Barbara's Place

George Washington Carver by John Perry

2011-08-31T22:28:00.000-07:00

John Perry presents us with a biography of a genius who was born a slave in Missouri−George Washington Carver. This biography delivers an entertaining account and perspective of George Washington Carver’s life. Perry shows us that Carver was truly a remarkable man−a devout Christian, a scientist, an artist, a teacher, a businessman, a healer−he wore many, many hats. Perry carries us from Carver’s birth in 1863 through his death on January 5, 1943.

Perry writes this biography in simple, easy-to-understand language, which immensely makes this book quite enjoyable to read and very hard to put down. It is more like reading an enjoyable story rather than a biography, but it is backed by notes (footnotes) and a bibliography. Perry has truly done an outstanding job in writing this biography.

It is so sad, and too bad, that George Washington Carver is not recognized in our world today as he should be for he did so much for the entire world. I feel many would enjoy reading this book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://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.

The Story of the Bible by Larry Stone

2011-07-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

The Story of the Bible by Larry Stone is a book to treasure for a lifetime. It relates to us the history of the Bible. It covers 3,500 years of Bible history. It tells us how we have gotten the many translations of the Bible; the Bible has been “translated into more than 2,400 of the world’s 6,900 living languages.” It also tells us about those who died to make GOD’S Word, the Bible, available to us today. It is packed with beautiful illustrations. It also has pull-outs to further your knowledge of the different Bible translations. This is truly an amazing and awe-inspiring book. This book will make you have more respect for GOD’S Word, the Bible. Every household should have one!

I am truly taken aback by this book. It has made me totally very, very, very respectful of GOD’S Word, the Bible. I have gained knowledge that I did not have before I read this book. It is quite beautiful, joyful, and heart-wringing to know that so many people have lost their lives and sacrificed living in normal societies in order to bring GOD’S Word, the Bible, to people all over the world. I did not even know that our early American settlers had taught our early American Indians about GOD and, in fact, had made Bibles available to them in their respective languages. I will always treasure this book.

On This Day In Christian History By Robert J. Morgan

2011-02-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

On This Day contains random excerpts of Christian history presented in a calendar setting of 365 days. It is a book that is difficult to read in its entirety in one or two readings for it is a highly emotional book. The themes of the excerpts include, but not limited to, the institution of St. Valentine’s Day and images in church, the persecution and martyrdom of Christians, and wars between believers and unbelievers. Each day is presented with supporting Biblical authority, which is placed at the end of the excerpt.

I found On This Day to be very informative, inspirational, and exceedingly moving. I wish only that it would have contained a bibliography or reference index so that I could have conducted further research on the excerpts presented in it. However, I did research for other books of this nature by Robert J. Morgan, but found none. The reason I looked for his books was because I like his style. I hope he will do a series on this book, e.g., On This Day 2011, On This Day 2012, etc. ─ all about Christian history, until all Christian history has been exhausted. Robert J. Morgan, think about this!

same kind of different As Me. By Ron Hall & Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent

2010-09-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

A New York Times bestseller. Astonishing. Heart-wrenching. A true story. A book you will be unable to put down until you have entirely read it. You might even want to read it twice.

same kind of different As Me is a story about three people coming together as a family: Denver, a homeless man; Ron, an art dealer; and Deborah, the wife of the art dealer. Denver is a black man, while Ron and Deborah are white and very rich. Journey with them as each one of them finds God and lives accordingly.

The story is written in the narrative between Denver and Ron, taking you through their experiences of childhood through adulthood. The theme centers on homelessness: becoming homeless, living homeless, helping the homeless, etc. This book should make you change your views about homelessness and should make you want to do more for the homeless. I wish everyone, rich and poor, would read this book so that they could become like Denver, Ron, and Deborah, and the other people mentioned in the book who got involved with the homeless.

I immensely enjoyed this book and finished 7/8ths of it before I put it down. I would have finished it, but it was very, very late so I had to put it down. However, the very next day I got right up and it was the first thing I read and finished it. It is not very often that I get a book that I cannot put down until I have finished it and I plan to read it again. Denver, Ron, and Lynn Vincent did an outstanding job in putting this book together. I now want to read Denver and Ron’s (along with Lynn Vincent) second book, What difference do it make? (stories of hope and healing), for I truly enjoyed their first, same kind of different As Me.

If I Could Ask God Anything by Kathryn Slattery

2010-05-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had trouble answering kids’ questions about God? I have and it is very difficult for me to speak about GOD to kids in a manner which they can understand, that is, relate to. If I Could Ask God Anything by Kathryn Slattery, written specifically for children, makes this task for us less difficult. She has written her book in a question/answer format: presents the question and then answers the question with Bible authority references. The questions she presents are profound and her perspective answers to these questions are very good. One of my favorites is “If God is Invisible, How Can I Know He Is Real?” Her answer to this question is just profound.

She claims her book is for all denominations, but I do not think so. For one reason, not all people celebrate the holidays discussed in her book, and I am one of them. For example, she presents questions/answers regarding holidays, such as Valentine’s Day and Easter. In her book, she states that the Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs are pagan practices. Yet, she condones the Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs: “Americans love the Easter Bunny! And why not? Giving and receiving baskets filled with colorful jellybeans…is fun and delicious!”

Even though I do not agree with some things Slattery has discussed in her book, it is a good, informative, and enjoyable book to read. I also feel that this book is good for adults too, for many adults have the same questions.

