24/6 - A Change Might Do Me Good

Do you remember the last time you had an entire day off, no obligations? Or do you waste free time on excessive social media browsing, or movie-watching, or game-playing because you're not sure how to really use it anymore?

I delayed reading 24/6 by Matthew Sleeth, M.D. for a long time partly because I had some concern about whether it was going to push a legalistic Sabbath message at me, and partly because I've been busy with other things I chose to do. But after picking up this book recently, I am pleased to say it has given me a lot to think about, in a gentle sort of way.

Dr. Sleeth doesn't make a big deal out of whether we rest on Saturday, Sunday, Monday or any other day. What he does do is describe how resting is part of the holy nature of God that He wants us to emulate for our own good. This is done in a natural, conversational tone that really helps the reader to put the activities of living into proper perspective against one another.

I realize that I need to be more conscientious about resting - even now, when I'm not in a particularly busy time of life. I'm now very curious to experience what taking 24 hours off weekly might mean to the quality of my life, spiritually and otherwise. The book made me think about living for eternity and not just being preoccupied with temporal things. What if I just enjoyed God and all the good things He has blessed me with in a more focused, intentional way on one day a week?

The writing is excellent and easy to follow, even entertaining. I had the same cosy sense I get when reading James Herriot's wonderful classics of life as a veterinarian in the countryside (a bedtime favorite of mine). It's an immensely different subject matter, but there is the same sense of wonder.

If you've read this book, what did you think about it? If you haven't yet read it, I recommend it - even if you just loan it from a library or a friend before deciding if it deserves a place in your library.


This sort-of-review is at my own initiative. I am working on my very long to-read list, some of which is worth blogging about, I think. I am not reviewing this book at a publisher's request nor under any obligation. 

3 reasons to never read a book a second time

1. The book was bad and not worth the time it took to read it the first time.

2. The book was a good read but not gripping enough to re-read.

3. The book was a great read that connected to your own experiences and memories. It took you through such a range of thoughts and emotions that you were exhausted at the end; you doubt that you could do it again. 

What's your most re-read book?

Fatherless by Dr James Dobson and Kurt Bruner - A Review

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I have long known the name of "Dr. James Dobson" because of his Focus on the Family program many years ago. I was surprised when I found out he had a novel soon to be released. Then, after reading the synopsis, I decided it seemed different enough to be something I'd like to lend my time to checking out. Today, I finally finished this novel, Fatherless, which he coauthored with Kurt Bruner. Wow. This is what you'd call dystopian, speculative fiction. It's something of a futuristic, political suspense. But it touches on key issues of society and what it means to be human.  And what it means to be a Christian in a society that seemed to have forgotten what it means to value all human life.

This really is a book about the future that you hope never actually happens. The following is from the official synopsis of the book:

The year is 2042, and a long-predicted tipping point has arrived. For the first time in human history, the economic pyramid has flipped: The feeble old now outnumber the vigorous young, and this untenable situation is intensifying a battle between competing cultural agendas. Reporter Julia Davidson-a formerly award-winning journalist seeking to revive a flagging career-is investigating the growing crisis, unaware that her activity makes her a pawn in an ominous conspiracy. Plagued by nightmares about her absent father, Julia finds herself drawn to the quiet strength of a man she meets at a friend's church. As the engrossing plot of FATHERLESS unfolds, Julia will face choices that pit professional success against personal survival in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world.
In the dystopian tradition of books like 1984, Brave New World, and The Hunger Games, FATHERLESS vividly imagines a future in which present-day trends come to sinister fruition. The second and third books in the series, CHILDLESS and GODLESS, will follow at eight-month intervals.

The book is intelligently and maturely written. It is firmly for the adult who wants a little more than a light read, but is not bogged down with heavy discourse. I really liked how the authors were able to express nuances of emotion and thought patterns in the characters' interactions. The book also contains a few suggestive sexual hints in the context of a marriage relationship. Nothing graphic; but I don't think this is fare for the average teen. There were a few times in the earlier half of the book got a little slower than I'd like, but I'm glad I stuck with it as Dobson and Bruner laid a good foundation for the events of this book, and (what I now know will be) two upcoming books in the series.

