Monday, December 27, 2010

LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS by Nick Vujicic

Despite being born without arms or legs, Nick Vujicic has made a huge success of his life. His faith gave him the courage to become a successful entrepreneur, speaking and evangelizing all over the world. Yet, before he began his successful career, he overcame obstacles that most of us will never face, or even imagine.

You will be surprised at the number of things this man without limbs can do. Does he need help sometimes, or even often? Of course. He talks about the speaking engagements he’s been on and some of the trials and tribulations involved. Primarily, however, he encourages and inspires throughout this book, constantly reminding the reader to stretch and reach for whatever they want to accomplish, never giving up.

Even as a child, Nick had courage. One of my favorite stories is of when he was in second grade in Australia. The school bully, two years older and much bigger, bet Nick he couldn’t fight. Not wanting to appear afraid, Nick said, “Yes, I can,” and agreed to fight him! How could he possibly defeat a bigger child who had all his limbs? Amazingly, he did. Nick made me laugh when he relates how he felt so guilty about it that he confessed to his parents and they didn’t believe him. After all, how could a child two years younger, in a wheelchair, do any such thing? Yet, he did—by the way, he did it out of his wheelchair. Want to know how? Read the book.

Nick swims, has scuba dived, surfed and earned a University Degree, among other things. Perhaps you’ve seen videos of Nick on You Tube, visited his website “Life Without Limbs,” or watched “The Butterfly Circus” that Nick stars in. They’re all good, but this book, Life Without Limits, delves much deeper into who Nick Vujicic is and, in spite of a rocky start, how he became the happy bloke he is today.

In Life Without Limits, Nick relates heart-warming stories about himself and about others who have accomplished amazing things in spite of various handicaps. He wants everyone to believe in themselves and know that God created them for a purpose, and that every human life is extraordinary, including his own. He doesn’t hesitate to recommend and give full credit to faith in God.

The book shares photos of Nick as a youngster, with his family and some of him at his speaking engagements. Born and raised in Australia, he currently resides in California. I can’t recommend this book more highly. It’s not just a fascinating read, it’s immensely inspiring. We are grateful to Waterbrook Multnomah for providing us with a free review copy.
—Gail Lewis

Product Details:
Hardback: 238 pages
Language: English
Publisher: Doubleday
ISBN: 978-0-307-58973-6

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

THE MASTER'S WALL by Sandi Rog


This is a keeper.

Ms. Rog skillfully blends coming-of-age, social inequity and tested faith into a delightful, heart-rending tale of courage, failure and redemption. Sound exhausting? Not in the least.

Alethea's father is executed by his own father for confessing faith in Yeshua. Her mother, brother, and she move into grandfather's villa, where Alethea meets David, a house slave. She becomes attracted to David, who views her as the younger sister he failed to protect when he was forced into slavery. As Alethea and David stumble into and through adolescence, their fumbling relationship travels an equally rough road to maturity. That maturity presents its own problems, as there is no socially acceptable resolution to their blossoming love for each other.

Finally, confronted with Alethea's forced betrothal to arrogant Demetri, the plot reaches critical mass and they must act--and quickly. But what can they possibly do to resolve an impossible dilemma such as this? Hmmm.

Ms. Rog has done her homework on the physical and social environment in 1st-century Rome. The reader learns a lot about a coarse society that, while successfully imposing Pax Romana onto the known world of that day, fails to deliver inner peace to its own citizenry. More wonderful, though, is her ability to capture this world through the eyes of a naive, immature girl growing up through issues no one of her age should have to face. The result is a humorous, frustrating, painfully realistic portrayal of emotional growth and spiritual awakening. One moment you want to hug Alethea to death, the next moment you want to turn her over your knee. So does David.

Delightful also is Ms. Rog's prose. She has a gift for subtle word painting that raises the reading experience to a new level. Just read her rendering of Aletha's betrothal ceremony. If you don't chuckle aloud, you've missed something.

