My Big Bottom Blessing by Teasi Cannon

Teasi didn't like her body image. When she was young, her schoolmates said hurtful things to her. She would repeat the “sticks & stones” saying, but it still hurt. During a visit to an aunt and uncle, Teasi was violated. She developed low self esteem, having a poor self image.

Then, as an adult, she had a breakthrough that changed her life. She saw something she had never seen before. Like a spiritual light that switched on, she began to see the good things God had for her. He had already provided her with everything she needed for life. Rather than asking Him for more, she asked that He reveal what He already had for her.

She saw Jesus' relationship with the Father in a new light. Then she saw her relationship with the Father in a new light.

This was just the beginning to the healing Teasi helps us see. We see our orphan ways and the steps to daughterhood. She explains how God digs deep, exposing feelings of rejection. We have all been wounded and Teasi helps us heal from unmet needs. And she reminds us what happens when we do not forgive like we have been forgiven.

Teasi wants us to stop believing the lies, assuring us that God's Word will heal our wounds.

She has provided a thoughtful prayer at the end of each chapter as well as penetrating questions with space to write the answers.

What an encouraging book! God loves me, not because I'm a certain size or shape. He made me and He loves me completely.

I've been accused of having DBD (Dutch bottom disease). Could it be that I'm not thin so that I don't find satisfaction in that? Could it be so that I will find my satisfaction and fulfillment in God alone? Could it be so that I will love God's beauty and not my own?

Teasi has given me much to think about.

Teasi Cannon (pronounced Tee See) is married to her best friend, Bill, and they have three children. Teasi has a master's degree in pastoral counseling from Liberty Theological Seminary, and is a sought after speaker who loves to help women remember who they are in Christ.  

Follow her blog: http://teasicannon.com/blog/

Worthy Publishing, 216 pages.  Publisher product page.

To buy this book, visit your local Christian bookstore.

Go here to read the first chapter.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and Handlebar Marketing for the purpose of this review.

Break Through by Tim Clinton & Pat Springle

None of us grew up in a perfect family or have a perfect work environment. We all carry relational wounds and face unhealthy relationships.

Clinton and Springle want to help us break through the fog of our relationship problems. We “need a breakthrough – a flash of insight and a dose of courage to take action and change the status quo. And that's what this book will give you.” (4)

“The driving hope of every human heart is to be connected to someone, to give and receive authentic love...” (94) We struggle so much “because at our core all people on the planet fear rejection.” (94)

There is hope. “In the gospel of Christ, God offers the attachments for which the human heart longs...” (102) We were made for God and we will never find happiness or an answer to our divine discontent and emptiness until we reconnect with the God who made us.

The authors look at the life of Jesus as an example of right relationship. “He shrewdly observed people; he spoke the truth no matter how people might react; he offered relationship without manipulation.” (174)

The authors help us become aware of our patterns of mistrust, understand the scope of responsibility (heroes, turtles, field marshals), how to speak the truth (confrontation), how to take steps to resolve the damage of injustice (forgiveness), and how to step back and get a clearer view.

Throughout the book we are encouraged to seek the help of others, be it a friend, a small group, or a counselor. We need God's Word, God's people, and God's Holy Spirit. Change will not happen over night. And sometimes it might get worse before it gets better.

They finally remind us that life can be different. But half measures won't do. There must be conviction. Progress is like a long hike. There will be steep and difficult times. But with confidence that God holds tomorrow, there will be a breakthrough.

There are questions at the end of each chapter to think about. There are also suggestions for group use at the end of the book.

Food for thought: “The past isn't the past if it is still affecting the present.” (115)

This book is full of great encouragement for people needing to break through a difficult relationship. The authors give several examples of people who took the steps outlined. Some turn out well while others have seen their efforts thwarted, a reminder that we cannot control the actions of others.

As is often the case with books like this one, I think it would best be read with a friend or in a group setting. There is much to discuss and others will help maintain accountability with the difficult actions.

To watch a video by Dr. Tim Clinton on Break Through, go here.

To read the first chapter, go here.

Dr. Tim Clinton is the president of the American Association of Christian Counselors and founder of Light University Online. He is also the professor of counseling and executive director of the Center for counseling and Family Studies at Liberty University.

