Finding Noah - Movie Review

For over 2,000 years, man has been searching for the final resting place of Noah's Ark.  Though there have been many attempts, few have been able to fully explore the one place specifically noted in the Bible: Mount Ararat.  Located in Eastern Turkey, Agri Dagh or "The Painful Mountain" is the tallest mountain in the region and lies in the very center of a centuries old, geo-politically unstable hot spot.  With constant threats of deadly rock slides, hidden crevasses, and glacial ice falls, the Kurdish Rebel held mountain poses great risk to any explorer, let alone those performing a thorough scientific investigation.  

Join director/producer Brent Baum and the FINDING NOAH film crew as they follow an expedition of intrepid explorers on a perilous trek up to Mt. Ararat's desolate summit.  There, using state of the art technology and real-time satellite imagery, this team of archeologists, scientists and professional mountaineers will begin a grid work of exploration unlike any before, hoping to finally resolve the age-old question:  did Noah and his Ark actually exist?  

Shot in never-before filmed locations in the harshest of conditions, this unprecedented feature-length documentary shows just how far men are willing to go to discover the truth.  Narrated by Academy Award nominee Gary Sinise, FINDING NOAH is more than a quest for answers, it is a testament of the human spirit, where belief and the need for exploration transcend risk and limitation.  

My Review: 

I am a firm believer of the Bible and in the Book of Genesis, it states that the ark rested on the top of Mount Ararat when the waters began to recede after the flood. The one thing that no one can argue is that in virtually every religion and in every culture, there is a story of a great flood or deluge that covered the earth. It is also why I believe that fossils of species are found on virtually every continent despite that the environments may not have been suitable for that species. It is the only plausible answer that fits and once science will one day come to accept. In this documentary, I am in awe of the spirits of the men from various backgrounds and skills sets that have banded together using information that has been acquired for more than a hundred years in an attempt to locate any sign of Noah's ark.

I won't tell you the outcome because that would ruin it for everyone, but sometimes its the persistence and desire to locate what has been kept secret locked beneath 30 some meters of ice and glaciers in a region where the territory and rights of those that control it, have been ever changing for centuries. Now under control of the Turkish government and even then against two opposing sides, the team must gain permission to begin the climb otherwise they are fair game to those who continue to fight in that region. It is unbelievable what it takes to begin this journey and will be a huge favorite for those that love a challenge or are hard core climbers.

I received the opportunity to preview Finding Noah before it hits theaters on October 8th for one night only, compliments of Propeller LLC and 17K ASL for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review, aside from my opportunity to preview it and the opinions contained here are strictly my own. I love the background history into the cultural aspects behind trying to find the ark and what it would mean if they could find it. It goes beyond simply proving it exists, and now just need to find out precisely where it is buried. I hadn't realized that many other documentaries that have claimed they have found the ark were fakes in order to make money on their movie. For me this one rated a 4 out of 5 stars and is Dove Approved for ages 12 and up.

For more information about Finding Noah, obtaining tickets to see it on October 8 or learning more about the team that made the journey, please click on the links below:

Finding Noah by 17K ASL
 
You can find Finding Noah on Facebook to stay up to date on all the latest news about the ark.
  
To purchase tickets for this one day event to see Finding Noah on October 8th, please click here.

When Calls the Heart: Heart and Home - DVD Review

Those of us that adore Hallmark Channel's series, When Calls the Heart, are referred to as "Hearties" and now with the introduction of Heart and Home, the latest DVD from the series has now caused a bit of a stirring up among our favorite characters.

Just when we believe things are settled, there comes a bit of chaos to the mix. Charles is still there as Elizabeth Thatcher's (Erin Krakow) childhood friend that seems to be encouraged by those in Elizabeth's family, all but her sister Julie, that Charles would make a more suitable match than Jack Thornton (Daniel Lissing). As they both arrive back to Hamilton with news that Julie and Jack's brother, Tom have been involved in a car accident, the car belonging to Elizabeth's dad. He is all set to prosecute to the full extent of the law and have Tom tossed in jail. He knows that Julie has been a bit headstrong in her opinion that she and Tom are in love and had hoped to get married. But there is one thing Mr. Thatcher wants to control is who his daughters marry and he isn't too thrilled to have either of the Thornton men with interests in his daughters.

As Jack and Elizabeth arrive, the tables get turned a bit for viewers. Jack spends time visiting with his brother Tom in the hospital and manages to convince Elizabeth's father to drop the charges against his brother especially when evidence Jack uncovers tells a much different story about who was really driving the car that day. However he does find a friend in Tom's nurse Faith as the two discover they have quite a bit in common. As a way of thanking her for all her help, Jack meet Faith over dinner and is discovered by Elizabeth's sister and her husband.

Not one to keep secrets she is quick to let Elizabeth know that she saw Jack having dinner with another room, which once again throws a monkey wrench into our favorite couple. Julie and Tom decide not to let their families tell them what to do and make plans to elope. Rosemary is head over heels with the excitement that she has managed to convince Lee Colter to build her a theater. Of course what man wouldn't for a woman he loves. But he still has issues with Mr. Gowen who has vowed to put an end to the impending railroad contract that would promise to be quite the thing the town needs to bring more industry to the town of Hope Valley and make Lee a very wealthy man. But with Elizabeth now heading back to Hamilton to deal with the issues with her family, she leaves the school to a back up teacher who has a less than pleasing disposition with her students and Rosemarie offers to lend a hand of course.

I received When Calls the Heart: Heart and Home from Word Films and Edify Media Group for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review, aside from a free copy of the DVD for review, the opinions contained here are strictly my own personal ones. I have loved this series from it's inception and from Janette Oke's novel which inspired the show. It is one of the true shows that is still family appropriate for all ages much like Little House on The Prairie did for my childhood. Michael Landon Jr is the executive producer and truly the show gets better with each new episode. Much of what I love about this series, it's the fashions and the simplicity of life in Hope Valley compared to that of Hamilton. For me, another 5 out of 5 stars and I can't wait for more. This DVD runs approximately 84 minutes and includes some exclusive behind the scenes interview.

For more information about When Calls the Heart: Heart and Home, Word Films or where you can pick up a copy of this DVD today, please click on the links below:

When Calls the Heart: Heart and Home

You can find When Calls the Heart on Facebook to stay up to date on all their latest episodes.

You can find Word Films on Facebook to stay up to date on all their latest films.

To order a copy of When Calls the Heart: Heart and Home from Amazon please click here. 

The Apologetics Study Bible for Students

The Christian walk of faith is certainly one of that requires a lot of faith, but also a trust in a God that we, as a generation has never seen. The world for most students who are attending public school and colleges are those in whose faith will be put to the ultimate test, to stand for the truth in an ever changing world that is growing more hostile to the Christian faith. Will our generation of children be able to stand strong in the coming storm? Will they have all the answers they need to defend what they believe? Is there a tool that can help them with the challenging questions that will be asked of them? I believe there is!

