A Dream So Big by Steve Peifer

Steve and Nancy Peifer experienced tragedy when their son Stephen was born with trisomy 13 and died after only eight days. Overtaken with grief and seeking God to make sense of the pain, Steve sensed God saying to him, "Make your wife's dream come true." Nancy's dream was to be a missionary. Out of tragedy, God took a grieving heartbroken couple and their family to rural Kenya to be dorm parents at Rift Valley Academy, a boarding school for missionary kids. A Dream So Big recounts their journey and how God made beauty from ashes, taking an unlikely man and using him to start a feeding program in schools throughout Kenya and to build computer centers to train these children in technology to help educate them out of poverty.

I have a heart for Africa and read books any chance I get on how people are making a difference there. This book was different than most I had read. I think it is the honesty in which it is written. I appreciated and could relate to the struggles that Steve encountered as he wrestled with Kenyan culture and the obstacles he faced in trying to feed the children. Much of the story is told through excerpts from emails he sent to financial supporters in the states. Some of the emails were humorous stories of life at a boarding school with the students and other were heartbreaking stories of poverty.

A Dream So Big has something for everyone. While reading this book, I learned more about third world relief work, about boarding school life, and about how God makes heroes out of people who will for the most part live in obscurity with virtually no recognition for the difference they have made. These people, like the Peifers and others you will meet through this book, are the modern day heroes of the faith.

This book will educate, challenge and inspire you to dream big, to live a life of purpose in service for others, especially those who have are born into and live in poverty.



I received this book from Booksneeze.com in exchange for an honest review.

Jeremy Camp-I Still Believe (A Review)

Even when I don’t see, I still believe

Jeremy Camp penned these words to a now familiar song just two weeks after the death of his first wife, Melissa. They had been married only 3 ½ months when ovarian cancer took her life. He was in a fog and felt like God wasn’t there and even if he was, he wasn’t listening.  After crying out to God, he received an answer to his sadness from God: “Pick up your guitar.”  Jeremy did and wrote “I Still Believe,” a song that summarized that moment in his life but was a reality in all that had come before that and all that has followed.

In his recent book, I Still Believe: a memoir (previously released in 2011 under the same title but different subtitle), Camp shares his story.  He begins with the early years and speaks openly of the mountaintops and valleys of his life journey. He speaks openly about his father’s drinking and his father’s   conversion to Christ, which takes the Camp family on a completely different course. Jeremy writes about what it was like growing up in poverty, yet having parents that were rich in the Lord. Surrendering to Jesus is a trait that Jeremy learned from his parents and one that he carries to this day. He recounts his battling of competing desires in his heart and the triumph of Christ as his chief desire.

The greatest test of his faith came in the death of his wife. Struggling for answers and wrestling with God about why this happened to such a faithful girl, Jeremy ultimately surrenders to the foundational timeless truth: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68).

Jeremy Camp began using his place as a young widower to magnify the glory of God in the pain so others could see and believe that God truly can and will make all things new for those who believe.

Even when I don’t see, I still believe.

Since the passing of his wife, God has blessed Jeremy Camp with a new love, three children, and ever-increasing career success. I am inspired to read of how his second wife is strengthened by the story of Jeremy’s first wife and wants him to keep sharing the story so others can grow in their faith for the glory of God’s name.

This story is an illustration of how God makes beauty out of ashes. Fans of the music of Jeremy Camp would benefit from reading about the life behind the songs. It will give new meaning to the words that will drive us all forward in the journey:

Even when I don’t see, I still believe.

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This book was provided by the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for an honest review.

 

Dirty God by Johnnie Moore (A review)

When asked what is unique about Christianity as compared to other world religions, C.S. Lewis answered without hesitation, “It is grace.” Grace is what I need so desperately and what you need as well. It is the only thing that can give each of us that offend God a chance at peace with Him. It is a gift from God and cannot be earned. We are saved by grace and depend on grace for every breath we take.

Dirty God is a book about grace. 

Johnnie Moore, vice president of Liberty University, divides his book into two parts: Getting Grace and Giving Grace. 

In part one, Moore writes about the God who didn’t mind getting his hands dirty to extend his love to people in need. Jesus entered without reservation into leper colonies and into the homes of social rejects. His entire life and ministry was characterized by grace. Through impactful stories and anecdotes, Moore calls for believers, who are the recipients of God’s grace, to be happy and free in who they are in Christ. God accepts and loves imperfect people. He has used ragtag people in the past for his purposes and continues to pour out favor on the outcasts to this day. Jesus is in the business of being a friend to the friendless.  In the last chapter of the first section, “How to Miss the Grace of God,” Moore warns of the dangers of faking, pretending to have a relationship with God. He writes that “Looking good isn’t the same as being good. Faking it never works.” In faking, we miss grace because grace is in opposition of looking good and living to impress others.

