Author: Kay Warren (Rick Warren’s wife)

Book Title: Say Yes to God: A Call to Courageous Surrender

Publisher: Zondervan / Upd Exp edition

Release Date: September 28, 2010

Language: English

Book Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches

Number of Pages: 272 pages / Weight: 11.2 ounces

About ‘Say Yes to God” book:

You have a plan for the rest of your life. God has a plan for the rest of your life. Are they the same? Say Yes to God formerly titled Dangerous Surrender will help you find the answer. You have expectations for how your life will play out, and you hope those plans will become realities. But what if God’s plan for your life is far different from what you had in mind? Can you accept that? Will you surrender your goals for God’s? Kay Warren had a plan.

Together with her husband, Rick Warren, author of the megaseller The Purpose Driven Life, she planned that after her kids were grown, she’d travel the world, teaching and encouraging couples in ministry. It was a good plan. But it wasn’t what God had in mind for her. In her own startling wake-up call, Kay discovered the shocking realities of the AIDS pandemic in Africa while reading a magazine. ‘I want to use you!’ she heard God say. That began the struggle first to avoid God’s call and then to surrender herself to God. She cried out to God, ‘Why are you bothering me with this? There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m just an ordinary person. What could one person do about such a gigantic problem?’ But God had grabbed her attention and wouldn’t let go.

If you’ve ever struggled with knowing and doing God’s will, this book is for you. With raw honesty, Kay goes straight to the heart of the matter: the bottom line is surrender. Will you say yes to God? Along the way she’ll introduce you to others people like you who have said yes to God and have made a difference in the world. Using their skills, energy, faith, and a willingness to take risks, they became powerful instruments of change and tools in God’s hands. Giving in to God isn’t easy. It’s not for cowards. It’s the boldest, riskiest step you’ll ever take. This dangerous surrender can bring both joy and pain, both heartache and ecstasy, but it enables you to know God in a far deeper way than ever before.

‘I had to make a conscious decision. Would I retreat to my comfortable life and to my settled plans? Or would I surrender to God’s call and let my heart engage with the cause to which he called me one that I was pretty sure would include buckets of pain and sorrow? I felt like I was standing on the edge of a giant precipice; I couldn’t go back, and yet the way forward looked like stepping into a void.’ Kay Warren took that step, choosing to say yes to God. That decision transformed her life and reshaped her future. She invites you to do the same. You’ll benefit most by discussing this book with others. A Readers’ Group Discussion Guide is provided in the back of the book.

About Kay Warren:

Kay Warren is a speaker, Bible teacher, and advocate for those living with HIV/AIDS and for orphans and vulnerable children. She and her husband, Rick, founded Saddleback Church, the Purpose Driven Network, and the Global P.E.A.C.E. Coalition. She is the coauthor (with Tom Holladay) of Foundations: 11 Core Truths to Build Your Life On. Kay Warren es maestra de la Biblia y una activista a favor de las mujeres y los ninos afectados con el virus del HIV/SIDA. Ella y su esposo Rick iniciaron la obra de la iglesia Saddleback en su casa, en 1980, con siete personas.

]]> http://www.christiansonic.net/2010/10/kay-warren-say-yes-to-god.html/feed 1 http://www.christiansonic.net/2010/08/bruce-main-why-jesus-crossed-the-road-2010.html http://www.christiansonic.net/2010/08/bruce-main-why-jesus-crossed-the-road-2010.html#comments Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:53:56 +0000 solomon http://www.christiansonic.net/?p=4995

Artist: Bruce Main

Album: Why Jesus Crossed the Road:

Learning to Follow the Unconventional Travel Itinerary of a First-century Carpenter
Release Date: March 23rd, 2010
Style: Audiobook
Publisher: christianaudio.com
Language: English

About:

It’s not often that a street-level veteran of nitty-gritty urban ministry is also a gifted writer with an engaging style and real spiritual insight . . . but that’s the rare combination you’ll discover in Bruce Main. This book will do you good, and it will get you doing good. (Brian McLaren, author/speaker/activist, brianmclaren.net )

Bruce Main writes brilliantly, thinks profoundly, and daringly challenges the security that keeps us from grappling with truths about injustice and oppression. (Tony Campolo, professor emeritus, Eastern University )
Product Description

If we are completely honest, all of us have places, situations, and people whom we would rather avoid. Yet in a world that was governed strictly by geographical, religious, and social barriers, Jesus was audacious enough to cross the borders that kept people in safe categories. He demonstrated that the God-following life is one committed to entering the lives and stories of all people—a life committed to the lost spiritual discipline of border-crossing. In Why Jesus Crossed the Road, Bruce Main shows how God can use your own “crossings” to change your life, and the lives of those you meet along the way.

