Carolyn's book has been a tremendous encouragement in very difficult circumstances. From the day to day to several war zones, her message of the importance of theology (a relationship with God) has been a "saving" grace. In particular the concept that God is sovereign and that we run a race "marked out" for us, that the path we are on is Plan A no matter what happens, is a comfort when the going gets rough. Each time I read it, Carolyn's book has new insights for me wherever God has me. Having also read the book, my husband's perspective is that her book strengthens the church body by encouraging everyone to deepen his or her relationship with God for the good of families and the church at large. Carolyn's practical notes that follow the text, have been valuable resources. Read it and talk about it with anyone who will listen. It will benefit you and them!

The three portraits of Mary: sitting at the feet of Jesus to listen and to learn, weeping at the feet of Jesus in sorrow, suffering and disappointment and anointing the feet of Jesus from a deep knowledge of His Gospel reveals the fact that women as well as men need to know God and that knowledge or "theology" does make a differnece in one's life. Carolyn Custis James has stated that fact and has taken us deeper in the knowledge of God through the experiences of Mary and Martha. She has shown with great emphasis the NEED to know and believe God through the study of His Word and that this knowledge should not be limited in its scope or to its gender. It is very well written, easy to understnd and follow and a joy to read. I highly reccommend it!!

I am in awe of this book. Someone once said "The most important thing in life is what you believe about God." I didn't understand what they were saying at the time; now, after reading this book, I do.
Ms. James shows time and again how what I believe about God affects the way I view life, and the way I view life can be seen in my reactions.
I have read scores of books on theology. The last books that had this much impact on me were books written by John Piper and Francis Schaeffer.
This book can change your life...really.

Dr. Larson provides another straight-forward and practical book on parenting troubled teens. For the parents that have suffered through the straying of their child, they will find hope for the journey, principles to live by as a parent, and strategies that can have an immediate impact in a troubled kid's life.

Dr, Larson's unique ability to blend the latest in psychological research and timeless biblical insights affords parents a fresh look at parenting "for the long haul"

Scott Larson's book, "When Teens Stray" is a tremendous resource for any parent, counselor, youth worker or pastor, and should be on the shelf of anyone who needs a concise, down-to-earth resource for working through various issues with teenagers. It should also be required reading for anyone working with teens in any capacity. I would also strongly recommend this book to any healthy family as well. It would affirm, prepare and grant additional insight into parent-teen relationships. Scott's experience in working with troubled youth gave him many pertinent illustrations to draw from. His style is easy to read, straight-forward and peppered with excellent guidelines and suggestions. It also includes many practical helps and an excellent list of resources and ministries, this book is a must-have!
Lennie Spitale, Director of Prison Ministries, Vision New England

In Dr. Larsons new book When Teens Stray Parenting for the Long Haul. I found a great amount of helpful information for parents who are raising teenagers in this day and age.
Dr. Larson says "parenting for the long haul means parenting with the future in mind, trying to make each day's decisions with a mind toward five or ten years from now. In the book he gives many real life stories that cut to the heart of many issues facing teens today. The results that Dr. Larson has found are kids that throws their arms round their parents and tell them they are eternaly greatfull for the way that were raised.
Dr. Larson gives seven common myths parents hold about their kids. These myths are very insightful. They will help you see the ways that our teenagers realy see the world not the way we think they do.
When our teens do go atray Dr. Larsons give tips like " It is far better to confront transgressions right away. He says some times it is better for them to pick the consequences for their actions than for us as parrents to.
Later in the book he gives us seven proactive principles for parenting rebellious teens. These principles are agian very insightful. He uses time tested Biblical wisdom thoughout his book. Dr. larson says that "The experiences of raising a rebellious child gives parents a unque insight into the character of God". Even Jesus never with held his love from Judas Iscariot even thought he would betray him. We as parents of teens can all learn from this.
Dr. Larson says that we as parents can get away with many mistakes in parenting if our home if it is built with a solid loving alliance. He offers many profesional outlets for help in the raining of rebellious teens if one feels thay need help in any of these areas.
Thank you Dr. Larson for this wonderful book. My wife and I give it the hiest raiting.