All in all, this was a nice blend of speculative and yet, informative, fiction. It forces one to think of what present-day government policies could evolve into in the future. If you need a break from only romance historicals, and murder mystery, I recommend this for worthwhile variety in your diet of fiction.


I received a copy of this book from Netgalley but this is my honest review, at my own initiative.

The Breath of Dawn by Kristen Heitzmann

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Book review: The Breath of Dawn by Kristen Heitzmann

This book is a Romantic Suspense novel; it was my first from the author and a very satisfying read. I enjoy good fiction but allocate more of my precious little reading time towards non-fiction. When I have an overall pleasurable experience with a novel that’s always extra-special for me.

In The Breath of Dawn we first meet Morgan Spencer, who is a widower and father of a toddler, and who suffers panic attacks from repressed grief and other effects of the trauma he has experienced. When he meets Quinn Reilly he doesn’t realize right away that she could be more than someone needing ‘help’ - which he’s good at giving. Quinn, who has learned to be alone and self-sufficient, is on the run from a past that has come back into her present and she has to deal with the human and the supernatural element behind that trouble. Still, she maintains a refreshing genuine sweetness and maturity. Their lives become entwined in ways they never could have seen coming.

I think it’s really hard to come across a novel that strikes you as entirely original, especially in genres like this. I could see ‘parts’ of various other novels I’ve read within the past year here, but this was a good read that I did not get bored with it at any point. What made this novel work was the entire like-ability of the (good) characters. They were characterized well and in a somewhat refreshing way - Quinn especially. The plot worked as well: there were no glaring gaps or unanswered questions; the writing was solid and there was actually some heart-pounding suspense (which I don’t really experience in many ‘suspense’ novels). I would also add that the protagonists didn’t do some uncharacteristically stupid thing which happens in many novels so that the conflict is able take place - that always annoys me. Everything here unfolds nicely.

I have long had another Kristen Heitzmann novel in my vast Kindle library and I am definitely more eager to pick it up after reading her work in this one. I’d give it 4 stars in its genre. Many readers will give this a 5 but I would need to have that lingering, ‘can’t stop pondering what I just read’ element to give it a perfect rating.


I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review only.

20,000 Days And Counting by Robert D. Smith

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Book review: 20,000 Days And Counting by Robert D. Smith

20,000 Days presents breathtakingly simple strategies and concepts that, once applied, will enable readers to be 100% present and intentional with every passing minute of every day, for the rest of their lives….On the 20,000th day of his life, the author sent an email that inspired and reminded a group of people of all ages to live in the moment. This group now includes you. - Excerpt from publisher’s book description

This book is chock full of simple yet truly thought- (and life-) altering principles for becoming a more productive individual in the life we live, with a view towards an eternity that we’ll have no reason to dread. I usually shun self-help and motivational type books but I am glad I read this one. Although not featuring Scripture throughout for the most part, the author shares key Scriptures at the beginning on the wisdom of numbering our days and other similar biblical exhortations. This provides a great foundation for the principles shared. Each chapter is preceded by salient quotations on the topic of Time and Productivity from past voices which were so gripping that I highlighted almost all of them.

Of all the principles shared the one that jumped out at me most was ‘Motivation is a myth.’ The author says:
“Believe me. You cannot motivate people to do any one thing. Even yourself. Never try to motivate yourself or anyone else to increase productivity. Instead, do the opposite: Increase your productivity, then the motivation will follow."

I reflected on my own experiences and could see the truth in this. My attempts at motivation in itself have often been very short-lived to downright failures. However, whenever I did just set my mind to it and accomplish a task, I found I was more likely to feel satisfied and attempt another.
Because I was also intrigued by the author’s calculation of his days lived thus far, I followed the information provided to the author’s website where I was able to input my birth date for a calculation of how many thousands of days I’ve been alive. It really does bring perspective if you will soak it in and be reflective!