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Laila had it all-before she made the wrong choice. This wrong choice resulted in the life of another man-one she killed with her own hands. Now she is on the run from the sins of her past and has settled anew in Greenville, South Carolina. However, her past does not want to leave her alone. Now several different men are after her for different reasons, and the only person she can trust is Kyle, whom she barely knows. Laila also fears she is going insane because of the frequent and unexplained visions she keeps experiencing. Above all else, she knows she will have to confront her past eventually and take what’s coming to her, but what if there is another answer to her troubles? What if grace is real? What if God is real? She’ll have to find out-otherwise she’ll face death.

On the surface, Broken seems like an interesting book, mostly because it is largely based on the wrong choices of the lead. Travis Thrasher has somewhat abandoned his supernatural\horror kick he has been on for the past few years, but not really. Broken is much more meaningful than Ghostwriter and Isolation, but this does not make it an exemplary book.

Laila is the best character because her imperfect choices created a mess for herself. There seems to be a personality hovering beneath the surface, but it is not fully developed. There are only four other characters the plot focuses on, and none of them are very good either, but at least none of them are perfect. It’s hard to nail down a villain, because any of the characters could be labeled a villain in other circumstances. Basically, this is an average cast of characters because Travis was more interested in supernatural elements than character development.

The biggest factor in this novel’s fall from the Elite List is the vast and varied number of plot holes. There is no explanation for Laila’s strange visions, even though they help her save one character from death. One character appears in the middle of the plot with no past and explanation for where he came from or why he was involved in the situation. There are no plot points that can be nailed down because the plot meanders along in an abstract fashion, sometimes showing the present and sometimes explaining the past. The characters wander around their world but never really get anywhere or accomplish anything. The biggest thing the plot is missing is a purpose. The biggest factor that saves the plot is a key character death at the end caused by Laila’s wrong choices.

Travis seems to be making a roundabout journey back from his self-exile into the genre of horror. Broken is reminiscent of his past works, something he needs to return to in order to salvage his inconsistent career. Travis has much more potential as an author than he realizes, but he needs to tap into it before it’s too late.

Rating: 3/5

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FBI Special Agent Brad Gaines is working with criminal psychologist Nikki Holden on one of the most stunning cases of their careers. A serial killer has murdered four beautiful women by draining all their blood out and leaving them at the scene with a bridal veil. They are calling him the Bride Collector. Since they believe that the killer has psychosis or schizophrenia, they turn to a mental health center to try to find information on the diseases and to see if anyone there knows their killer. While visiting, they cross paths with a group of intelligent schizophrenics who claim they can help them solve the case. One woman in particular, named Paradise, steals Brad’s heart at first sight. Now he’s working side by side with her to try to catch the culprit. But little do they know that the Bride Collector is targeting one of them next. And it could happen any day now…

Ted Dekker has written his fair share of serial killer novels. Adam, Skin, Boneman’s Daughters, Th3e, House, to name a few. The last book he needed to write was another serial killer novel-unless he had an innovative idea to share, like Thr3e. But since he did not do this, there was little reason to write such a book.

The character department was the best and worst thing about this book. The best thing is the mental cases-always an interesting cast of characters to have. Paradise and her companions are certainly entertaining and add a fresh element to the plot. The worst thing is Quinton Gauld, the Bride Collector himself. Ted Dekker has too much fun creating sick minds like Quinton and also spends way too much time focusing in on the sick ways of the Bride Collector. As “there was one thing he hated, nay, two things he loathed” littered the pages of Boneman’s Daughters, Ted invented a new catch phrase for Quinton. Brad and Nikki are interesting enough characters, yet they lack personality.

The worst thing about the book, besides Quinton, is the plot itself. Ted has become too methodical at his serial killer plots, because they are all the same. There are many typical elements, such as a showdown and several convenient connections. There is one unexpected key character death that adds flavor, yet it is a diamond among the rocky crags.

The good thing about Ted Dekker is that unlike other authors of his popularity level, he knows how to be original and adds some original elements to all of his books, they just sometimes get outweighed by unoriginal elements. The release of Immanuel’s Veins this fall will indicate whether he is still on the right track.