The Master's Wall is the first in the "Iron and the Stone" series. Looking forward to number two!
— Bruce Judisch

Product Details:
Trade Paperback: 302 pages
Language: English
Publisher: DeWard Publishing
ISBN-10: 1936341026
ISBN-13: 978-1936341023

Thursday, December 16, 2010

STUDY GUIDE for THE LAMB'S SUPPER by Scott Hahn

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card author is:


and the book:


The Lamb’s Supper Study Guide

Image; Stg edition (November 2, 2010)

***Special thanks to Staci Carmichael, Marketing and Publicity Coordinator
Doubleday Religion / Waterbrook Multnomah, Divisions of Random House, Inc., for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


SCOTT HAHN was recently appointed as the inaugural Chair of Biblical Theology and Liturgical Proclamation at Saint Vincent Seminary (Latrobe, Pennsylvania). He is also professor of theology and Scripture at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. An internationally renowned lecturer, Scott is founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and editor of the Center's academic journal, Letter & Spirit. He is the author of a dozen books, including The Lamb's Supper; Hail, Holy Queen; Swear to God; and Understanding the Scriptures. His scholarly articles have appeared in various academic journals, including the Journal of Biblical Literature, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, and Currents in Biblical Research. He lives with his wife, Kimberly, and their six children in Steubenville, Ohio.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $9.99
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Image; Stg edition (November 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307589056
ISBN-13: 978-0307589057

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


How to Use This Book


You may use the book in any way you wish. For each session I have indicated a chapter of the book for advance reading. I have supplemented this “assignment” with pointers to other supplementary material—from the Bible, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and from other Church documents. I have also chosen, for each session, a hymn whose text is related to the discussion at hand. Singing sometimes loosens up the voices of discussion group members. And these traditional hymns will certainly give you something to talk about.

But my outline here is not intended to be a ritual. You’re free to use the elements that appeal to you and your group, in whatever order you please. You may skip whatever doesn’t work for you.



Session 1


Foreword by Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R.


SUMMARY AND KEY POINTS

• This book brings together several powerful spiritual realities.

• Eschatology is the study of “last things.”

• It is important that we conduct our study with a proper sense of the sacraments.


At my invitation, Father Benedict Groeschel wrote a foreword to The Lamb’s Supper. Father Benedict approaches the subject of the book from a very different perspective. He is a priest and I’m a layman. Father Benedict is a “cradle Catholic” and I’m a convert. Yet we converge upon a common faith; and, for very different reasons, we see a clear relationship between three realities that many people see as distinct or even unrelated: the Mass, the end times, and the Book of Revelation.

Father Benedict emphasizes the contrast between his own experience and mine. For me, the book is all about exciting “discoveries” I made in my studies. For him, the book is about an everyday reality he has known since he was an altar boy. These elucidations are not a novelty to him, but rather what he has “thought about the Eucharist for decades.”

Father Benedict also emphasizes certain things that are distinctive about Catholic doctrine and practice. He refuses, for example, to classify the Mass as a religious “service,” preferring terms such as “Divine Liturgy” instead. Similarly, he speaks of his own priesthood as a share in the priesthood of Christ, who is our only true priest.

He is especially concerned with the “sacramental” quality of the Church’s worship. According to tradition, a sacrament is an outward sign, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church. Through signs that can be perceived by the senses, the sacraments bestow divine grace.

Father Benedict notes that many people are disturbed by the prospect of the end of time, but he is himself at ease with the possibility of its fulfillment in his lifetime or its indefinite delay.

Along the way, he introduces us to certain key terms, such as eschatology, a theological term that refers to the study of last things. He encourages us to study “carefully” and “learn.”


Scripture

Revelation 4:8–11; 5:9–14; 7:10–12; 19:1–8


Doctrine

Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2642: The Revelation of “what must soon take place,” the Apocalypse, is borne along by the songs of the heavenly liturgy but also by the intercession of the “witnesses” (martyrs). The prophets and the saints, all those who were slain on earth for their witness to Jesus, the vast throng of those who, having come through the great tribulation, have gone before us into the Kingdom, all sing the praise and glory of him who sits on the throne, and of the Lamb. In communion with them, the Church on earth also sings these songs with faith in the midst of trial. By means of petition and intercession, faith hopes against all hope and gives thanks to the “Father of lights,” from whom “every perfect gift” comes down. Thus faith is pure praise.


Song


Come, Divine Interpreter

By Charles Wesley

(To the tune of “For the Beauty of the Earth”)

Come, divine Interpreter,

Bring me eyes your book to read,

Ears the mystic words to hear,

Words which did from you proceed,

Words that endless bliss impart,

Kept in an obedient heart.