Pat Springle is the founder of Baxter Press and the coauthor of Codependency. He served on the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ and was an executive with Rapha Treatment Centers. He has authored or coauthored more than fifty books.

Worthy Publishing, 279 pages. Please visit your local Christian bookstore to buy this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through Handlebar Marketing for the purpose of this review..

After All by Deborah Raney

In this, the last of the Hanover Falls novels, it has been eighteen months since the homeless shelter fire that killed five people. One of those killed was Dave, the husband of Susan, shelter operator. She is struggling to keep the shelter open. Volunteers are becoming harder to find and contributions are on the decline.

Then Davey, their younger son, shows up. He has quit college, quit his job and returned home. It doesn't take long for Susan to be upset with his behavior. When she gives him an ultimatum, he reveals the source of his pain. He had seen his dad and a woman in Springfield, together, all over each other. Susan is shocked as she faces the painful reality that her husband was having an affair.

Susan finds some support from Pete, the fire chief. The two explore getting to know each other a bit better.

But Susan's troubles continue as Zeke, a homeless man living in the shelter at the time of the fire, returns to Hanover Falls. His police record reveals him as a violent man. Is he out to harm Susan? When a fire is spotted on Susan's property, is Zeke to blame?

Susan is bewildered as the local newspaper carries a story making it look like the entire community is against Susan and her homeless shelter. Yet she knows this shelter is what God wants her to do.

This novel is a combination of romance and mild mystery. Susan and Pete begin to feel the spark between them and it is rewarding to see how they explore their feelings in an adult and responsible way. It is also good to see Pete struggle with his anger against God. Pete goes off fishing by himself but soon finds out that God uses that solitary time to get his attention and slowly draw him back.

The mystery aspect of this final novel in the series is mild. One gets the impression there is still something uncovered regarding the months ago fire. And there is a surprising revelation at the end of the book. But, in general, the story is about Susan and Pete and their attempts to move beyond the deadly fire.

It is also good to see Davey, so hurt by his father's traitorous acts, finally get his life straightened out. That Pete would have a hand in that gives one hope for Susan, Davey, and Pete and their future.

While not action packed, this is a fitting conclusion to all the troubles in Hanover Falls. The “bad” person is finally revealed and the “good” guys look forward to a better future.

Deborah Raney is the award winning author of several novels. Her Beneath a Southern Sky won the RITA award. Her A Vow to Cherish was made into a World Wide Pictures film. She is known for her sensitive portrayal of family struggles and relationships. She has also written nonfiction books and articles and is a frequent speaker at women's retreats and writers' conferences. She and her family live in Kansas.

Howard Books (a division of Simon & Schuster), 355 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

The Real Kosher Jesus by Michael Brown

Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, something we often forget.

Brown was born in a Conservative Jewish home. In 1971 he discovered who Jesus really was. It shook Brown with such a force he got his doctorate in Semitic languages and became a specialist in answering Jewish objections to Jesus.

Brown has cultivated a friendship with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and much of this book is in answer to the Rabbi's book, Kosher Jesus. For example, he shows that Boteach's image of Jesus, “...a potential Messiah who believed that the moment of liberation had come and who decided that he would inaugurate the Messianic era by force[,]” is false. (58)

He answers the critics who claim Paul introduced false beliefs about and teaching of Jesus, or that Paul wasn't even a Jew.

Brown reveals the two messiahs of ancient Jewish tradition. He shows how a suffering Messiah was written about in rabbinic literature as was the atoning power of the death of a righteous person. He also gives evidence for the Jewish expectation of a priestly Messiah and a great prophet. There is even some tradition indicating the arrival time of the Messiah, coinciding with Jesus' time on earth.

Brown shows that, without a doubt, Jesus is the promised Messiah. “The real kosher Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world.” (189)

This would be a good book for you to read if you have a Jewish friend who has not accepted that Jesus is the Messiah. You could give them this book but I think you should read it first. Brown has done a great job in showing that Jesus is the Messiah but I am not sure even a book like this will result in acceptance of the fact. Reading this book along with your Jewish friend would be a good way to stimulate discussion toward Jesus as Messiah and Savior.