We found the Saso's book to be extremely practical as a tool for helping parents of teenagers. In our work as Marriage & Family Therapist, educators and seminar leaders, we are always looking for helpful books on family relationships to suggest to people. The Saso's book is the latest and one of the very best on parent-teen relationships that we have read. They are not only practical, but also very personal as they share real-life stories from their own family. Their 10 best gifts for teens are foundational qualities important in all healthy relationships. We highly value the work Steve and Patt Saso have done in this fine book.

If you want to know something about raising teens, read this book! Patt and Steve Saso have written a wise and perceptive guide for parents who are trying to maintain loving and vital relationships with their teen-aged children. As a teacher of high-school students for the past 15 years, I have been asked to read and evaluate dozens of books which attempt to "explain" the behavior of adolescents or provide a means of "controlling" what they do. The Sasos have made it clear that these attempts will always fail because they miss the point. With many examples gleaned from long experience, they show convincingly that our task as parents and teachers is not to control but, rather, to do the sometimes painful work of building solid relationships with young persons based on respect and nurtured over time with love and care. There is no other way. For the honesty and truth in this book, I thank them.

Steve and Patt Saso have focused on the work that parents need to do, both within themselves and with their teens, to approach parenting of teens with effectiveness and compassion. Drawing on widespread experience with teens and family life, the Sasos identify the lessons and gifts that parents can uniquely offer their children. Their suggestions are both practical and profound. As a father of four, ages 7-14, this book helped me remember how much I want the best for my kids and what I need to do to make that happen. This book's primary value is that it does not depend on changing the teenager, nor does it collapse into putting all of the responsibility (and guilt!) on the parent; rather, it's about changing the relationship. Parents of children of all ages will be encouraged by the Sasos' insights. This book makes for a greatly appreciated gift.

I have been searching for years for a Christian author who doesn't hit you over the head with the "message." Up until now, Francine Rivers is the only one who could do that!! I am so thankful to have found Penelope J. Stokes!! This is the 2nd novel I have read by her and will now systematically work my way through her books!! If any of them hold a candle to The Amethyst Heart, I am in for a rare treat!!

The Amethyst Heart captured my imagination from the beginning and held it until I closed the book. What a fabulous history lesson this was....not written in a heavy-handed way, but pushed along with the strength of the characters Stokes draws. I miss them already!!

This is the first novel by Penelope Stokes that I have read, but certainly it won't be the last! This book had everything, romance, adventure, history, and all without any bad language or explicit sex. The story revolves around 93 year old Amethyst, who is about to be evicted from her lifelong home by her own son. After taking her great granddaughter (also named Amethyst) hostage, Amethyst begins to tell her the history of the house and her ancestors, beginning with Silas Noble who came to Mississippi to be a doctor for the plantations in the area. He married Pearl, another who shared his beliefs that everyone, slaves and the wealthy deserve the same medical care. Throughout their married lives, Pearl and Silas are great friends with the black slaves and even help many of them escape to the north. After Silas passes on, he leaves the land to his best friend and former slave, Booker's son Enoch instead of his own son Abe, who is the complete opposite of his parents. The story continues with the next generations, Abe's daughter and Enoch's and how they continued the fight to make black people free and accepted. The book is always interesting and one of those stories you wish wouldn't end. I am looking forward to reading all the other novels by Penelope Stokes and would recommend this to any age group.

Wow!! I just finished reading Amethyst Heart. I read it in one day, it was that good. Like the main character "Miss Amethyst" with her grandmother Pearl's journals, I could not get enough of the story of her family history.

Ms. Stokes has done an outstanding job of relaying to the reader the events and the emotions involved in six generations of family.

The mix of throwing in real life historical characters was an added greatness to the story.

Bravo! I would highly recommend this book.

One of America's primere preachers, Jess Moody, whose prolific pen poured out "A Drink At Joel's Place" is flowing again. This time with pointed,poignant and preachable prose. His best loved stories will touch your heart,tickle your imagination, and titilate your sermonic sensibilities. This book is a must have for the preacher, teacher, or christian speaker. As usual, Moody, the master wordsmith, spins spritually insightful and powerfully applicable stories form personal encounters of a half century of ministry. This is vintage Moody. If you thought "A Drink At Joel's Place" was heady you will want to guzzle this new offering.

