Secrets

Jessica Morgan rolls into her new town, literally, by overturning her car and going off the side of the road. She spends her first night banged up and bruised in the Glenbrooke hospital. After her release she finds herself overwhelmed but somehow suspicious of the welcoming kindness of strangers who tend to her, from the handsome fireman/rescue squad member to the new landlord, fellow teacher, and even a child in the store.

In Secrets, author Robin Jones Gunn spins an intriguing tale of romance, mystery, and God's grace. Jessica is hiding something and weaves a web of half-truths, opening up only a little to those who have befriended her, but always managing to change the subject if it looks like they might in innocence probe too closely to her guarded life. As her friend Kyle tells her, "...let me tell you something about secrets....the longer you carry them the heavier they become. "

It's when Jessica consents to be a chaperone on a missions trip to Mexico that she learns the way to be in control of her life is to give it to God.

I spent a lazy few hours on Saturday reading and thoroughly enjoying this fast paced novel.


Published in 1995, by Multnomah, Secrets is the first book in Gunn's Glenbooke Series.

Primal

Mark Batterson poses the question: "Is there a place in your past where you met God and God met you? In Primal, he targets our response and encourages us to remember and focus on the commandment "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." How do we do that?

One way is by getting our priorities straight. "The blessings of God are never ends in themselves...[they] are always a means to an end...blessing others." "...making money is the way you make a living and giving it away is the way you make a life." (page 33)

Another way is to meditate on Scripture and then live out what you learn. I was impressed by Batterson's proposition that creativity is a dimension of spiritual maturity. God is a creator. To become more like Him is to become more creative. "God is always speaking. ..are we listening? Are we taking those God ideas captive? Are we making them obedient to Christ?...Is it possible that our lack of ideas is really a lack of love?" (italics mine)...The more you love God, the more God reveals." (page 128)

Wonder where your original zeal has gone?
Need to be challenged?
Read Primal.


2009, hard bound from Multnomah.

Tea With Hezbollah

Co-authors Ted Dekker and Carl Medearis are at lunch one day. During their discussion the question pops up: "What does it mean to love your neighbor?" After a bit of bantering back and forth about what it would entail if people seriously followed Jesus' teaching in the parable about the good Samaritan, Carl suggests that they go find out what people in the Middle East think. Two years later, after much planning, they start their journey in Cairo, Egypt.

This book is a first-hand account of their journey: a compilation of their travels, dangers faced, conflicting feelings as Dekker's mind starts imagining various scenarios (not necessarily good), and recorded interviews with cab drivers, sheiks, leaders of Hezbollah, Hamas, and bin Laden's brothers, to name a few. Always, they seek to find out what these men believe about Jesus' admonition to "love your neighbor as yourself" and if it is really possible to love your enemy.

Dekker gave a lot of historical background to the ongoing conflicts in various parts of the Middle East, which was helpful. It was a little difficult for me to keep straight, since while the names are familiar, I don't necessarily follow the who, what and why of each area of fighting. It was also a little disheartening, as so many of those interviewed have a disagreeable view of the US, though they were careful to say it was the government, not the people, that they disliked.

If you have any interest in the Middle East conflicts, or really want to find out what the reaction is to the question, "How do you recommend we love each other as he [Jesus] taught?", read this book.


Hardcover, 2010 by Doubleday.
You can purchase this through Random House or Amazon.com