Review of The Truth About Forgiveness

When I received “The Truth About Forgiveness” by John MacArthur, I wasn’t expecting the volume of truth that’s bound in this tiny book. Only a little more than 100 pages, this book is a quick read. It’ll impact you completely with its amount of basic doctrine and the in-your-face way MacArthur places it to you. MacArthur uses plenty of scripture to back each statement made. It’s biblically backed. The other weekend I heard a radio commercial for a local church which claimed it didn’t use guilt in its messages. In this church they only show the love of Jesus. This book destroys the message of this commercial because without repentance there can be no salvation. MacArthur also uses stories of Jesus to back the point such as the paraplegic who He forgave then healed and the Pharisees reaction to the forgiveness. Forgiveness is laid out raw through this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will probably read it again. I’ve bragged on this book to a few friends. I’ve only read one other book by MacArthur, so I can’t really tell if it follows in his style of writing. I can say it is incredible and I love how he speaks on the forgiveness given by Jesus. He’s incredibly straightforward in a world where many weave around the truth. I plan on checking out the other two books in the series. These books will reveal truth to you concerning forgiveness. Through this book, forgiveness becomes much more real. I received this book from booksneeze.com to review, but the opinion is my own.

Review of a Book About C.S. Lewis

In “Surprised by Laughter: The Comic Life of C.S. Lewis” by Terry Linvall, the sense of humor of C. S. Lewis is studied in depth and ranges from his choice in books to his love of life. I was captivated by Linvall’s knowledge of C.S. Lewis and his works. Lewis is fascinating and by looking at how much he loved life, one easily sees Christ in the world. Linvall covers so many topics. While reading about the humor of C.S. Lewis, the reader is able to think of his or her own view of life and how it relates to Christ. I highly encourage this book for any fan of C.S. Lewis. I have to warn you it isn’t an overnight read. I’ve had this book since Christmas and have diligently read each chapter. I am short a few chapters, but have a decent idea of the book. With approximately 450 pages stocked with information is a tough read. Although this looks like a literary dull study of Lewis, Linvall makes each page interesting and leaves you longing for more. Although you may be bored if looking for a great fiction story, this book is perfect for the historian who loves Lewis. I received this book from booksneeze.com. One funny story: the cover of this book just looks smart. One weekend I was having some friends over and I decided while cleaning to toss it on my coffee table in the middle of the living room. One of my friends picks up and I later teased I only sat it there to make myself look smarter. Hey, I need all the help I can get.

Post of Rage

What makes a person a leader? I thought about this today when I picked up a Chik-fil-A bag which advertised some big leadership conference featuring Tim Tebow on the side. I’ve never understood why anyone holds these leadership conferences. I doubt anyone has gone to one and had such a radically changed into a leader. Leadership isn’t an overnight character trait.


The best thing a leadership conference could do is tell if you are one or not. Or send you home feeling motivated although in a week you’ll be living the same way you do before you signed up. Leadership conferences, books, speakers, whatever are about pointless. Most of the people who go to these somehow pinpoint how they are a leader and leave patting themselves on the back when they should be leaving in shame.

I see these conferences and books on the subject everywhere, but rarely do I encounter a true leader. No one stands outs anymore. The ones who do are so attacked by the world it’s impossible to stand long. If they aren’t attacked they are overworked to the point of exhaustion.

When I think of great leaders, many men and women spring to mind from history and a few whom I currently know. Who do I follow? Christ. The ultimate leader.

As a Christian, I follow Him with my entire life. Every Christian should.

1 Peter 2:21

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.



A true leader is someone like Christ who will stand as something different from the world. Each leader has at some point decided not to follow the crowd, but to perform to the best of his ability and live a life of courage.

Stand up for what you believe in. Stand up for your rights. Stand up for justice. This part goes back a little on a different post so I’m going to stop on this one before I rewrite it.

A true leader does not wait for someone else to do what he could have already accomplished. Don’t be afraid to get dirty and quit being lazy. Someone has to do the job and by sitting back and waiting for someone else, you are becoming the problem. Esther was told if she didn’t stand up for the Jews, God would send someone who would.

Esther 4:13-14 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

It doesn’t even have to be something as big as saving the Jews. If you are walking through your office and someone has made some huge mess and left it, clean it up. It’s one simple step toward being a leader. Don’t pace it off with a “it’s not my job” attitude. Clean it up.

