by admin | Mar 31, 2020 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Current Issues, Romance
MY REVIEW:
A Gift to Cherish is another honestly realistic book that encourages readers to boldly face the giants in their lives with the help of the Lord. Although the story is obviously a contemporary romance, it is so much more. Both the hero and heroine of this tale carry secrets and heavy burdens that prevent them from living their life to the fullest. Fear has led to a strong lack of trust, especially of the opposite sex. The third primary character is an older woman, their employer who has also decided to play matchmaker. Her own past experiences are told alongside the main narrative and adds another layer to it.
I love how the author is unafraid to tackle the tough issues such as addiction, domestic abuse, the dangers of online dating, etc. Her approach is authentic without exaggeration or unnecessary details. It was a pleasure to follow Daisy’s progression as she gained confidence in herself and her abilities. Her loyalty and compassion toward her friends truly made Daisy a character I could love. I look forward to reading the next installment in this excellent series.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by Just Read Tours. A favorable review was not required. All views expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
When Daisy Riley arrives in Refuge, Wyoming to live with her brother and his family, she intends to stay forever. The victim of violence in Los Angeles, Daisy craves stability, peace of mind, and safety. Her dreams all come true when lands a job as a personal assistant to Miss Joan Prescott, the owner of Cottonwood Acres, a historic ranch that once served as the set for a famous TV show. A retired college professor, Miss Joan has secrets and stories of her own, including a very unusual project.
Rafe Donovan, a cop from Cincinnati, is haunted by a recurring nightmare about the drug death of his high school sweetheart and his failure to save her. Those nightmares lead Rafe to take leave from the police department, seek help, and shelter in Refuge where he pounds nails for his brother’s construction business. He has no desire to stay in Wyoming. His goal is to get back to being a cop in Ohio as soon as possible. But then he meets Daisy Riley . . . When he finds her stranded late at night with a flat tire, Rafe is instantly impressed by her courage. Daisy is equally impressed by him. Together they navigate the road to love—one that’s complicated by the arrival of Daisy’s troubled best friend, online dating, and the impossible obstacle of 1,600 miles between her home and his.
Author Note: This story is about our current dating culture, including the risks of online dating. It also looks at the social mores of 1970s and how those values impact today’s women.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Victoria Bylin is known for tackling tough subjects with great compassion. In 2016, Together With You, a story of grace and healing, won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award for Best Contemporary Romance. Her other books, including historical westerns, have finaled in the Carol Awards, the RITAs, and RT Magazine’s Reviewers Choice Award. A native of California, she and her husband now make their home in Lexington, Kentucky. Learn more at victoriabylin.com.
by admin | Jan 6, 2017 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Current Issues, Legal, Political, Suspense
MY REVIEW:
The third novel in The Worthington Destiny series, “A Primary Decision” features daughter Sarah, an attorney who manages to become the U.S. attorney general yet wants to remain somewhat involved in solving a case she had been working on with her partners. She soon discovers that the people who initiated her new position want to use that position to control her. Sarah’s moral compass demands that she follow her instincts no matter what it costs her personally.
With the most recent U.S. presidential election just completed, “A Primary Decision” brings the reader another look at what goes on behind the scenes in Washington politics and the powers that control almost everything. The entire series was so current and realistic that it could almost have been part of our daily news. The plot moved along at a good pace with plenty of action and intrigue to keep it interesting and a touch of romance for added measure. I enjoyed keeping up with the rest of the Worthington family and was mostly satisfied with the resolution. I only wish there were more people like this fictional family involved in our government.
I thoroughly enjoyed “A Primary Decision” and would recommend it as well as the entire series for those who enjoy a good political novel.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book that was provided by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The road to power and position is fraught with perils, even for a Worthington.
But Sarah does not intend to lose.
Sarah Worthington never expected to become the US attorney general–at least not this early in her career. Plunged into the vicious vetting process, with all sides digging for secrets in her family closet, she steels herself for the path forward. Nothing will deter her from making her mark on the world in the biggest way possible–even if that means prosecuting the current president of the United States.
Yet powerful forces conspire behind the scenes to take the Worthington family down, and the president orders her to close the investigation. Will she comply? Or turn the tables to pursue her ultimate dream–the US presidency?