Sean McDowell is the general editor for the Apologetics Study Bible for student, a tool I believe will be useful for answering those difficult and heartfelt challenges about their faith and the life that they have chosen. It is designed to help students be equipping them with the truths of Scripture that enables them to articulate their faith. A better way to think of it, is Christian apologetics 101, which isn't about apologizing for their faith, but helping them understand how to defend it in today's growing and changing world.

The HCSB or Holman Christian Study Bible edition offers them introductions into each of the sixty six books of the Bible along with some amazing study notes to provide evidence of the reliability and truthfulness of Scripture. There are also 120 articles scattered throughout written by today's leading Christian thinkers like Sean McDowell, Bayard Taylor, Daryl Rodriguez, Alison Thomas, Frank Turek, Steve Russo, Ryan Sharp, and many, many more that deal with such topics like "Why Are Some Christian's Hypocrites, How Can I Be Sure I am Saved, If God Made Everything, Why Shouldn't I Smoke Pot, Why Would A Good God Send People to Hell and so many others that deal with the kinds of questions being asked by people today that our children and teens deal with. What better way to answer them than with the right tools and scriptures to reference!

There are also those Scriptures that other religions and people try to twist to make us question our own understanding of the Bible, along with 50 Bone and Dirt features that highlight important archaeological discoveries with an apologetics value with quotes from influential people throughout history. There is also 25 tactics to equip students to withstand opposition to Christianity by outlining tactics and strategies for handling frequently heard anti-Christian arguments. Finally there are also 20 personal stories that will help encourage and strengthen readers in their faith by describing how God has worked dramatically in other people's lives and 20 Fast Facts that compare such differences as the Bible versus the Koran, Atheism, America's Christian Heritage, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Darwin's Evolution Theory as well.

This is the perfect gift for your middle school student and up because it is more than the Bible it is a tool that will enable them to stand up for what they believe in and know right where to go for the answers. A wonderful graduation gift for any student of the Christian Faith and one that I highly recommend. It comes with indented tabs to enable quick reference into the Bible, and my favorite is how it is written to appeal to students in each section such as "What is going on here?" helps them to understand why a particular book of the Bible was written and what had been happening in the land as it was addressed! My 16-year-old daughter LOVES having this Bible to use in her youth group and loves the videos that you have access to by picking up a copy of this Bible as well. They have encouraged her in ways reading articles would never reach her for defending her faith! I would rate this one a 5 out of 5 perfected stars and think every student should own one! I received The Apologetics Study Bible for Students compliments of B and H Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review aside from a free copy of the Bible. The opinions contained here are my own. I think our generation of teens deserves the gift of a Confident Faith and this is just the right resource for them to find it! Now for the best part.

Thanks to the generosity of B and H Publishers, they are offering giveaway copy of the Apologetic Study Bible for Student to one lucky follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart. Here are your guidelines to enter:

1. Be a follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart. 

2. Be a resident of the US or Canada. Please No P.O. Boxes.

3. Leave me a comment below telling me why you'd love to win a copy of the Apologetics Study Bible for Students and how you plan on using it. Don't forget to include your email address so I can make sure if you are the lucky winner, I have a way to reach you. You can even use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols.

I will notify the winner of this giveaway on October 12th, so make sure you include your email address with your comments below to be eligible to win.

For more information about The Apologetics Study Bible for Students HCSB, Sean McDowell or where you can pick up a copy of this amazing Bible today, please click on the links below:

The Apologetics Study Bible for Students

To access the Study Videos, simply click here and begin your own journey into Apologetics!

To purchase a copy of the Apologetics Study Bible for Students, please click here.

For more reviews on The Apologetics Study Bible for Students, please visit B and H Publisher's website. 

The Babylon Code

"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact. ~ Sherlock Holmes, The Bascombe Mystery.

You just don't know how very true the statement is. When you look at the sorry state our world seems to falling into rapidly, you begin to wonder if there isn't a reason why all of this is happening. Are we headed rapidly towards a convergence of some kind? I believe we are and so do most people who are surveyed in the world. However the outcomes are too very different ones. Some believe we are heading towards the culmination of a one world government while the others believe we are simply living in the final days of Bible prophecy. Which everyone one you believe, it is apparent something is happening and it doesn't look like it's going to get any better.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations General Assembly that 'biblical prophecies are being realized. Franklin Graham says the world is in the 'last hours' before Christ return and Pope Francis believes mankind is in the beginning stages of a piecemeal, "Third World War." All of these remarks are coming on the heels at a time of plummeting morality, spiritual apathy, exploding national debts, severe economic turmoil, political uncertainty, a spate of historic natural disasters, worsening worldwide drought, record-breaking extreme weather, the growing risk of a nuclear conflagration and other daunting challenges. Have the biblical end-times finally arrived?

We have had the September11th, terrorists attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 financial meltdown, the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the increasingly unstable situation in the Middle East with the rise of ISIS and Iran's suspected development of nuclear weapons. There appears to be no end to the bad news. We have the killings of Christians by Muslims from Indonesia to Bangladesh to Pakistan, China tearing down church buildings. Christians tortured, beheaded, and crucified in Iraq, with villages burned and churches destroyed, and much the same in Syria. You can't help but wonder if we are in the last hours before Jesus returns.

Many intuitively sense that the world has entered one of the most dangerous times in all of human history. Society is caught in a maelstrom of converging forces - the growing threat of thermonuclear war, worsening drought and famine and intensifying calls for a new internal order and global authority to address the mounting array of international crises. Experts are alarmed by the continued spread of weapons of mass destruction and threats by Iran, North Korea and ISIS to bring about "Armageddon" in the West. Meanwhile, fears of a economic collapse are growing as nations continue to amass unprecedented levels of debt.

But are all these things merely coincidences or is there something larger at work. Some believe that God has removed His hand of protection and America is being to reap what it has sown by such things as legal abortions, the redefinition of traditional marriage to include same sex couples and now the persecution of Christians within our own bodies if any stand on religious freedoms. Others believe that we are all merely pawns being used by those in the Illuminati, the Freemasons, or the Rothschilds or other secret organizations that have been planning for such a time as this where a one world government, one world economy and a one world religion can be culminated like never before. Is now that time? Are these organizations really at work playing people like master puppeteers? A closer look and an indepth research is required.

In the book, The Babylon Code from Paul McGuire and Troy Anderson, they take a look back into both situations to see how close any of these theories are to becoming a reality. While I can appreciate their interpretations of the Bible from the use of Daniel, Ezekiel, Revelation and more, I see that most of this book is redundant. In fact, I believe you could scale this down to half of what is included and still gain the point behind that they intended. I lost count how many times, the reiterated the story of Nimrod and it's correlation to both the Bible and the world views. I felt like I read a book that had been written in various stages or chapters and then assembled together. I was sincerely hoping for so much more than what this book promises and for me, comes a bit short on delivering what I believe the reader is hoping to gain from reading it. It needs someone to read through it and reorganize the information in a more concise manner to make this what I believe the authors were hoping for. I received The Babylon Code by Paul McGuire and Troy Anderson compliments of Faith Words for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation aside from a free copy of this book to review for my honest opinion. For me this one had promise but failed to deliver in the way I believe they intended and thus the reason for my 3.5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about The Babylon Code, Paul McGuire, Troy Anderson or where you can preorder a copy of this book today which is due out in October of 2015, please click on the links below:

The Babylon Code by Paul McGuire and Troy Anderson

You can also find The Babylon Code on Facebook to get more information about the details discussed in this book.

