All Saints - Movie Ticket Giveaway

From the makers of films like Miracles From Heaven and the War Room,  Provident Films and Sony Affirm Pictures once again has created what I believe will be another life changing movie. All Saints is coming soon to a theater near you on August 25th and with it the chance to win a pair of movie tickets to go see the film in theaters. All Saints is a movie based on true life events and takes a pastor, Michael Spurlock played by John Corbett who is sent to a small town to close the All Saints church due to low or what some might say is poor attendance. There are only 12 current members attending. Using his prior sales experience Michael is given inspiration to try one more time to see what he can do to generate interest in the church.

With the arrival of a group of Burmese refugees who understand the power of faith, they help inspire Michael to give God a chance to revive the church again. He is reminded that when Jesus started the church on earth, he began with just 12 people too and yet He did alright. Coupled with the faith and hope of those who can see God's hand in making use of their talents, from beginning a farm based on the great soil surrounding the church, and being reminded that we all have a purpose to serve by being created. Kind of like Matthew West's song, Do Something. Sometimes we all wait around in this world hoping for a better world and hoping that it will come about without us having to lift a finger. What if God's purpose is for us all to contribute while we still have breath in our lungs. That is what Pastor Spurlock will face when he struggles to understand his purpose by being assigned to save this church.

After all, what will happen if the church closes? Then what will those who attended do? Makes you consider what might happen if that very thing happened even within the doors of our own church, because we have come to expect that others will step up so we can have a place to worship. What happens when those around you go hungry and there isn't resources to feed them. Pastor Spurlock believes God has called him to do just that. To not only save the church, but to feed the people both the come to All Saints but even those in the community in hopes that a small spark will ignite into a flaming fire of redemption and restoration. From a seed of faith, grows hope!

I received this giveaway promotion compliments of Sony Affirm Pictures and LEV3L Digital. As a Featured Contributor of Sony’s ALL SAINTS Influencer Program, I received the value of two movie tickets in exchange for an honest review on my blog. The giveaway winner will receive a Fandago code to purchase two tickets FREE to see it on the night of your choice. It's simple and I've done it in the past! The giveaway codes will be received in time to see the movie, so you won't miss out. What I need your participate in is to help spread the word about this movie. So often as Christians, we look for great entertainment for the entire family in light of what is currently being shown in movie theaters, so lets remind the world, we want more movies like this one!

So please visit all the resource sites below to copy and share banners and movie clips and trailers like the ones features in this post. Use your social media sites to help spread the word. For each share, simply copy and paste your links below in the comment box to be entered to win in this giveaway. From Facebook, to Pinterest, to Instagram, Snap Chat, Twitter and any other way to can think of, let's join forces as a Christian community and share the good news about this upcoming movie. The giveaway will end on August 18, 2017.

For more information about All Saints, Sony Affirm Pictures, or Provident Films please click on the links below:

All Saints by Sony Affirm Pictures and Provident Films

You can find All Saints on Facebook to stay up to date on all the latest about the movie.

Please find some great resources about the film like movie discussion guides, refugee information, and more by visiting All Saint's website.  

Get Your Hopes Up

"Evaluating our hearts is an important exercise as we begin this journey of hope together, because hope in God and positive expectation are very closely related to faith. For the sake of discussion, we can easily say that the level of your expectation is the level of your faith. Show me a person with low expectations, and I'll show you a person using very little faith. But show me a person with big expectations, and I'll show you a person acting with bold faith." (pg 7).

In her latest book, Get Your Hopes Up, Joyce Meyer tackles the issue of hope. Finding it, understanding what it is, how to keep it and what does the Bible say about it. Like all good Joyce Meyer's book. Mama Joyce gives readers the bold and honest truth. Not something sugar coated to make you feel good, she preaches like the best of them. I love the many aspects of hope you will find in this book and perhaps my favorite is that of what Joyce called spiritual possums. Whenever a difficulty or storm comes into their life, they play possum. They stop moving as if they have hit an impenetrable wall and their faith and hope go right out the window.