Find someone you encounter daily who is a complete jerk to you for no reason. Be the bigger person and tell them good morning everyday or compliment them.

Now here’s a big one: when you tell someone you are going to do something, then do it. Dependability is huge. I’ve never understood someone who wasn’t true to their word. I don’t know about you, but I value my word. I’d be embarrassed if I was the person no one could depend on. If I say I’ll be there, as long as the Lord’s willing and the Creek don’t rise, I’ll be there. If you tell me you are going to do something, call me a fool, but I believe you. And I’m depending on you.

Some people may call me too trusting, but I believe in a different set of standards. I hold everyone to these standards whether they will perform or not. So congratulations. I’m trusting you until proven otherwise. Go ahead and take advantage of that; it only makes you look worse. Moving on.

A true leader finishes what he starts. I’m going to take my girls I’m mentoring as an example. When I took them on, I took on the responsibility of discipling them for life. Yes, I may not be there every step of the way. I refuse, though, to do this for a couple of months then stop and forget they exist. Their lives are way too valuable.

This holds true for so many things. A true leader realizes she’s dealing with people’s lives here. Everything you do affects someone. It might only be short term, but what you do has consequences. You aren’t the center of the universe.

One final thing before I quit gripping.

True leaders arrive on time. By not showing up on time you are basically saying you don’t care. Actually, getting there a little early is preferable. If you have to be at work at 8 a.m. every day you should be in the habit of getting there on time. Do whatever you have to get there on time. Figure out how early you should get up; then do it. It’s that simple. You want to argue with me go right ahead and do it.

Alright, I’m done. Actually I may have a little more gripping to do, but I feel just a little bit better. And I’ll save rest for later. Thank you for your time.

Review of Nearing Home

I just finished reading Billy Graham’s “Nearing Home,” which I received from booksneeze.com. This is the first time I’ve read something by Billy Graham, and I have to admit it was amazing. He is a great writer, even at 92. It is amazing how easily his faith bleeds through the pages and he can’t help, but add the gospel into this book on aging well. He used several good stories to show what to do and not to do. All subjects in the book Graham has experienced, and he writes as an authority on the subject. I don’t think you could be too young to read this book, despite its topic. We are all going to get old one day and Graham shows how to do it for the glory of God. He covers topics such as aging, handling grief, comforting others and, of course, the gospel. It didn’t take me long to read this book of 180 pages. All it took was one good rainy afternoon and I zoomed through it. It was hard to put down. I’m eager to pass this book on to my grandmother, although I think she may know a whole lot on this subject. I’m hoping I’ll be able to find more books by Billy Graham because he is such a good writer. I encourage this book for everyone, no matter the age. At some point, everything in this book will be encountered by every individual. Unfortunately, we aren’t getting any younger so we might as well do it for the glory of God.

Review of The Sacred Meal

Well first off, I lost this book for months and finally found it stashed away while moving. My favorite part of this book is its cover, which makes it look really nice sitting on the back of my toilet or on my coffee table. I guess that sounds bad for the book, but it’s really pretty. OK, the book I’m talking about is “The Sacred Meal” by Nora Gallagher, a commentary on communion. Booksneeze.com sent this book to me by request. It was a good read despite losing the book for so long. The author describes her experiences with communion and how it relates to Christianity and the world. I disagreed with her on several things and a couple of comments made were wrong. I actually was talking to a friend after reading this, and she laughed at me as I explained it. I did like the way the author wrote and how she described her experiences with communion. The best way I could described it is poetic and mystical. Afterward I was ready to go talk to my pastor about taking communion more in our church. I think one of the things I was expecting was more of a history and a way of communion. It’s more of a “these are my experiences” and a relation to Christianity book. Overall, I did enjoy. And the cover is pretty.

Love Story

A couple of weekends ago, I was spending some time with a couple of friends at the lake. One of them said she would like to read a sexy romance novel. We, of course, both looked at her strange and then she made the comment she found “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers very sexy. This is when we both chuckled to ourselves and continued to talk. This is a novel based off Hosea about a marriage between a godly man and a prostitute. It’s an awesome read, one I highly suggest. Now it isn’t sexy like you might think of a Nora Roberts’s book. It’s a romance which centers around a relationship based on God.