For more reviews on The Babylon Code, please visit Faith Words website. 

Angel of Wrath

When you want a great suspense thriller that couple a bit of the spiritual warfare, you would immediately think of Frank Peretti, but now there are quite a few authors that have picked up the proverbial baton as it were on the Christian side of things and run with it. Bill Myers is one such incredibly talented author who picks up with the sequel of The Voice with Angel of Wrath. It delivers just what is promises and you don't have to read The Voice to gain an appreciation for this one.

The trio that we met in the first novel, Special Ops Agent Charlie Madison, Lisa Harmon, an ex FBI agent and Jazmin, his thirteen-year-old niece find themselves dragged into an unexplained series of murders involving the pastor of the local church and Lisa's brother, Thomas and his family. As each member of the body of the church family winds up dead with no witnesses other than a cryptic calling card outlining their religious crimes from adulterer, gossip, murderers and more. The body count is adding up faster than the local police can attempt to find clues. The only ties seem to be with an ex military agent known only as Kristof, who has garnered the worship of the high school teens to take part in a Satanic worship to call forth an enemy from the spiritual realm that will do their bidding.

Believing they are ushering in the end time events culminating with the unholy alliance of Jesus Christ and Satan, they have begun their own brand of religious cleansing of the church who has forgotten their first love and instead it about its own glory in building the world's largest megachurch. No longer preaching the gospel message as it might offend newcomers and the younger generation, these members of the church have found that sin is quite profitable until the light is shined upon it, including its own head the church Lisa's brother. They have little time to locate the killer and try to find a way to send back the demon summoned from hell before more wind up dead. It will take a battle of their backgrounds but mostly faith to fight those that want them all dead.

Angel of Wrath is the sequel to The Voice from Bill Myers and I absolutely love how this one played out throughout the book. You weren't sure if it was all demonically driven or if there was another player working in the background and it seems as if it may not be over. This novel is not overly religious, but it does bring faith into the picture against the demons they have summoned to do their bidding and at some point transports some of our characters into the very pit of what could be called hell as we meet with legion. What I love about this novel is that it showcases the danger of dealing with the occult and while we might believe we have power over evil, it is all a facade and what is often summoned is more than what people might believe. It simply opens a doorway into the spiritual realm that allows evil an opportunity to gain a foothold. But the power of good and faith is used to show just how powerful knowing Jesus can be when the battle goes beyond what they thought. Forgiveness, redemption and love are the key themes to this novel. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions presented here are strictly my own honest ones. I would give this novel a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about Angel of Wrath, Bill Myers or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Angel of Wrath by Bill Myers 

You can find Bill Myers on Facebook to stay up to date with all his latest novels.

To read more reviews on Angel of Wrath, please visit Faith Words's website.  

Sky Blue

To say I really like Travis Thrasher's novels would be a serious understatement, and I truly believe that somewhere if it is at all possible, we are definitely on the same wave length when it comes to writing. The exception is, he has had his books published, while mine remain shared between close family members and friends, much like Donald's, a character in his novel, Sky Blue, meaning for now, those great novels are simply in my head. If you have honestly never picked up a novel by Travis Thrasher, I would seriously encourage you to do so, especially if you are at all like me and hate books where you can figure things out before the end. Most novels have that uncanny ability to do just that, introduce a set of characters, develop a plot line and then slowly lead you down the path to where you imagine it all might just end up. Not with Travis's novels.

Sky Blue was something I didn't quite expect and since I've been filling the gaping holes in my Thrasher library with his older novels, I was extremely interested in reading this one since the note he included in the book was "one of my favorite novels." I mean how could you not resist wanting to read a novel that is one of the authors favorites. Once again, I was floored by the last handful of pages, because despite where I though this one was going, once again, he pulled the proverbial rug out from beneath my feet and left me flat on the floor looking at the sky. How did I miss that? I mean it's like the movie Signs by M. Night Shyamalan or The Sixth Sense with Bruce Willis. It's exactly like when you get to the end of the story expecting one thing then it takes you some place different, a place you didn't even see coming. You have to almost go back and reread it to figure out where did the unexpected turn come from that you simply missed perhaps because the story was so good, you simply missed that exit while you were driving along.

To sum up Sky Blue without giving away the true diamond is simply about the life of Colin Scott, a literary agent who is simply burned out (think Jerry Maguire), and is struggle to find his way out of the same old boring routine and from over paid, demanding, egotistical authors who believe that they are the next J.K. Rowling in the mix. Couple that with his marriage to Jen that is on the rocks while they are trying unsuccessfully to have a baby. With careers that keep them apart more than together, they try for one final vacation to put their marriage back together before it's too late. Then tragedy strikes and the life Colin had hoped would be their future is now lost at sea and he is among the debris. Think you know where this one will end up. Yeah I don't think so. Trust me you will want to savor this one to the end, don't rush it trying to figure it out. Enjoy the journey!

Now if you ask me, I'm going to have a hard time, trying to pick one of my favorite novels from Travis Thrasher simply because they are all that great but in vastly different ways. One thing he has taught me as a potential future author is that it's okay to take people where they least expect to go. If you sell them on the story they will go with you all the way to the end and it will be that greatness you had dreamed it would be. Well one thing I can say about this novel Mr. Thrasher is to pen a quote from Sky Blue where you borrowed a quote from Stephen King, " writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, or making friends. In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read our work, and enriching your own life, as well." You have done that and more thanks to taking your talent and enriching the lives of those that read your novels. Greatness awaits as you put more of your incredible stories between the pages of another brilliant novel. I am a forever fan!

I received Sky Blue  by Travis Thrasher as a self purchase and did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review. The opinions contained in this review are strictly my own personal honest ones. Hands down I would be extremely hard pressed NOT to give this one 5 out of 5 stars but if you read it, I'm sure you are likely to agree with me.

For more information about Sky Blue, Travis Thrasher or where you can pick up a copy of this novel, please click on the links below:

Sky Blue by Travis Thrasher

You can find Travis Thrasher on Facebook to stay up to date on all his latest novels.

A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn

I was so excited to get this book that I immediately sat down and began reading it. Pinecraft, Florida is definitely on my Bucket List, because each time I read one of Shelley Shepard Gray's novels using that as a setting, it makes me not only want to visit, but possibly live there. The characters she has breathed life into makes you want to see for yourself how hospitable, warm and loving this community of Amish truly is. While the place is real, we know that the characters are just the ones we have fallen in love with from the moment we began our journey in the Amish Brides of Pinecraft Series. A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn is the third book in this series. Welcome back my dearest friends!