Jess Moody is a master storyteller. He writes with great wit and intellegence, and has the ability to touch your soul with truth and insight when you least expect it. Jess is really an American treasure and this book underlines that fact. I can't think of anyone quite like him. I hope he continues to write books in the future. His voice needs to be heard. For those familiar with his other books this is vintage Jess Moody. For those haven't had the opportunity to feast on his stories and the visual images they evoke, this is a great introduction to a master wordsmith.

Club Sandwich is "soul food" for the reader, a tasty treat of humor, inspiration, and challenge. Jess Moody, always the master of the spoken word, illustrates his mastery of the English language in his writings, also. His stories are sometimes poignant, evoking a catch in the throat; often humorous, causing a smile or laugh that cannot be contained; always entertaining, making the book difficult to lay down; but most, and best of all, they prompt a response of gratitude for God's goodness in the daily affairs of life. Get ready for a feast as you devour Club Sandwich!

This heartwarming, inspiring, challenging, well written book quickly shot to the top of the list of our family's favorites! I read it aloud to my family every evening at dinner time (FAR better than watching television!) and we were so gripped by the story that we would often sit around the table long after we were done eating, all other duties forgotten, reading page after page because no one could bear to stop listening!

Darlene Deibler Rose was an amazing young woman with a great talent for writing and a deep love for the Lord. She experienced far more trials in her lifetime than the average American, yet she never became bitter through any of them. She was such a good witness in the way she lived that even the Japanese commander of the prison noticed it. Her relationship with the Lord was living, breathing, alive, and active, not a dead "I go to church on Sundays" relationship. She held on to her faith even when she lost everything else she had. God was her refuge and her security, and sustained her through many events that could have devastated her had it not been for him.

This book is very refreshing and uplifting! It doesn't drag you down into the bleakness of prison or the mire of discouragement, although those things are very real and present in the book. It strengthens and encourages you, letting you know that no matter what trial you are facing, God will work everything for good in the end. I was moved to tears of joy at the end of the book, and now regard it as one of the very best books I have ever read. It reminds you that God never changes. Even when all else fails we can turn to Him for strength and support. I think there are many people whose lives are not right with the Lord even though everything is going well and times are prosperous. Here is a life that was wholly dedicated to God, no matter what He asked of her. She was being refined, as gold in a fire, and she came through pure and bright.

Everyone we have loaned or given this book to has enjoyed it immensely, and I know you will, too.

I had always been pretty scared about issues such as war, torture, and prison camp. After reading Darlene's story, I know that God will be with me no matter what circumstances are! A "must" read for anyone and everyone!

"I will never leave thee" was the title to the Focus on the Family radio program narrated by Darlene Diebler Rose. In it she tells about her incredible trials and experiences while a prisoner in a Japanese concentration camp. After listening to the program, and buying the CD, I wanted to know and learn more from this tremendous woman, so I bought the book.

Darlene was a young missionary bride when she arrived in Dutch New Guinea to win untouched tribes to Christ. She and her husband had around one year in the field, winning a few converts but ended up imprisoned in separate prison camps. Darlene endured tremendous hardships yet kept her wits about her and walked by faith, always asking God for guidance. Whenever she lost faith and cried to God, He answered her by giving her His peace and assuring her that He would never leave her nor forsake her. He also gave encouragement and answers to her prayers, such as the time she was starving and dying in the dungeon in solitary confinement and she prayed for just one single tiny banana, and God brought the Japanese camp commander to visit her and gift her 92 bananas! [The story of the camp commander Mr. Yamaji is interesting in its own right, and without giving it away, I'll just say Darlene's living right with God had a great effect on him]. While in solitary confinement, Darlene spent her time walking with the Saviour, talking with Him, and playing in her mind the scripture that she had memorized as a girl. She had psalms, hymns, and even entire chapters memorized, and the right line at the right time seemed to pop into her remembrance and give her the answer she needed at that time. God's Hand could be seen protecting her, as there were several circumstances where she could have lost her life had she not followed God's prompting.