Rating: 3.5 stars

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The town of Marlo has been thrown into confusion and crime all because of words that appear on a website. Someone has recorded conversations of the townspeople, word for word, onto the website. The words found there are shocking and devastating. Neighbor has turned against neighbor, friend against friend, husband against wife, all because of careless words spoken when they thought no one was listening. Their private conversations have just gone public. The police are scrambling to control the insanity the town is descending into, but they themselves are caught in the undertow. Marlo Sentential writer Damien Williams is trying to get to the bottom of the problem with his police officer friend Frank. But when words on the site begin to hit his own home and family, the police try to pin it on him and Frank. Damien resolves to find the culprit, or else.

When I first heard the description for this book, I knew it had to be good. Unlike most plots, there’s no way this book can’t be original. The foundational idea is very strong. The plot makes the reader think rather than only be entertained. The message is cutting and convicting because this type of thing could happen anytime anywhere, and it’s all because of our words.

As usual with Rene Gutteridge, the characters are complete with personalities and imperfection. Damien is not the type of lead one would expect from this type of book. Since this plot is all about imperfection, there is no way it can be crafted without imperfect characters. Not even the seemingly typical mentor character is innocent of serial speaking.

The best parts of the plot are who is writing the website and how they are capturing the conversations. This was the area of concern I had because Rene could have easily reverted to a sensational supernatural explanation, bringing down the rating a bit. But she kept the book in reality and gave a good explanation for how the eavesdropping was taking place. But the person who is doing it is the icing on the cake. Not many authors would have taken the leap she did in making the culprit close to home. There is also a key character death near the end to serve as a deep consequence of words.

Listen is the type of plot we don’t get to read very much-one that is centered around choices of the leads. I love these types of plots not only because they are realistic, but also because they make the reader think. Fiction should be about making the reader think about how they can make their life better rather than entertaining him, but doing this through using examples and not being preachy. Rene Gutteridge is one of the most prolific authors on the market because she has mastered this difficult goal.

Rating: 5/5

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It seems to me that the whole “haunted house” theme could have been discarded and we wouldn’t have missed anything except for maybe several unneeded special effects that make the whole book “scary”. But truly, the foundation of the plot, like most Ted Dekker plots, was very profound and philosophical. I fail to see what part Frank Peretti played in this book.

Believe it or not, the tense situations and the stressful circumstances force personality out of the characters, a rare feat for a supernatural thriller. But this is even rarer because Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti aren’t exactly super character creators. Because of the profound foundation of the plot, I wish that I could make House Elite. But I cannot, for two reasons.

First, the several elements of nonsense in the final showdown that I will not reveal except to say that they are rather sensational and movie like. Second, there was a key character death-then the character was resurrected back to life. It was a waste of originality. Nevertheless, House was an interesting read and I do not regret reading it.

3.5 stars

But you probably already forgot that insignificant object from Red, the blank Book of History. This acts as a CRT (convenient rescue technique) to bring Thomas back to life in Real Earth. While the idea is creative, it’s just a little too convenient. Once Thomas resurrects in Real Earth, he visits the president and his sister about what he can do. The cure to the Raison Strain isn’t what anyone thinks it is. The antivirus does not work. Newly resurrected Monique is working around the clock with another antivirus.

Back in Other Earth, Chelise, daughter of Qurong, is pledged to be married to Woref, general of the Horde. Woref has been recently visited by Teeleh. Teeleh intends to poison Chelise’ thoughts of conversion through her husband. But Thomas of Hunter is always there for the downtrodden Scabs. While none of the other warriors in the Circle want Scabs to convert, Thomas becomes obsessed with converting Chelise. He alone loves the Scabs. In fact, all the characters have lost their personalities.

If you haven’t noticed by now, Thomas has morphed into a perfect character. All he does the whole book are the right things. He becomes ridiculously in love with Chelise, the replacement romance for Rachelle. Unfortunately, I knew that was going to happen. I’m so sick of phrase “he\she would have insisted I marry her” when speaking for a dead love interest. All that does is justify the replacement romance.

The cure for the Raison Strain is original, but the fact that Thomas lives in both worlds is all too convenient. How did Rachelle\Monique die at the same time and Thomas didn’t at the end? But by curing the virus, Ted Dekker broke the Circle. The series is no longer a circle, but a line. Having this book continue into Green would have very original, making it one of the best series ever written. But Ted Dekker couldn’t resist the perfection. Though this book is written well, the content is suffering for originality. Dekker ruined his chances at an Elite series.

2.5 stars

5 stars

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4.5 stars

Check out more of our book reviews at www.originalbooks.blogspot.com!