All who read, or hear, are blessed,

If your plain commands we do;

Of your kingdom here possessed,

You we shall in glory view

When you come on earth to abide,

Reign triumphant at your side.


Questions for Reflection and Discussion


1. Before reading this book, had you ever connected the Mass with the end times and the Book of Revelation? Had anyone ever made the connection for you?

2. How, do you think (or would you guess), are these three things related?

3. Is your own experience of the Mass closer to that of Father Benedict Groeschel or that of the author of this book? Or does your experience share elements of both? Explain your answer.

4. How do you feel about the possibility of the world ending? What hopes or fears does it arouse in you?

5. What, do you think, separates a sacrament from a mere “service” of the sort Father Benedict mentions?

6. What will you look for in your study of “the end times”—your study of eschatology? What are your interests, concerns, expectations, or worries about the climax of history?

7. Have you ever had an experience at Mass that you considered a glimpse or foretaste of heaven? Has anyone you know had such an experience?

And Now Our Review:
New for 2010, the Study Guide makes a wonderful compliment to Dr. Hahn's The Lamb's Supper. This guide is designed to be used by individuals, reading groups, or an Adult Learning Class at Church. Moving through the book chapter-by-chapter, it opens with prayer and song followed by probing, thought-provoking questions that lead participants into the nuances of both the liturgy and the Book of Revelation while encouraging sharing and discussion. To contemplate the Eucharistic liturgy is to contemplate a deep mystery. Working through this guide as you read will surely make for a more fruitful reading experience.
-E G Lewis

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

THE LAMB'S SUPPER by Scott Hahn

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card author is:


and the book:


The Lamb’s Supper

Doubleday Religion; First Edition edition (November 9, 1999)

***Special thanks to Staci Carmichael, Marketing and Publicity Coordinator
Doubleday Religion / Waterbrook Multnomah, Divisions of Random House, Inc., for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


SCOTT HAHN was recently appointed as the inaugural Chair of Biblical Theology and Liturgical Proclamation at Saint Vincent Seminary (Latrobe, Pennsylvania). He is also professor of theology and Scripture at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. An internationally renowned lecturer, Scott is founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and editor of the Center's academic journal, Letter & Spirit. He is the author of a dozen books, including The Lamb's Supper; Hail, Holy Queen; Swear to God; and Understanding the Scriptures. His scholarly articles have appeared in various academic journals, including the Journal of Biblical Literature, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, and Currents in Biblical Research. He lives with his wife, Kimberly, and their six children in Steubenville, Ohio.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $21.95
Hardcover: 174 pages
Publisher: Doubleday Religion; First Edition edition (November 9, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385496591
ISBN-13: 978-0385496599
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


In Heaven Right Now

WHAT I FOUND

AT MY FIRST MASS

THERE I STOOD, a man incognito, a Protestant minister in plainclothes, slipping into the back of a Catholic chapel in Milwaukee to witness my first Mass. Curiosity had driven me there, and I still didn’t feel sure that it was healthy curiosity. Studying the writings of the earliest Christians, I’d found countless references to ‘‘the liturgy,’’ ‘‘the Eucharist,’’ ‘‘the sacrifice.’’ For those first Christians, the Bible—the book I loved above all—was incomprehensible apart from the event that today’s Catholics called ‘‘the Mass.’’

I wanted to understand the early Christians; yet I’d had no experience of liturgy. So I persuaded myself to go and see, as a sort of academic exercise, but vowing all along that I would neither kneel nor take part in idolatry.

I took my seat in the shadows, in a pew at the very back of that basement chapel. Before me were a goodly number of worshipers, men and women of all ages. Their genuflections impressed me, as did their apparent concentration in prayer. Then a bell rang, and they all stood as the priest emerged from a door beside the altar.

Unsure of myself, I remained seated. For years, as an evangelical Calvinist, I’d been trained to believe that the Mass was the ultimate sacrilege a human could commit. The Mass, I had been taught, was a ritual that purported to ‘‘resacrifice Jesus Christ.’’ So I would remain an observer. I would stay seated, with my Bible open beside me.


SOAKED IN SCRIPTURE


As the Mass moved on, however, something hit me. My Bible wasn’t just beside me. It was before me—in the words of the Mass! One line was from Isaiah, another from the Psalms, another from Paul. The experience was overwhelming. I wanted to stop everything and shout, ‘‘Hey, can I explain what’s happening from Scripture? This is great!’’ Still, I maintained my observer status. I remained on the sidelines until I heard the priest pronounce the words of consecration: ‘‘This is My body . . . This is the cup of My blood.’’

