Wasted Prayer - book review

Title:  Wasted Prayer

Author:  Greg Darley

       Greg Darley is a social entrepreneur, speaker, and director of College Mobilization for International Justice Mission.  He speaks at churches, conferences, organizations, and universities throughout America.

       Prayer is one of the oldest and most sacred practices of Christianity.  For thousands of year, people have been praying to God, seeking His guidance, and looking for answers.  Prayer is woven into the DNA of Christianity and the Bible.  It is foundational to our relationship with God.  In Wasted Prayer 

 Greg Darley shines a light on the truth that sometimes saying prayers falls shot of what God wants us to do.  There are times when only action can accomplish the miracle that we desire.  This book challenges us to learn that there is a time to pray and a time to act.

     Action to move can take incredible faith.  We must earn that the life of faith is one of adventure and excitement.  It is also one of fear and uncertainty.  The key is to find a way around the fear and seize the adventure God desires  for your life.  Sometimes the key can be to stop praying and start doing.  Prayer should never be an obstacle to accomplishing what God has called you to do.  The author explains t us that pray can be a great way to prepare for action, but we should not just settle for preparation. Following Jesus has always been about action.  If there is no action in your life, you aren't following Jesus.  This may be the day to stop praying about what God wants us to do and start doing it. 

     I found this book to be very challenging and thought provoking. I give it 5 stars.

The Solomon Seduction - book review

Mark Atteberry

    Mark Atteberry is the award-winning author of eleven books.  H e has been the preaching minister of Pointciana Chritia Church in Kissimmee, Florida since 1989.

    Seduction is the art of enticing a person to make negative behavioral choices heor she would otherwise avoid.  Pastor Atteberry provides us with 10 "wake-up calls that let us know when we are being seduced. 

Solomon, himself, was the wisest of all men, however he managed to be seduced.  One of these "wake-up" calls is:: You know you're being seduced wen sin seems like good idea.  That is one of Satan's best tricks.  He can make terrible sins look like a good idea.  Solomon, who wrote much of the book of proverbs,fell into this trap.  His own words were:  The purpose of the proverbs is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them o what is right, just, and fair.  This book helps us to acknowledge that sin is never a ood idea  It seems impossible that the wisest man in the whole human race would ruin his life by making dumb choices, but Solomon did.  Solomon was better equipped to see through Satan's deceptions than any man who has ever lived, other than Jesus.  But in the end, he became just as blind to them as everyone else.  With humor, grace, and a pastor's heart, Mark Atteberry seeks to offer practical suggestions on how to avoid a similar fate.

    I found this book very informative and also enjoyable  It was very easy to understand and a very fast read.  It also held may attention.

Title:  No More Dragons

Author:  Jim Burgen

    Helps us get free from broken dreams, lost hope, bad religion, and other monsters.

    Becoming a dragon is a dangerously subtle process.  It never happens all at once.  You make a long chain of bad choices.  The chain gradually wraps around you.  You aren't who you used to be and you aren't who you want to be.  More importantly, you 're not who you were created and designed to be.  Instead, your're a dragon.

    Jim Burgen was raised believing in Jesus, but by the time he was a college student he was very disappointed and disillusioned by "church."  As Pastor Jim narrates the remarkable process of Jesus reaching into his life and reclaiming him from himself, he implores modern church folks to shake off the trivial, sometimes weirdness, of religious churchiness in favor of the more important questions that make spiritual transformation and "undragoning" even possible to those who are looking for truth and grace.

    No more dragons is about discernment and making better decisions.  It is about asking Christ to deliver you from your own scales.

Jim Burgen has been the lead pastor of Flatirons Community Church in Boulder County, Colorado since 2006.  He also serves on the board of SOZO international, an NGO focusing on holistic community empowerment in Afghanistan.

    I found this book to be very enlightening.  I think it would be very helpful for young people. 5 stars

one God one Plan one Life - a book review

Title:  One God One Plan One Life

Author:  Max Lucado

    Max Lucado ministers at the Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas.  More that 100 million readers have found comfort in his writings.

