Desiring God by John Piper

Desiring God by John Piper can be summed up in three sentences in his book, “If I cannot show that Christian Hedonism comes from the bible, I do not expect anyone to be interested, let alone persuaded. There are a thousand man-made philosophies of life. If this is another, let it pass. This appears in the last paragraph of the introduction.

The whole intent of the book is to persuade you into believing in the same philosophy of how the author attempts to understand his own religion beliefs. He was correct I was not persuaded, this was just another person’s philosophy and I will let this one pass.

Piper took many scripture reading out of context to fit his philosophy. My interested was not there mainly because I found his philosophy self centered and overall selfish. This is not what Jesus thought us.
The pursuit of happiness has always been a desire in man but beyond that, it becomes a personal fetish. One must balance the desire for happiness with the reality of the true feeling of life, yes that includes happiness but also sorrow, confusion, anger, along with the many other feeling we have. I very rarely ever say this but this would not be a book I would ever recommend.

I received a free copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing in exchange for my honest review of the book.

The Navajo Code Talkers by Doris A. Paul

The Navajo Code Talkers brings up a part of history that is not common to many. The book covers how the Navajo men had been put in a situation that literally could have a serious impact on the outcome of World War II. The Japanese had the ability to break nearly every code the Americans code devise. Some of the Japanese had been education in the US so they would send messages posing as US military personnel hence having the US dropping bombs on their own men. The US need a method to communicate that was safe and fast and the Navajo men had the solution.

The first three quarters of the book covers the history, personal stories and has perfect examples of how it must have been a Navajo Code Talker. The last quarter of the book steps away from the history goes into great detail about who they were honored after the fact which they greatly deserved but I was more interested in the actual history of how they made a difference in the world. It's still a great read and I have recommend it to several people who are also interested in World War II history.

I received a free copy of this book from Dorrance Publishing in exchange for my honest review of the book.

Billy Graham’s in Quotes by Franklin Graham and Donna Lee Toney

A little something for everyone.

Billy Graham’s in Quotes written by his son Franklin Graham and Donna Lee Toney cover a variety and diversity of topics. The book is not a long drawn out essays in chapter form beating a topic to death but rather a collection of quotations from Graham’s sermons, personal notes and conversations with others. There is no need to read the book from cover to cover. If you are interested in a certain topic go directly to that section and read through the quotations, you will be amazed as to how many quotations you can actually take away some form of inspiration or how it relates to your life.

While this is not a traditional book, it is organized in chapters based on general topics to make it easier to find what you are looking for. The book should be one that is kept in your personal library as a reference book. The book does not back away from controversial topics but instead brings out Billy Graham’s theology and personal philosophy of life in each quotation.

I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through BookSneeze.com in exchange for my honest review of the book.

If you are an avid coin collector, “Strike it Rich with Pocket Change” will be perfect to expand you knowledge around coin collection. Many of the examples are not any different t from the other coin collecting books I have seen. If you have no background in coin collecting and think, you are going to find enough flawed coin in your pocket to collect big bucks, you are wasting your time. Searching to find that specific flaws in a coin take patience, determination and a great deal of time plus you have to understand the number of coins struck makes a major difference regarding the estimated value of the coin.

The book covers in detail the key points of locating flaws during the striking of a coin. If you are a beginner coin collector, this book will be invaluable to determine the key items you need to look for and the coins that had a limited volume. For everyone else that only has a general understanding of coin collecting you will find the pictures interesting to look at but the topic is a very dry read.

I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through BookSneeze.com in exchange for my honest review of the book.

You Were Born for This by Bruce Wilkinson

Just one man’s interpretation of God.

As I began to read “You Were Born for This” my interested peaked quickly. The stories and examples were heart wrenching and captivating. Though I do not agree with the author’s definition of miracles, I do agree on the overall premise of the book. In Boy Scouts they called it doing a good deed, another book calls is random acts of kindness and the dictionary defines the same thing as altruism or being a humanitarian. No matter the size or scale of the act, being empathic and altruistic is becoming more and more rare in today’s world. The book provides good methods to seek out and find these types of situations, how you handle them is yet to be determined.

The book has one major flaw. I always struggle with a book that the author is convinced they know and understand God. At first I dismissed the author’s comments but they kept came up time and time again as if they knew exactly what God is thinking and wanting us to do. The most that any of us can do is assume, theorize and pray for understanding of God. The book should state this is the author’s understanding and/or interpretation of how he believes God is thinking and acting, we as humans can do no more than that. Even Jesus Christ did not fully understand God at times how could we. Over all the book was a good read and delivers a strong message that everyone should try to do and understand better.

I received a free copy of this book from Multnomah in exchange for my honest review of the book.

The Seraph Seal by Leonard Sweet & Lori Wagner

Apocalyptic tale that is realistic and frightening.

The year is 2048 technology has continued to advance and religion has become obsolete. The world has started on a change in many ways because of major natural and human designed disasters. A collision course is under way when all the modern details as we see them slowly turn into Revelation's as it is referenced in the Bible.

Many doomsday stories have been published but “The Seraph Seal” was written in such a way that people today could relate to and visualize the possibilities. Sweet and Wagner have taken each potential and possible realistic detail into place and spun the time ahead by 37 year to foresee how we may end up. Historical data is used along with current events and events based on how we live and act today that could unfold.

Truthfully, this is not a book topic I search out to read but I was surprises and intrigued enough that I was not able to put the book down. The characters were will developed and how the authors handled the multiple locations around the world and events along with how they tied into each other was masterful. A book that will make many people think hard about not only their future but also the world’s future, as we know it.

I received a free copy of this book from Multnomah in exchange for my honest review of the book.