Little Star by: Anthony DeStefano

DeStefano tells the story of a Christmas star named Little Star. Little Star is the smallest star in the heavens. He was had no friends and was very lonely. One day he heard that the King was to be born. Little star was so excited that he decided to shine brighter than any of the other stars in the sky. He shone so bright trying to warm baby Jesus, that he ended up burning out and lost his life. The story says that each Christmas we remember the Christmas Star by putting a star at the top of our Christmas trees.

I don't think this will be a story I will want to read to my children. I found it to be biblically incorrect. A story of a star loosing it's life in order for Christ to be born, just did not sit well with me. My small children take things to heart that they read, and at this age they believe everything! So while I understand the creativity of fiction, I think it can be quite messy if it's not an accurate account of the things we've taught them to be true. This may be a good story book for older children who know the difference between fiction and non-fiction, however not good for our age range (0-5).

~I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.~

God Gave Us the World by: Lisa Tawn Bergren art by Laura J. Bryant

So I thought what a better way to review a children's story, than to read it to my children! And that is exactly what I did! My girls were so excited to get a new book first of all no matter what the story is they are always willing to listen, however they do let me know what they think of it!

In the book "God Gave Us the World" by Laura Bryant, I felt it was a really great message wrapped into a cute and entertaining story! At the beginning of the book it introduces a Mama Bear and a Little Cub. They are walking in the snow sticking out their tongues to catch the snow! My girls just laughed and laughed at this, and one of them even stuck out her tongue and began to pretend it was snowing in our living room! When Mama Bear tells Little Cub he has the pinkest tongue she has ever seen, Little Cub wonders if all bears are the same as him.

Mama Bear begins to explain to Little Cub that God created all kinds of different places to live and different types of bears. So they begin taking a journey through a Bear Exhibit in order to see a glimpse of all that God created. They talk about many different types of bears, where they live, what they eat, and how each bear is made unique by our Creator. No bear is quite the same! They talk about how Big God is and how the world reflects God's work. It is God's nature to create, and our purpose here on earth is to worship Him. I felt it went a little green at the end of the story, talking about how we need to be good stewards of our world, take care of the world because it is God's gift to us.

After we were done reading the story my girls looked up at me and said "that was a great story mom, can we read it again?!" I guess that comment can speak for it's self! Even my 5 month old LOVED looking at the pictures! Over all I think the story was great, the message was great and it was easy for the kids to interact with the story.


~I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.~

The Shadowed Mind A Dinah Harris Mystery by Julie Cave

What is human life worth to you. Should people who are alcoholics, homeless, disabled, or mentally disturbed be considered a burden to society? If we got rid of everyone who have these problems will it strengthen society for the greater good? According to "The Movement" group, eugenics is better for everyone, but what if that meant murder?

In this mysterious tale "The Shadowed Mind" by Julie Cave, Dinah Harris is in search of a murderer. With each murder well thought out and planned it gives Dinah and the detective a run for their money with the search for the mysterious man with black eyes. During their investigation they stumble upon a eugenics group called "The Movement", who does not believe that life is precious. With Dinah's recent alcoholic background and her struggling to stay sober, things take a turn when she becomes the killers next target. Will Dinah turn to God and surrender to His will, or will she take things upon herself and go back to her old ways?

Although I'm not much of a Mystery person, I though this book was an amazing picture of God's love and grace. It shows us how no matter who we were in the past, God is able to transform us with His love into who he wants us to be. Highly recommend this book!



~I received this book for free from New Leaf Publishing for this review.~

Slave by John MacArthur

When asked what a follower of Christ means, not many people will respond by saying that it means to be a slave to Christ! Most people respond by saying they are a servant of Christ, or a follower of Christ. In John MacArthur's new book "Slave", he talks about how the word "slave" has gotten lost in translation of the bible. He explains how the word "slave" or "doulos" in Greek, appears 124 times in the original text but is only actually translated into the word "slave" correctly 1 time in the entire KJV of the bible. Instead they used the word "servant".

MacArthur goes on to explore what the true meaning of being a "slave" of Christ means. He goes back to Roman times and explores in and out of what being a slave meant back then. He talks about everything from being bought, to how they were treated, and what their circumstances were if they did not obey their master. Then he paralleled it to our walk with Christ, and what being a slave of Christ means to for us. MacArthur explains how we will always be a slave to something! We will either be a slave to sin, or a slave to Christ. By being a slave to sin we are in constant fear of our master, and are promised death for eternity. But when we were bought with a price by Christ, he freed us from sin, and we also became free to live a life of righteousness, and are guaranteed to live forever with Him. We were freed from sin and enslaved to God.

I received some really great insight from this book. I've never looked at my life as being a slave to anyone. By turning the word servant, into slave it definitely turned my outlook on my walk with Christ upside down, but in a good way! This is definitely a life changing book, and worth the read.

*** I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255***

Mark of the Lions den series Book 1 "A voice in the wind" by Francine Rivers

So It took me forever to finish this book, not because the story was not good and not because it wasn't a captivating story; but because it's so detailed and lengthy! I love Francine Rivers and her books especially "Redeeming Love" and this one was amazing as well, but they are so hard for me to read through! I feel like they take me forever!

I borrowed this book from a friend because I heard it was a must read and she was totally right! The first few chapters I didn't care for just because it talked a lot about war, and I'm not big on reading about war. Watching it is okay but reading it is a bit boring to me. Once I got past the first three chapters the book really started to take off!

It's the story of a Jewish slave girl, who is a Christian. She sacrifices everything for the love and truth of the one True God! This is an amazing story of love, sacrifice, & betrayal but in the end God always wins!

"Radical" by David Platt

"Radical" by David Platt, was a well needed book for our christian society. Most pastors and churches now days like to sugar coat things and make things more sensitive for seekers to hear. But not Platt, he is straight forward, down to earth, nothing but complete biblical truth. It might not be what you want to hear but it is definitely what is needed! We can't grow in our Christian faith without having our toes stepped on once in a while and our faith challenged.

In this book, Platt talks about taking back your faith from the American Dream. How can we live a true biblical life, just sitting comfortably in our own homes. We've become so materialistic in our every day lives we haven't even realized it! We have above and beyond the necessities that we need for every day living, yet we still want more! Platt, talks about how it's a constant battle to resist more things that make life more comfortable. We even have to have these comforts in our Church buildings, padded seats, air conditioning/heat, lights, screens, music. If we took all that away Platt asks, "would just the Word of God be enough to continue meeting together?" He talks about his experiences overseas and how there are so many people daily meeting in underground churches. They are risking their lives for the sake of meeting together to worship God; but here we are in America, in our comfortable houses, comfortable churches, unwilling to step up and take a little risk ourselves. This book is a "Radical" eye opener to the life that we should be living but are not. If you like a challenge, and want something more in life,this book is for you!

~I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.~