"Tribulation Force" by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Book 2 of Left Behind Series)

In Tribulation Force, the book 2 of the Left Behind Series, Buck and Rayford both accept unusual jobs they never suspected they would have.  Two witnesses preach at the wailing wall in Jerusalem and the romance between Chloe and Buck progresses.  Carpathia gets more powerful and the tribulation begins.  This book was interesting and moved along a little faster than book 1.  I liked it all right but will take a break from this series which is pretty heavy to read a fantasy series.  I do plan to continue in this series later.  (Karen's review, 4 stars)

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"LEFT BEHIND by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Series #1)

LEFT BEHIND by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins is the first book in a series about end times based on scripture.  When people mysteriously disappear, Buck, a journalist is assigned to write about the different theories people have.  Rayford, a pilot, thinks maybe his wife was right all along about needing a personal relationship with God and that this is the rapture she was talking about a lot lately.  Her and their son have both disappeared leaving him and Chloe, their daughter.  He contacts their church, hoping someone is there and meets with a pastor who was also left behind because he hadn't been a true follower of Jesus.  

I liked the parts in this book about Rayford and his family, but the journalist parts I got a little bored with, although they all do tie together.  I heard a lot about this series but never read it so when I saw the whole series at the Parma Heights senior center, I decided I would read it.  I liked this book all right.  It's certainly thought provoking.  (Karen's review, 4 stars)

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"walk it out" by Tricia Goyer is Inspirational Non-Fiction

walk it out--The Radical Result of Living God's Word One Step At A Time by Tricia Goyer is  her story about how God's Word made a difference in her life.  It is inspirational and covers many different topics that the Bible covers.  It challenges the reader to live out their faith by completely surrendering to God and actually obeying his word.  It is full of true examples of how the author lives out her faith and what true Christianity looks like.  At the end of every chapter are a few questions for reflection.

I liked how Tricia shares her life with the reader and is truly a servant of God.  She is pretty amazing and has a very interesting story to tell.  I also liked how she worked in scripture.  I was just a bit disappointed that it didn't have more about her family.  The Cleveland City Mission is having a "Stand In" event on Public Square, Saturday, June 29 to help raise awareness of almost 3,000 children in Cleveland and to learn what can be done to help.  At first, I wasn't going to go, but after reading this book, decided to participate.  Homelessness is an issue close to my heart so here is an opportunity to become involved in a solution.  You can pre-register for Stand in at www.thecitymission.org/stand-in.
(Karen's review4 stars)

Teaser from page 45:  When the topic of abortion came up in church or Bible study, I sank deep into my seat, especially when people spoke doggedly against it.  My stomach knotted up, and I was certain everyone within twenty feet of me heard the frantic pounding of my heart.

Visit Tricia Goyer's blog.

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"A Joyful Break" by Diane Craver Reveals Lots About the Amish Lifestyle

A Joyful Break (Dreams of Plain Daughters) Book 1 by Diane Craver is about an Amish woman, Rachel, who visits her Aunt in D.C. who was formerly Amish to try to think through whether or not she is ready to be baptized and commit to being Amish and marry her boyfriend who wants to get married in the fall. She was looking forward to going to the beach and seeing the ocean to relax and think. When Rachel’s mom died in her 40s due to a heart attack, Rachel blamed her dad for not having a phone to get her to the hospital in time. The big “excitement” in this book is whether Rachel will choose to be Amish and marry Samuel as planned, or fall in love with an Englishman during her visit with her aunt

For me, the best part of this book was the cover. If you like details about what they are eating, about the reason behind some of the Amish rules they follow and some words the Amish use with their meanings, then this book is for you. It is very heavy on Amish customs and comparing their way of life to non-Amish folk. It also has quite a bit of scripture thrown in. For me, it was just okay. I felt it was slow moving, nothing captivating about it and no action at all. This is the first book of a series that I do not intend to continue. I’d recommend this as a good beach read.
(Karen's review, 2 stars)


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"Nearing Home--Life, Faith, and Finishing Well" by Billy Graham

Nearing Home--Life, Faith and Finishing Well by Billy Graham is practical as well as inspirational.  This is a non-fiction book about aging that is inspirational and made me feel a bit better about approaching retirement age.  It is encouraging and uplifting.  It's a quick read that I finished in just one day.  One of my favorite quotes from this book is "About the only thing that comes to us without effort is old age."  I recommend this one!
(Karen's review, 5 stars) 

