, heaven, or personal fulfillment. Describing these alternate viewpoints fairly and non-judgmentally, Understanding World Religions features major world faiths (Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism), Christian-based religions (Mormonism, Unification Church, Christian Science), traditional religions (African, Chinese, Native American), and various hard-to-categorize beliefs (Gnosticism, Hare Krishna, New Age Spirituality, Wicca). This fully-illustrated guide is a fascinating and useful tool to help you understand others’ beliefs.



Understanding World Religions: A Bible-Based Review of 50 Faiths
by Len Woods
Barbour Publishing
Publication date: December 1, 2013
264 pages


My Take:

My overall thought about this book is that it is very well organized and easy to read. I like how each section for each religion has a table with basic information about that religion including sacred texts and beliefs about God, Jesus, human nature, salvation, and the afterlife.

This book is not meant to go too in-depth into each religion but to give an overview of each of the most common faiths around the world. It is repetitive, since each section covers the same aspects of each religion, but it is also very handy to have as a quick reference when questions come up. Even though it is more of an overview of each religion, it does do a good job of completely describing each.

This book definitely comes from a Christian perspective, but I found myself wanting each section to go a bit deeper into things Christians could say/do when talking to people of each of these different faiths. I realize, though, that this is not the point of the book. It's not so much apologetics as it is just informational.

Understanding World Religions is a good book to keep on hand as a key to understand these 50 religions.





Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Barbour Publishing through NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

"Skip Rock Shallows" Review

About the Book: Lilly Gray Corbett has just graduated from medical school and decided to accept an internship in the coal camp of Skip Rock, Kentucky. Her beau, Paul, is doing his residency in Boston and can’t understand why Lilly would choose to work in a backwater town. But having grown up in the mountains, Lilly is drawn to the stubborn, superstitious people she encounters in Skip Rock—a town where people live hard and die harder and where women know their place. Lilly soon learns she has a lot to overcome, but after saving the life of a young miner, she begins to earn the residents’ trust.

As Lilly becomes torn between joining Paul in Boston and her love for the people of Skip Rock, she crosses paths with a handsome miner—one who seems oddly familiar. Her attraction for him grows, even as she wrestles with her feelings and wonders what he’s hiding.

About the Author: Jan Watson won the 2004 Christian Writers Guild Operation First Novel contest for her first novel, Troublesome Creek. Her other awards include being named the best Kentucky author in 2012 by Kentucky Living magazine, a nomination for the Kentucky Literary Award in 2006 and second place in the 2006 Inspirational Readers Choice Contest sponsored by the Faith, Hope, and Love Chapter of the Romance Writers of America. Jan has published six novels. As a registered nurse for 25 years at Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, she incorporates her nursing experience in the hospital's mother/baby unit into her novels. Jan resides in Kentucky.

My Take:

When I first read the summary of this novel, it struck a chord with because it seemed to be similar to the famous Christy novel by Catherine Marshall. While Christy is the story of a young female teacher journeying to the mountains of Tennessee to educate the people there, Skip Rock Shallows is about a young female doctor going to a Kentucky coal mining town. Both of these women face opposition from the townsfolk – an outsider coming to their town to supposedly help them, and a female at that.

The issues and troubles that Lilly encounters in Skip Rock Shallows keep the story moving for the most part, even though it didn’t become really gripping until closer to the end. The secondary characters help in this aspect, as they were engaging and were able to keep things interesting. That was what was most fun for me in this novel – the adventures and people that Lilly encountered during her ‘doctoring.’ I always enjoy a fish-out-of-water tale.

However, the relationship and romance between Lilly and Joe felt kind of forced to me in this novel. I felt as if the reader was sometimes left out of the loop in that relationship. So, while the medical and community aspect of this book was interesting, one of the main plot points – the romance – sort of fell flat. I also thought that the writing was disjointed at times. There were times when I felt as if I had missed something, especially when large periods of time were skipped.

I did appreciate the author’s use of scripture in this novel. That is something I really liked to see in Christian historical fiction.

Overall, this novel was an easy read that was a bit slow-moving but did have an interesting plot and conclusion.

I will give Skip Rock Shallows … 3 BookWorms.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."