Beverly Overholt, part owner now of the Orange Blossom Inn finds that her niece Tricia who has made Pinecraft her home for now, has begun a friendship with Ben Hilty, the oldest son of the Hilty family who was staying at the Inn, until the farm they purchased was ready for them to begin moving into. Now it seems she is hoping that Tricia doesn't fall to hard too soon for Ben as she is still dealing with her past that caused her to wind up with Beverly to begin with. Meanwhile Beverly is trying to sort of her own feelings with the new owner of the Inn, Eric Wagler, an English man who is attempting to sell his home so he can manage the Inn on a more permanent basis. For now, Beverly is in charge of manning it full time. How can she possibly have feelings for her new boss?

Emma Keim, a widow with three young girls is about to run into God's true destiny for her life, when a wayward beagle named Frankie, with an appetite for all kinds of food, but especially pizza, lands himself in a backyard pizza feast of the Hilty family. Her she meets Jay Hilty and his three boys who is also a widower and she finds that making a friend might not be such a bad thing after all. However when circumstances keep bringing the two families together, both of them feel a pull towards more than friendship as time wears on, especially since they witness the growing affections between Ben and Tricia. Is love once again in the air at the Orange Blossom Inn?

I received A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn by Shelley Shepard Gray compliments of Avon Inspire Publishers and Litfuse Publicity for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review, aside for a free copy of this novel, and the opinions expressed here are my personal honest ones. It will be hard to watch this series end because I feel like I have gotten to know each of these residents in a personal way through the sharing of their story in Pinecraft and their place in the community. Here is to hoping that not only Beverly and Eric fall in love as those daily phone calls seem to hint at, but also the love growing between Emma and Jay. Just like an Amish Brady Bunch as Shelley like's to refer to them as. For me, this is like a true homecoming each time I open these novels and thus the reason for my 5 out of 5 rating. I love savoring each story and this one was exceptional!

For more information about A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn, Shelley Shepard Gray or where you can pick up a copy of this one today, please click on the links below:

A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn by Shelley Shepard Gray

You can find Shelley Shepard Gray on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn, please visit Litfuse Publicity's Book Tour page.

Gather Around The Amish Table

One of the things I most admire about the Amish and Mennonite communities besides their amazing sense of community and faith, but their love of cooking. I would love to sample some of their down home, all natural meals one day but for now, like most of us, I will take to trying my own hand based on recipes handed down from generation to generation from the Plain communities.

In Gather Around The Amish Table by Lucy Leid, she has compiled a host of recipes ranging from breakfast food to main dishes, appetizers, home made bread, to desserts and those famous Amish whoopie and shoefly pies! Using information she has gleaned through reading Die Botschaft for the last thirty years which is a plain newspaper that is sent out weekly that contains everything you wanted to know about what goes on in a plain community as well as those time honored recipes we've come to love but which we could make ourselves. These recipes are wonderfully collected and displayed in various chapters including some whimsical stories that often accompanied those recipes and how they came to be in the newspaper. There is even some household tips, and great ideas such a making your own baby wipes, bird treats and all purpose cleaner in addition to those wonderful recipes I have begun to make for my family.

Some of my favorites are Four Hour Root Beer, that's right you can make your own gallon of rootbeer from this wonderful recipe, Peanut Butter Fudge, Southern Buckeyes, Peppermint Twirl Ice Cream, Lillian's Lemon Bars, Pumpkin Cookies, Blueberry Pie, Hawaiian Cake, Creamy Chicken and Rice, and all kinds of breakfast treats and casseroles. A word to the wise here however, before you attempt to make any of these, note the serving size. They range from a small family of 4 to groups of 20 or more, so be wary. There is even a recipe for Apple Butter that yields 24 pints. This is just what you would expect to see in an Amish Cookbook and I can't wait to try most of them.

I received Gather Around the Amish Table by Lucy Leid compliments of Herald Press and Litfuse Publicity for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review outside of a free copy of this book to read, and the opinions expressed here are my own honest ones. My only complaint would be that this isn't much bigger but I may have to find a way to subscribe to Die Botschaft myself and try and capture and sample all the wonderful goodness you would come to expect from an Amish or Mennonite home. For that reason I would rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars in this reader's opinion as I am off to make another delicious treat for my family.

For more information about Gather Around The Amish Table, Lucy Leid or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Gather Around The Amish Table by Lucy Leid

You can find Lucy Leid on Facebook at MennoMedia for more delicious ideas, tips and recipes. 

For more reviews on Gather Around The Amish Table, please visit Litfuse Publicity's Book Tour Page. 

This Means War

You've got battles to fight - on your knees!

From the producers and directors of the movie, War Room, that is vastly becoming one of the most life changing movies to hit the big screen in years, comes a book designed for teens to enable them to see things in their own terms when it comes to the principles of prayer. This is a book designed to be used daily, written in and prayer over because it takes  teens through the process of understanding prayer, what it is designed to do for a believer, how to document prayers, making sure your prayers line up in the will of God, and how to even pray for your enemies, often one of the things we all struggle with the most.

It provides teens with some specifics we might not even consider, such as praying for your career while you are still in school. Each chapter is designed to develop a specific prayer along with some thought provoking questions like on the topic of prayer for your career, how might you generally pray for your career? Then it details and places the focus on what things interest you? What are you passionate about? What careers always looked appealing? What is your specific prayer for your future career? Praying strategically for your career involves, "What do you think is your involvement in this prayer? Whose involvement in this prayer can make a difference? Whose involvement might surprise you? What sorts of resources are needed? What is God's purpose for your career? What is God's strategic will for your career? Then you pray strenuously for a career which includes a place for dating when you started praying for your career? As well as places for date and comments to include what setbacks did you encounter? What progress did you see, when did you see this prayer answered, and finally what factors did you specifically, strategically and strenuously pray for that you saw occur?

The entire book is dedicated to 49 distinct issues facing our teens and how they can watch and document God's divine intervention in prayer. When you see things answered in ways you prayed for, ways that exceeded your prayers or often something you didn't see coming that have now impacted your prayer, it helps teens see that God is always working on issues we pray about and sometimes they are answered right away and often times, they take time to see them fulfilled. The importance of this prayer journal is that it shows teens in a completely different way that prayer does work and God does communicate with us in unique ways all through documenting prayers much like a commander or officer would do in planning for battle.

I received This Means War by Stephen and Alex Kendrick compliments of Icon Media Group and B and H Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review aside from a free copy of this book and the opinions contained here are my personal and honest ones. I absolutely LOVED this book and it was given to my own 16-year-old daughter to begin using and she found it extremely useful She loved the places for dating the items she prayed about and loved the questions that caused her to really consider if the things she was praying for were what she wanted or what God may have wanted for her life. She loved how it helped keep her on track instead of just generally praying about a wide variety of issues and kept her more focused on the issue at hand. For us, we rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about This Means War, Stephen and Alex Kendrick or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

This Means War by Stephen and Alex Kendrick

You can find Stephen and Alex Kendrick on Facebook to stay up to date on all their projects and books.

To read more reviews on This Means War, please visit B and H Publishing Groups website. 

The Battle Plan for Prayer

There isn't one person whom I doubt hasn't heard of a story in which prayer changed the outcome of something that was being prayed for. A miracle for someone who was dying and now was going to live, the disaster that was averted by the faithfulness of a mother's prayer, the finances that came through from an unexpected source just at the right moment, or perhaps a marriage saved just when the divorce papers were about to be filed. On the heels of the movie, War Room from Stephen and Alex Kendrick, which focuses on the very powerful issue of prayer, The Battle Plan for Prayer, is the paperback companion. It helps readers focus on basic training for prayer, especially in light of how so many people are just not praying because they believe it doesn't work, or it requires a special place to do it, or the right words to say.

