THE i FACTOR

Saturday, January 21, 2017

THE i FACTOR
How Building A Great Relationship
With Yourself Is The Key To A 
Happy, Successful Life
By Van Moody

OVERVIEW: Weaving together personal stories, practical principles, and profound biblical truth, The i-Factor provides the key to achieving the life of greatness that you are destined for.

AUTHOR: VAN MOODY serves as pastor of the Worship Center in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition, he is on the board of Joel Osteen's Champions Network, is a member of Dr. Oz's Core Team, and is an associate trainer in Japan for Dr. John Maxell's EQUIP leadership organization. Moody, his wife, Ty, and their children live in Birmingham, Alabama.

MY REVIEW: The i-Factor is one of the best books I have read in a long time and I read and review many books. Van Moody writes in an interesting, inspiring way but I think the thing I liked most about the book is that it is packed full of wonderful stories. I would read one and think, "Wow." And then almost immediately I was reading another great uplifting story.

Dr. Levy H. Knox said, "A magnificent book! Apply its timely principles for personal and spiritual success. Your life will change." I agree. It is a magnificent book. I don't know if your life will change. But I think it should. Dr. Nicole LaBeach wrote, "A gift that needs no ribbon, just a reader who's ready to make the shift of a lifetime!"

This book is a guide for understanding yourself and Moody points out over and over again that we must understand ourselves if we are going to live our best life. It is a practical tool for helping us to live life the way God intended.

(I received this book from BookLookBloggers in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE

PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE
A Guide to Bringing Life-Saving Love to the World
By Mike Foster

OVERVIEW: This book will show you how your imperfect life matters in ways you never thought possible. It will help you see your scars, flaws, and failures as unfair advantages and gifts that you can bring to the world. It is packed full of unfiltered honesty and simple next steps, this book will help you discover beauty in the brokenness.

AUTHOR: MIKE FOSTER is the chief chance officer at People of the Second Chance. He has dedicated his life to helping people relaunch their lives with a sense of hope and purpose. He's been featured on Good Morning America, The 700 club and in the New York Times.

MY REVIEW: I agree with Jud Wilhite, senior pastor of Central Christian Church in Las Vegas. He said, "Five Stars! This is fierce and compassionate truth telling at its finest. People of the Second Chance is an incredible road map for fully experiencing the grace of God in a whole new way." If he is right, and I think he is. then many need to run out and buy this book because we need to experience the grace of God in a whole new way.

Mike Foster has a passion for helping us live as God's beloved. His book is a message of grace that needs to be read by all. I love the way Bob Goff describes this book: "This is a book for messed-up overcomers, for religious rebels, for the broken but resilient. It's not about taking a knee in the end zone when you win; it's about taking both when you don't."

The book is filled with true stories and great illustrations. It's a page-turner. You will find it hard to put down. Mike will help you realize you are sincerely loved by God and that your life has real meaning.

(I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

THE GREAT SPIRITUAL MIGRATION

Monday, December 19, 2016

THE GREAT SPIRITUAL MIGRATION
How The World's Largest Religion Is 
Seeking A Better Way To Be Christian
By Brian D. McLaren

OVERVIEW: Drawing from his work as a global activist, pastor, and public theologian, McLaren challenges readers to stop worrying, waiting, and indulging in nostalgia, and instead, to embrace the powerful new understandings that are reshaping the faith. In The Great Spiritual Migration, he explores three profound shifts that define the change: Spiritually, theologically and missionally.

AUTHOR: Brian McLaren is a Christian thinker, author, and activist. A former pastor with a background in literature, McLaren is the author of more than a dozen books, an Auburn Senior Fellow, and a board chair of Convergence.

MY REVIEW: Brian McLaren is a brilliant writer. He has written more than a dozen books and I have a few of them. I read them because I want to know what he and those who think like him, believe. I have found that I disagree with much of what he thinks and writes about. And yet he says a lot of good stuff that isn't being said by anybody else. However, it isn't my job as a reviewer to write about my theology and how it differs with his.

I want to tell you what a few others think of this book, McLaren and his writing. Author, Diana Butler Bass said, "This is Brian McLaren's finest book; a beautiful exploration of a hopeful, joyful, mystical, and just faith that invites Christians to move from fear to love." Author, Richard Rohr wrote, "Anything written by Brian McLaren is always filled with insight, courage, and creative theology, refining the meaning of orthodoxy in our time." And author, Peter Enns said, "McLaren continues to have his finger on the pulse of a new kind of Christianity that challenges familiar and limiting structures of faith. A prophetic and winsome invitation for all to join the work of the Spirit in spiritual, theological, and missional transformation."

Now, what I think is that this is a book for you if you are a curious intellectual that wants to keep up with all the changes that are taking place in the religious world. This book will challenge you. Parts of it will upset you and make you angry. I liked some of it but I disagreed with much of it. McLaren thinks he has his finger on the pulse of a new kind of Christianity. If you think he does or want to investigate that kind of thinking—this is the book for you.

(I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

THE JOY MODEL— A Step-By-Step Guide To Peace, Purpose, and Balance

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

THE JOY MODEL
 A Step-By-Step Guide
To Peace, Purpose, and Balance
By Jeff Spadafora

OVERVIEW: In The Joy Model, Jeff Spadafora shares, step-by-step, the path he took (and had coached hundreds on) from smoldering discontent to a sense of joy and purpose in everyday life. From creating margin in our schedules that allows us to breathe easier and think more clearly, to discovering our true selves and going deeper into our relationships with God and other people. Spadafora shows how the interaction between our being and our doing provides the key to opening up a life full of joy, purpose, and fulfillment.

