At Any Cost by Mike and Hayley Jones

Mike and Hayley Jones share their story of adopting eight siblings from Sierra Leone in their new book At Any Cost: Overcoming Every Obstacle to Bring Our Children. They share how they faced doubts from within and character assaults from without and a bureaucratic jungle, the Joneses and their two biological children went on a thirty four month journey that resulted in the “The Jones Dozen” It is a heartfelt story of a couple who truly believe that God calls individuals to trust Him even when it sounds like a impossible task and they are a testament of God’s immeasurable grace and love. Read this book as you see how this family responded to God’s call with trust and obedience. More importantly, as the authors themselves state, this book is not just their family’s story, nor is it a how-to book on adoption. It is a book about redemption. It is listening to what God has called you to do.

Skinny Life by Crystal Dwyer Hansen

Crystal Dwyer Hansen provides practical tools, research and affirmations as she guides the reader to demolish beliefs that disrupt weight loss and replace them with positive tools that improve health and well being in her new book Skinny Life: The Secret to physical, emotional, and spiritual fitness. Some of the things she addresses in her book are for people to get honest about self defeating thoughts and habits and replace guilt and shame with the habit of self-care, freedom, and self-respect. She advises her readers to feed their bodies with foods that energizes them and protects them from diseases that are often a result of inadequate nutrition. The reader can also find out the right type of movement that brings them fulfillment and integrate it into their daily life. The book is divided into three parts: (1) The truth about weight loss; (2) A new way of looking at weight and you; (3) Life as the new you. There are twelve chapters that make up those three sections in her book.

Dead Dog like Me - By Max Davis

Max Davis has been featured on Publishers Weekly and USA Today and has made appearances on the Today Show and the 700 Club and is the author of Dead Dog Like Me. This is a story about a mega-church pastor, whose life is falling apart – at the family level, at the pastoral level, and at the personal level. After a car accident he regains consciousness and finds himself not in his own hometown but separated not only be distance but also by time. He finds himself in the year 800 BC and surprisingly in the body of Mephibosheth – King Saul’s grandson (King Saul was the first king of the United Kingdom of Israel and his son Jonathan’s son was Mephibosheth). Can living in another broken man’s life make any difference in his own life? Will it offer any redeeming value, relief, or redemption to his own? This novel is a story of grace, adventure and redemption.

Happiness According to Jesus - Bobby Schuller (A review)

It is the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who ever lived. All the armies who ever marched, all the navies who ever sailed, all the parliaments who ever sat, and all the kings who ever reigned have not affected the life of mankind like this one solitary life. This Jesus of Nazareth, one day sat down and delivered one of the finest speeches in history which is known today as the Sermon on the Mount. I had the privilege to memorize this sermon (Matthew 5, 6, 7) and recite/deliver it at my church (I used to attend). After the delivery my pastor gave me big hug and told me that he has been pasturing for 40 years and had never seen that performed in his life. Bobby Schuller’s Happiness According to Jesus, is an exposition of Jesus’ masterful sermon. Dallas Willard has summarized the theme of the sermon as “It is God’s plan to overcome evil with good in human history and to use each one of us to do it.” In short, the sermon is a counterintuitive, countercultural manifesto of the kingdom of God. There are eighteen chapters in this book and Schuller seasons each chapter with explanation and anecdotes to get the message across.

Empire's End by Jerry Jenkins

Empire’s End, a novel by the mega-bestselling author Jerry Jenkins is codified by mining clues that are permeated throughout the Apostle Paul’s writings. The apostle Paul, of course is a prodigious mind who wrote one-third of the New Testament. How did this recalcitrant Pharisee turn into the most significant Christian theologian of all times? That is where Jerry Jenkins comes in as he writes a fascinating tale that sheds light into Paul’s transformation from a blatant persecutor to an incorrigible proselytizer of the Christian faith.  Jenkins uses his literary skills along with the biblical records and historical information to tell a story that will enthrall and fascinate you. What was Paul’s personality like and what took place beyond the pages that he wrote? What are the principles, feelings, and people who ignited his passions? These are some of the issues one can explore in this novel. The book is over 300 pages long and beckons the reader to join this journey of getting to know one of the greatest missionary and theologian the world as ever encountered.

Beyond Orange County by Lydia McLaughlin

Lydia McLaughlin is the managing editor of Beverly Hills Lifestyle magazine and is the author of Beyond Orange County. She resides in California and manages three businesses while raising three boys with her husband Doug. In her book, she shares her experience and wisdom about the strength and grace it takes for each of us to choose a life of purpose. She also shares the lessons she had learned both on and off screen and exhorts the readers to examine their lives by answering to the call that God has for each person. She has some great advice for married people. For instance, the five A’s helps Lydia and her husband manage their conflict and work through their differences without exploding and demeaning each other. The five A’s are affirm, ask, apologize, affection, and amen. Through affirmation, we are to tell our spouse something that we love about her. Then, ask each other how they have offended each other. This open conversation allows for both the husband and wife to see where each person is coming from and allows them to be empathetic towards each other. Then, apologize and ask for forgiveness. Never forget to show affection after the apology has been uttered. Finally, pray together and ask God to guard and protect your marriage. This is just an example of wisdom communicated in this book.