Part two of Dirty God is a call for grace in action. “Grace is radical, and it’s meant to be lived in radical ways.” Moore writes:

The kind of grace the world needs, and the kind of grace Jesus gives, is the kind of grace that will cost us something. It’s the tough grace that causes us to chance losing a friend because we finally tell her what she needs to hear. It’s the kind of grace that causes you to put yourself in great personal danger to stand up for the disenfranchised or enslaved. It’s the kind of grace that might make people think you’re weak, when you’re actually strong – the kind of grace that will be misunderstood in a world that looks out for number one…grace intervenes…grace stands up for truth when people don’t want to hear it and grace stands in the gap for those who haven’t a voice. Grace takes the hit. Grace decides to charge injustice from the front lines. Grace sometimes says what no one wants to hear and then keeps saying it until everyone has heard it.

Dirty God is a book that will help you understand the grace of a loving God who was willing to sacrifice His son to save us. Moore will challenge and inspire you to be a giver of grace to this grace-starved planet.  It is time to get our hands and feet dirty in the trenches with Jesus as we live out grace.

(I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Booksneeze.com )

20,000 Days and Counting by Robert D. Smith

We all want meaning. We all want our lives to count for something, to make a difference that outlives our time here. When I first saw 20,000 days and Counting, a new book by Robert D. Smith, I was curious and skeptical. Curious as to what the 20,000 days represented and skeptical primarily because of the subtitle which says the book is "the crash course for mastering your life right now."  I have read many books (far too many,actually) about life meaning and making the most of your life, living a life that counts, etc.so when I here THE crash course, I was questioning if the author was making some sort of claim to his course being the definitive course in life planning or maybe it is just the only "crash course" he knows of. After brief research, I agreed to read and review the book. And I liked it.
So what is 20,000 days? Smith recounts how in his 54th year of life, it hit him that he had been alive almost 20,000 days. On his 20,000th day, he celebrated the occasion by putting himself through a crash course in planning his next 20,000 days. The result is contained in this book.

Smith explains in the beginning that he wrote the book so it could be read quickly ( I finished it in about 30 minutes or so). His short chapters and straight-to-the point writing style help to make it a fast read.  He did this "because this could be your last day...and you have important things to do." I was impressed that he doesn't want us passing time reading his book. His desire is for us to grasp the concepts and principles quickly and get busy living them out.

I found this book to be beneficial in bringing clarity to some problem areas in life planning. His steps, questions and "things you can do now" are helpful to get me moving. Reader will find something in this book that connects, whether it be his words about motivation being a myth, the importance of eating dessert first, or the story of William Borden and his "No reserves, No retreats, No regrets" life.
Whether or not this book helps you master your life will depend on how serious you are at changing and how quickly you implement Smith's point that you have only two choices which encompass every decision you make for your life. You can decide yes or no. He quotes Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back: "Do  or do not: there is no try."

Great gift for people struggling with finding meaning or needing a nudge to get over a hump or lull in life. People like me. I will keep this one handy for when I need a nudge.

I received this book free of charge from Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze Blogger Program in exchange for an honest review.

The Holy and the Common

One thing I love about the church I attend is that we still practice the reading of longer passages of scripture in the service each week. In recent months we have been hearing the book of Ezekiel read aloud. It is easy to get lost in some of the details and visitors may sometimes wonder why we are reading a particular section of the Bible. We read books of the Bible in their entirety so some weeks may seem random for a first-time visitor.
As is often the case when I am reading (or in this case hearing) Old Testament prophets, I will be struck by a simple phrase or statement that is a jewel to be pondered. Yesterday, it was Ezekiel 42:20. The Lord is giving Ezekiel the details and measurements of the new temple chambers when at the end of the chapter he writes, "It had a wall around it...to make a separation between the holy and the common."It hit me that this is something that is lost in our time and culture, even in the church.

There is to be a wall between what is holy and what is common.

That which is common is for everyday use and available to all. There is nothing special about the common. It is precisely that...common. When we take things that are common and try to blend them with the holy, we contaminate the purity of what God has declared as his own and we defile it, making it a stench that dishonors his name,which is Holy. In our services, if we are not attune to the holiness of God we can easily become so focused on being culturally relevant and unoffensive that we lose the holiness and reverence of our gathering to worship the living God, maker and sustainer of all things.

That which is holy is set apart for God and his purposes. God takes people and purifies them, making them holy for himself. Peter writes that we are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9 ESV). We are called saints.

Our lives should be characterized by a pursuit of holiness.

"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (1 Peter 1:13-19 ESV).

We have been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 7:23 ESV) and do not belong to ourselves. We belong to God and since he has set us apart for his purposes, we are holy.