Read an excerpt from “A Primary Decision” HERE.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
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Dr. Kevin Leman is an internationally known psychologist, radio and television personality, and speaker who has taught and entertained audiences worldwide with his wit and commonsense psychology. He has made house calls for hundreds of radio and television programs, such as Fox & Friends, The View, Fox’s The Morning Show, Today, Dr. Bill Bennett’s America in the Morning, 700 Club, CBS This Morning, James Robison’s Life Today, Janet Parshall, CNN’s American Morning, and Focus on the Family, and has served as a contributing family psychologist to Good Morning America.
A bestselling and award-winning author, Dr. Leman has written more than 50 books about marriage and family issues, including The Birth Order Book, Sheet Music, Making Children Mind without Losing Yours, and Have a New Kid by Friday. He is coauthor, with his son Kevin Leman II, of a series of illustrated children’s books for each child in the family. He is also featured on 6 video series on marriage, parenting, blended families, and single parenting.
Dr. Leman and his wife, Sande, live in Tucson, Arizona. They have five children and four grandchildren. |
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Jeff Nesbit is a former communications director to the vice president at the White House, served as the director of public affairs for two prominent federal science agencies, and has been a national journalist with Knight Ridder Newspapers. He is the author of 20 novels. Cocreator of the Emmy award-winning Science of the Olympic Winter Games and the Science of NFL Football video series with NBC Sports, Jeff is executive director for Climate Nexus and writes “At the Edge,” a weekly science column for U.S. News & World Report. |
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by admin | Nov 19, 2015 | Conference, Current Issues, ProLife
Focus on the Family and The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission will host Evangelicals for Life, a major pro-life conference held in conjunction with the March for Life event.
The event will take place January 21-22, 2016, in Washington, D.C., at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. Evangelicals from across the country will gather to hear from leading speakers, such as David Platt, Russell Moore, Jim Daly, Kelly Rosati, and others—to be equipped and encouraged to become a voice for life! The event will also be simulcast for FREE so individuals, churches, and organizations from coast-to-coast and around the world can take part.
Speakers will encourage evangelicals to engage the culture on issues of abortion and end-of-life decisions, and the event will affirm the evangelical belief in the sanctity of life, that every life matters to God and is created in His image.
Kelly Rosati will be one of this year’s speakers. Kelly is the vice president of Community Outreach at Focus on the Family where she oversees the Adoption & Orphan Care Initiative and the Sanctity of Human Life department. In the article below, she speaks to how we can and should be both pro-life and pro-justice Christians.
Pro-Life Christian or Pro-Justice Christian? Yes.
Are Christians supposed to be pro-life or pro-justice? Kelly Rosati shares: We ought to be both.
Do you consider yourself a member of one of these two camps? The news about the gruesome harvesting of fetal organs by Planned Parenthood prompted some interesting discussion in this vein.
It’s important to consider how you ended up in one of these categories in the first place. As followers of Christ, our hearts become more like His as He transforms us from the inside out. We care more about people and life and justice as we meditate on His word and spend time with Him. As we grow in grace, it becomes impossible to be indifferent or complacent to the suffering of human beings God made in His image and whom He loves with an infinite love.
Verses such as Proverbs 31:8 (“speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves”) and Micah 6:8 (“to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”) burn in our hearts as we join God in His redemptive work on behalf of preborn babies, victims of human trafficking, war refugees, orphans, those with disabilities, racial minorities, those without access to clean water, families living in extreme poverty, homeless, dying and lonely elderly neighbors, and many others who qualify as what Jesus called “the least of these.”
We’re changed as we seek to minister to the vulnerable. We listen to them and learn from them, and in them we see the face of Jesus, the one who admonished us that “whatever we’ve done to the least of these, we’ve done to Him” (Matthew 25:40).
In my role at Focus on the Family I’m blessed to meet and work with people in both the Christian pro-life and pro-justice communities. I’ve noticed they have much in common: They love Jesus, they love their families, they share a deep sense of calling and are led by the Holy Spirit, and they take Scripture seriously and find in it the inspiration to advance the Kingdom and to participate in God’s redemptive work. They all want to be careful to worship Jesus first and only, who called them to His work, rather than make an idol of the calling itself. They’ve sacrificed the American dream, many of them, to give their lives away like the One who gave His for them.