Michael L. Brown holds a PhD from New York University in Near Eastern languages and literature and is recognized as one of the leading Messianic Jewish scholars in the world today.  He is the founder and president of FIRE School of Ministry, host of a nationally syndicated daily talk show and the author of more than twenty books. 

Front Line (Charisma House Book Group), 249 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Charisma House Book Group for the purpose of this review.

The Jesus Discovery by James Tabor and Simcha Jacobovici

In June of 2010, The Patio tomb in Jerusalem was investigated. It had been exposed during a construction project in the 1980s but its excavation had never been completed before an apartment house was built over it.

When the tomb's location had been identified, permission was acquired and a camera was inserted down into the tomb. Many ossuaries were viewed and inscriptions and drawings observed. One inscription read something like “divine” or “wonderous Jehovah,” “he raised up” or “he will raise up.” One drawing was identified as that of Jonah and the fish.

The authors suggest that the new find at the Patio Tomb offers evidence that the Talpiot Garden Tomb is more likely the burial tomb of Jesus of Nazareth and his family. The authors explore the possibility that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and fathered a child. They reach for “hidden” or “secret” or “cryptic” meanings in words and texts. They freely consult texts evangelical Christians have evaluated as fraudulent.

For Christians, this book contains positive and negative information. On the negative side are the investigations into Jesus' supposed marriage and child. This includes lots of “ifs” and “supposes” on the part of the authors. Their conclusions are all conjecture, with no evidence for support.

On the positive side, the authors write, “The two major new discoveries in the Patio tomb – the epitaph and the Jonah image – provide for the first time in history tangible archaeological evidence related to the resurrection faith of Jesus' first followers.” (181) This is the earliest pictorial evidence (by 150 years) so far that Christians followed Jesus and believed in his resurrection (the “sign of Jonah”). Historians call this primary evidence, unaffected by later traditions, teachings, etc.

Another positive discussion in this book is that on the meaning of “resurrection.” Paul is clear, the authors remind us, that in Christian resurrection, the body is left behind and the spirit is “reclothed” in a new spiritual body. (193) So the presence of bones, thought to be Jesus', does not contradict faith in Jesus' resurrection. (They refute as legendary the accounts by Luke and John that Jesus appeared in the same body that had been placed in the tomb. (195)) They claim the disciples took Jesus' body and buried it.

It is encouraging to have revealed that Christians, within a generation of Jesus life, there is archaeological evidence for belief in Jesus' resurrection!

James D. Tabor is chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. He is the author of several books. See more at www.jamestabor.com.

Simcha Jacobovici is a filmmaker, author and a television host. He has won several awards for journalism.See more at www.apltd.ca and www.jesusfamilytomb.com.

Simon & Schuster, 254 pages.

The Road Trip that Changed the World by Mark Sayers

“In 1947 Jack Kerouac set off on a road trip that would reshape the mental landscape of almost everyone born in the West since that date. His cross-country jaunt would change how we viewed the world, processed our lives and interacted with our faiths. It would alter the cultural code of the West, re-orientating our collective psyches around the idea of the road.

“Kerouac recorded his road trips in his classic book On the Road. Even if you have never read the book, you have been influenced by it.” (36) The second time Sayers read through the book, he realized that what he was holding in his hand contained the clues as to how we had gotten to where we are.

It used to be that home gave us a sense of purpose, belonging, and place. You didn't have to discover who you were. Your connection to home gave you a sense of self. Thanks to Jack Kerouac, now we view life through the prism of a journey. We Christians even talk of our spiritual “journey.”

The automobile allowed youth to socialize outside of he family. It allowed space for premarital sex. It changed how we ate. It allowed church shopping and church hopping. We are perpetually “on the road.” It is a state of mind, constantly looking for the next thing, living in incompleteness, engaged in a quest for a sense of significance.

The California Baby Boomers, following on the heels of Kerouac's example, launched the contemporary church movement, changing the Christian culture.

In the second half of the book, Sayers writes of the road Jesus taught about. This road leads to life, to the Cross. It is a different way to get our identity. Like Abraham, we must leave Ur to walk in the land God has given us.