    One God One Plan One life addresses important topics like faith, obedience, and self-control as well as difficult-to-discuss-with-your-parents issues like purity, bullying, and alcohol and drug use.  Each day includes a short devotion and scripture as well as a straight-to-the-heart idea that will inspire you to trust the one God who will love you through it all and despite it all

    I have read many devotional books in my life, but I have never read one as good as this one.  Not only is this book good for young people, it is very good for all ages.  There are devotionals for every day and every situation.  These devotions are very easy to follow and understand.  Teens and young people have life coming at them fast and hard, the Bible can be an "answer book" for them.  It is a good idea to read something from it every day,  This devotional is a good way to get started on a reading plan.  Teachers may pile on the reading assignments, but the Bible is the most important book you will ever read.  It's God's plan for your life, telling you what is right, what is wrong, and how to get to heaven.

I give this book 5 stars.

It's a God Thing - book review

Title:  It's a God Thing

Author:  Don Jacobson

Don Jacobson is the founder of D.C. Jacobson & Associates, an author management company, where he works closely with authors--together dreaming about books that change the world by helping the church realize its true calling.

" It' a God Thing" is a very inspiring collection of instances where things that might have looked hopeless and depressing were used by God for good.  Most of these stories are truly amazing, and if one hasn't seen the "hand of God" in their own life up to this point, they surely will want to reexamine some of their past experiences more closely.

     The most amazing miracle of all wraps up the book reminding us that Jesus died so that we don't have to.  We are reminded that the three greatest words in all the world are "I love you"--which God so eloquently says to us through the gift of His Son.  No matter how bad the situation is or how messed up our lives are, there is always hope.  Jesus always offers hope.  No matter how much hatred we have endured or pain we have inflicted, God always gives us hope.  He loves us unconditionally, regardless of our messed-up lives.

Hopefully these stories will help all who read them and help them to realize that miracles are not reserved for the characters in the Old and New Testaments  they happen to everyday people: we just need to be sensitive to them.

You'll Get Through This - book review

Title:  You'll Get through This

Author:  Max Lucado

        The message is the message you need:  You'll get through this.  It won't be painless.  It won't be quick.  But God will use this mess for good.  Don't be foolish or naïve.  But don't despair either.  With God's help, you'll get through this.  Yes!  Deliverance is to the Bible what jazz music is to Mardi Gras:  bold, brassy, and everywhere.

        Sometimes our "pits" come in the form of a diagnosis or a traumatic injury.  Joseph's came in the form of a cistern.  Joseph was thrown into a hole and despised.  Sometimes we are thrown into an unemployment line and forgotten, into a divorce and betrayed, into a bed and abused.  Our life is reduced to one quest:  to get out of the pit and never get hurt again.  Pits have no easy exit.  Joseph's story got worse before it got better.  Abandonment led to enslavement, entrapment, and imprisonment.  He was sucker-punched, sold out, mistreated.  People made promises only to break them.  If hurt is a swampland, then Joseph was sentenced to a life of hard labor in the everglades.

        Yet, Joseph never gave up.  He never became bitter.  He never let anger metastasize into hatred.  His heart never hardened.  He not only survived; he thrived.

        Joseph's life offers this lesson:  in God's hands, intended evil becomes ultimate good.  Life in the pit stinks, but it forces us to look upward.  Someone from up there must come down here and give you a hand.  God did for Joseph.  In the right time, in the right way, He will do the same for you. 

        Max Lucado acknowledges the depth of sorrow and trouble in modern life and offers realistic hope in a faith in God, even when such hope is hard to find.

        Max Lucado ministers at the Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, where he lives with his wife, Denalyn, and a sweet misbehaving mutt, Andy.  More than 100 million readers have found comfort in his writings.