This takes things from basic training and moves it to targeted strategies for such things as our families, marriages, spouses, children, praying for the lost, for authorities and even for such things as revival in the churches and in the labors of the harvesters. It teaches you where we often make the mistakes and fallacies when it comes to prayer and how to make it much like that of Miss Clara Williams, a force to be reckoned with in the movie, War Room. We would all hope that some day our prayers would be as powerful, as bold, as confident and as effective as the ones witnessed in the movie.

This book teaches some amazing things like having a target prayer list, to pray for your top three areas in our life, three areas that would take a miracle from God to answer, and even some future goal setting that would benefit with the additional blessing from God to understand His will for our lives instead of struggling against our own will. How to make sure we line up with what the Bible teaches about prayer, that it is our most powerful weapon as believers in Jesus, and one we fail to use as a first response instead of a last resort. Prayer is our armored tank and our major assault weapon in battle. We learn how men and women in the Bible applied these principles to see mighty things happen in their life. Prayer can do anything. It can reach out and address any issue that anyone is facing anywhere on the earth. It can be silently engaged without the enemy ever hearing the life changing conversation going on in our heads and hearts with our Commander in Chief, Jesus Christ.

This is not just a harmless little church ritual we're talking about. Nor a pitiful beggar asking for a handout he's almost sure he won't receive. There's raw power here. There's access to God Almighty. There's a certainty of His sovereignty. There's boldness that no amount of enemy resistance can steal from us unless we give it away. And that only happens when we don't pray. I received The Battle Plan for Prayer by Stephen and Alex Kendrick compliments of Icon Media Group and B and H Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review, aside from a free copy of this book, and the opinions contained here are strictly my own honest personal ones. For me, this book has dramatically changed the way I approach prayer, from a half- hearted request for what I need, to understand the power of coming before the very throne room of our Creator and God. I easily give this one a 5 out of 5 stars and have ordered this for the people in my prayer group so we can be as effective in prayer as God has designed prayer to be.

For more information about The Battle Plan for Prayer, Alex and Stephen Kendrick or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

The Battle Plan for Prayer by Stephen and Alex Kendrick 

You can find the War Room on Facebook to stay up to date on all the latest prayer strategies to make your prayer life the way God has designed it to be.

For more reviews on The Battle Plan for Prayer, please visit B and H Publisher's website.

Admission

When most people are asked to describe college life for typical male young men, you would often bring to mind fraternity parties, college pranks, drinking, partying, drugs and short term relationships, even perhaps poor choices when it comes to studying and attending class. Often time, most people believe that this would be a check list of sorts for your average college student. When Travis Thrasher wrote Admission it was about that kind of experience. Where a group of rag tag men gathered together to have one anothers backs. If you mess with one, you messed with all of them.

You have your teens that went there based on their parents money, so it wasn't a real serious thing for them. They went because it was something to do to pass the time instead of getting real job. For others, it was simply about trying to figure out where they fit into the world, what would come next after college, a half way point between leaving high school and making the jump into real life as a mature adult. One final hurrah before you had to get serious. But what happens when things go too far. When people take life into their hands as a seemingly innocent prank designed to scare and it gets too far out of hand. I guess it shows that even life's best laid plans don't always work out and sometimes you have to grow up and leave all that college stuff behind.

As Jake Rivers attempts to remember what happened during Spring Break in college at Providence, he learns that not everyone is keen to rehash something that might be better off being unsaid and undiscussed. However 11 years later, Jake needs to put those nightmares to rest and with the incentive to help locate the missing daughter of a wealthy man who believes she has left with one of Jake's old college roommates Alec, he spends time piecing together where Alec ran off to and to regain the missing pieces of a dark memory that no one want to talk about.

I received Admission from Travis Thrasher compliments of a self purchase as I have been a huge fan of all Travis Thrasher's novels and wanted to revisit some of his earlier novels. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained here are strictly my own personal ones. This one reads like the movie, "I know what you did last summer," in which some terrible deed lays in the past that Jake has no memory of but has flashbacks of bits and pieces he can't make sense of. The novel toggles back between present day 2005 and 1994 where once again the author cloaks the mystery until the final pages of the book. While you know you could easily have wrapped it up sooner, the author conveys there is more that to this story than simply what Jake goes searching for and thus the reason for taking his time getting to what we all want to know. Well done again, Travis and in my mind, another 4.5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about Admission, Travis Thrasher or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Admission from Travis Thrasher

You can find Travis Thrasher on Facebook to stay up to date on all his latest novels.

Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God

We see them almost everywhere we look, more especially when we are driving. Signs. Wrong Way. Turn Right. Stop.Yield. School Zone. Rest Area. One Way. Road Narrows. Scenic Viewpoint. No U-Turn. Construction Zone. Yet how many times do we look at these signs as meaning something more. Perhaps the direction we are headed in life might just be the "wrong way." Perhaps our way over what God has in mind for us, and we won't change course, until circumstances happen that cause us to re-evaluate those plans. Perhaps the reason we receive a ticket isn't to make the city money for your oversight but to help you realize that when we plow ahead with our plans and leave God behind, He will find a way to bring us back on the path that He has chosen for us instead. So why do we fight it? Why do we struggle to have it our way over His way?

Deanna Nowadnick takes readers into her own memoir in Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God. She illustrates some of those unique moments in her own life, that now of course, looking back in hindsight offers that precious view that God has always had of our parade. While we were just watching it one part at a time, He sees it in its entirety from beginning to end. How wonderful His plans are for us, over what we struggle to challenge Him with in taking over our own life, thinking at times that we know better than the One who created us. Along with her personal look back at those choices she so openly shares with us, she also invites readers to journey through some exceptional parallels in stories taken from the Bible that seem to mirror one another. At the conclusion of each chapter, she offers readers a Rest Area, to take a hard look at their own life and see how some life questions she poses might just help us see these "signs" with a little more clarity, when viewed from perhaps the way God sees them.

I received Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God from Deanna Nowadnick compliments from the author herself for an honest review of this book. I did not receive any monetary compensation, aside from a free copy of the book for my honest evaluation. While I can honestly say it wasn't my favorite book, it does offer some probing looks into our own choices we make in life. I know if I were to write something favorable people may or may not like the stories I share from my own personal life, but that is the beauty of writing a memoir. It keeps our memories alive by the stories we share. Whether from telling them to someone else or reading them through a book like this. Connections are made. Relationships can be restored, and lessons can be learned through shared similar experiences and for that I applaud Deanna for putting it out there for others to learn from the things she has shared in this book and perhaps that was just what she had in mind in writing this, for us to take a self evaluation of what stories we would share and perhaps tell them while we still have time to those that can benefit from them. In this reader's opinion, I'd give this one a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

For more information about Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God, Deanna Nowadnick or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God by Deanna Nowadnick

You can find Deanna Nowadnick on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest books.