The book ends with the choice: which road?

I was a bit confused during the initial chapters of this book. (I would have started the book differently.) I had heard of Kerouac but had never read any of his work and certainly had no idea of his contribution to our current culture. I am not sure if Sayers' thesis is right or not, that Kerouac had so much influence in generating our current culture. (Perhaps that is why the book's subtitle begins, “The Unlikely Theory...) But reading this book has been very informative. It certainly gave me insights into the “why” of all the talk of our Christian “journey.” This is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in culture, both secular and Christian.

Mary Sayers is a cultural commentator, writer and speaker, noted for his unique and perceptive insights into faith and contemporary culture. He is the author of The Trouble with Paris and the Vertical Self. He is also the Senior Leader of Red Church. He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and children.

Moody Publishers, 288 pages.  Publisher product page.

I received an egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review. 

The Encounter by Stephen Arterburn

This book is not your typical novel. The fiction part is short, a novella, really. I read it in one day. There is also a section of the book at the end which is not fiction.

The story is about Jonathan Rush, nicknamed Gold Rush because of his wealth. But he is not happy and, in fact, he recently tried to commit suicide. He has deep anger against his birth mother who turned him over to the state when he was very young. His pastor insists he go back to his birth place in Alaska and find information about his mother. Perhaps if he understands why she abandoned him he can deal with his anger and forgive her. He grudgingly allows a reporter to help him and finds he is falling for her.

The ending of the story part of the book I found unrealistic. Rush's deep seated anger disappears in about two seconds. Also, the relationship with the reporter is odd since he has gone through three wives already.

The strength of the book, I think, is actually the counseling part after the story. Arterburn deals with the issues in the book, giving suggestions on how to deal with them.

This is not the kind of book one would read for the fiction. This would be a great book to give someone who has deep anger or struggles with forgiveness. The story would draw them in and then they would be open to the suggestions at the end of the book.

The work of God in generating the forgiveness is not as clear as I would like it to be. Nonetheless, it is an inspirational book and gives the reader hope in the area of reconciliation.

Thomas Nelson Publishers, 176 pages.

I received an egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

Praying With the Grain by Dr. Pablo Martinez

Do you struggle with prayer? Dr. Martinez says many struggle with their prayer life not realizing that such a struggle is often a result of their own emotional make-up. Our basic personality type strongly affects both how we pray and what we pray about. Dr. Martinez has written this book because he wants to help Christians develop their prayer lives by understanding how temperaments and personalities affect our praying.

Martinez does not minimize the work of the Holy Spirit in prayer. But he also wants to draw our attention to the influence our psychological make-up has on our prayer life.

I found his description of the prayers each kind of personality preferred to pray to be right on (at least for my personality). No wonder I don't pray like my sister.

His help in dealing with the problems of each personality is very practical and helpful. He also covers the essentials of prayer” dynamics, content, and balance.

Martinez also wants to make clear the therapeutic nature of prayer. One aspect of this part I found very interesting was the section on confession and on not “feeling” forgiven. He says that is probably an issue more related to self-esteem than to faith. Confessing to God in the presence of another person may bring an objectivity that is lacking when we confess alone.

He has a good section on questions and answers about prayer and ends with an apologetic on prayer, answering the scientific materialistic critics. He also addresses the claim that all prayer is alike, regardless of religion, establishing the uniqueness of Christian prayer. He lastly clarifies the differences between eastern and Christian meditation, giving directions for the healthy practice of Christian meditation.

His is a freeing book for anyone who struggles with prayer. I now understand my own prayer life much better. I realize I don't pray like others I hear and that is okay. I do have some practical ideas from this book on how to make my prayer life better too.

Food for thought: “The most mature Christian is not the one who sins less, but the one who has a greater awareness of his sin and confesses it.” (119)

Monarch Books, Kregel Publications, 175 pages.

Pablo Martinez was trained as a medical doctor and psychiatrist, and works at a Christian hospital in Barcelona. He has also developed a wide ministry as lecturer and counselor. He is a former Professor of Pastoral Theology at the Spanish Theological Seminary.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.