What I learned from this book is that no matter what the circumstances, no matter how dismal the situation, those who know Jesus are never alone. I also learned that a Christian's testimony and the way they walk with God is observable by even the hardest and cruelest heart and can allow the Lord to change them.

This book was very hard to put down, and I definitely will want to be rereading it in the future for all of the inspiration and hope it gives. I only wish she had a sequel telling about the rest of her life in New Guinea [yes, she actually went back after the war].

I am very impressed with Michael Warden's devotion book
"Alone With God." Michael's ability to apply the Word of God to the innermost needs of our being is extraordinary. His insight into life and his encouraging words have the effect of giving a desire to know the One True God intimately, and to trust God completely with our lives. "Alone With God" was definitely an inspiration to me, and I intend to read the book again and perhaps again. I recommend this book to anyone - it is very much appropriate for people who are not married, and it is appropriate for those who are married. Read it! It will bless your life! G. Hoffman

In one of his entries, Mr. Warden writes: "Once you begin reading through the Old Testament, one theme becomes abundantly clear: God loves deserts. Or, at the very least, He loves to use them...." Most of us can relate to being in that dry and barren emotional place at some point in our lives, and Alone With God, a compact devotional, is like a nice drink of water for those who are thirsty for refreshment. The title of the book says it is inspiration for the unmarried, but I believe that description is somewhat misleading, for the devotions are for all who have felt the ache of isolation during their spiritual journey (and who among us, married or not, have not felt this way?). The writing speaks to that breaking loneliness we all have in our hearts, how to honestly wrestle with it, and like Jacob and the angel, come away blessed. The devotions also serve as warnings not to buy into the culturally scripted metaphors which all too often pervade our notions of what it means to be single or married (if you are single there is something wrong, if you are married, everything is ok). Mr. Warden's book reminds us that God is passionately and relentlessly consumed with making us more like Him, with making us fall so deeply in love with Him that we lead full, adventurous lives because we are part of a bigger story. And in that journey, we are most assuredly not alone.

This little devotional is loaded with simple, yet profound insights into God's character and the amazing ways He relates to His beloved children. Even though each days' reading is only a few short paragraphs, Warden's masterful choice of words helps to illuminate many of the deep truths contained in the Bible. Even though I often read through several days worth of these devotionals, many of them are so compelling I have to STOP and take time to chew on what I've just read! Warden is also quite skilled at reflecting back these profound truths of God's word by drawing out their application in my own life. This book is definitely not just for singles! I think every believer will be challenged and encouraged by this book to draw closer to God in both maturity and intimacy.

This easy to read and beautifully drawn children's story shows the intensity and power of God's love. The book's vision is that God's love is simple, straight-forward and more powerful than we could ever expect.

My 3 and 5 year old children love the book and want me to read it again and again. They say "'Read God's Clown' again daddy ...".

The ending deals with death but it is not death in misery or emptiness. The Clown of God reaches God's heart and I think it will reach your heart and your child's heart too.

Tomie de Paolo's The Clown of God is by far, one of the most beautiful stories for children around. I was read this story as a child and it still is one of my all time favorites. The beautiful, soft-colored prints throughout the book will delight children along with the story about Giovanni, the poor boy who becomes a juggling clown in a circus. Giovanni goes on to become a famous juggler, but towards the end of his life, he once again becomes poor. He finds himself back home in Sorrento on Christmas Eve and performs a miracle in his local church. A story that will delight both children and adults.

The Clown of God is one of the most powerfully moving books I have read in a long time. This is the story of the adventures of Giovanni, a poor boy whose ability to entertain brings him renown.

The book is full of beautiful illustrations. Tomie de Paola brings real love to the pictures. Giovanni, the people he meets, and the Italian countryside come alive in de Paola's renderings. The visuals in this book dance with color and emotion. However, there are things that run deeper than pretty pictures in these pages.

Henri Nouwen once wrote:

"There is a deep hole in your being, like an abyss. You will never succeed in filling that hole, because your needs are inexhaustible."

