Permission to speak freely

To be perfectly honest, I was a bit weary of this book. As a pastor's wife there are so many times (and books it seems) putting down the church and it's leadership. They take the personal responsibility away from each member (With leadership included) and place it solely on the Pastor's shoulder. So when I was beginning to read this book I was a bit hesitant to really get into it, thinking it was just another "lets blame the pastor" type of thing. I have to say though, I was pleasantly surprised and immensely enjoyed the book. This didn't push personal responsibility on others, it more focused on accepting our own responsibility and letting others know that they are struggling with the same things. I loved the chapter of the book where it talked about letting fear rule our lives and keeping us from speaking freely. I found that I was agreeing with a lot in there and felt personally convicted by some of it.
I'd highly recommend this book, its a really great example of exactly what the title describes, fear confession and grace.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available now at your favourite bookseller."

Immanuel's Veins

I have to start off saying I am a Huge Ted Dekker fan, I love his books, they're full of just the right amount of suspense and a wee bit of 'horror' without going overboard. At first I wasn't liking this book as much as previous ones of  his, however the deeper I got into his story them more I started liking it! I love at the end where he ties it into the Bible, I honestly did not see that coming at all!! Fantastic!
I think my only complaint about it was that it was a wee bit hard to follow at times, but other than that I enjoyed it immensely. Definitely one of the best books that I've read! I'd highly recommend it to any suspense or horror fan, you won't be disappointed!!

Out live Your Life

I had high expectations for Max Lucado's book "Out live your life", he is one of my very favorite non-fiction writers, so I generally enjoy all his books. This one didn't disappoint either, I love how he (Lucado) takes us through the book of acts, and includes stories about real life situations (Real life sounds bad, like I'm saying that the book of Acts isn't. Maybe modern life situations would fit there better). I have to say out of all of Lucado's books, this is one of two (Facing Your Giants, would be the other one)  that has really been a life changing read. Reading this book inspired me, challenged me, and forced me to look beyond myself, beyond my circumstances to see the world and its needs. Not only was this life changing for me, but I firmly believe that if the majority of Christians read this book and took it seriously, we would see Life Changing happenings going on in our world.
I love Lucado's passion, which can easily been seen throughout his book, and its contagious, when we read these things, it gives us the ability to believe that We too can be a part of the solution.
I 100% recommend this book to anyone, Honestly, its such a life changing book, that I'll be going out of my way to share it with others.

Love, Charleston

Honestly, I really didn't expect to like this book.  I don't know why I had the impression that It would be corny, but when i picked it up to read I settled myself in for a boring time. I'm so glad i was wrong! This turned out to be an amazing book! I had originally thought this would turn out to be a historical/love story kind of book, and those really aren't my thing.
The book is mostly focused around three women (2 who are sister's and their cousin) and the new minister who moves to town. Throughout the book we are introduced and follow along with the struggles that each has to face, and the different crises they are facing. I really appreciated the storyline about Lish and the struggles she faced, I thought it was quite an honest look at a not so nice thing. I appreciated the directness and almost brutality she used to describe the situations. There was no fluffing over of the post-partum depression, or any of the the other situations. I thought that part of the story was exceptionally well thought out and sincere.
Really, this book brings its readers straight into the story and holds them to the very end. There were so many things going on in the book that I didn't see coming. I absolutely loved this book and will be looking for more from this author! Definitely one I'd recommend to anyone and everyone!!