The author says that the book was designed to be read in about an hour. I am not a slow reader and I did use just a few minutes at points to re-read key points and reflect on my own experiences, but this took me about 2 hours to finish in one sitting. If the topic is of particular interest to you and you intend to see how these tips can be applied to your own life, I reckon you will also need more than one hour to finish it.

If you struggle with a feeling of purposeless, procrastination, or just a nagging sense of not living up to your full potential despite some achievements, this book would be an asset to you. But reading it won’t be enough; you will also have to choose differently in your everyday life to see changes - Or as another principle in this book states: ‘You only have two choices, yes and no. I recommend 20,000 Days And Counting and give it 5 of 5 stars in its genre.


BookSneeze® provided me with a complimentary e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review only.

Soul's Gate by James L. Rubart

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Book Review: Soul's Gate by James L. Rubart

“Every now and then we get a break from reality. A glimpse into the other world that is more real than the reality we live in 99 percent of our days. The Bible is about a world of demons and angels and great evil and even greater glory.” - From the Publisher’s Description

This book is a contemporary fiction novel that explores themes of spiritual warfare, as well as healing, restoration and freedom. You will encounter a seasoned Christian (Reece Roth) who, as a young believer, was prophetically told of great things that he would accomplish in his life. His immaturity at that time led to a hasty decision that had devastating personal consequences. He still believes the prophecy, but his battle to forgive himself and ward off accusing voices has led to many wilderness years. Finally, the appointed time for the prophecy to come to pass arrives. Fulfillment of the prophecy would hold great victories for he and his friends, but it would also require each one to individually embrace the call to battle for themselves, one another, and others they have yet to meet.

This story was an engaging and suspenseful read for me. It has been a long time since I have read fiction that dared to delve into the supernatural, especially incorporating the realities of demonic opposition against believers to prevent them from becoming all that God would have them to be or accomplish for His own glory. "Soul's Gate" does this wonderfully by keeping the focus on the superior power and ability of the Holy Spirit to aid the believer to battle and overcome. I was especially pleased to read about characters who did not hesitate to call upon the name of Jesus and put faith in the protection that His blood affords. These are themes that many churches do not teach on even in this age where demonic activity is more blatant than ever. There are many leaders either not willing or equipped to equip their flock in this way. However, this book is not a manual for spiritual warfare and does not claim to be such. There are truths interwoven to be sure, but there are equally fantastical and imaginative concepts (such as entering the soul of others).

The plot was developed well and I enjoyed the fast-moving, short chapters. Each character was not developed at the expense of another so there was a sense of balance to what we know about each of them and they were each quickly identifiable upon reading dialogues. Scenes were described well and it was easy for me to imagine the places described.

At times the prose felt a little too stilted and I also came across a few typographical errors such as personal names that were not capitalized. There were no more than five, and they did not detract from the story or annoy, but it would always help to have these corrected.

Overall, this book is book entertaining and challenging. It caused me to ponder the question of whether or not we really believe that all of God's word is true - in the same way that the characters had to. If we do believe, why do we not experience more than the ordinary? It raised the question of whether or not we are ready for battle in our real lives. Are we as vigilant and prayerful as Scripture commands us to be? Or have we gotten used to regarding everything as normal, everyday life, to be dealt with using no more than normal methods and limitations? There is a discussion guide at the end of the book and I think it is a useful 'extra' especially if this is used in a book club.

I would recommend this book and I would definitely explore more from this author. "Soul's Gate" would be a good tool to introduce and launch into more serious discussion of realities of the spiritual realm (and how they converge with our everyday lives) using the Bible itself.


BookSneeze® provided me with a complimentary e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review only.

Cool stats on topical teachings of Jesus in the Gospels

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Teachings of Jesus in the Gospels
Did you know? There are...