Then I felt all my doubt drain away. As I saw the priest raise that white host, I felt a prayer surge from my heart in a whisper: ‘‘My Lord and my God. That’s really you!’’

I was what you might call a basket case from that point. I couldn’t imagine a greater excitement than what those words had worked upon me. Yet the experience was intensified just a moment later, when I heard the congregation recite: ‘‘Lamb of God . . . Lamb of God . . . Lamb of God,’’ and the priest respond, ‘‘This is the Lamb of God . . .’’ as he raised the host.

In less than a minute, the phrase ‘‘Lamb of God’’ had rung out four times. From long years of studying the Bible, I immediately knew where I was. I was in the Book of Revelation, where Jesus is called the Lamb no less than twenty-eight times in twenty-two chapters. I was at the marriage feast that John describes at the end of that very last book of the Bible. I was before the throne of heaven, where Jesus is hailed forever as the Lamb. I wasn’t ready for this, though—I was at Mass!


HOLY SMOKE!


I would return to Mass the next day, and the next day, and the next. Each time I went back, I would ‘‘discover’’ more of the Scriptures fulfilled before my eyes. Yet no book was as visible to me, in that dark chapel, as the Book of Revelation, the Apocalypse, which describes the worship of the angels and saints in heaven. As in that book, so in that chapel, I saw robed priests, an altar, a congregation chanting ‘‘holy, holy, holy.’’ I saw the smoke of incense; I heard the invocation of angels and saints; I myself sang the alleluias, for I was drawn ever more into this worship. I continued to sit in the back pew with my Bible, and I hardly knew which way to turn—toward the action in the Apocalypse or the action at the altar. More and more, they seemed to be the very same action.

I plunged with renewed vigor into my study of ancient Christianity and found that the earliest bishops, the Fathers of the Church, had made the same ‘‘discovery’’ I was making every morning. They considered the Book of Revelation the key to the liturgy, and the liturgy the key to the Book of Revelation. Something powerful was happening to me as a scholar and a believer. The book of the Bible that I had found most perplexing—the Book of Revelation—was now illuminating the ideas that were most foundational to my faith: the idea of the covenant as the sacred bond of the family of God. Moreover, the action that I had considered the supreme blasphemy—the Mass—now turned out to be the event that sealed God’s covenant. ‘‘This is the cup of My blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.’’

I was giddy with the newness of it all. For years I had been trying to make sense of the Book of Revelation as some kind of encoded message about the end of the world, about worship in faraway heaven, about something most Christians couldn’t experience while still on earth. Now, after two weeks of daily Mass attendance, I found myself wanting to stand up during the liturgy and say, ‘‘Hey, everybody. Let me show you where you are in the Apocalypse! Turn to chapter four, verse eight. You’re in heaven right now.’’


STEALING MY THUNDER


In heaven right now! The Fathers of the Church showed me that this wasn’t my discovery. They had preached about it more than a thousand years ago. I was, however, convinced I deserved credit for the rediscovery of the relationship between the Mass and the Book of Revelation. Then I discovered that the Second Vatican Council had stolen my thunder. Consider the following words from the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy:


In the earthly liturgy we share in a foretaste of that

heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of

Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where

Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, Minister of the

sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. With all the warriors

of the heavenly army we sing a hymn of glory to the

Lord; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for

some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the

Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, until He, our life, shall appear

and we too will appear with Him in glory.


Wait a minute. That’s heaven. No, it’s the Mass. No, it’s the Book of Revelation. Wait a minute: it’s all of the above.