Runaway Emotions - A book review

Title:  Runaway Emotions

Author:  Jeff Schreve

 

        This is a well written book about our emotions and how to deal with them.  We all have them and we all need to know how to deal with them and to realize that they are no unusual.  The author explores emotions from embarrassment to depression.  He helps us to know what causes us to feel inferior, loneliness, frustration, worry, anger, guilt, discontentment, and depression.  Emotions make life interesting.  Life without emotions would not be fascinating in the least.  He explains how emotions make life worth living.  They are the colors of life.  Unfortunately, as fallen human beings living in a fallen world, we aren't given the privilege to pick and choose which emotions we will experience in our lives.  We appreciate all the joy, love, laughter, peace and wonder we can wrap our arms around.  But then we also have to deal with the dark side of the emotional spectrum.  There we find fear, worry, anger, and bitterness.  Guilt, loneliness, and embarrassment also join in to rear their ugly heads.  Sometimes these negative emotions run away with our joy and peace.  The author likens these negative, runaway emotions to smoke detectors.  They tell us, "There's a problem here.  Something's out of adjustment and desperately needs attention.  The author helps understand that even these negative emotions can play a positive role in our lives.  He uses scripture to show us that there is a specific and compelling message in each of our negative, painful emotions.  He lets us know that God doesn't want any of us to get stuck in one or more or these troubling feelings.  The choice is ours to make.

 

    Jeff Schreve is a passionate communicator of God's word with a great desire to help people connect with Jesus Christ and experience His love and plan for their lives.  Since 2003 he has served as pastor of First Baptist Texarkana, Texas.  In 2005 he foualnded From His Heart Ministries a national and international radio and television ministry.

Victim of Grace Book Review

Title:  Victim of Grace

    Robin Jones Gunn is the much-loved author of several award winning series, including Christy Miller, Sierra Jensen, Katie Weldon, Glenbrooke, and Sisterchicks, with more than4.5 million books sold worldwide.  Robin serves on the board of Media Associates International and often speaks locally and internationally.  She and her husband have two grown children and live in Hawaii. 

    This book helps us to understand how God comforts us when we feel as if we are at the mercy of other people's decisions or victims of circumstances.  Sometimes our faith seems to be tested and the "Teacher" seems silent during this test.  Robin helps us to consider women in the Bible such as Hannah keeping her promise to God to give her son back to Him  She kept her promise even though it hurt.  We learn to understand that our circumstances do not limit God.

    We also learn to wonder how our family legacy might be changed if we put all our hope in God the way Ruth did.  Ruth managed to navigate her way through her relationship with Naomi even though Naomi had become bitter and declared he emptiness to others.

    This book was extremely helpful for dealing with life's happenings.  I especially enjoyed the discussion questions at the end of the book.

I give this book 5 stars.

Karen M. Buckner

The Lambs Agenda - A book review

Ttle:  The Lamb's Agenda

Author:  Samuel Rodriguez

 

    Rev. Samuel Rodriguez is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, America's largest Hispanic organization.  Named by CNN as "The leader of the Hispanic Evangelical Movement" and by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of America's new evangelical leaders.

    The Roman historian Tacitus, writing nearly two thousand years ago, told us how the Emperor Nero thought he had put an end to that "class hated for their abominations, who are commonly called Christians.  Tacitus wrote::

                                                                    

     Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.

 

    If Christians could survive Nero, if they could survive Lenin and Hitler, them they can survive the materialist present.  They have already outlasted the Beatles, whose John Lennon told us nearly fifty years ago:  "Christianity will go.  It will vanish and shrink.  I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right.  We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first--rock and roll or Christianity."

    Life is a cross.  No other symbol incorporates passion and promise like the cross--a simple symbol depicting two pieces of wood, one vertical and the other horizontal, successfully branded the eternal hope of glory to all mankind.

     In this book Samuel Rodriguez offers a blue print for Christian rejuvenation, a prophetic call to orient our lives at the nexus of the cross.

    Joining the Christianity of Martin Luther King jr. and Billy Graham, The Lamb's Agenda reveals the crucial connection between biblical social justice and spiritual righteousness.  Getting back to the basics of Christianity means extending our efforts simultaneously in the vertical direction of GOD and the horizontal direction of our neighbors.

        This is one of the most inspiration books  I have ever read.  I give this book 5 stars.

