Ketchup On The Bethels

The Love and Respect Experience by Emmerson Eggerich

2012-02-08T12:02:00.003-05:00

"I am confident that if you spend devotional time together, the Lord will speak to you from His Word and draw near to you as you draw near to Him. Just always remember the chief (really, the only) ground rule: share what God is saying to your heart, not what you think He needs to say to your mate.". I think this statement, Dr. Eggerich makes in the introduction to this devotional Sets up the most important part of any devotion or study you decide to do as a couple. There are 52 devotions and it is suggested that you do one each week, read it on your own, pray and think about it, and then come together as a couple to share what God is teaching you. I really enjoy this format, especially since my husband often needs a little more time to ponder things than I do. It works great for us! The content is based on Eggerich's previous book Love and Respect. If you haven't read that before there is a short synopsis in the back of the devotional, but I highly recommend that book as well. Overall this is a solid devotional in a great format to allow God to speak into your marriage!

"I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <[...]> book review bloggers 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."

Why Men Hate Going To Church - David Murrow

2012-01-27T15:47:00.003-05:00

This is an excellent book. The title is intentionally provocative, but the book is more about asking hard questions than it is about about bashing the Church. Murrow's point is that we have a major problem in the church. The men are missing. Most men would never be caught dead in a typical church service and most of the ones who are there physically are not engaging in church and they certainly aren't leading. One of the major reasons is that churches often emphasize feminine strengths and gifts and minimize or even demonize masculine strengths. When Jesus' is taught he is softened to fit the mold acceptable to modern christianity. This has been my husband's experience and this is the issue that David Murrow addresses.

One slight criticism of the aurthors approach is that, like my previous statement, he makes sweeping generalizations that will cause some people to be defensive. While I agree that what David says is not true of all men in church or of all churches, but the exceptions prove the rule and the trend is moving that way.

My husband added that this is an important book for any church leader or mens ministry leader to read in order to evaluate their own ministry. For those of us who have been in church our whole lives it is often hard to step outside our presuppositions and ask if our ministry is actually helping men become better men.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <[...]> book review bloggers 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."

Rumors of God by Whitehead & Tyson

2012-01-27T14:08:00.002-05:00

"Rumors of God is a call to Christians seeking a vision of the life God is calling them to, one that transcends the shallowness of our culture." The beginning of the book's description is backed up well by a solid book. Rumors took me on a 10 chapter adventure casting a strong vision of the life God wants for all of us: an abundant life, a different dream, a life of generosity, love, grace, freedom, commitment, community, justice, and hope.

The overriding theme and the author's prayer in this book is that of Habakkuk 3:2: "Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy."

Rumors is a book about vision. It is a book through which you can catch glimpses of God's calling. This vision is what is lacking in the western church and what so much of the "persecuted church" clings to. And we wonder why God moves so powerfully in their midst?

This book will give you a vision of what God wants for you, one that can easily get tarnished and clouded by the ups, downs, and busyness of life. It's a well written, easy read, that just might ignite your faith again, and who couldn't use a little spark?

PS - I was worried that this would be a lot like the book Radical by David Platt and while the premise is the same it definitely holds it's own and adds to the discussion of what the church in America desperately needs. So if you've read that book and found it helpful, I encourage you to give this book a try too!

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <[...]> book review bloggers 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."

The Seraph Seal by Leonard Sweet and Lori Wagner

2011-07-01T10:30:00.002-04:00

The Seraph Seal is a fictional account of what the "end times" might look like. It reminds me of a Christian take on the Davinci code. There is the humble professor caught up with an unsuspecting small group of people in a good vs. evil battle for the end of the world. While the book had some very interesting guesses as to how some of the Biblical symbolism might play out in modern times, that is where a lot of the intrigue and interest ended for me. It started on a high note, drawing you into an intriguing set of circumstance but after a few more pages there are so many different characters from different parts of the world, representing different things, involved in the story it is difficult to keep them all straight. If you stick with it by the middle to final third of the book you have a grasp on who everyone is and the book does pick up to a pace close to that of a "page turner," but that is a long time for me to stick with a somewhat confusing book. If you like this genre of literature then it might be a good read for you, as I mentioned their ideas of what the apocalypse might look like are extremely interesting. But if that's not you're thing and you're just looking for some fast paced fiction another book might be better for you.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers 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

Captivated Again..(Captivating by Stasi Elderidge)

2011-04-28T08:51:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

I just finished rereading Captivating by Stasi Elderidge, and was again reminded of how great it is, and what a needed message it has for women. If you are a woman then I think you might need this book. Here's a snippet:

"Every woman I've ever met feels it --- something deeper than just the sense of failing at what she does. An underlying, gut feeling of failing at who she is. I am not enough and I am too much at the same time. Not pretty enough, not thin enough, not kind enough, not gracious enough, not disciplined enough. But too emotional, too needy, too sensitive, too strong, too opinionated, too messy. The result is Shame, the universal companion of women. It haunts us, nipping at our heels, feeing on our deepest fear that we will end up abandoned and alone..."