I found myself trying hard to go slowly, cautiously, careful to avoid the dangers to which converts are susceptible; for I was fast becoming a convert to the Catholic faith. Yet this discovery was not the product of an overwrought imagination; it was the solemn teaching of a council of the Catholic Church. In time, I would discover that it was also the inevitable conclusion of the most rigorous and honest Protestant scholars. One of them, Leonard Thompson, has written that ‘‘Even a cursory reading of the Book of Revelation shows the presence of liturgical language set in worship. . . . [T]he language of worship plays an important role in unifying the book.’’ The images of liturgy alone can make that strange book make sense. Liturgical figures are central to its message, Thompson writes, revealing ‘‘something more than visions of ‘things to come.’ ’’


COMING ATTRACTIONS


The Book of Revelation was about Someone Who was to come. It was about Jesus Christ and His ‘‘Second Coming,’’ which is the way Christians have commonly translated the Greek word Parousia. Through hour after hour in that chapel in Milwaukee in 1985, I came to know that that Someone was the same Jesus Christ Whom the Catholic priest lifted up in the host. If the early Christians were correct, I knew that, in that very moment, heaven touched down on earth. ‘‘My Lord and my God. That’s really You!’’

Still, serious questions remained in my mind and heart—about the nature of sacrifice, about the biblical foundations of the Mass, about the continuity of Catholic tradition, about many of the small details of liturgical worship. These questions would define my investigations through the months leading up to my reception into the Catholic Church. In a sense, they continue to define my work today. These days, however, I ask not as an accuser or a curiosity seeker, but as a son who approaches his father, asking the impossible, asking to hold a bright and distant star in the palm of his hand.

I don’t believe Our Father will refuse me, or you, the wisdom we seek regarding His Mass. It is, after all, the event in which He seals His covenant with us and makes us His children. This book is more or less a record of what I have found while investigating the riches of our Catholic tradition. Our heritage includes the whole of the Bible, the uninterrupted witness of the Mass, the constant teachings of the saints, the research of the schools, the methods of contemplative prayer, and the pastoral care of the popes and bishops. In the Mass, you and I have heaven on earth. The evidence is overwhelming. The experience is a revelation.

And now our review:
I cannot say enough about The Lamb’s Supper, Scott Hahn’s book on the Eucharistic Liturgy, or as it is commonly called, the Mass. Writing from personal experience and drawing upon his extensive knowledge of the Early Church and the Patristic Fathers, Dr. Hahn delves deeply into the ancient mystery of the Eucharist.

The book is divided into two sections. The first, and shorter segment, deals with his conversion experience and an overview of the Eucharistic Liturgy as it is practiced in both the Eastern and Western Catholic Churches. Having equipped his reader with a solid understanding of the parts of the Mass, its history and import, he then turns his focus to the Book of Revelation as an allegory to the Mass.

His many insightful observations are both educational and enlightening. Tapping into the writings of the Early Church Fathers, he connects seemingly disparate portions of John’s Revelation and shows how the Lamb’s Supper, or the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, is occurring right before our eyes right here on earth every day of the week.

I recently had the privilege of teaching a class for recent converts and when I concluded my talk by suggesting that they strengthen their new faith through meditation and study. Of the the books I recommended to them, The Lamb’s Supper was number one on the list. Before Dr. Hahn converted to Catholicism, he was a well-respected Protestant scholar. Though he now writes from a Catholic perspective, The Lamb’s Supper is Biblically based and would make interesting reading for any believer.

Tomorrow we will be looking at Scott Hahn’s companion volume The Lamb’s Supper Study Guide.
-E G Lewis

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Classic "1984" by George Orwell

Did you know that George Orwell's real name was Eric Blair? I didn't until I read it in the copy of 1984 I checked out at our local library. An Englishman, he was a political writer who "hated totalitarianism" and was very concerned about the advance of Communism and other cruelties throughout the world. Published in 1949, the futuristic novel 1984 was written as a warning. Despite the fact that 1984 is well behind us, this novelwhich has become a classicis still relevant today.

Protagonist Winston Smith is employed by the Party and always under surveillance by a "telescreen" at work and at home. It shouts out daily propaganda that can't be switched off, and is always transmitting his actions back to "Big Brother is Watching." Hate and war are constants in his life and that of others. Yet, he begins to question whether it has to be this way.

In rebellion, he and a co-worker strike up a relationship and risk their lives to sneak away to be together. She, too, has come to believe that Big Brother is evil and not the way people should be required to live. You may already know the story, as I did, and that they are found out and "converted" over many years of cruel tortures. But, the real story is in the details ... how and why civilization was converted into hate and war, worshiping no religion except "Big Brother." 

