The ‘aged’ pages in coordinating style are soothing to look at and to read.

Now for the content. This book tells the origin of the King James Version in short snippets that intertwine with favourite readings from the original text.

Those verses are titled not by location but by content. That is, they are titled as God’s Love, God’s Faithfulness or God’s Comfort and so on.

The history covers things like the Profound Influence of the King James Bible.

Did you know that without this particular version, there would have been no Paradise Lost, Pilgrim’s Progress, Handel’s Messiah or Gettysburg Address?

Now of course we have many Bible versions, each with their own merits.

But the King James was actually the first version available and readable by the every day person. Until 1611, they had to depend on clergy information. Now? those who wanted could finally read the Word in common everyday language .

This book is an ideal gift for a King James advocate but more importantly, it reminds us that God’s Word should be available to everyone, in their own everyday language.

Brenda J. Wood

blog: www.heartfeltdevotionals.wordpress.com

There is too much truth in this–laugh and think deeply.

Brenda J. Wood

www.heartfeltdevotionals.wordpress.com

Posted by: Brenda J. Wood on: September 17, 2010

We were saddened to discover our summer visitors  left without saying good bye. Hummingbirds are polite, social beings. Every year they announce their arrival by fluttering in our face for a few seconds and they say good bye the same way.

This year,the  September chill kept us from the back porch. Any fluttering birdies fluttered alone.

How like our relationship with God. We wonder why we don’t feel so cherished and close to Him as we used to, only to discover that He has been waiting patiently for us to make ourselves available to His presence.

This might be a great day to sit down with your Bible.

The book of John is a great place to start.

God is waiting for you…

Brenda Wood

www.heartfeltdevotionals.wordpress.com

www.inscribe.org/brendawood

I’m a Canadian so I don’t follow many American political careers. I am familiar with the Buckley name and maybe saw one or two of his TV shows years ago. But I am trying to broaden my horizons so I ordered this book.

To my surprise, I really enjoyed reading it. W. Buckley’s credentials are indeed impressive and the author writes with zest.

You can find archives of his shows by cutting and pasting the following-

http://hoohila.stanford.edu/firingline/.   Choice moments even exist on YouTube!

His fiction series, the Blackford Oakes series are highly recommended too. All in all, Buckley had a tremendous influence on the religious and political American scene.

A couple of quotes I particularly like.

“There remained a sharpness in those columns that dealt with faith, because he remained certain that was the only thing he could take with him.”

At Buckley’s funeral, a bystander said  that Buckley’s writings on religion had turned the tide of his agnostic mind toward belief and then took great pains to insist he was not at all alone in this experience.

To my surprise I find myself recommending this read to anyone…

Chapter three alone, is worth the price of the book. It covers the Prodigal Son in a fresh new light.What a wonderfully clear picture of  God’s love.

What don’t you understand about salvation, God’s love, obedience? It is in this book.

The whole thing is wrapped up with slave trader John Newton’s story. Remember him? The author of Amazing Grace.Isn’t it just like God to find a way to witness to the entire world, through a song that a retired slave trader wrote centuries ago.

I was thankful that  Dr. Jeremiah researched the life of John Newton so well. He was years into his salvation before he began to think that slavery might be wrong. I was 4 years into salvation before I began to see that perhaps God wasn’t thrilled about my bulimia. What a gracious God! A God who will wait patiently until His beloved ones ‘get it!’

I am keeping this book for my reference shelf. Indispensible for sure. No doubt I will be quoting sections for years to come.

The book is sectioned into 22 days. Each of those days contains quote from the original manual, then a pep talk, a prayer, a section for your own thoughts and a place for prayer requests.

I know he wrote it specifically for Christians in  sales, however, it would stand any of us in good stead.

It is realistic for today’s market. For example, in day nine, the author writes this:

“If you began this on a Sunday, I pray that your position affords you this as a day of rest, as your Sabbath. Even if it doesn’t, and you must work….”

Sunday work is part of our life yet most writers get all holy about it and pretend it just isn’t happening. That leaves those of us who have to work on the Sabbath in quite a quandary. Shall we lose our job or displease God?

On the negative side, it does get preachy at times.

My friend just had one and so I can understand and sympathize with what Sandi had to go through. I would have liked more information on how she coped with the restrictive eating after the surgery. I want to give this book to my friend and it was somewhat useful but could have been so much more useful.

I still am not clear on why people can use self-control after the surgery and not before.

The book is  a friendly read. That is, I read it easily in one night. The topic is right up my alley. I am always watching my weight too.

It does stray a little from the original topic into how happy her life is now and how God is meeting her needs in other ways. I again, would have liked more information on how He is also meeting her food needs.

I liked the book but I really again would have like more info on the whole topic of weight struggle, and our different ways of attacking it.

This lively adventure tale is well-balanced in that it tells enough of book one so that you feel up-to-date  and can understand all that happened there.

There is just enough scripture to know that they mean business. I am anxious for book three.

Elves, Gwar and Spider Kings capture the imagination. The spiders are so large that you can ride them like horses. Of course the brutish Gwar like them.

Wisps are only controlled by Holy Words. This spoke so clearly to me because I spent the year studying the power of words with Joyce Meyer’s Battlefield of the Mind and Beth Moore’s Breaking Free.

I asked my son Charles to read this book because science fiction is not in my top ten. He loved the book and backed up my review..

Brenda J. Wood

www.inscribe.org/brendawood