    

Karen M. Buckner

When Donkeys Talk - Book Review

Title:  When Donkeys Talk

Author:  Tyler Blanski 

    Mr. Blanski gives us a different look at Christianity.  Whether you agree with him or not, you may enjoy his book.  I didn't care for his ideas, however I am sure some people will.  The book makes the oint that the medium of God's message is not important---only the message is.  An ass or an angel, it doesn't matter.  It is difficult to imagine a set of beliefs more suggestive of mental illness than those that lie at the heart of many of our religious traditions.  According to Mr. Blanski, theology is now little more than a branch of human ignorance.  I felt this book talked down to the reader in a large amount of intellectual "babble".  Many times I found myself lost in words.

Just Like Jesus - Book Review

Author:  Max Lucado

Title:  Just Like Jesus

 

    Max Lucado is one of America's favorite writers with more than 100 million products in print.  He serves the Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas with his wife, Denalyn.

    This book is beautifully written.  It helps us accept the simple truth that God loves us.  Not only does He love each of us exactly as we are, He wants us, little by little, to become like Him.  He loves us enough to live within us, making our hearts His home.  Max reminds us of just how far God will go to transform us into His likeness.  God loves us just the way we are, but He refuses to leave us that way.  More than anything, He wants us to be just like Jesus.  This book helps us to understand the heart of Jesus.

    The heart of Jesus is forgiving, compassionate, listening, God-intoxicated, worship hungry, focused, honest, pure, hope-filled, rejoicing and enduring.  This may sound like too much, but  this little book explains it all in an easy to absorb fast read.  At the end of the book there is a complete study guide.  The study guide covers each chapter seproup study separately and completely.  It would be a great book for a group study, as well as a personal study.  I can't think of a greater gift than to be like Jesus.  Christ felt to guilt; God wants to banish yours.  God wants to remove our bad habits.  Jesus had no fear of death; God wants us to be fearless.  Their are many more qualities that are covered in this book that we can learn from studying the heart of Jesus.

 

I give this book five stars.

Yours is the Day - Book Review

Title:  Yours Is The Day, Lord, Yours Is The Night

Authors:  Jeanie & David Gushee

 

    This book offers a collection of morning and evening prayers, a different one for every day and night of the year.  They refect sasons, holidays, and the liturgical calendar of the Western Christian church.  It is a good "springboard" for spontaneous Christian prayers.  It helps us to meet and greet the new day with God.  Some of the wording was a bit "stiff", but if used as a framework for prayerful devotions with a morning an evening prayer I found it somewhat useful.  The morning prayers can be used to greet the new day with God.  The evenig prayers close the day, asking for God's blessing as we lose ourselves in sleep.  The evening prayers can "pull" us in and help us focus after a long and sometimes stressful day.  They can help quiet our mind and bring us in tune with God.  The apodte Paul instructed us to "pray without ceasing" (1Thess. 5:17).  We can use this book to honor God and sek Him.

 

Jeanie Gushee is a published poet with a B. A. in English literature from the College o William and Mary

David Gushee, PHD is a well-known Christian ethicist who serves as a distinguished university professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University.  He and Jeanie have been married for 28 years.

Neighbors and Wise Men

Tile:  Neighbors and Wise Men

Author  Tony Kriz

    Tony Kriz has an earned doctorate in spiritual formation.  He is teacher of faith and culture through the mass media, via social media, and at universities, conferences,churches, seminars, and other speaking engagements.  He pastors an imbedded community of life-servants in one of Portland's most culturally diverse neighborhoods.

    Neighbors and Wise Men introduces captivating dialogues and unexpected moments with God that go beyond the confines of a conventional religious system and offer the chance for powerful life transfomation.

    The ancient church chose to yearly revere the Magi, the pagan scholars from the East, who visited Jesus as a babe. These "wise men" were not Jews, and they were certainly not Christians, as there were no such things as Christians at this point in history.  The day the ancient church chose to commemorate the wise men was called epiphany:  a word we use today to mean "a profound lesson from a surprising source or circumstance."  God wants to share His story.  And it is His pleasure where, how, and to whom He reveals His story.  We can learn from the themes of God's story from people who do not wear our same religious uniform, do not have our same spiritual name badge and certainly do not come from our same background or experiences. 