Last night I was thinking about this.

Have we twisted romance into something it’s not? I would have to say yes.

Most love stories revolve around nonexistent themes, giving little girls the idea they’ll have these fake romances one day. A typical romance book (not novel, because most of these books are too simple to be labeled a novel) involves some overly sensitive, yet buff male who sweeps the young lady off her feet, carries her to bed and then at some point maybe weds her. The last part is optional. Most of these books have the same storyline and after the third or fourth reading of a romance book anyone with any sense knows what will happen.  

Let’s look at a book that may or may not have the sex part. Now I’ll admit I enjoy Nicholas Sparks every now and then, although it’s been a while. Actually “A Walk to Remember” is one of my favorites. I’ve given these novels a new name. Well, I stole this name from another article: emo porn. The odds of any of these romances happening are slim to none. In fact, if the guy from “The Notebook” was real, we would call him a stalker.

This isn’t love. It’s not real and getting lost in this world is not good for you. It’s like a man who watches porn. You are going to start expecting something from men which they are not. You are going to expect a romance to blossom in a way it can. Not every love story involves a man jumping on a carousal to ask you out or a smoking hot cowboy riding up on his pony all hot and sweaty and still smelling good to ride you off in the sunset. Mr. Carousal would be either a stalker or would give up and, sorry, but the stinking cowboy is more likely to make like Matt Dillon.

These fantasies make love into something it’s not. For one thing, well, there’s carousal guy and I’ve already covered that.  Now I’m still single so I can’t comment on love or marriage or anything other than what I’ve seen. True love isn’t the sparks at the beginning or falling into love just to jump into bed. (Honestly, falling into love sounds painful. I’m not a big fan of falling. Or pain.)

The most beautiful romances I’ve seen are the ones which have gone through the trials, stood by each other’s sides, raised a family, have put up with each other for 40-60 plus years and still are hanging in there. I like to think of my grandparents. I know they’re marriage has definitely not been smooth sailing. Actually how they ended up together is kinda sweet, but that’s beside the point.

For instance, granddaddy had a total knee done about a year ago. When he came home, grandma was helping him into the house and I was standing behind for support. Right before he reached the top step they had to stop and kiss for a moment. It was incredibly sweet. Watching them is amazing and finding out their stories is also pretty cool…even the bad stuff. Because that’s what makes love amazing: going through trials together with God at the center supporting everything and coming out still in love at the end.

Now since I’ve spent the whole time talking about bad romance books let me tell you what to read. Read the Bible. It’s the ultimate love story. For the first time ever I’m almost done reading it straight through. I’ve tried before and got a little distracted. Beside the point. The Bible is the ultimate love story of a gentleman Pursuer who is patiently waiting for His bride. The more I read the more I realize how much Jesus really loves me. Which in turn makes me love Him more. My favorite book of the Bible has become Ruth, and it isn’t so much the love story between Ruth and Boaz, but because it actually represents the love story between Christ and me.

Awww, it gives me chill bumps just typing it. What more do I need, really? J

So in about three hours I will be loaded in a car on my way to my first youth camp where I will spend five days with 50 teenagers, the hot sun and lots of Jesus. Yes, I'm excited. A little nervous, too. In honor of this I've decided to write a blog so my number one fan has a little surprise since she won't see me all week. Course I have no idea what I'm writing about, so I'm just going to keep typing until this thing seems complete.
I guess I could and talk about how much of an amazing weekend I had with two amazing friends. It's not often I take a weekend and do absolutely nothing. It's definitely good for the soul. Jesus did it often and really, I should be following His example and withdrawing from the craziness of the crowds. Maybe if I were to fit more of these weekends into my schedule, weekends filled with friends and Jesus, I wouldn't get quite so stressed.
You also need good friends. I've written on this before, but it's on my mind. Friends who are going to be blunt with you when you're being an idiot. And love ya while doing it. Ones who will quote Winnie the Pooh quotes even though you roll your eyes. (OK, I'm not really sure I know how to roll my eyes.) Friends who will swim with ya and cheer while you touch a wall. Yay number one fan!!
One whole weekend with good talks. I feel refreshed and ready for anything. Maybe even youth camp.
Oh! And as if that wasn't enough Jesus was all showing off Friday night with some shooting stars. They were beautiful.
Ahhh, what a weekend.
:)