- 323 verses on the topic of last days and judgment
- 198 verses on sin and forgiveness
- 123 verses on the kingdom of God
- 52 verses on money and treasure
- 44 verses on marriage and family
- 34 verses on Jesus' death and resurrection
- 25 verses on the deity of Jesus
- 717 verses on spiritual life

— Infographic from the NIV Quick View Bible
http://thequickviewbible.com/

I found the above infographic snippet and stats at the NIV Bible’s Facebook Page. This type of additional information interests me and I know a lot of others would think it worth knowing as well. It makes me wonder what kind of other cool stuff is in that Bible. I may have to get one!

Start reading and giving

I am a hopeless book aficionado. That’s why my Kindle library never stops growing and my wooden bookshelf can’t hold many more titles. I am grateful to my father for making sure that my siblings and I had a varied and extensive library when we were younger. As a result I was reading theological works and non-fiction, as well as novels and classic fiction, that was considered way beyond my age from early childhood. In fact, when my father took me to the public library just out of my toddler years, not knowing the library had an age regulation and I was too young, the sympathetic librarian decided to give me an impromptu reading test which I impressed her by breezing through. I was thereafter a regular at the library.

I would wish that I worked at the library, or at least that I could get locked into it after closing hours and have the entire time to read and browse to my heart’s delight. As a college student I did have the opportunity to work at the library one summer. And much to my dismay, actually having to work did not leave time for reading on the job! Nevertheless, the influence of books has definitely had a big impact on my success at school at every level, as well as my general knowledge, and my ability to interact with a wide variety of people and topics of discussion. Encouraging a love for reading quality books is truly one of the greatest gifts you could ever give your child.

On that note, have you heard about the We Give Books initiative? We Give Books is a fantastic resource for parents, teachers, and anyone who loves to read children’s books. They have a free online library of over 150 outstanding children’s books available at www.wegivebooks.org, including well known titles your children are bound to love. The best part is, your reading will directly impact the great work of non-profit organizations around the world! At the time of writing this post, your reading can help bring relief to those affected by Hurricane Sandy which brought wide-scale devastation to Northeastern parts of the US in November 2012. Head over to www.wegivebooks.org to join for Free and find out more about this wonderful initiative. Start reading and giving!


I am publicizing We Give Books on my personal blog at my own initiative, simply because I believe in what they’re doing.

I spoke to the mountain

For a period of just over two weeks I suffered the experience of some unknown issue that caused me to cough intermittently throughout the day and the night. I didn’t have a cold and cough bug. I was fine otherwise. But at unexpected times during the day and night I would suddenly feel a terrible tickling, an irritant of some sort in my throat area and begin to cough, even to the point of feeling tired and thirsty. I tried mouthwash, drinking honey, drinking ginger tea, gargling with warm salt water, and turning almost upside down when the coughing fits began. All this in an effort to either kill, flush, melt, or expel whatever the cause was. And all to no effect.

These coughing fits would happen at the most embarrassing moments such as when I was in the middle of a class at school; they would also awaken me at night. If you’ve read my recent post on using melatonin to reset my sleep cycle to get much needed sleep, you have some idea at how this was costing me. I would almost always awaken at night simply to have a coughing spell, then would have difficulty returning to sleep.

I prayed about it quite a bit as the second week came around. I had not thought it was serious until it lasted so long and responded to none of my ‘cures’ and by this time I started wondering whether I should go to a throat specialist. Then one night I was laying in bed hoping to induce sleep as I caught up on reading John Bevere’s book, Relentless which I’d started some time before. That particular night I got to a chapter where he was discussing the need for Christians to use the authority that Christ has given us to speak God’s word and will, and in this way resist and defeat our enemy until we see the victory manifest in the situations that arise against us. He illustrated this wonderfully by relating true life examples (as he wisely tends to do) where the victory was completely won, not just by asking God to take away the problem, but by using the authority already vested in us to declare what Christ has already done and refuse to submit to bondage. It was like a lightbulb went on in my heart. My throat irritant issue might have been ‘small’ but it was lasting much longer than I expected and causing a lot of discomfort, loss of sleep, and public embarrassment. As I pondered what John had written, I realized this lesson was not new to me because I had seen several victories this way by the grace of God, yet on this issue it had not occurred to me at all. Boldness rose up in me and laying there, feeling another coughing fit coming on, I pointed my finger at my throat and spoke to my mountain. The monologue went something like this:

“You cough and whatever you are causing this cough, I refuse to accept you in my body. In the name of Jesus, I command you to be dissolved, be repaired, or whatever is necessary but get out of my body without causing damage or harm of any type. You are not God’s will for me and I take authority over you in Jesus’ name. Go now!”

After saying this, I noticed with excitement that a stillness had come over me and the coughing fit never came on. But after a few minutes, there was the tickling sensation again. I began to sputter. John Bevere had also reminded me of the need to keep standing in my confession of faith and resisting until full manifestation of the victory. Again, I put my hand on my throat and I said, “Oh no you don’t!” I repeated my command to that problem to leave me and told it I would not accept it in my body, that it was not God’s will for me, and that I, together with my body, was God’s property! I continued reading my book and soon fell asleep.

It was not until a full day later or so that it suddenly occurred to me that I had not had a coughing spell since that night! That was about one full week ago and I am still without any cough or throat problem. Praise God!!!

In the authority of Jesus’ name, with faith, I had spoken to my mountain (which happened to be tiny enough to affect my throat, if it was indeed caused by a solid particle; I still don’t know) and had it removed from my body!

Apart from the obvious joy and excitement that I have in recognizing God’s goodness in equipping us for even situations such as these, there was another lesson here for me. We need to stand fast in what God has taught us by continually walking in it, applying it to every situation. Unfortunately, like I needed, sometimes we also have to be reminded of what God has taught us in the past. It’s incredible how, in answer to prayer, God will sometimes lead us to an answer by what another Christian shares. So, keep your life full of fellowship with God, then His people, in all the ways that you can!

“I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." ~ Matthew 17:20

The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. ~ 1 John 1:7

I am not surprised in the least bit that the Fifty Shades of Grey erotic (read: pornographic) series for women started out as fan fiction by the author, who was a fan of Twilight series (and would even appropriate Twilight characters) for her blog stories. Some of you reading this will just not understand what I am getting at; some of you will.

The Fifty Shades of Grey series by E.L. James has beat the sales of Harry Potter (which was the modern example of a literary revolution appearing in textbooks just a few years ago). According to Business Insider, the demand for these books have boosted sales for all adult/erotic fiction 25% across the board. And some commentators say that the book is now sparking a sexual “revolution” among women which has various implications.

Folks, all satan needs is an entrance. Then one thing will come into your life, then another, then a next…Watch these shifts in the culture, they mean something. Watch the sudden rise to fame of certain people and products, they mean something. Satan is "the god of this world", the “spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience (unbelievers),” and "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" says Scripture (2 Cor. 4;4; 1 Jn 5:19; Eph 2:2).

Christian, you need to be discerning. Unbelievers do not have the Spirit of God; they have no choices, only preferences.

Let him who has ears to hear, hear. And walk in the light as He is in the light.

I imagine that some are going to read this and wonder what rock I crawled out from under. A lot are going to ask ‘what's the problem with porn anyway?’ A lot are going to justify this all and say that those books are actually improving their relationships and sex life. What they don't know is how satan operates. How all he needs is an entrance, then their lives are going to malfunction in ways they may never ‘see’ but which will affect them and those connected to them for eternity. I blog this out of great concern having seen firsthand the destructive effects of such influences in the lives of others. I know they cannot see it, but what they are buying into is not 'entertainment' or a 'sexual revolution', but the first steps to spiritual bondages they never dreamed of.