    Have we limited God's ability to speak in our world today?  Have we relegated God's creative voice to the select persons who share our particular religious system?  Kriz himself felt like he was falling out of faith until non-christians ecouraged him to "fall toward Christ." 

    May we stand together before the glorious sunset that is the gospel of Jesus Christ and explore it, admire it, and love it.  May we learn together to say, "Woe am I" before the wonder of God.  And in response to God's eternally creative voice, may we increasingly learn to submit our collective lives to Him.  Let the epiphanies come.  Amen

Title:  The Truth About Forgiveness

Author:  John teaching  MacArthur

 

            John ac Arthur is widely known for his thorough, candidnapproach to teaching God's Word.  He is a popular author and conference speaker and has served as pastor=teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley California, since 1969ni.  John's pulpit ministry has been extended around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You,  and its satellite offices in seven countries.  He is the president of Th Master's College and Seminary and has written hundreds of books and study guides, each one bilical and practical.

            The Truth About forgiveness first tells us why we ned to be forgiven.  We are being told daily by "learned" professionals to deny are problems are caused by our own sin.  We are told that we are victims of one "disorder" or another.  Even parents are told to excuse misbehavior and seek therapy.  Mr. MacArthur says the disease=model approach to human behavior has so overwhelmed us as a society that we have gone haywire.  The sin-as-disease model has proved to be a boon to the multibillion-dollar counseling industry, and the shift toard lpng-term or even permanent therapy promises a bright economic future for professional therapists.

            Mr. MacArthur gives us the good news that we don't have to live this way.  There is meaning to life and hope of life afte death.  We cannot atone for our own sin--we need a substitute.  God alone can forgve sin.  Healing is a perfect metaphor for forgiveness.  No amount of tears can atone for sin.  he only way to find real forgiveness and freedom from our sin is through humble, contrite repentance.  This is the only way to get rid of the guilt that haunts us.  Excusing the sins by calling them "diseases" is not effective.  No therapist can erase out problems. 

            Whether we are giving or receiving forgiveness is hard.  It seems unfair. It feels unnatural.  And as best-selling author and pastor John MacArthur demonstates in this book, forgiveness apart from Christ is unnatural.  It is only as we understand our need, Christ's power and example, and what it really means to love that we can embrace two of the most liberating acts of love:  forgving and being forgiven.

 

This book was very informable.  I give it 4 stars--Karen Buckner

Our Favorite SIns

Title:  Our Favorite Sins

Author:  Todd Hunter

    The author has had more tan 30 years of pastoral experience.  Pastor Hunter knows that everyone--himself included--deals with temptation every day.  All too often we fail and fall, and som o us are at or wit's end, utterly defeated.  Walking out of our favorite sns makes perfect sense after you have done it.  But we need a biblical, psychologically, sophisticated, pastoral guide toge us to that pont.  That is Todd Hunter.

    Beating temptaton requires struggle because it always involves sorting out rightly odered desires for good ad Godly things from our disordered desires for wrong things.  We ofter experience these disodered desires as our most powerful and deeply rooted desires.  There are innumerable ways to gratify our desires that are contrary to God's will for our lives. Sometimes it seems to make sense "in the moment".

Somewhere down te path we realize that somewhere we really did lose coherent and good judgemnt.  Sin robs us of our clarity.  "Our Favorite Sins" is lovingly wrtten to encourage those who have decided to resist favorite sins, those of us who are looking for ways to win against temptation. 

    Some sins are easily visible, like hitting an innocent peson. Some are less so, like a hidden attitude of hatred.  The principles drawn frm in this book from the specific research and personal stories are easly applied to anyone's specific set of desires, temptations, and sins.  Everyone can learn from this book.  Truth is truth.  The real sources of temptation do not come from hip, inviting marketing slogans from businesses.  The actual starting place for temptation lies deep within us.  Perhaps the chief power of temptations is their ability to lie to us.

