Cherished by Kim Cash Tate

A novel of unconditional love

 Having read Kim Tate’s previous book Faithful, I was excited about reading her new novel Cherished and I was not disappointed. Mrs. Tate does an excellent job of exploring the challenges of real life and faith. Through her latest book readers will be forced to examine their own lives for areas of unforgiveness  and evidence of them fully accepting God’s unconditional love.  Even when we know what God’s Word says, its often hard to forgive ourselves and accept that we are His beloved.

The central storyline focuses on Kelli London, a single sister trying to bury the pain and guilt of an abortion she had in her teens, and Brian, her high school sweetheart. However, readers also reunited with other characters like Heather, Cyd and Dana from Faithful. It was pleasure to get reacquainted with each of these characters.

No matter one’s walk of life, I believe that readers can identify with having felt unusable and that a dream was lost. Below is one my favorite quotes from the book: 

For years she thought her dreams had turned to dust-dreams of music, dreams of future with Brian. God had brought the dreams back, but in ways she never could have imagined…out of a pain she never thought she could endure. Would she had dreamed those dreams, had she known? pg. 305

Indeed this book is about unconditional love, acceptance, God’s grace, mercy and restoration. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and my only criticism was how neatly everything seem to wrap up in the end, which I don’t believe is always the case in life.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes from The B&B Media group. Views and opinions expressed are my own.

Young and In Love

 

In a time when more people are foregoing marriage, Pastor Ted Cunningham’s book, Young and In Love, not only advocates marriage but he is a proponent of individuals tying the knot at younger ages.

We have adapted to getting our life in order first  and marrying last. We don’t want a spouse to screw up our plans or tweak them.

While Young and in Love is a stark contrast to some of the ideologies I held toward marriage, I found the author made valid arguments that challenged my thinking and made me reconsider  what I deemed as essentials for marriage. I love it when a book does this.  He points out consequences to delayed marriage such as:  removal of grandparents from families, prolonged adolescent, self-centeredness,  independence, and fewer choices in partners. 

You see, time alone is not the  primary tool of character building. We develop our characters through pain, trials, and difficulty and by how we choose to handle this adversity, not through simple independence. Marriage offers plenty of opportunities to grow our character because it forces us to think about someone other than ourselves.

I  found that he painted a balanced view of unnecessary delays like money, career, dream weddings, living together and waiting to find your soul-mate with necessary delays such as completing high school, avoiding rushes due to pregnancy, military deployment or desire for sex, and dating someone who is not a believer. Pastor Cunningham does not encourage recklessly jumping into marriage but rather guides them into examining the four C’s: character, chemistry, competency, and calling.

Who is the book for?

According to the author, the book is not for those who are decidedly single, seeking love but can not find it, nor for those seeking to learn contentment while waiting to be found. Instead, Pastor Cunningham targets this book for those who are in their late teens or early 20s , already in love with someone and desiring to marry but are meeting the you are too young opposition by family and friends.  Admittedly, I don’t fall into this category but the premise of the book still drew my attention due to my curiosity regarding what makes marriages work.

Whether you are young and in love, a parent, or just family member of someone who is, I would recommend  reading this book. You might find that you are one of the little foxes that could destroy love and/or marriage.

From the back cover:

Developing a godly relationship can be hard when you fall in love at a young age. Few people offer support. Many doubt your love is real. It seems almost everyone-your friends, your parents, even your church-thinks you’re much too young for marriage. You’re not ready. But maybe that’s not true.

Pastor Ted Cunningham reveals the secrets to creating a healthy, successful, and lifelong relationship in early adulthood. He explains where the arguments against young marriage often go wrong. Then he offers wisdom on how to know if you are making the right choice and helps you understand what it takes to be ready for marriage. And along the way, he sows you that, far from kissing dating good-bye, the answer to staying pure might be to prepare for marriage. Because it’s often easier to say, “Let’s wait,” when “I do” isn’t so far away.

Disclosure: I was provided a complimentary copy of the book by The B&B Media Group in exchanged for my unbiased review.

It’s Your Call

Ever wondered why you are here? What exactly is your purpose in the grand scheme of life?  Those are questions I have pondered more than once or twice during the years. In fact, there was a period in my 20’s that I was on an all out quest to discover my God given purpose. The issue of purpose and calling has been of great interest to me so when the opportunity came to read Gary Barkalow’s latest book entitled It’s Your Call, I quickly seized the chance.

 

And, I was not disappointed. By far It’s Your Call is one of the best books I have read regarding calling. It is not your typical how to manual filled with questionnaires and gift analysis tests. Through personal reflections of his life and scripture application, he encourages the reader to  move past the confines of tests, job titles, and positions to discover and develop their weightiness. This discovery and development can only take place through paying attention to our lives and intimacy with the Father. He points out that each individual has a glory, splendor, beauty, abundance, brilliance, or weightiness that the world is waiting to experience.