Amazingly, today some of Big Brother's "doublethink" has invaded our society. The most obvious is that babies before birth aren't really babies, only blobs of tissue that don't feel pain. They do, by the way. That is a perfect example of 1984's "doublethink" where two plus two can equal five and the slogans "War is Peace," or "Freedom is Slavery," and "Ignorance is Strength" are promoted as true. In our own time, terrorist acts are being termed "man caused disasters," and class envy is encouraged through making the wealthy scapegoats, rather than the government admitting to its failures.

Instead of the values once held by America, many young people now think America is somehow evil in spite of all the wonderful achievements of the generations who came before us. The inventions, the medical accomplishments, the help given to third world nations, are all overlooked and our positive history is seldom taught any longer.

An Afterword in this book was written by Erich Fromm, copyrighted in 1961. He couldn't see ahead to the dangers of Socialism, but warned against individuals acting like machines and losing their humanity. We must always question our leadership and remain truly human, which means caring for one another and valuing life at all stages, from conception to an elderly death. Let's not allow our government or anyone else to inflict "doublethink" on us.
Gail Lewis

Product Details:
Trade Paperback: 267 pages
Language: English
Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
ISBN: 0-452-26293-0


Saturday, December 4, 2010

DECEIVE ME ONCE by Valerie Massey Goree


Maricella "Chella" McDonough has a secret, one that's been eating at her for her entire adult life. Her husband Tom is none the wiser, nor are their two grown sons Jóse and Mike. But it's time for the secret to come out--prodded into the open by the body of a young woman that mysteriously ends up on Chella's property. A body linked to her past.

So begins a tale of intrigue and suspense, aptly entitled Deceive Me Once, for, indeed, once is all it takes. Once to bare one's soul, once to risk one's life and once to seek forgiveness.

Ms. Goree sets her story in the Hill Country of south-central Texas, not far from San Antonio. The land is rugged, in its own way beautiful, and often unforgiving. So is the tale she tells.

When Chella embarks on a covert mission to uncover the mystery surrounding a half-heart necklace found on the girl's body, more than solving a crime is at stake. She forces herself back in time to a horrific event she not only witnessed, but believes she caused: the death of her parents and the destruction of life she knew as a teenager. Aided by her godly and faithful daughter-in-law Teresa, Chella begins step by step to unravel the true circumstances surrounding the childhood tragedy and begins healing those wounds self inflicted so long ago. But there's more to Ms. Goree's story.

As is so true with deceit, Chella is not the only one affected by it. Her unconfessed sin has created a rift in the areas that matter the most: her marriage, her family and her faith. The question is whether she can untangle herself from the spiritual-emotional tentacles that have embedded themselves in her mind and her heart over the past 25 years. The answer to that question does not lie in this review, it lies between the covers of Deceive Me Once. Look there for it. You'll be glad you did.
— Bruce Judisch

Thursday, December 2, 2010

BABY BIBLE CHRISTMAS STORYBOOK

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card author is:


and the book:


Baby Bible Christmas Storybook

David C. Cook; Brdbk edition (October 1, 2010)


***Special thanks to Karen Davis, Assistant Media Specialist, The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Rev. Dr. Robin Currie is the Early Childhood Librarian/Preschool Liaison for the Glen Ellyn Public Library and serves on the staff of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. She is also the retired pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Glen Ellyn. Before and during seminary she was a children’s librarian for public libraries in Illinois and Iowa. She holds master’s degrees in Library Science from the University of Iowa and in Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, as well as a Doctor of Ministry in preaching from LSTC. Her published books include seven resource collections for librarians and over a dozen children’s Bible story collections.

Visit the author's blog.


Product Details:

List Price: $9.99
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Board book: 36 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook; Brdbk edition (October 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0781403685
ISBN-13: 978-0781403689

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER (Click on pictures to see them larger):












And now our Review:

Most of us lament the increasing secularization of Christmas, yet search as we might we struggle to find a way to counter the merchandising onslaught directed at our children. No longer. The Baby Bible Christmas Storybook provides parents a way to communicate the true meaning of Christmas to their youngsters in an interactive and fun way.

These books are made with thick cardboard pages and built to last. Filled with inviting illustrations, each page encourages participation with suggestions such as close your eyes…hold up a finger…pretend to open a door. And each page ends with a short prayer. As I flipped through the pages I imagined a toddler examining the pictures, going through the motions, and ending their story time with a heartfelt bedtime prayer.

If you act quickly, there’s still time to get one for this year’s Christmas season.
— E. G. Lewis