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"Tune My Heart to Sing--90 Devotions on Hymns from "Our Daily Bread"

Tune My Heart to Sing is a collection of 90 devotions on Hymns from Our Daily Bread that is very interesting if you are familiar with hymns. I really enjoyed reading about the background of different ones and as I’d read, the tunes would run through my mind. As you can see from the picture, I marked a lot of pages that had things that stood out to me. I think the scripture index at the back of the book is a helpful addition. I highly recommend this devotional book because they are short, only one page long, but all contain scripture passages related to the hymns.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

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Jesus, an Obedient Son by Michael Phillips

Jesus, an Obedient Son by Michael Phillips focuses on realizing and appreciating the humanity of Jesus and surrendering our will to God’s as Jesus surrendered his will to the Father. Michael Phillips rapidly gives the reader an overview of the life of Christ through the unique perspective of putting himself into the gospels and viewing the events as another disciple. Then he continues in a more preachy mode to emphasize the need to deny oneself and follow God’s will every day. He lists specific things Jesus told his disciples to do and also talks how Jesus came to be an example of how we should live our lives. It emphasized that we are to be obedient children of God by submitting our will to His, asking what He wants us to do and then doing it.

The first part of the book was written in an interesting way. This is a quick read that is very thought provoking and challenges the reader to search his own heart in regards to following Jesus. (Karen's review, 3 stars)

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"The Battle of our Age-Fighting for the Hearts and Minds of the Next Generation" by Bob Hoskins

The Battle of our Age-Fighting for the Hearts and Minds of the Next Generation by Bob Hoskins is a short booklet about a charity organization called OneHope that seeks to reach every child in the world with the Word of God. Bob Hoskins is the founder of OneHope and his passion is to see children’s lives transformed by God’s word. This booklet contains short stories of various children who have believed in Jesus through this ministry and have had their lives changed. Some were in poverty, in prison, had alcoholic parents, were in abusive situations but turned to Jesus when they read the Book of Hope about Jesus or saw other materials produced by OneHope.

I was very encouraged when I read this booklet and was pleased to learn about OneHope, an organization I wasn’t aware of. I enjoyed reading the stories and found the statistics mentioned staggering! I got this in the mail but you can learn more from their website at www.OneHope.net.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)

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The Daily Bible In Chronological Order-365 Daily Readings NIV

The Daily Bible organizes scripture in chronological order with month and days at the top of the pages that you can follow if you want to read the Bible through in a year.  It also includes interesting facts about passages such as the only woman in the Bible whose age is mentioned was Sarah, the wife of Abraham.  It's like having a commentary handy with the passage you are reading.  I like that it has subheadings for that serve as an outline of the chapters.  It is written in paragraph form with the references listed at the side which is very helpful for teaching.

We both recommend reading the Bible.  This is helpful to get things put in order for you.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

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"Mother Teresa: A Life Inspired by Wyatt North is Informative, Brief, Inspiring!

Image source:  Amazon

Before reading this Mother Teresa:  A Life Inspired by Wyatt North, I only had a general idea of the good this lady did.  The book made the point that she saw all human beings as her neighbor and sought to Love everybody as herself as Jesus commanded us to do regardless of race, religion and boundaries.  I learned a lot about her in the couple hours it took me to read this book.  To me, it felt as though I was reading a report on her life.  It met my expectations and inspired me to go and help as many people as I can.  This book showed me she truly was a great person by serving others as Jesus said we should do.   (I read this one on Kindle, sorry no cat pictured with it.)
(Karen's review, 4 stars)

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"Children of The Day" by Beth Moore is an Interesting Bible Study

I enjoyed Beth Moore's Children of the DAY Bible study on I and II Thessalonians very much.  I learned some new things and love how she applies the scripture to modern times.  I also like how she brings in scripture from other books related to the same topic.  This study seemed a bit less time consuming than some of her other ones because there are fewer fill-ins and questions to answer.  Much is just reading her commentary about the book.  I loved it!

I highly recommend that you also get the DVD that goes along with the study.  I did this with a group at church and the DVD enhances the experience--she's pretty funny at times.   
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

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