Yet . . . it often seems as if pro-life and pro-justice Christians come from two different planets. Their leaders don’t tend to know one another. All of their conferences are separate. They lean in different political directions, and each thinks the other should prioritize the issues differently. Yes, most would grudgingly agree they serve the same God and their passions come from the same Holy Scriptures. But at the end of the day, they have little interest in working together—in fact, they can often seem “at odds” with one another.
This is tragic because both communities have much to offer and much to gain by listening to and learning from one another. For the average Christian seeking to love and serve his or her neighbors, life and justice should not be an either/or proposition. Together, the life and justice communities can offer a both/and approach that is truly biblical and comprehensive.
I have personally gleaned much from Christian sisters and brothers in both communities. From the pro-life perspective, I have learned about perseverance and faithfulness to the truth, even when it’s the most unpopular position in the world. I have been moved by their conviction that God’s word won’t return void and that He loves both moms and their babies (and dads and everyone else!). I have been impacted by the conviction that abortion stops a beating heart and that life is always the better choice. I have encountered the breathtaking beauty of Christ’s forgiveness for those suffering grief and shame post-abortion. And I have come to understand the hope and optimism that can only come from Christ in the face of the discouraging reality of 57 million lives lost to abortion. And I know I have so much more to learn from this passionate group.
From the pro-justice community, I have learned about systems of oppression and injustice that must be challenged in order to love and serve our neighbors well. I have a deeper understanding of the solidarity of suffering and the ministry of presence. I have also learned about perseverance, patience, and the simple beauty of loving and serving those who suffer. I’ve been reminded about new life in Christ and the transforming power of His love for individuals and families. I’ve seen the beauty of humility and the freedom that comes from eschewing power, money, and privilege on behalf of one’s neighbors. I know I will continue to learn and be challenged by this group as well.
But . . . the division remains. Pro-life Christians tend to view their cause as primarily moral in nature—as if speaking up for oppressed populations, combating human trafficking, and addressing the root causes of poverty are not inherently issues of profound moral concern. And pro-justice Christians tend to view their cause as primarily a matter of justice—as if speaking out in defense of preborn babies as the most helpless and vulnerable members of society was not quintessentially a question of biblical justice.
Together, pro-life and pro-justice Christians have so much to offer a world that is buckling under the effects of sin. So here’s a short list of what I think each community could offer the other that would enhance the work of both:
- When the pro-life community advances the dignity of every human person, it is at its best when making clear that along with the essential concern of innocent preborn lives lost to abortion, every sex trafficking victim, orphan, and victim of preventable death is worthy of the same defense. We must help the Church understand that all of these issues are biblically connected and directly tied to what it means to be “pro-life.” They are all related to the God-given sanctity, dignity, and intrinsic worth of every human life, and therefore they cannot be segmented or pitted against one another.
- When the pro-justice community boldly and compassionately advances the cause of justice for victims of sex trafficking, racial hatred, failing schools, extreme poverty, or lack of access to clean water, it is at its best also to include the absolute necessity of justice and human rights for preborn children. Again, advancing biblical justice, promoting the common good, and enabling human flourishing must be for all people, born and preborn. There can be no neglecting of the cause of justice in the human right to life. They should not be separated.
- Each community should endeavor to rise above easy (and sometimes valid) criticism of the other. Pro-lifers often lament that being pro-justice is “popular” in the broader culture whereas being pro-life is not. As a result, they can be tempted to view the pro-life cause as somehow more “noble” than the social justice cause. At the same time, the pro-justice community often suggests that the pro-life community cares only about life in the womb, but not life outside it, making it a myopic single-issue cause. Of course, in both communities (just like in every community) there are those doing it well and those doing it not so well. But by and large, both groups are motivated by deep conviction and the love of both Christ and neighbor.
What if, instead of marching resolutely down two different paths, we made a commitment to learn from each other, forge meaningful relationships with one another, and seek creative ways to help the Church learn about the comprehensive approach to life and justice reflected in the totality of the Scriptures? Can pro-life conferences address abortion and end-of-life issues as well as human trafficking and poverty? Can social justice conferences make room to embrace the cause of justice for preborn children? These are issues that transcend political parties and point directly to the heart of God Himself. Let’s step outside our comfort zones and work together for the common good, for life, and for justice—all because of the love of Christ.
This article was adapted from the original article posted on Ed Stetzer’s The Exchange blog on ChristianityToday.com.