 

One of the highlights of the book for me was how Gary explained there are four primary ways that the enemy prevents us from operating in our glory. The 4-d strategies include:

• Distance-uses old wounds to push us away from the desires written upon our heart.
• Diminish-causes one to underestimate the value of their weightiness often through comparisons.
• Disdain-leads one to hate the way they use their gifting
• Disqualification-makes one feel unworthy of walking in their calling because of sin or shortcomings.

The book provides a fresh perspective on an age old topic. I would recommend this book to anyone who has taken all the assessment tests but are still searching for purpose.

 

Disclosure: I was provided a complimentary copy of the book by The B&B Media Group for review purposes. Views and opinions expressed are my own.

 

A Million Ways to Die: The Only Way to Live

Rick James’ latest book A Million Ways to Die: The Only Way to Live is one those books that grabbed my attention with its striking cover image. While the cover may be intriguing, the subject of death is often one we would rather avoid. Throughout this book James encourages the believer to look beyond the final death and resurrection and to embrace the daily opportunities to die. Each of us faces opportunities to die to selfish ambition, ego, pride, fear, reputation, and self-sufficiency.

 

By examining scripture, historical events, and personal life stories, he points out practical ways in which we can fulfill Jesus command to take up our cross.  He points out that only through embracing these little deaths can the believer move from a mere mediocre existence to the vibrant, victorious life Christ came to give us. 

 

The book contains 335 pages that are filled with statements that will cause one to pause and think. Here are a few of those that made me go hmmm.

It’s reflexive for us to declare our belief that God can, but such affirmations can blind us to the ways that we don’t believe. “I believe that God can” is sometimes just a contraction for “I  believe that He can, but I doubt that He will.”

 

We mistake divine ordained hardships for bad luck, bad friends, a bad year, bad breaks, bad government, a bad choice, bad advice, bad genes, bad hair day, and quite naturally we run. A scalpel is just a knife with a medical motive, and if you hold it to my throat in any scenario other than during a operation, I’d be insane not to run.

 

People don’t fall out of love; they fail to persevere in loving. They choose to stop loving their spouse, or they choose to  start loving something else.

 

 

According to the author the goal of the book is to “encourage us to pick up our cross and embrace the death implicit in following Jesus Christ”. After reading the book, I had a clearer understanding of the ways life is produce through dying to myself.

 

From the back cover

 

Death is the new life. As Christians we talk often about resurrection, but what about our death and the many daily “deaths” that must come first? Through stories and biblical insights, Rick James reminds us that when Jesus tells us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him, He is describing a path of death, not a path to death.

 

As we learn to embrace the little deaths of everyday existence, we lose our taste for lifeless religiosity. Our appetite for a thriving, vibrant life in Christ grows-and our own experience motivates others to live out their extraordinary missions on earth. As James so vividly illustrates, death is not an ending-invitation to more abundant life.

 

DISCLOSURE: I was provided a complimentary copy of the book by B& B Media Group for review purposes. The views and opinions expressed are my own.

 

 

It’s No Secret by Rachel Olsen

 Right from the cover, It’s No Secret: Revealing Divine Truths Every Woman Should Know by Rachel Olsen gives you a warm and inviting feel. The perfect atmosphere for our Yahweh sister, Rachel, to share 12 truths she has learned along her journey with the Lord.

In true Titus 2 like form brimming with Southern hospitality, she invites us in to see not just her triumphs but struggles as well. Using her life stories along with Bible scriptures she tackles issues like: competiveness, conflict resolution, perfectionism, confession, receptiveness to help from others, humility, and busyness. Each chapter closes with study questions, which would be great to use as part of a group study or individually.

Being what I call a “recovering” perfectionist Chapter 7 Adjust Your Scale: Revealing the Secret to Perfection in God’s Eyes really resonated with me. Her statement on page 136 points out how, for the most part, we perfection-seeking types have  been trying to measure up based upon performance rather than grace alone.

We’ve been conditioned to earn our way, to perform correctly, to not make mistakes. We seek love and respect from God and others through what we do and how well we do it. In turn, we expect others to earn our love and respect. To a degree, we even expect God to earn it by blessing us with “the good life” so long as we behave well.

For those of us who have a hard time asking others for help, Rachel reminds us  in the secret of interdependence that we are not just weighing ourselves down needlessly but also robbing our fellow sisters and brothers.

Refusing to ask them deprives them of their opportunity to serve, of their opportunity to fulfill their purpose.

While the book is light-hearted, it is confrontational as well. Cutting away the excuses we often use for having a deeper and more intimate walk with the Lord. 

Thanks to Karen Davis at The B&B Media Group for providing a complimentary copy of the book for review purposes. Views and opinions expressed are my own.