Nouwen essentially said that the only solution in this life is to work near the hole. To avoid the twin temptations of dwelling in your pain or working so much that you drown your pain out with the noise of an overly busy life.

Giovanni is representative of all those who get caught in the snare of these temptations. He carries the hole, yet denies its nature. In his youth he believes his hole to be mere physical hunger. Allowing the rumbling of his stomach to overpower the groaning of the Spirit, he begins performing in order to try and fill his hole. Unfortunately, treating the symptom never cures the disease. As Giovanni grows older he avoids his hole by allowing the din of worldly success and the cheering of the crowds to drown out the insistence of the still, small voice.

Only in the end, broken and unwanted by the world, does Giovanni heed the call within. It is a truly beautiful scene when he does. Get the book and witness it for yourself.

I am never dissappointed in a Thoene novel. This Irish series is best of all in my opinion! I love the on going story of Kate and Josheph and all the characters of Ballynockanor. The stories my grandmother told about her childhood in Ireland have really come to life. It is amazing how similar the stories in the Galway Chronicles are to the real life history of many of us Irish Americans! The injustice of l800 Ireland under English rule make me value America all the more in spite of our problems here. Anyway, this is a great read for ANYONE!

This is book number 3 of the Galway Chronicles Series. I did not realize this book was part of a series and read it out of order. However, I went back and read the first two books and the last. I could not put them down. The history that is a backdrop for the novels is fascinating and gives one an understanding of the animosity between the English and the Irish. The characters are so real and the story keeps you on the edge wondering what will happen next. I loved all four of the books.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the Galway Chronicles- I'm anxiously awaiting my copy of the next book. I really enjoy historical fiction, and I love anything about Ireland's past, so these books have been such a treat for me. I'm even recommending them to my dad, who strictly reads non-fiction, because I think he would enjoy them immensely. Through all the tragedies and horrors that these characters have experienced, one common theme is evident- God is always there, always protecting, loving, and comforting, even while the world is crashing all around. A sincere thank you to the authors, for conveying such a wonderful message and a terrific story.

Anne Graham Lotz's introduction to this small book of daily (morning and evening) devotionals is heart-warming and keys on what made the original of this little book first published in 1794 so widely used --- each morning's and evening's readings are a group of related Bible verses -- nothing more and nothing less. No fluff. And no huge chunk of time is need to get through each short serving. Yet, each day's reading will speak to the heart and mind of the Christian, and provide encouragement, or helpful directions for the day and for life. The last 50 pages or so are more topical in nature, for different subjects such as depression, salvaton and stress -- for anytime throughout the year. This is the one devotional book that will last a lifetime -- it's pure Scripture -- no poems or contrived stories, just God's Word -- timeless. This book is on a par with Oswald Chambers' classic devotinal book "My Utmost for His Highest" but does not include the additional thoughts for meditation that he includes. Chambers' book is great too for a simple daily devotional. The original volume of Daily Light was in the King James Version and this new edition uses the New King James Version, which makes it highly readable. I'm going to give a lot of these books as Christmas gifts to the people that I love.

First compiled by Samuel Bagster for family devotions in the 1790s, this is a sure classic! Daily Light is an excellant way to start and end the day by being in the Scriptures with a morning and evening devotion, everyday. Many devotionals have one verse then a page of man's writing that might not prove helpful. With no interpretation by mankind in Daily Light, you can't go wrong. Even the titles are from a Bible verse. Mr. Bagster presents a lifelong study of the Scriptures with so many relevant verses in this compilation. Although I have had my copy but a short time, I had to purchase copies for my wife and mother after they read in mine. The binding of the Essential Christian Library Series is attractive and should prove durable for many years of use. Daily Light will make an excellant gift for birthdays, holidays, weddings and graduations.

I originally found a copy of this most excellent, and timeless work over 22 years ago in a used book store. I have read it every day since. It is pure scripture, a daily compilation of related verses based on a single theme verse. The Holy always speaks with new thoughts for the same page, no matter how often you read it over the years. It's a treasury of God's thoughts, second only to your Bible. I will continue to give it as a gift to beloved friends 'till the day of His Coming.