Rather than getting active, they get passive. When times get tough, when they're dealing with pain or disappointment, they freeze. They just stop moving. Does this sound familiar? Have you ever found yourself in a holding pattern because of an unexpected trial or a crushing disappointment? I want to encourage you in the midst of your pain that sometimes the very best thing you can do is just keep moving. You may not have all the answers yet. You may still be shocked by the circumstances around you. You may even feel like the world is caving in around you. In the midst of those difficulties, if you'll just keep moving, it will help you not to become hopeless." (pg 87).

There is so much great advice to counter all the negative self talk we've become accustom to and the one huge take away for me, was that hope is a powerful thing, but it doesn't thrive in an atmosphere of can't! Joyce uses her own personal stories and that of others to help draw us to the conclusion that we can find hope in any situation if we are but willing to look and trust God to help us as our first resource not our last one as we are prone to do.

I received Get Your Hopes Up by Joyce Meyer compliments of Faith Words, a division of Hachette Book Groups for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation aside from a free copy of this book in exchange for my personal and honest evaluation. Like all of Joyce's books that are in my personal library, this will be a book I will consult quite often when I need a good dose of reality. Friends and family can mean well but often times, they don't make us feel any better when we need the God's honest truth, to get us back into the game of life again. Joyce's book does just that. For anyone facing a difficult time or situation, this is the perfect book to help them move past the situation for now and see what God has in store for them today. Well worth all of the 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about Get Your Hopes Up, Joyce Meyer or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Get Your Hopes Up by Joyce Meyer

You can find Joyce Meyer on Facebook to stay up to date on all of her books and resources.

To read more reviews on Get Your Hopes Up, please visit Faith Word's website. 

Available in hardcover, paperback, audible and eBook formats at your favorite retailer. ISBN: 9781455588718, pages 208. 

  

If You Find This Letter

"Dear you,

You and I have never met so we should probably just start here. Before any other words get placed on this page, you should know that our time together is limited. We probably won't ever meet beyond this one encounter. You won't know me apart from the creases in this paper and swooping of my cursive. We won't ever sit down over coffee or laugh like we're plucking old jokes from our memory. We may never have this kind of thing and I want to learn to be okay with that...

I'm struggling. Struggling in a way that I don't know how to admit to anyone around me. I moved to New York City just two months ago and still haven't found myself at home among the clamor. I feel like I should have sunk more easily into this role as a New Yorker, as Somebody who doesn't speak and doesn't smile and sits in coffee shops alone and is just fine with the solitude. But I'm not. It's driving me crazy. I'm falling apart. I see a girl and a guy meet up in the center of Grand Central, after they've both said good-bye to the longer part of their day, and something inside me starts to ache. Because I want that familiar face. I want someone, anyone, to tell me I am not alone in all of this.

I don't know your story and I guess that doesn't really matter now; at least it doesn't stop me from wanting the very best for you. You deserve that, don't you know it?

It's a little funny. That's the thing we never say to one another - that we all deserve goodness. That we deserve the best stories. That our lives are something to be in awe of and we are just so lucky to be alive and breathing today. It is the first thing I forget. It will probably be the first truth I discard when I fold up this love letter and walk away. I will continue bustling around like crazy, thinking I might find another moment to tell someone how much they truly matter to me. And then I will forget to look up. And the day will suddenly be over. 

I don't want you to slip through my fingers like that so do me a favor and know the truth; You're worth it. You are absolutely, unbelievably worth it and you were made for mighty things. Keep pushing on. Keep pressing. Don't let anyone in this wide, wide world every try to snuff out the light you bring. Yo have to know that it matters. The world is going to try to convince you otherwise but don't listen. Please. Don't. Listen. You are a marvel. It matters that you are here. If ever you forget these things, come find me.

Sending light and love,

A girl just trying to find her way." (86-87).

In the book, If You Find This Letter by Hannah Brencher, you will uncover something pretty amazing about her and what she did with her life when she moved to New York City in search of meaning to her life. She found that by leaving random letters to people in a variety of places, she was touching a place that most people had in common with her, a need to feel worthy, a need to belong. This is a personal memoir of how writing love letters to people created its own powerful force in the world when The World Needs More Love Letters was launched to address the need for people to be encouraged and acknowledged in this world. From letters she received from her own mother and grandmother to the letters she would write to people in need, this is a truly unforgettable journey into how the actions of just one person can truly change lives forever.

