Title: Outlive Your Life
Author: Max Lucado
Rating: Good
Reason for Reading: I received this book from the BookSneeze.com book review program.
Summary: This book is a siren call to live out the principles of a Christian spiritual walk. Lucado interweaves stories of the apostles and the early church with contemporary examples of how to put your Christian faith into action. It includes inspiring accounts of individuals and groups who did more than talk the talk, they walked the walked and the effects of their live outlived them.
Review: Max has prepared another book just at the right time. At a time when so many people are out of work, Max reminds everyone that there is always an opportunity to do something that will make a difference and potentially outlive you. Lucado is highlighting the book of Acts, which is often overlooked in the study of the Bible. As the name would imply, it instructs us not how to “be” a follower of Christ, but to “do” the following.
If you feel like you are spinning your wheels, like what you do doesn’t matter, or that your faith isn’t manifest in your actions, this book will remind you, instruct you, and inspire you to do things, take actions, and make the difference God built you for.
Devon
Other resources: www.maxlucado.com
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 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Title: 100 Prayers God Loves to Hear 100 Praise Songs Author: Stephen Elkins Rating: Good for you if…you need ideas or want to introduce prayer Reason for Reading: I got this book as a part of the BookSneeze Program. As always, my opinion is completely my own and not affected by getting the book free. For more details, check out our Full Disclosure statement. Summary: 100 Prayers is a book of prayers for children. The prayers vary from traditional prayers that most of us prayed as a child, to prayers written and prayed by famous people, to original prayers written by the author. Each prayer is accompanied by text that explains the prayer, a prayer thought, and a song on one of the two CDs. Review: I have mixed feelings about this set. The things I like about it are that the prayers and readings are short enough to be morning or evening devotions/prayer time with small children. I like the accompanying sound tracks that are full of classic songs as well as original compositions. I like the colorful and vibrant art work.
There are things I don't really like about the book. For instance, each prayer is accompanied by a "My Little Prayer Reminder". However, these quotes and thoughts are too deep for small children to comprehend. Some of them were too intellectual for me to comprehend! I'm also confused as to who the target audience is for the book. The illustrations look to be geared toward small children (my 9 year old claimed they were "babyish"), but many of the prayers are geared toward school-age children. This is just a personal pet peeve, but there are words highlighted in different colors…the words aren't special or important words, they're just words (sometimes the word "the" is a different color than the other words on the line). I feel that the different colors would have added to the overall feel of the book if they highlighted important words or the theme of the prayer, instead of random words.
Each prayer has a song referenced at the top of the page. At first, I liked that. I thought it would be cute to hear all these prayers geared toward children being sung by children. However, that's not the case. Some of the songs are the prayers put to music (though not word-for-word), some of the songs are on the same theme as the prayer (America the Beautiful is paired with a prayer written by Abraham Lincoln), but some of the songs I don't understand why they were chosen to go with the prayer.
Final Thoughts: I think this is a great resource for parents who want to introduce the idea of prayer to young children. I don't know that I would read all of the words on the page to the child as some of the concepts will be very hard, if not impossible, to explain to small children. We might use it as a resource for our older child to lead devotions for the family, but I can't see this becoming a classic in our home.
Unfortunately, no one gave us any contact information in order to receive a FREE copy of The Heart Mender by Andy Andrews. After months of trying to give away an AWESOME book on our blog, we had to realized that no one was interested in doing what it took to get this amazing book. We have donated it to a Christian Library in Indiana that serves a county in need due to the automotive crisis.
Title:
The Butterfly EffectAuthor: Andy AndrewsRating: Good Reason for Reading: I received an advance copy of this book as part of the BookSneeze program through Thomas Nelson Publishers. The opinion below is my own and is not affected in any way by receiving this book for free. For more information, check out our Full Disclosure page. Summary: The Butterfly Effect discusses the scientific theory-turned-fact that one action affects events all around the globe. Andrews starts with the scientific theory and then makes application through various figures in history. Seemingly insignificant people are involved in very important events and Andrews explains how that person's contribution helped to shape the world in which we live today. Review: Can a butterfly flap its wings and create a hurricane on the other side of the world? Andrews explains this thought and many associated with it in his book, The Butterfly Effect.
Andrews introduces readers to the humble beginnings of this seemingly ridiculous theory, and then shows how it rocked the scientific community. He takes the heart of the theory and, in a style completely his own, walks the reader through the annals of time and how one person at one moment "fluttered his wings" and affected the entire world. The great thing about this book isn't that we're taken down a dusty historical road and learn of one man's seemingly small contribution and how it affects us all today. The great thing about this book is how Andrews then introduces another man and how he changed the world, and how another person influenced that, and so on. Andrews draws the reader down a riveting and seemingly endless path of influential people who were only influential because they influenced another person who influenced someone else, etc.
In summary, this book is a must-read for EVERYONE. I was in tears by the end of the book. This book helped me realize that something seemingly insignificant that I do can and will affect the world for all time.
Dawn Other resources: http://www.andyandrews.com/video/butterfly-effect/
Title: The Boy Who Changed the World
Author: Andy Andrews
Rating: Good
Reason for Reading: I received this book through the BookSneeze program of Thomas Nelson Publishers. Andrews is one of my favorite authors.
Summary: TBWCtW is actually about several persons, each of whom did something that changed the world. Andrews tells the story backwards, starting with the last boy in the chain, then to the person who affected him, then to the person who affected that person, and so on. The conclusion is that the chain could keep going back farther and farther, demonstrating that their actions had impacts that ripple through time into the future.
Review: TBWCtW is a childrens story with a powerful message about how powerful each individual is. Some of the persons highlighted are famous, with names that would be commonplace or accomplishments worthy of monuments. But others are obscure and their actions seem unimportant outside of the story Andrews has written. Andrews weaves all this together in a narrative that entertains and challenges the mind to try to grasp how today’s actions influence the future of everyone. TBWCtW is highly recommended as a great addition to any child’s library.
Devon
Other resources: http://www.andyandrews.com
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 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