AUTHOR: Jeff Spadafora is the director of Global Coaching Services and Product Development for the Halftime Institute (www.halftime.org), where he trains and manages the global Halftime Coaching staff. Earlier, Spadafora was a management consultant for twenty years with a focus on executive education and development for Fortune 500 companies. He lives with his family in Evergreen, Colorado.

MY REVIEW: Most of us think about joy a lot. Especially at this time of year. We even sing about it, "Joy to the world, the Lord has come...". Thinking and singing about joy doesn't necessarily mean we are experiencing joy. At least, not in the way Spadafora talks about it."Drawing on his years as both a successful businessman and a Christian life coach, Spadafora has developed a concrete, practical model to show the path from joyless to joyful. Using his Joy Model and the steps in his M.A.S.T.E.R. Plan, he clearly describes how to move from frustration and weary service to an over-arching, all-pervading joy of life in Christ.

I was especially pleased that Spadafora makes it clear that this joy he talks about is found in Christ.
However, knowing that doesn't mean that we automatically experience joy. There is much smoldering discontent and frustration in life and we all need help finding out way out of it. I promise you, these eleven chapters will provide a step-by-step guide to peace, purpose and balance. I agree with author Bob Buford, "The Joy Model maps the full route, providing a fully integrated pathway to deep and lasting joy and to greater peace and freedom, regardless of your age, gender, or income."

( I received this book from Book Look Bloggers in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

FIND YOUR MIRACLE

Friday, November 18, 2016

FIND YOUR MIRACLE
How The Miracles Of Jesus
Can Change Your Life Today
By Kerry & Chris Shook

OVERVIEW: In Find Your Miracle, New York Times best-selling authors Kerry and Chris Shook take a fresh look at nine of Jesus's most incredible times of healing and supernatural intervention. The Shooks unpack these moments in modern language to usher you into the pain, desperation, breakthrough, and miracle of each encounter. Plus they reveal a "miracle map" that connects that moment long ago to our needs today for revelation, transformation, and restoration.

AUTHORS: kerry Shook and his wife, Chris Shook are New York Times best-selling authors of One Month to Live: Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life and Be the Message. They founded Woodlands Church in 1993, and it has since grown to be one of the largest churches in America. Kerry and Chris have been featured on NBC, ABC, PBS, Fox News, Life Today, and USA Today; and they have a television show that goes to more than 200 countries. The recent establishment of Woodlands Seminary came out of their desire to train the next generation to make a local and global impact. Kerry and Chris live in Woodlands, Texas.

MY REVIEW: What pastor, Mark Batterson said about this book is the main thing I like about it. He said, "As Chris and Kerry unpack the miracles of Jesus, they show us that miracles are not the focus. They are just the road signs pointing to God—to a real and personal relationship with Him." That's it! That's what this book is about. I also agree with pastor, Jack Graham who said, "Let's face it. At times we all need a miracle. Whether you are overwhelmed, feeling alone, or afraid, God is able to meet your needs. Every single one of them."

This is a good book giving an exploration of nine miracles of Jesus weaving the biblical narrative with contemporary real-life application, The sub-title is How The Miracles Of Jesus Can Change Your Life Today. I believe in miracles. I hope you do. This book will help you see HOW Jesus can change your life. I encourage you to read this book,apply the principles and watch God work in your life as maybe never before.

(I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

ANGELS

Thursday, November 10, 2016

ANGELS
Who They Are, What They Do,
and Why It Matters
By Jack Graham

OVERVIEW: Pastor Jack Graham walks you through Scripture, revealing the truth about angels and what they offer us: encouragement, counsel, confirmation of God's will, strength, protection, wisdom, companionship, and more. Focusing on practical application, Dr Graham separates fact from fiction and demonstrates that the main role of angels isn't to draw attention to themselves, but to point us toward Christ.

AUTHOR: Dr. Jack Graham is the pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, one of the nation's largest, most dynamic congregations. He can be seen and heard across the country and throughout the world via PowerPoint Ministries, broadcast weekly on TBN, Daystar TV, and hundreds of radio stations around the country. Dr. Graham has a master of divinity degree with honors and a doctor of ministry degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Deb, live in Frisco, Texas and have three grown children. Learn more at www.jackgraham.org.

MY REVIEW: In this book Dr. Graham chapter by chapter lays out fifteen key aspects of Christ's sufficiency made manifest by angelic dealings in the biblical account. I agree with Dave Stone, pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, "Jack Graham has done it again. His treatment of the topic of angels will move you from confusion to curiosity and on to clarity."

Graham uses stories to teach you a great deal about angels. After reading this book you will be on the lookout for angels. These stories told from a biblical worldview will help you experience a great connection to the unseen world. What attracted me to this book was the sub-title, Who They Are, What They Do, And Why It Matters. He doesn't disappoint. Believe me. After reading this book you will know much more about angels.

ANGELS is divided into four parts of equal value. My favorite or most needed is Part Two: The Protection of Angels as You Sustain Life's Blows. The chapters are: COMFORT When You Are Afraid, COURAGE When You Are in Danger, ADVOCACY When You're Excluded or Despised, SHELTER In the Midst of the Storm.

I like the words of author Christine Caine "This book is classic Jack Graham—great biblical teaching, wonderful stories, and terrific applications for readers."

(I received this books from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for a fair and honest review.)