    The first decisionone needsto make as we put this book dwn is this:  What do really love?  The second goes with it:  What will I kick to th curb?  Once we answer these 2 questions, reordering desires will become, over time, automatic.This book uses many biblical references and scripture to help us drop our favorite sins ad pick up love fo God and our neighbors.

 

I found this book very helpful.  I would give it 5 stars. 

Nearing Home - A Book Review

Title:  Nearing Home Author:  Billy Graham         Dr. Graham helps us to learn how to grow old and live the years before we die.  He tells us how, looking back he can see God's hand guiding his life.  This book is well written and had me asking myself what "home " I was preparing for.  While growing might be the greatest surprise of our lives, the greatest triumph is yet to come:  experiencing victory over death that will usher us into the eternal presence of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  As Dr. Graham tells us, we may retire from our jobs, but we should not retire from life.  The truth is that we gain new experiences until the day we die.  God has a purpose for each of us, and "old age" does not exempt us from fulfilling that purpose.  Dr. Graham gives us multiple examples throughout  scripture, from the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testamaent to the apostles and followers of Christ in the New Testament, of men and women who made a profound impact on generations that followed.     We can learn that the last chapter in life can be the best.  We are not meant to live without hope.     I found this book very comforting and informative.  I give it four stars.

The Baker's Wife - A Book Review

Title:  The Baker's Wife

Author:  Erin Healy

 

Erin Healy is a critically acclaimed, best-selling novelist and an award-winning editor for numerous best-selling authors.

 

    The "Baker's Wife" is an extremely well-written story of suspense dealing with modern problems.  It deals with family dynamics and how Christian principles might come into play.  There is much to learn from this book about how God could work.  It is entertaining as well as spell-binding.  I found it a very "easy read" and hard to put down.  Erin Healy shows us that one can write a suspenseful, entertaining story and still adhere to clean dialog and descriptions. 

    This story gives us a lesson in understanding and compassion, while showing us the risks of ignoring God's call to compassion.  The hostage situation that unfolds in the story shows how the characters gain advantage over Jack by their support of each other.  Julie shows us how compassion can be stripped away leaving a desire for inflicting pain if we are not careful. 

    There are many insightful things we can learn about ourselves from this book, and at the same time be entertained.

 

    I give this book 5 stars.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book through the booksneeze program - however, I am not required to submit a positive review.

Book Review: One Call Away

Title:  One Call Away Author:  Brenda Warner       This is a memoir taking us from 1967 thru the present time in the life of the author.     Brenda Warner is a speaker, philanthropist, and New York Times best=selling author.  She is the mother of seven children, a registered nurse, and a Marine.  But most of all, she is a storyteller who candidly shares her struggles in hopes that her life experiences can help other women.  Brenda is also Vice President of the First Things First Foundation, an organization she co-founded with her husband, NFL player Kurt Warner.     At the early age of twenty-two, she found herself living through any woman's nightmare, a healthy baby tragically injured in the bathtub, a sudden end to a career she loved; betrayal and divorce; poverty; public humiliation; a deadly natural disaster that destroyed her foundation and shook her to her core.  One shattering phone call at a time.  Brenda Warner's life came to resemble little of her dream.     Her story provides encouragement for anyone facing life's challenges and shows us that our circustances don't tell us who we are, nor are they a measure of God's love.  We all have choices to make when our plans fall apart--we can collapse in the face of tragedy or press forward and survive.  God has a plan for us, even when our plans fail.  Brenda hopes that when we get to know her, they find that they share a lot in common.  Sometimes they can relate to the adversities she has faced, the mistakes she has made, or the dreams she has for her children.  Maybe they're in a dark place and wondering if there is hope.  Maybe they're feeling weak and vulnerable and badly in need of strength.  She hopes her experiences will help them understand their own experiences, inspire them to take a next step, and give them strength to make the hard choices in their lives.     Most of all, Brenda wants us to know that we don't have to be who people say we are. . . or who we were yesterday.  We all have the ability to change and grow past our expectations and the limitations others try to impose on us.     This was a "fast" read and I could not put it down.  I give this book 5 stars.

