Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim's Tale by Ian Morgan Cron

Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron was, by far, the best read of my summer.

With Cron's deliciously witty and profound style of writing, I felt I journeyed with our protagonist Chase, an all-American pastor facing a crisis of faith, on his spiritual pilgrimage. Much to my delight, Chase's journey wasn't just a figurative one, as Cron took him to Italy to visit his Franciscan monk uncle. It was there that he was introduced to St. Francis of Assissi, whom, across the generations which separated them, patiently led him deeper into the loving heart of God in the midst of this painful world. Chase became fascinated by this historical figure and his testimony of faith, and in studying him, tracing his movements across the Italian countryside, he was led to meet interesting modern-day figures living out their journeys of faith and doubt in myriad ways. He began to see the world with different eyes. And he would never be the same.

I think Cron is a brilliant writer. Here he's written a novel, but also a biography, and even a deeply theological sermon all in one. His characters are believable and real, but they exist to teach. I felt I met with God in their stories on the page. And don't even get me started on his description of Italy!

Watch out for this writer. I don't think he'll disappoint. But especially, watch out for this book. Let it open your eyes to the depth and beauty of this God, even in the heartache of life on earth. Somehow the pain makes the beauty even more sweet...


* *I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their [...] book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

"Draw the Circle" by Mark Batterson

Once again, it's been an age since I've updated.

I begin to see a pattern uncovered-- I write more when God is flowing out revelations upon my head. I can't help but share!

Perhaps it's the crush of the wedding planning and the childcare and the photography courses and sessions and the fact that there are never quite enough hours in the day, but lately I haven't felt a lot of active growth in myself and my walk with Him. Even though Charles and I are doing hours of couples' devotionals and Christian pre-marital counseling reading and teachings, and praying together. It doesn't replace spending time with Him, basking in His presence, making little discoveries about Him and about who I am in Him just on my own... And little by little, He faithfully and lovingly breaks through... I'm so thankful that He forever pursues me.

Last night I couldn't sleep. Because I tend to be a pretty good sleeper across all time zones, this always makes me wonder if God is trying to get my attention and it's only in the quiet of the middle of the night that life is silent enough for my forever untrained ears to hear...

He drew me to pick back up the book I've been reading to review for Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze. "Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge" by Mark Batterson has been speaking to my soul from the first page. Through 40 days of stories of experiences of and answers to prayer, both personally and corporately, I am both convicted and inspired. I ALWAYS know my prayer life is not what it could be. I am not one of the sainted ones who spend 23 of their 24 hours a day on their knees in intercession. I pray often throughout the day, but that sacred, focused time, where all other distractions are pushed away and it becomes ONLY you and Him, and you lay yourself open to hear His voice... those times are far more rare. And as I read this book I find myself longing for more of them, like a feeling of homesickness...


Reading this book has the potential to change my life, and yours. All I can think about now is how BIG He is and how huge is our mission and how purposeful our lives are meant to be and how intimately close He is if we reach out to Him! And how desperately I want more and more of Him. As much of His Spirit as He will infuse into my little life...

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." -- Romans 12:12

"Miraculous: A Fascinating History of Signs, Wonders, and Miracles" by Kevin Belmonte

I've been so encouraged reading Kevin Belmonte's "Miraculous" and hearing the testimony's of journeys walked with God before mine... but I was nearly tempted to put this book aside without finishing it.

I am so thankful I stuck with it to the end!!

When I first started reading it, though impressed by Kevin Belmonte's eloquent way with words and choice of quotations by well-known theologians and commentators, I must admit, I was bored. And disappointed. I thought I was about to read a book documenting miraculous events that might encourage me and move me to wonder. Instead (and perhaps this says more about me than it does the book!), the first few chapters were reiterating stories I already well knew. They are wonderful bible stories of God's faithfulness and propensity to use ordinary people to accomplish magnificent tasks in His name. But they were stories I was very familiar with, and just not what I was expecting... So I nearly wrote my first review of a book I didn't read cover to cover (don't worry, I would have admitted that in the review!)

But then the chapters changed to stories of para-biblical historical figures-- people and stories I wasn't so well acquainted with, or had never before been introduced to. And their stories stirred up my soul to wonder, to awe, to conviction, to longing, to joy. Documenting the miraculous testimonies of such intriguing figures as St. Augustine, Perpetua, Julian of Norwich, D.L. Moody, G.K. Chesterton, William Wilberforce, Corrie Ten Boom, and some I had never before heard of but am so thankful that I have now, like Clyde Kilby (whose childlike wonder in the halls of academia challenge me to find more wonder and beauty and joy in each moment I have wherever I am!), Holly Ordway, and a doctor emboldened by Jesus whose tale touched Cecil B. Demille so much that he wrote about it in his autobiography.