To preserve the holiness of God's name, we must guared against the temptation for our lives and the church to become common. We must make a separation between the holy and the common.We and the church are anything but common.

Sinner's Creed by Scott Stapp

I was stocking groceries at Winn-Dixie on the graveyard shift the first time I heard Creed. Because the store closed at midnight, the crew would alternate choosing the music to listen to. We would play it through the often crackling PA system.  I was a Bible college student at the time in Knoxville, TN at the time and the crew knew what I believed and we had some good conversations about faith and music. One of the guys put on a new CD one night and said to me, “You’ll probably like this one.” He told me it was a new band, Creed, and the name of the album was My Own Prison. He was right, I did like it. I was blown away by the intensity of the lyrics and of course the amazing guitar riffs. Not long after that, everyone knew who Creed was.

I love a good rock and roll story. I also love to hear of people’s journeys of faith. Sinner’s Creed, by Creed lead singer and lyricist Scott Stapp, is both. It is an intimate look into the Stapp childhood home and a backstage pass to the story of Creed.  It is a memoir paved with love and pain, disappointment and success, faith and doubt.  

Stapp recounts with brutal honesty his father’s abandonment of the family and the joy he felt when his mother remarries and his step-father fills in the gap and makes him feel special and loved. But when his step father turns abusive, both physically and spiritually, he was disillusioned. Scott was introduced to rock and roll during this time which was forbidden in his home. At the same time, he was comforted and inspired by the lyrics of King David in the Psalms. Rock and roll would be the best thing that ever happened to him….and the worst.

Creed was born at Florida State University in 1994 and by 1998 My Own Prison had launched them into the big time. Their follow up album, Human Clay, made them megastars. The members of Creed were living their dreams as rock stars, but for Scott Stapp it was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the title of the debut album. He was in his own prison.

Conflict with his bandmates was intensifying because so much focus was on the Christian spiritual themes of his lyrics. The media and many fans were referring to Creed as a “Christian” band, which angered the other members of the band. They never considered themselves to be a Christian band, so what was going on? Scott just wrote what he was feeling and how he wrestled with matters of faith, foundations coming from what he gained from his mother, step- father and grandfather. Scott was also becoming addicted to pain medicines his “rock and roll doctor” was giving him for his throat and he was also drinking heavily.  Needless to say, the combination of all this almost killed him and it did kill Creed for a season. He couldn’t go on.

But God holds on to his people. Scott shares of the deep hurt and his return to God and life-giving faith. His wife and children are motivations for him to press on and he continues to understand the dangers of life as a rock and roller but he knows who is in control of all things. I love how he summarizes the first 3 steps of his recovery from drugs and alcohol. It will also serve as a fitting summary of his memoir, Sinner’s Creed.

1.       Scott can’t

2.       God can.

3.       Scott lets God.

We come Full Circle, like the title of the Creed reunion project. This is a rock and roll story. It is also a story of the journey of faith. It is a painful story. It is an inspirational story. It is Scott Stapp’s story. But ultimately, it is God’s story.  Don’t miss it...it hits the shelves on October 2.

(This book was provided free of charge from the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for an honest review.)

You Were Made for The RIver

“The River is magical…The River is wild, free, and untamable…The River is alive. The River is timeless, and it’s moving all over the world.”

Gabriel Clarke was at home with the River, as was his father and his father before him. It was safe to say he loved the River. But when Gabriel was only five years old, he was witness to an event that forever changed his life, an event that built an impenetrable wall between his heart and the River.

But the River never stops moving. It never stops calling. “You were made for the River.”

The story of The River begins in Colorado, winds to Kansas, and cascades back to Colorado and finally into every crevice and gorge of the human heart, leaving everything changed in its steady current.

Michael Neale, Grammy award winning songwriter, forges ahead with his debut novel, The River.  It is passionately filled with characters you will come to know and love in just a few pages and ones you will cry with before you are done. Neale will raft into your heart as the River opens up new points of entry.  The River will lead the reader to reflect on life and inspire to live a life of purpose.  It is a book saturated with real-life hurt and pain, but never without hope for overcoming. When looking your greatest fear directly in the face, The River is the book saying, “Go for It!”

One of the characters in The River says:

I’ve run The River hundreds of times, and right before I hit those rapids, I still get that butterfly feeling in my gut—and then the rush of adrenaline takes over. I think that feeling will always be there whenever you connect with something bigger than you are. It’s part of what makes life beautiful. If you stay connected only to that which is small enough for you to understand and control, then you have nothing—no adventure, no destiny, and no purpose.

 I recommend this book to anyone wanting to leave the safety of the bank and ride the rapids of life to the other side of the places that have dammed up the heart. This is for those who need to know and believe and hear that:  You were made for The River!

(This book was provided at no cost from the Thomas Nelson Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review.)