Brotherhood of Betrayal

"Brotherhood of Betrayal" by Randall Arthur

This was a very good book. I love the honesty in it. The book is about a missionary family serving in Sweden. The husband, who is the pastor, mysteriously disappears. The wife doesn't know who she can turn to and can't find any answers for her husbands disappearance. Her family and her faith get turned upside down. This book holds such truth. "Life for a Christian, no matter how out of control it might appear, is never truly out of control at all. God in His sovereignty is always holding the Christian's circumstances together in His loving and almighty grasp." Did you need to hear that? I certainly did. Sometimes I feel like life is so out of control and it isn't, God knows what is happening and He loves me. "May God somehow miraculously embrace you till you once again feel secure." I love that sentence. Sometimes we need His miraculous embrace to feel right again and I so need it. "Humans tend to pardon or condemn, based strictly on their view of a person's actions. Christians especially, because of our moral expectations, look so closely at a person's conduct that we often forget there's a life going on inside that person's heart." I do this so often and have to remind myself that I have no idea what a person has or is going through and that I can not in any way judge their actions. There is always a bigger issue, a issue of the heart and people act out of that hurt. The abandoned wife reaches a point where she has nothing left to face what may lie ahead and says, "I...I just don't have the strength...I-" A pastor says, "I would like to be your strength for you." Sometimes we just don't have it in us anymore and we need someone to lift us up, someone to be our strength for us. What an awesome picture of Christ. "Pain does not have to be wasted. If we can be taught, with the help of God and others, to review our pain and learn from it rather than to fritter away our life regretting it, we will discover that pain, like no other source, can supply our heart and soul with compassion, mercy and understanding for the hurting world around us." What a great perspective on the hard things that we go through and how to use it for good. This book touched me and I highly recommend it. I really appreciate when a book can be so honest even about some of the ugliness in our churches today.

Be Not Afraid

"Be Not Afraid" by Robert L. Wise

I really enjoyed this book! It is about an old woman whose husband has died and she is cleaning out her garage. She finds a box with old letters that she once wrote to a pilot she was in love with. She finds herself wondering whatever happened to him as her letters had gotten returned saying he was missing in action. She grieves thinking he is dead. Then she decides to find out the truth and ends up finding out he is alive. It is such a great story of love, duty, sacrifice and courage. "You better do today what needs to be done and not wait for tomorrow. What you put off only comes back to haunt you. Don't live for what somebody else thinks." Such good words to live by. I know I have put things off only to wish that I had taken care of them the first time. We do need to live for what God thinks but He is the only voice we should listen to. This book also gave lots of great info about WWII and being a prisoner of war. I appreciated the reality yet the great story of love that was intertwined throughout.

The Rats of Hamelin

"The Rats of Hamelin" by Adam McCune & Keith McCune

I am not sure why I read this book, another one that I started and wouldn't put down due to principle of finishing what I started. The story is about the pied piper. He sets out on a mission to rid Hamelin from a plague of rats. He runs into much trouble and his easy mission isn't so easy. It is a strange story, fantasy mixed with history. It got better towards the middle but it left me wondering what was the main point of the story, I really don't know. I guess if you like fantasy this is a read for you, not for me.

Political Thriller Series

"The Last Jihad"; "The Last Days"; "The Ezekiel Option"; "The Copper Scroll" and "Dead Heat" by Joel Rosenberg

I was surprised at how much I liked these books. There was a lot of political and military jargon that I don't really care for but I skipped over some of it and what did I expect from a political thriller. The books are about how the prophecy in the Bible regarding the end times playes out today. I was fascinated by all of the end time prophecy and how the author viewed what would happen. There were a lot of scripture references which made me search the Bible for the things he was talking about. I got really interested in what the Bible has to say regarding all of the happenings in the end times. I liked that there was a love story woven throughout and the books certainly kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting to keep reading. The last book was just as good as the first. The author doesn't claim to be prophetic although his books seem to come true. It is really a fascinating series that will get you thinking and reading more about the end time prophecies.

Sunrise Series

"Sunrise"; "Summer"; "Someday" and "Sunset" by Karen Kingsbury

This was a great series. I really like the author. The were easy reads but kept you intrigued, wanting to read more. It is about a close knit family, the Baxters, and all the trials that they go through in their individual lives. It is about how a family comes together in times of trials and in times of joy. It really is a beautiful thing. The first book talks about new beginnings as a couple is getting married. "Marriage is certainly a time of new beginnings, as anything can be when we allow God to work. An anniversary, a birthday, a first of the month. Since we are subject to a forgiving and gracious God, we ought to be intimately familiar with new beginnings. New beginnings are crucial if we're ever going to find victory in our life with Christ." I love that we can find new beginnings in anything and really every day is a chance to start anew. The second book is about a testing of faith and the third book is about a reconciliation. "They had complemented each other, and now-even into death-they would complement each other in this. That each of them would spend their days knowing they'd become the person they were because of the other." I love growing old with my husband and going through all that life has for us. I know that I couldn't do it with out him and to God I am thankful for giving me such a wonderful partner and I pray that we would continue to become who Christ has us to be because of the other. Book four is about redemption, love and healing. "God, we come to this place not sure of what's next. So lead us, please. Whatever is said today, give us the right words to bridge the gap between us, the strength to see tomorrow on the other side of today, and the grace to love each other no matter what." Isn't that a great prayer? I love that prayer. "A marriage isn't something you lose. It's something you work to keep...or it's something your willingly let go." Oh if we could only remember those words we would have a lot less divorce. "In the process of forgiveness, people needed to think the best of each other also. Otherwise thee could be no progress at all." Remembering that my spouse, or whomever hurt me, has a good heart helps me to forgive so much more easily. After I finished these books I realized that there are two series previous to this one. So if you get the chance read those first. I am going to try and get my hands on them too!

Riven

"Riven" by Jerry B. Jenkins

This book was amazing! Sometimes when I read a book I am left to wonder how in the world the author could come up with something so amazing. This was one of those books, I found it exceptional. Let me quote from the cover, "When a condemned man with nothing to lose meets a weary man of God with nothing to gain, everyone washed by the endless ripples of that encounter will forever recall the day a little bit of heaven invaded a whole lot of hell." That is what this book is about and it will make you think, cry and wonder at the things God can do. I couldn't get through it fast enough and when I was done I put it down and all I could say was, "wow". This book will allow you to see God through the eyes of a condemned man. I have never read a book like it and probably won't ever again. The book shows how God relentlessly pursues us no matter the sin committed. I am left praying that God would use my life like He uses the life of the man in this book.

Heartland

"Heartland" by Davis Bunn

This was a very lighthearted book, an easy read. This book is about a man who finds himself on a TV set as an actor after leaving his home town and getting into a crash where he thought he had died. He doesn't know how he got there but everyone is looking to him to be their hero. There is a bit of a love story mixed in too. I actually loved the simplicity of the writing. "You don't want to believe God can use you. But God has decided to use you. Don't let your weakness be an excuse to turn away." Sometimes we think we can't be used by God because of our failures and weaknesses, but He can and He does.