Saint Patrick by Jonathan Rogers

2010-03-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

Saint Patrick by Jonathan Rogers is a condensed biography of Saint Patrick’s deeds in converting the Irish to Christianity. Rogers bases his writing of Saint Patrick on two documents written by Saint Patrick, “The Confession” and “The Letter.” These two documents are very moving and Rogers attaches them as appendices. In this book, Rogers relates to us how Saint Patrick, the son of Roman British nobility, became a slave in Ireland, became a Christian, gave up his nobility status, and became a crusader bent on converting Ireland to Christianity. Rogers relates both the factual and legendary, but only in clarifying fact from fiction. While I am not a Catholic, I was curious about St. Patrick, and as such, decided to read this book. I now know, since reading Saint Patrick, that all I knew was legendary (fictional). I am very glad I read this book for I am no longer ignorant about who was Saint Patrick; on the contrary, I now admire Saint Patrick very much and now would like to do some research on him. Overall, for a very short work, I feel that Jonathan Rogers has done an excellent job, especially when he had to cover so much time in history.

The White Horse King by Benjamin Merkle

2010-02-15T23:56:00.000-08:00

Benjamin Merkle does an outstanding job in telling his story of the life of Alfred the Great. Merkle tells us about Alfred’s family tree and his accomplishments. He tells us about how Alfred became king of Wessex and how Alfred became known as Alfred the Great. The story unfolds with telling how Britain and, most importantly, Wessex had to continually fight the Vikings (Danes), who were trying to control all of Britain. We are further told how Alfred the Great became Christian and passed this belief onto the people of his kingdom. This book relates how Alfred the Great accomplished many things for Britain. What a book! I immensely enjoyed it. It is very readable. I love history and although I am no history critic, I do feel that anyone who enjoys history would enjoy The White Horse King.

5 Cities That Ruled The World by Douglas Wilson

2009-11-29T14:53:00.000-08:00

5 Cities That Ruled the World delivers an entertaining account and perspective on how Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York ruled the world. It claims that these five cities made our world what it is today: Jerusalem gave us spirituality; Athens gave us democracy, mathematics, philosophy, and architecture; Rome gave us understanding of civic liberty; London gave us literature; and New York gave us free trade and finances. The organization of this book allows the reader to easily follow the evolution of how these five cities shaped our world. The book is divided into seven sections. It opens with an introduction, then progresses through a brief history of each of the five cities, with each city section ending with an explanation of the city’s legacy to the world. The epilogue explains how God interacted with these five cities, and I must say that I disagree with some of these explanations. The notes section not only supports what is written in the book, but also provides many sources for obtaining more information. All-in-all, I enjoyed reading this book, and any person fond of history will enjoy reading 5 Cities That Ruled The World.

2009-10-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

Living With Confidence In A Chaotic World by Dr. David Jeremiah
A must to read!!! A book that is well-written and easy to understand. Living With Confidence In A Chaotic World by Dr. David Jeremiah, a New York Times best-selling author, takes us through a journey on how we can cope with the many problems we face while living in this “chaotic” world. Dr. Jeremiah states that today we live in a world that has torn down integrity, purity, honesty, respect, national pride, ideals, dreams, our sense of shame, and national pride. He states that the way to cope with these problems is to study GOD’s Word and do what GOD tells us to do in HIS Word. He states that if we study GOD’S Word and do what GOD’S Word tell us to do, we will develop faith, confidence, patience, love, and diligence, all of which will make it possible for us to overcome the problems of today’s world. This book is very inspirational for it motivates one to take the action it prescribes.

Let Go by Sheila Walsh

2009-09-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

“’We missed you last night,’ a voice said with a definite edge. ‘Yes, I’m sorry. I got home late and was so tired, and I hadn’t taken the dog for a walk in two days. And I’m not─’ ‘Oh, we understood,’ the voice cut in. ‘It’s just so easy to get into bad habits. Remember, the believer who tries to stand alone is easy prey for the enemy.’ ‘Yes, I know, but it’s just that─’” This poor woman is suffering from the effects of her chemotherapy. Her church is falsely judging her and not allowing her to tell them why she has been unable to attend church services. Sheila Walsh in her book Let Go addresses this problem, as well as other pertinent problems like this that we, as Christians, need to overcome. Let Go is beautifully written. The text in each chapter coincides with its chapter heading. The layout of each chapter is superb: first, authority; second, real-story; third, explanation of, and answer to, problem; fourth, questions for the reader; last, a prayer for the reader. I’ve enjoyed this book immensely and will continue to read it over and over again. It’s exceptionally inspirational, “A lamp unto my feet.” I feel most Christians reading Let Go, will not “Let Go” of it, that is, the book!

2009-09-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

Fearless by Max Lucado

Afraid to lose your job─to lose your home─to die─to…. Fearless, one of many books written by Max Lucado, is a book about the fears we have during our lifetime. In this book, Lucado explains why we have these fears and how to overcome them. He uses analogies, parables, and Holy Bible authority to persuade the reader to believe what he is saying.

While I respect and admire Lucado for being a Christian writer, I’m disappointed with his “Scared to Death” chapter. First, I feel he is erroneous, in part, about the resurrection─he seems to imply that when we are resurrected, we will not have a spiritual body but rather a physical body, like Jesus had when he was resurrected. One Corinthians 15:35-55 plainly disputes this assumption for it says that when we are resurrected, we will have a spiritual body. Secondly, this chapter is weak─he does not satisfactorily relate what is the resurrection. If he had included 1 Corinthians 15:35-55, which efficiently describes the “resurrection,” he would have given the reader greater belief in a future eternal life and lessened the readers fear of death. Also, he should have included Ezekiel 37:1-14, preferably NLT, which tells of dry bones coming to life.

Despite my small disagreements, I enjoyed Fearless, especially the “Caffeinated Life” chapter. I feel Fearless is a superb book and should be read by EVERYONE. It is very informative and very encouraging, and has helped me overcome some fears I had. Good job Max Lucado!!!

2009-08-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

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