Every Breath You Take

I love it when I read a novel in which the ending seems to be right in front of you. Like you have it all figured out before you get to the end how it will all work out. Its the way of most novels. Then the rug gets completely pulled up from underneath it all and you're left wondering, "Well that is not how I thought it would work out." You find yourself debating whether or not it was a good book after all, but is that really what is going on, you're simply mad cause it didn't go the way you wanted. That is just what I got when I finished with Every Breath You Take from Travis Thrasher.

You can tell he simply loves music, because I find them scattered throughout his novels. I think my husband and him would be great friends. In this novel referenced quite a bit with The Police, Sting, and Cold Play, we find two soul mates that are no longer together despite the fact that they work in every way possible. Kayla Rowe, 26, has had enough. When she quits her high paying job in marketing on the whim of following whatever dreams she has, her friends think she has lost it. She simply tells them she can't waste another 5 to 10 years doing the same thing with the same results but no passion for what she is doing. It may have to do with the fact her boyfriend Ryan has proposed to her, and while she said yes, she can't help but remember the one man she gave her heart away to so many years ago. That man that she will always love. She just isn't sure if it is Billy Harris, the man she was once engaged to, or her father that she lost when she was 2.

All Kayla knows is that she has to make some hard decisions before her wedding and as much as she would love to talk to her mother, that isn't going to happen. Her mother walked out on them when she was born and never looked back. So she takes her conversations to her father's grave and wonders what he would say if he was alive. Their bond seems to transcend the spiritual. Thomas Rowe, Kayla's father has been well aware of what has been happening in her life from his seat in heaven and is suddenly provided with a unique opportunity to visit his daughter one final time. The catch is, he can't tell her that he is her father and he must help Kayla come to a decision of what is best for her despite being locked in a past she can't seem to fight free from.

I received Every Breath You Take by Travis Thrasher compliments of the author himself for my honest review. Aside from the free copy of this novel, I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained here are my own personal ones. I loved this story because as a parent, there is a bond that you have with your child that transcends human understanding and logic. Love simply does not end, because someone is no longer with you. It is the legacy that we take with us long after they have left. The bond between Kayla and her father, besides a passion for music and that unconditional love that simply accepts things as they are without trying to influence any chance. That comes across all the way through this novel even though the ending was not what I thought it would be. I applaud Travis for throwing that twist in. I would have done it as well even though I didn't like experiencing it on the other end from a reader's perspective instead of a writer's one. I get why it was done and love it. For me this one was a well deserved 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about Every Breath You Take, Travis Thrasher or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Every Breath You Take from Travis Thrasher

You can find Travis Thrasher on Facebook to stay up to date on all his latest novels.

To pick up a copy of Every Breath You Take, stop by Travis Thrashers's website. 

The Maze

"From the sound of it, a maze was being constructed, and he knew what that meant: someone stood at a moral crossroads, about the make a life-changing decision. The Piper had to act quickly.

Bricks were laid using grief as a mortar. Walls were cemented in place with sorrow. Lights were forsaken in favor of darkness. Crude agonizing designs were etched into the floors, and the history of one man's sin was scrawled in painstaking detail on every inch of the dreadful place."

In the novel, The Maze, Jason Brannon takes an interesting spin on the consequences of our moral life-changing decisions and shows us what happens when we are literally on the verge of life and death. In this fantastic and wonderful written novel, we follow Jamie Burroughs, a successful businessman, husband and father who is about to stand at the threshold of a life altering choice. When his wife, Amy, confronts him about a recent bank withdrawl, she questions Jamie's intent. Is he planning on using the money as a cash payment on a hotel room to have an affair and destroy their marriage like their friends did? Jamie understands how following the clues from someone else's choice can make his wife question his choices even though that is not what he intends to do EVER. He reassures her that his vows to her are rock solid and that introduces us to the Piper, who begins to play his tempting tune to entice Jamie along another road. One that manifests during a business lunch in which his ex-girlfriend, Karen is there waitress.

Soon Jamie finds himself drawn to her in a way he cannot explain much like the rats did for the Piped Piper of Hamlin. In this interesting look at what happens in the course of our lives suddenly is transformed when Jamie literally hovers on the brink of death after attempting to follow his quest to know "What if."

Jamie finds himself literally in a maze designed by all the choices and decisions he has made over his life. It was designed by The Architect and will test his ability to view his life in a completely different way. The choice he has made not necessarily with his actions, but also his thoughts and words. He will be challenged by the race against the Minotaur who feeds on the sins present in his life. 

 "Think of this maze as one big example of cause and effect. Everything you do has a consequence here. Getting here was a consequence of intent. This place is a manifestation of your entire life. Your deeds are sewn into the fabric of this maze. Your sins are the mortar that holds these walls in place.

This game is just like everything else in your life. You're blessed more than most people, and you can't see all the good things in front of you. All you see are the problems, the trials, the tribulations, the darkness. All you see is what you don't have."

This is such a fabulous novel that speaks to the heart and soul of the reader. It makes you take a hard line approach at your own life and question things you have done. It really takes you into the deepest, darkest places of your own life and teaches us all what it really means to repent and accept Christ as our Savior. Nothing else will save us in the end. I found myself with pages of notes from this novel that I intend to apply as a measuring stick in my own life. No one is perfect and this novel takes you into the seemingly innocent things we do every single day and the consequences it has on our soul.

I'd rate The Maze by Jason Brannon a 5 out of 5 stars and look forward to digging a bit deeper into his literary works to find even more surprises tucked inside. I received this novel compliment of Pump Up Your Book Tours and Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review aside for a free copy of this novel and the opinions contained here are my personal and honest ones.. For those of you that wonder just how innocent your lives are, I'd encourage you to check this one and and re-evaluate what you find inside.

For more information about The Maze, Jason Brannon or where to pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

The Maze - The Lost Labyrinth by Jason Brannon

You can find Jason Brannon on Facebook to stay up to date on all his latest novels. 

To read more reviews on The Maze, please visit Pump Up Your Book Tour page. 

Prayer Works

Looking for a great way to teach your kids about prayer, its importance, and why it is critical for believers of Jesus to pray? Then look no further than Prayer Works: Prayer Training and Strategy for Kids from Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick along with Amy Parker, just on the heels of their successful movie War Room which is all about the amazing power of prayer.

Coupled with wonderful colorful illustrations this hard cover book discusses such topics as What is Prayer? Why Should We Pray? What Do We Pray For? Does God Really Hear Me? Where Do I Pray? Why Do My Prayers Matter? What Is the Best Way to Pray? Is There a Wrong Way to Pray? When Should I Pray? and Will God Answer My Prayers? Each of these topics are taken into further details to outline simply conversations your child is likely to ask to give them some ideas to consider implementing in their own prayer life.

The best part is at the back of this book is a section for kids to log in their own prayers, along with specific pages like praying for the sick, praying for my family, for others, and even a place to track those wonderful faith building answered prayers. This is simply a way to introduce your child to prayer and to enable them to have an understanding of why its important and referring to the Bible some of those mighty prayer warriors like Esther, David and Daniel.

