Book Review: Little Prayers for Ordinary Days by Hutson, Oakes, and Warren

I absolutely love this little book. It reminds me of Every Moment Holy but for little ones. It is a wonderful example of how to pray for all of life. It looks at situations in a kid's life ranging from struggling to do what's right to enjoying a good book. Kids really need to learn that God is real and desires to hear from them in everything. This is a great example for them to pattern prayers after. It also has beautiful little pictures that are fun for little ones to look at. 

To be completely honest, I would use this book too. It helps you remember child-like faith and how God really delights to hear from you in every situation of life. It will only help one grow closer to Christ and that is the most important thing. Get this book for your little ones. They will love it.

I received a copy of this book at no charge from the publisher for the sake of an honest review.

You can get a copy from Amazon here.

Book Review: Equipping Biblical Counselors by Kellerman

This book is a must-read if you are contemplating establishing a biblical counseling ministry. It spans from the beginning brainstorming and vision casting to the establishment. It takes you through an easy step-by-step process that takes into account that each church and its people are unique. It gives practical real-life examples and a variety of pastoral advice from different pastors in different types of churches. 

If you are thinking about adding this ministry to your church, this is the resource to have. It is practical and biblical. It gives you many ideas and questions to challenge and grow as you prepare. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the sake of an honest review. 

You can get a copy of this book from Amazon here.

Book Review: God Hears Your Heart by Fox

I received a digital copy at no charge from the publisher for the purpose of review.

I believe this book is important for parents and children because there are hardly any teaching resources out there about processing emotions in a healthy manner for children. Sadly, dismissing our emotions and being told to just get over them is the standard. This book helps remedy that. It is a very important book for teaching our kids and ourselves how to do this with a God-view in mind. God gives us ways to process emotions all throughout the Bible but the use of story here in this book makes it easier to relate to for children and process through several key emotions that we experience in life like anger, disappointment, guilt, and even joy. God is not surprised by our emotions. He made us emotional beings. It is wise to acknowledge them and work through them. This is an important book in the training and teaching of our children. I ordered this book as a hard copy because I will find it useful as I practice biblical counseling or help parents to teach these skills to their children. It is a valuable and needed resource for today where emotions are either dismissed or romanticized. Both are wrong. This resource helps look at emotions in a healthy way that will help produce healthy adults who understand how to process their own emotions by not letting them control them or keep them in a stoic state of mind. Most importantly it will help children depend and look more like Jesus.

You can get a copy from Amazon here. 

Book Review Companions: Redeem Your Marriage and Reclaim Your Marriage by Curtis and Jenny Solomon

The issue of pornography is all around us in the world today. In fact, it is hurting relationships all around us, including those within the church. The church desperately needs voices to discuss the effects of pornography on a marriage and family. These companion books do just that. 

These are welcome voices that honestly and openly discuss this topic with truth and grace. These are written by a husband and wife duo who have experienced the pain of porn. The first, Redeem Your Marriage is written by the husband from the man's perspective and the second, Reclaim Your Marriage is written by the wife from the woman's perspective. 

As a faith-based counselor, I like these resources for each partner to read so they can gain a biblical perspective on this issue and help promote healing in their lives. I also understand each couple's situation is different. This book is written with specific questions and answers to help with that as well. However, if you are in a relationship that is abusive in any way which involves this topic, it is wise to get yourself to a safe place and involve others in the struggle for the sake of safety and accountability. If this is a sin struggle where someone is not in danger, these books are really helpful for the couple to break free and begin healing and building trust in their marriage.

These are helpful resources that also point you to hope in Christ.

I received a copy of these books for the purpose of an honest review.

You can get copies from them from amazon.com here

Book Review: Before the Throne by Keeth

Personally, I love studying anything on the topic of prayer. This study was no exception. I like how it takes you through the word of God to study for yourself many different recorded prayers through the Bible. The premice of the studied prayers are those that specifically address situations that find you in difficult times. Each example and prayer is paired with thoughtful questions and application. It all points you to God and is good for helping you grow in the discipline of prayer.

I do recommend this study for anyone wanting to grow in God's word, as we all probably do desire this. It helps us to know God better. We could never know Him enough! This is a good one for your Bible study collection. 

I did receive a free copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review.

You can get a copy of this study from Amazon.com here.

Book Review: Like Our Father by Fox

Before I agreed to review this book, I asked myself, "Why do we need another parenting book?" And then I thought that the fact that this book seemed to focus on God and how He parents us would make it different than the others out there. I did not want or desire to read yet another "how-to" book on this topic. I have already raised two children, and have one as a teenager, yet I still have no idea what I am doing. Books tell you so many different things and often feel overwhelming because they leave you feeling like you need to try harder or do better. And what they miss is that each child is a unique creation of the Father. There is no one-way to parenting, if this was the case there would be a perfect family model to follow in the Bible but that simply does not exist. 

However, through God as Father, we do have a perfect parent from whom we can learn. His way and example of parenting us is truly what we need to see for our own parenting. He models the perfect parental example. And it is in seeing that, we can have hope. This book was a breath of fresh air among the others. 

I do not regret agreeing to review this. It kept me interested because it kept me growing in Christ as I saw His goodness while helping me see how I can parent by His example through the grace of Christ as I look to Him and learn from Him. It was deeply motivating and the best book I have read on the topic. 

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand God better as our parent and then how we are to parent our children in light of that. There are also insightful questions for reflection at the end of each chapter that are helpful for thinking deeper or for having group discussions. 

I received a copy of this book at no charge from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review.

You can get a copy of this book from Amazon.com here.

Book Review: Deeper by Dane Ortlund

This book is about sanctification. This is a topic that is important to the Christian walk and life. I do not believe enough people understand the difference between sanctification and justification well. This book helps with that. And is useful for the Christian walk of faith in becoming who they are meant to be in Christ.

It is like a follow-up to Gentle and Lowly (which I highly recommend) on the character of Jesus. You can read one without the other but your study is more enriched by reading both. Both are helpful to read as aids in our Christian walk and growth in Christ.

I received a copy of this book at no charge from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review.

You can get a copy from Amazon.com here. 

Book Review: Raising Emotionally Healthy Kids by Huie

I had the opportunity to review this book prior to release. I love it so much that I ordered my own hard copy to keep and reference in the future. In the practice of faith-based counseling, parents need this resource and reminder. It is a must-read for parents or anyone who works with children because we simply have not addressed enough how important it is to help kids learn how to process emotions in order to be healthy adults. This is a biblical need for a healthy generation. And if this is disagreeable to some, just take a long look at the Psalms, It is an entire book dedicated to processing and recognizing emotions before the Lord. I am not sure exactly how we lost this skill-set but after counseling so many people who were raised to ignore and not process emotions, I see it as a real problem. This book, if practiced, helps make the process simple enough for any parent to follow. 

This book is also a short read so it is easy enough for any schedule to tackle. It is included in a series of other books called, raising kids in (different situations). All of the books would probably be helpful in parenting but I haven't had the chance to read any of the others in the series yet.

If you are a person who interacts with children in any way, this is a must-read. Pre-order it now and you will not regret it.

You can get a copy from Amazon.com here.