If any of this quote resonates with you then I think you'll get something out of Stasi's book. Her premise is that: every woman's heart longs for three things: to be romanced, an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and beauty to unveil. She spends the book unpacking these three things driving home the point that God loves us deeply, something I think we always need reminded of! I left this book with a sense of God's love for me and new insights into what womanhood is all about, even on the second time through!

Now There's No Excuse...

2011-04-05T19:23:00.005-04:00

What do most of the people I know blog about? Yes...that's right...their kiddos. When I started this blog I had one husband and one cat,named Ranger. Who I was forbidden to blog about by my husband. Something about we don't want to be those cat people. I dunno, apparently he has a phobia of that.

In short there was little to blog about. But now, the tables have turned, I have no excuse as to why I don't update my blog. We've had something very special come into our possession in the last six months. It's a Jackson!! Isn't he cute!

Then - October 1, 2011

Now - Almost Six Months

Six months I can't even believe it. It's true what they say about time speeding up once you have kids. I can still remember week 2, day six, at hour 22 thinking I just might die, what have we gotten ourselves into. And now we have a boy who sleeps like a champ and whose little smile can turn my whole day around. Ok, ok, one more picture rocking the tie!

Nelson's Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts, 3rd Edition

2010-04-07T20:19:00.001-04:00

Look out book review!!

This is an amazing Bible reference book. When I ordered it I thought that it was going to be more of just a book of maps, but was very impressed when I received it. It contains so much more than just maps. It has actual photos of historic Biblical sites, charts and outlines of many different things, like events in the life of Jesus, the Tabernacle in the Old Testament, etc. It even has summaries of all of the different books of the Bible.

You can also download full color pdf versions of many of the maps and charts. I give a lot of presentations and talks on the Bible and this book is now one of the ones that I use the most!

I would recommend this book to anyone, it's easy to use and comprehensive!

Quotes To Share & New Blessings To Announce

2010-03-17T15:47:00.001-04:00

I [Steph] read two interesting quotes recently that I’d like to share with you. The first is by Ruth Bell Graham. She says; “as a mother, my job is to take care of what is possible and trust God with the impossible.” The second is by a man named Kin Hubbard and goes something like this; "The worst feature of a new baby is its mother's singing." I’m happy to announce that both of these quotes now apply to my life, and that while at least in my case the second quote might be just as true as the first!

Yes, God has blessed Ryan and I with our first little bundle of joy! We are due the first week of October. It’s hard to believe that soon our family pictures will include one more! I can’t begin to tell you how excited we are to have this precious gift from God! Maybe you caught on to this high level of excitement by the excessive amount of exclamation points in these first two paragraphs!

As we begin to make room in our house and our lives for this precious new addition we are continually awed by God’s love and provision for us and for our new baby. Please join us in praying and thanking God for this great gift; and also please pray for Ryan and I and for the baby. That we would have faith and wisdom in parenting and that our little one would be healthy and would come to know Jesus early in life! Thank you for these and all of your prayers, we appreciate you so much!

My Goal For The New Year

2010-01-11T10:11:00.000-05:00

Alrighty, so Ryan and I came up with our little blog about this time last year. Well, we came up with the name for it this time last year and I had a new year's resolution to have a blog. As you can see I didn't get too far; not even one post.

So, this year I have set out again and made a 2010 resolution to be a blogger. Mostly after being inspired by the movie Julie and Julia. Incidentally, great flick you should snag a copy out of the red box. Anyway, I just spent about fifteen minutes finding my blog again (Ryan really liked the old name), another twenty minutes or so spiffing it up with a fun little template, another five to ten finding a good picture of us, an additional one or two getting our welcome message text right, and now here I am around 45 minutes later and remembering why this was so hard last year: I hate blogging!

What does one write about on these things? Most of my friends write about their kids (which is awesome!), but alas all we have is our cat Ranger. And Ryan made it very clear that I was not allowed to do two things: put Ranger on our Christmas Card or write about him on our blog. I think he has some sort of deep rooted fear that "the masses" out there that read our until now non-existent blog, might get the impression that we're over the top cat people. I dunno.

So now I'm back at square one...maybe I'll think of something later...or maybe something exciting will happen today and I can tell you all about it tomorrow! Here's hoping!

Oh, PS - I thought I should maybe set the bar low. So, my 2010 goal is at least one post a week. Keep your fingers crossed!