I received Prayer Works by Alex and Stephen Kendrick and Amy Parker compliments of Icon Media Group and B and H Kids Publishers for my honest review of this book. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review, aside from a free copy of this book, and the opinions found here are my own personal ones. There is even a great parent resource to enable parents to help their child establish their own personal place to pray just like in the War Room along with some great tips to make charting their prayers for specific things and people a success when the answers come and just how God can choose to answer them, often in ways we had not considered. For me this is a must have for parents of young children to give them a resource they can refer to for answers on prayer and thus a 5 out of 5 stars in this reviewers opinion.

For more information about Prayer Works: Prayer Training and Strategy for Kids, Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick or where to pick up this book today, please click on the links below:

Prayer Works: Prayer Training and Strategy for Kids from Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick and Amy Parker

You can find the War Room on Facebook to stay up to date on all kinds of ways to incorporate a more powerful prayers into your own life.

For more reviews on Prayer Works: Prayer Training and Strategy for Kids, please visit B and H Kids Publishing's website. 

Walker's Vale

In his debut novel, John J. Zelenski combines the elements of such seasoned suspense writers like Stephen King, Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti to unleash upon his readers a novel in which good faces off against evil in the spiritual realm. This is why these types of books and movies linger in our minds because deep inside us all we know that this exists but we try and pretend that it doesn't for our sakes.

Walker's Vale is the novel that combines a small family that moves to Walker's Vale, Pennsylvania looking for a fresh start and a slower pace at life, but they received more than they ever bargained for. James Cooper is looking to begin a new life and having more time for his autistic daughter, Liza while they fix up the home they just built down the road from the local church. They just didn't expect to find all kinds of unexplained things happening in their home before they truly got settled from the strange taped designs that appear on Liza's bedroom walls to the creepy Pastor that shows up unannounced with a warning for the family. Only then do the strange circumstances escalate that pits man's old adversary, pure evil against the very holiness of God and all for the battle of one little girl.

Picture all the elements you need to make this one work, small uninhabited home with an evil past, a meddling pastor, and the dark woods in a small town, sets the stage for a showdown in the heavenly realms that leads to definite hauntings in the Cooper household from Liza's glowing doll she doesn't want to leave behind, to things lying buried in the dark woods at the edge of the property. This is truly a spiritual warfare novel that will definitely leave you with a lasting impression. Warning: You may want to read this before dark or at least with the light on and someone with you.

I received Walker's Vale by John J. Zelenski compliments of the author for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation aside for a free copy of this novel and the opinions contained here are strictly my own. This is the second book by this author with The Journal of Ezekiel Walker written as a prequel to the pastor we meet in this novel. We get the back story in that one of what possess the pastor's passion to help the Cooper family even though they don't see it as that at first. I venture to say I read this one before the Journal of Ezekiel Walker and wish I would have read them in that order instead. My only complaint if you could call it that would be I wish it was so much longer. At 134 pages, I wanted triple that for this novel and hope, fingers crossed, that we will see another one soon by this author. I would rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and literally inhaled it in one dark night. Won't make that mistake again!

For more information about Walker's Vale, John J. Zelenski or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Walker's Vale by John J. Zelenski

You can find John Zelenski on Facebook to stay up to date on all his latest books.

To order a copy of Walker's Vale, please visit Tate Publishing's website.

The Journal of Ezekiel Walker

If you were to write a scary novel, I think there are certain elements that are a must have, creepy stranger from out of town, small town, lots of places for things to hide such as thick woods or forests. The last element is to have a story that makes the reader want to inhale the pages as fast as possible to uncover what is really going on and that has to enlist the talent of a great writer who can engage his readers within the first couple of pages. John Zelenski does all of the above in The Journal of Ezekiel Walker, the prequel to his book, Walker's Vale.

Couple this with the fact, he's a Christian author who doesn't spend time being preachy all the way through the book and you have the makings of an all around great suspense thriller, one that finds a permanent home in my wheelhouse. I guess that is why all those movies that deals with the supernatural and paranormal sticks with us longer than all those slasher films. Because I believe, we understand there is an element of the unseen that while we may necessarily see things, we know something else exists and in this case is all about evil and demons seeking to overtake the small quiet and remote town of Walker's Vale, Pennsylvania.

Ezekiel Walker has just returned from his Civilian Patrol Service Unit or CPS for short, which is an outfit that men who don't want a part in the war efforts based on their religious beliefs like the Amish or plain communities served their "enlistment." As Ezekiel returns home to father, who is the pastor at the church and his expectant mother. Everything seems perfect until a tall dark stranger enters the picture, Simon Tremblestone who offers his father the opportunity to help small churches like his that are struggling to make ends meet during WWII. Some say the offer is simply too good to be true, and even though his father agrees to pray about the matter, Mr. Tremblestone gives him a pouch of coins as a goodwill offering.

That's when things take an unexpected detour and Ezekiel finds himself transported to the spiritual realms when he is tasked by a band of angels for a future mission and receives a "seal" upon his hand. All the while as he struggles to find a way to talk to his parents about what is going on, the conversation between his father and Mr. Tremblestone is "sealed" as well when his father agrees to work with Mr. Tremblestone. Quite literally all hell breaks loose and the stage is set for more to follow in Walker's Vale.

I received The Journal of Ezekiel Walker from John J. Zelenski for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review aside from a free copy of this book, and the opinions contained here are strictly my own. I absolutely LOVED this book and would LOVE to see a more deeper novel in upwards to 300+ pages. This is just a small sampling of the talents possessed by Mr. Zelenski. Even though I felt a twinge of fear while reading this one late at night, I know where the battle was taking place. I think he did an exceptional job at his first attempts on this book and you can definitely tell that he has personal experience in the elements of spiritual warfare. For me this one hit a home run and thus garners a 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion as I am a die hard suspense thriller fan!

For more information about The Journal of Ezekiel Walker, John Zelenski or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below: 

The Journal of Ezekiel Walker by John. J. Zelenski

You can find John Zelenski on Facebook to stay up to date on all his latest books. 

To purchase a copy of The Journal of Ezekiel Walker, please visit Tate Publishing's website. 

Find A Way - DVD Review

God appoints a time for our birth and a time for our death. It's what we do with the dash in between that makes a difference in the life of a believer. Word Films introduces their latest DVD, Find A Way, which features an all-star high school football player, Smiley Cain, has it all together both on and off the field. Not only is he well known, but he is an all around guy. One who wears his faith as much as he wears his football jersey. Never one to turn down helping out someone in need from someone named "Stick" who is getting bullied, to a young girl, Casey, who has just been broken up with my her boyfriend because she doesn't seem to have the right look. Not only that he inspires and encourages his teammate and best friend Nick Whitefield, the coaches son, who dreams of following his passion in music over playing football like his dad wants.

Then one day, Smiley doesn't wake up and is immediately rushed to the hospital where the town takes stock in their own lives. From Casey who is watching her family fall apart while she is struggling to come to terms with her recent break up and now watching the one man who had faith in her struggle to survive while he is in the hospital. Her mother is simply too busy with her career and her older sister has plans that involve pursuing her own career with shopping at the mall for the latest in fashions. Her father is struggling to keep the family together but it seems like it is all in vain.