I received If You Find This Letter by Hannah Brencher compliments of Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained here are strictly my own unless otherwise notated. This book made me realize that we can all make a difference if we are only willing to step out in faith and try. For me it will be using my blog to reach out and offer encouragement to those who truly need it and to pray for people who ask. For those who are wondering what their purpose is in life, I would encourage you to read this book, you might just be surprised by the answers you find when you finish and thus the reason for a 4.5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about If You Find This Letter, Hannah Brencher or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

If You Find This Letter by Hannah Brencher

You can find Hannah Brencher on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest books.

To read more reviews on If You Find This Letter, please visit Howard Books's website. 

You can also visit The World Needs More Love Letters to request your own love letter. 

Maggie's Miracle

 For those of you that have ever loved so much at one time but had to watch that time in your life slip by, there is hope that you will one day find it again. Best-selling author Karen Kingsbury takes readers into the hearts of Maggie and Jordan Wright who are finding themselves trying to find a way to get through the death of her husband and Jordan's father due to a sudden heart attack. Jordan is dealing with it much harder as an eight-year-old boy who was loved dearly by his father, but the love Maggie shared with him was simply a business transaction in the marriage. She only had that perfect love once in her life as a young girl searching for answers and finding it on the shores of a lake one summer.

Maggie has since resolved to give up on love forever and find a way to move forward in her life as a busy district attorney. But she can see that Jordan needs more time than she can find to give him. His grades are suffering and he has now taken his problems directly to God in a letter. Knowing his mother always has the right answers, Jordan believes that his special prayer for a new daddy must be written out and mailed by his mother. He knows beyond a doubt that God will hear him and answer his prayers.

Casey Cummins understands that level of grief that Maggie and Jordan are feeling. He too, lost his wife Amy and his unborn son due to delivery complications. He knew that he would never find a love like that again, but there is still an empty place in his heart for helping others. He learns about Healing Hearts, a program that places grieving children with single adults as a way of helping them through their struggles and that feels like the perfect answer for managing his own grief. Now he prays that God will provide him with just the right child for him and hopes he won't have to wait too long.

I received Maggie's Miracle by Karen Kingsbury compliments of Faith Words, a division of Hachette Book Groups for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions here are strictly my own. This is the second book in the Red Glove Series and is bound to ignite a spirit of love and hope in your heart this Christmas season. It is about believing not only in miracles but the power of prayer to restore those broken places in our hearts and find hope once again. There is also a list of activities to inspire you to incorporate them into your Christmas season and give back some hope and love to those that are hurting. I love the idea of reading this book a chapter a day starting at Thanksgiving as a way of encouraging and inspiring us all to be better people. I easily give this one a 5 out of 5 stars. While these are part of a series, they can be read as a stand alone and in any order.

For more information about Maggie's Miracle, Karen Kingsbury or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Maggie's Miracle by Karen Kingsbury

You can also find Karen Kingsbury on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest books.

To read more reviews on Maggie's Miracle, please visit Faith Word's website. 

The Shift

On Easter, I felt there was no greater story to share than one of redemption and hope in a world today filled without hope. When you look around the world you begin to wonder just how bad will it get. If you love a bit of spiritual warfare coupled with an unforgettable romance story of a prodigal family finding their way home, then you will love The Shift from author M. Ann Ricks.

The story opens with a young girl Xion who finds herself literally at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ amid Jesus' mother and others. Only she doesn't realize it at the time, just who the disfigured man is hanging there dying while those around him are weeping and sobbing. All she knows is when she looks into the eyes of this man, she doesn't see despair but love instead. Then she wakes up. Xion has been living with her grandparents since graduating from school and has been estranged from her mother Veronica since as far back as she can remember. It's a painful place that memories can keep us chained and no one is more content with that than the demons who want nothing more than to keep her in bondage and away from the truth that her grandparents have been praying for.

But for Xion, despite all she knows about Jesus Christ, and what her grandparents have shared with her, this is something that has to come to her on her own terms not merely accepting what everyone tells her she should do. So while her grandparents diligently continue to pray for her to come to know Jesus as they do, she continues to be haunted by the dream that felt like more than just a dream. She wonders just who the man is and why she continues to be haunted by his image.