book review: the quotable rogue

Title:  The Quotable Rogue            The Ideals of Sarah Palin In Her Own Words Edited by Matt Lewis       Matt Lewis is a writer,blogger,and commentator based in Alexandria, Virginia.  He currently serves as a senior Contributor for the Daily Caller.  A former columnist for Politics Daily, Lewis hosts The Matt Lewis Show podcast, and cohosts The Week in Blog, a weekly dialog on Bloggingheads.TV.     Previously, he served as a contributing writer and blogger for Townhall.com.  Matt has appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, and C-SPAN, as well as on numerous radio shows, including The G. Gordon Liddy Show, Lou Dobbs, and NPR's Talk of the Nation.  He has been quoted by major publications, such as the Washington Post and the New York Times, and has authored columns and blogs for diverse publications, including Politico, Human Events Online, the Daily Caller, Big Government,and Campaigns and Elections Magazine.     When republican presidential candidate John McCain stepped to the podium and introduced the then Alaska governor as his running mate, few Americans had even heard of her.  Before long she was beloved by conservatives, disdained by liberals, carefully studied by centrist independents, and dissected relentlessly by an insatiable media machine.     This book gives insight into the views of Sara Palin on such isues as abortion, the Real America, living in Alaska, on Barack Obama, economics, crime, education, faith, family, politics, the recession, Washington, etc.     We are also given a glimpse into the opinions of John McCain, People Magazine, Michael Reagan, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, as well as family and resicents of Alaska.  Minnesote Representative Michele Bachmann in the Minnesota Daily of April 7, 2010 says of Mrs. Palin "Part of it is she's so much one of us.  As absolutely drop dead gorgeous as this woman is on the outside, I'm here to testify she's 20 times more beautiful on the inside."     After reading this book, I felt that I knew much more about this fascinating, intellegent woman.  This is a very "fast" read.  I give it 4 stars.

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Title:  Washington Author:  Paul Vickery     This book was a very interesting account of George Washington's journey from becoming the "father of our military" to becoming the "Father of our country".  I found the contrast between the military of today and the military of Washington's time fascinating.     The purpose of this volume is to examine the events that led to the transformation of George Washington from a twenty-one-year-old appointed major in the Virginia militia to the commander in chief of the American forces.  Expieriences gained during his younger days laid the groundwork--by developing the character and training the mind, even as it toughened his body--for future greatness.  His successes and failures forged the tactics and strategies that allowed his poorly fed, raggedly equipped, multicultural rabble of untrained soldiers to succeed on the battlefield.  In so doing, Washington established what became the armed forces of the United States and created a legacy for all future American leaders to follow.     Although this work is not primarily intended to emphasize the religious faith of Washington, his dependence upon and belief in the power of God is evident in his writings.  He believed himself to be, as he often said, "in the hands of good Providence."     Washington was born into a family of moderate wealth on February 11, 1732 {during his life a change in the calendar converted this to February 22, 1732} in Westmoreland County, Virginia.  He was instructed in the principles of grammer, the theory of reasoning, on speaking, the science of numbers, the elements of geometry, and the highest branches of mathematics, the art of measuring, composing together with the rudiments of geography, history and the studies which are not improperly called the humanities.  In addition, the physically imposing Washington received training in the social graces such as fencing, dancing, and riding--all of which were highly prized in southern society and all of which he excelled.      Despite its constant failings, divisions, and incompetence throughout the war, Washington had submitted himself to congreeional authority.  In so doing he establishe3d the principle of civilian control over the military.  Unlike many other nations, the United States has never seriously feared a military coup--since Washingotn.  Perhaps Jefferson leaves us with the best Eulogy for Washington:  "He was indeed in every sense of the word, a wise, a good, and a great man.  I felt on his death, with my countrymen, that, Verily a great man hath fallen this day in the house of Israel."     Paul S. Vickery is a professor of history at Oral Roberts University.  He has been involved with education for nearly forty years.     I give this book 5 stars.