The coaches family faces a similar situation when Nick's mom overhears his father talk down to him about his music career telling him it's a waste of time. When she attempts to correct her husband, he reminds her where her place is in the family and that is of a wife and nothing more. Soon she wonders if divorce from him, might just be the best thing for the family. Finding faith in the midst of difficult circumstances is the theme in this movie.

I received Find A Way from Word Films compliments of Edify Media Inc and Word Films for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review, aside from a free copy of this DVD and the opinions contained here are my own honest personal ones. I would have liked to see this movie made from a higher quality film company because the edits on this one were pretty bad on both the sound and focus issues in certain scenes. The sad thing is that this is meant to have a great impact and with the acting portrayed by the people in this film, you find it hard to truly care about any of the characters in this story. This is based on the true story of Harry Cohen, which should have been the true star of the movie and unfortunately for this reviewer and her family, it fell far short of our expectations. For this reason, I would rate this one a 3 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about Find A Way, Word Films or where you can pick up a copy of this movie today, please click on the links below:

Find A Way from Word Films

You can find Word Films on Facebook to stay up to date with all their latest movies and DVDs.

iCooker Automatic Soap Dispenser

One thing that really bothers me is when I have dirty hands and have to touch things like my soap dispenser. So when the opportunity became available to try iCooker's Automatic Stainless Steel Soap Dispenser I knew I had to try this one. I've even considered upgrading our kitchen nozzles to automated ones as well to eliminate greasy or muddy hands from touching those surfaces.

This one was a complete breeze to use. Simply insert 4 AAA batteries into the bottom of the device (no it does not come with batteries). You unlock the plastic top by turning counter clockwise to remove and fill with your favorite brand of soap. Do not use the kind with beads in it as it can clog the dispenser unit. To switch it on, simply press and hold the on/off button which is a small black button on the top of the dispenser for 3 seconds. You should see a lighted red led come on to indicate the unit is on. To turn it off, simply do the same thing. To adjust the volume of soap, depress the same button once while the unit is on. We love the second option. There are 3 adjustable levels. Simply place your hand under the dispense and presto, instant soap without all the mess.

To clean the unit, simply wipe down with a soft cloth or sponge. It gives the appearance of being stainless steel but is a plastic version, which for the price point is suitable. I think it looks great next to our kitchen sink. The only issue I had was the sensitivity of the infrared as it went off when I was close to the dispenser but did not have my hands directly under it. Since we have cats, that are constantly in our kitchen window, we had to keep it turned off when we were not around, which I guess could defeat the purpose of using it when your hands are dirty. You'd have to turn it on to make it work, thus defeating its purpose. I would recommend this being used in bathrooms instead or if you don't have a pet problem like I do, keep it away from things that might cause it to go off accidentally or simply place it just over your sink. It does actually hold quite a bit of soap which surprised me.

I received the iCooker Automatic Soap Dispenser compliments of iCooker and the VIP Power Club for my honest opinion. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review outside of the free dispenser and the opinions contained in this review are strictly my own honest ones. I would rate this product a 4 out of 5 stars and will probably buy a few more for my bathroom uses over putting it in the kitchen.

For more information about iCooker Automatic Soap Dispenser or where you can purchase one today, please click on the links below:

iCooker Automatic Soap Dispenser

Israel's Mission DVD and Discovery Guide

For some people to study subjects they want to know more about, some use books, reference materials of some sort, or a DVD which offers both an auditory and visual perspective, but when you pair these resources alongside your Bible to understand the meaning behind why God selected the Israelite people aside from all the other people living in the world, with a mission to bring the "sheep back into His kingdom," you want to probe into the context that really makes up a true Bible study. That is where the DVD, Israel's Mission: Experience the Bible in Historical Context, along with the book, Israel's Mission: Discovery Guide, from Ray Vander Laan, renowned teacher and historian of the "That the World May Know" series, comes into play.

Using five very different segments from Abraham and Sarah and the three strangers, Israel at Sinai, Jesus Renews the Mission of Seeking the Lost, The Lost Son in a Far Away Country, and finally The Seeking Father: The Lost Son Returns, we can unlock the meaning behind God's plan to reclaim His world that had been broken by sin and to use people as His partners in that effort. By choosing a people, Israel, and a place, the promised land at the crossroads of an ancient world, to make His name known. By living in the Promised Land and obeying God's commandments, his chosen people couldn't help but display his character and make Him known to the entire world.

Yet they struggled to be faithful. They were blessed repeatedly by God's hand, but turned away to worship the gods of the nations around them. Prophets of God called them back to Him, back to their mission, but when they refused God allowed pagan nations to conquer the land and carry His people away to foreign lands. The arena has changed in time, but the mission has not. God's partners have always struggled to carry out this task faithfully and this series and study is designed that people will seek to engage this culture and be a blessing to wherever God places us. Using real life locations through the DVD portion of this study, readers are engaged to revisit the Bible and see how even in modern day times, these lessons are still applicable. So many things from the Bible are culture based to apply to the people living in the areas at this time and for those of us that fail to really understand the concepts we miss how it applies to our life today.

I received Israel's Mission DVD and Discovery Guide by Ray Vander Laan compliments of Zondervan Publishers, Focus on the Family and Litfuse Publicity for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation aside from a free copy of the DVD and Discovery Guide for a favorable review and the opinions found here are my personal honest ones. For me this series takes all the necessary learning elements, auditory, visual and kinetic and brings the Bible to life in a whole new way. From understand the culture references, to rereading the Bible and seeing it from a different perspective it encourages the reader and viewer to an entirely new perspective into understanding the Bible, God's great commission and how we all need to do our part to share it with a lost and hurting world. It allows all of us to become a kingdom of priests in a prodigal world! For me these both rated a 5 out of 5 stars. This is the 13th Volume in the That The World May Know Series and now I can't wait to pick up the rest!

For more information about Israel's Mission DVD and Discovery Guide, Ray Vander Laan or where you can pick up a copy of this Bible Study series today, please click on the links below:

Israel's Mission DVD and Discovery Guide by Ray Vander Laan

You can find That the World May Know on Facebook to learn more about the Bible Study lessons that are available.

To read more reviews on Israel's Mission, please visit Litfuse Publicity's Book Tour Page.


Our task as Christians is to bring “lost sheep” back into the love and safety of His kingdom. How are you doing at welcoming the strangers and prodigals the Lord longs to embrace? Learn how to work on your task with Ray Vander Laan's Israel's Mission, volume thirteen in the That the World May Know® DVD series. Discover the mission that can give your life—and the lives of those around you—greater meaning than you ever imagined. Filmed on location in the Middle East and elsewhere, the series will transform your understanding of God and challenge you to be a true follower of Jesus.

Celebrate the release of Israel's Mission by entering to win the entire That the World May Know® series—perfect for working through with your family, Bible study, or Sunday school class!

 

One grand prize winner will receive:

• All 13 DVDs in the That the World May Know® series

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on September 18th. Winner will be announced September 21st on the Litfuse blog.