Meanwhile Zeborah and Richard, Xion's grandparents and founders of Kingdom Revelation Center continue to pray for Xion, they are also praying for Veronica, her mother to come back home. It has been years since she has remained separated from them but feel God's got something big going on that will draw them all closer together one more time. Yet the enemy isn't so willing to give up the secrets of the past that have kept them all in bondage and he will stop at nothing to ensure the success in his plans of keeping Xion and Veronica from finding the salvation, hope and forgiveness that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

I received The Shift compliments of the author M. Ann Ricks herself for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions included here are strictly my own.. I've been a huge fan of speculative fiction, which is the new term that accompanies books on spiritual warfare in a fiction sense, since being exposed to Frank Peretti's books, Piercing the Darkness and This Present Darkness. It is important to understand that there is a world that we cannot see in which spiritual battles are taking place between believers and non believers everyday for our souls. This one is along those lines and shows just how strong the weapon of prayer can be in the life of a believer. It also shows how the enemy will do whatever it takes to keep us from using that power to battle for the lives of the unsaved around us. I LOVED this story that M. Ann Ricks has so thoughtfully put together and was divinely inspired to reach those that will read it. I easily give this one a 4.5 of out 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about The Shift, M. Ann Ricks or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

The Shift by M. Ann Ricks

You can also fine M. Ann Ricks on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

You can pick up a copy of this book at your favorite book retailer or through Amazon. 

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: M. Ann Ricks Literary Creations (March 1, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0991039955
• ISBN-13: 978-0991039951
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches

Cocoon

Very few people ever think that the wedding vows that they make to stay together in sickness and health, will ever happen sooner than later and in most cases hopefully never at all. But such was not the case between Seana Howard and Barth McGrath. To say that things began well would be simply an understatement for them both. Each had lost loves in their earlier lives and both were struggling with the fact that they would grow old alone. Seems fate does that quite a bit, bringing people together during the difficult times as almost a reward for their prolonged perseverance in times of hardship. You would also think that Seana's grown children, Zoe and Tim, would be more than thrilled that their mother would find love again and marry, but again this would not be the case.

For Seana and Barth, theirs would be a whirlwind romance, not because they wanted to get on with life, but because after previous marriages and their age, they felt they knew what was right for each of them, without considering that Seana's children would hopefully come to accept their marriage given enough time. But for some reason, Zoe felt that Barth was hiding something. All the questions she asked Barth about his previous life, seemed to go unanswered or he simply steered the conversation in other directions. So it was no wonder when she discovers that Barth's previous wife was murdered and he was considered the suspect, that he may not be suitable for her mother.

But love is blind and soon Seana and Barth felt that they needed to elope and find a way to let the kids and neighbors know about their marriage after the fact. Everyone couldn't have been happier for Seana except for Zoe and Tim. Even her grandchildren had come to accept Barth. Yet when Seana begins to take Barth's advice to make healthier choices when it comes to the food she eats and later begins to grow ill, with a diagnosis that even baffles her doctors, Zoe begins to think Barth is up to no good. It seems that the more time passes, the worse Seana gets, even though Barth vows to care for her no matter how bad things will get. Will he take his marriage vows all the way to the end if need be, or will Zoe find the proof she needs to prove to everyone that her fears about Barth are valid after all?

I received Cocoon by Emily Sue Harvey compliments of The Story Plant for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed are strictly my own. This book will ask the hard questions that most of us that are married hope will never happen. How far would you go to care for the person you marry? How much time would you spend caring for their needs 24/7? What if there was no answer to why someone simply gives up the will to live? Is there hope and light at the end of the tunnel when everyone simply gives up? This novel has a great message behind it all and one that shows how hard faith can be when facing the darkness day after day and seeing no results. One worth exploring to the end! I easily give this one a 4 out of 5 stars!

For more information about Cocoon, Emily Sue Harvey or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Cocoon by Emily Sue Harvey

You can also follow Emily Sue Harvey on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Coccon, please visit Story Plant's website.