Cecil B Demille was a movie director back in Hollywood's golden age. Though remembered most for his The Ten Commandments, he directed an earlier film called King of Kings which was powerfully used to touch people the world over. In Demille's autobiography he writes of a Polish pastor he called Wallner who was so moved after seeing the film King of Kings that he decided to become a pastor and serve that King all the rest of his days. This pastor related a story to Demille of a doctor in his congregation who was a Messianic Jew-- a Jewish man who recognized Christ as his Saviour. When Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia, this doctor was sent to a concentration camp, and gained the special attention of the gestapo because of the way he encouraged the other prisoners.

"Suffering and torture were brutally inflicted on this steadfast believer. He was repeatedly struck with an iron rod until one of his arms had to be amputated. Still, he refused to be silent about his faith. Ultimately, as Demille's autobiography reveals, 'one Gestapo officer beat the doctor's heard against a stone wall until blood was streaming down his face.' The officer then brandished a mirror before the doctor's face. 'Look at yourself now,' he said with incredible cruelty. 'Now you look like your Jewish Christ.'

Lifting the one hand he had left, the doctor said, 'Lord [Jesus], never in my life have I received such honor-- to resemble You.' Those proved to be his last words."

Belmonte continues to tell the story Demille wrote in his autobiography. The Gestapo officer was so pierced by those words, by the witness of the doctor, that he was wracked with guilt at having killed him, and he sought out the doctor's pastor-- Wallner-- and was led to faith in Christ. Pastor Wallner told him, "Perhaps God let you kill that good man to bring you to the foot of the Cross, where you can help others." When the Gestapo officer went back to the concentration camp, it was to work as an insider with Wallner and the Czech Underground to free many Jews.

As Cecil B. Demille reports it, Wallner told him that if it had not been for him seeing that film which God used to draw him to Himself as a young man, he never would have become a pastor, and "Three hundred and fifty Jewish children would have died in the ditches."

Oh.my.goodness.

These are the stories that I RELISH hearing! That give me gooseflesh upon reading and renew the faith in my heart and being part of something so much bigger than you or I simply in belonging to Jesus!

And it's these sorts of stories that Belmonte so expertly relays to us in his book Miraculous: A Fascinating History of Signs, Wonders, and Miracles. Go out and find yourself a copy! Or come over and borrow mine :)

* *I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their [...] book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

A Cruel Harvest by Fran Grubb

I wasn't quite prepared for what I would read in this memoir. It's the story of one woman's horrific childhood abuse and her reconnection with her scattered siblings as an adult. Born into a family of migrant farmers and an alcoholic, mean-spirited, physically and sexually abusive father, as Fran recounts her story I found myself disbelieving that anyone could be so utterly and completely cruel. But hand in hand with that aspect of her story, is her proof of the stunning resilience of the human soul.

It struck me so strongly when I set the book down at the end, that the only thing which kept Fran herself from becoming just as bitter and hardened and desensitized as the hard man who spent her whole life trying to make her so, was Jesus. It's not clear what sort of upbringing HE had, but hers set her up to be hard, insensitive, and abusive, in accordance with how she was treated. And indeed in her early adulthood, she did play out some of the same behaviours. But then she met Jesus. And everything changed. Undeniably.

And THAT is my favourite kind of story there is to tell. It speaks of hope. It speaks of the triumph of love over hatred and light over what seemed endless darkness. That is what Christ does. That is who He is.

And on top of all that, I just adore reading memoirs. Real stories of real people! It's good to know we're not alone...

This book is well worth a read.

* *I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their [...] book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

"Surprised by Oxford" by Carolyn Weber

Do you know that feeling when you open a new book and thirstily take in the first few pages and then lean back with a contented smile, reveling in how delicious the lines taste on your soul's tongue?

"Surprised by Oxford" by Carolyn Weber was such a read for me.

I originally requested the book from the book review program I write for over a year ago, but somehow it got lost on its journey to me. So I sadly requested other books and got on with things, but the thought of it lingered in the back of my mind. I was intrigued by the subject and style-- a memoir (which is a style I love to read!) about a young Canadian woman studying in England, and discovering herself on a journey to a relationship with God-- a journey she later understood she'd been on all along, but never before recognized.

I was enchanted by the author's way with words (for instance, she describes her mother as having "the scent of all things comforting and good"-- and, do you know, it immediately takes me back to curling up in my mommy's arms as a little one, nuzzling into her neck and breathing in that very same scent? And she describes Oxford: "The walls were saturated with the thoughts of endless minds across hundreds of years into the present, like a fine chain linked with hopes for the betterment of humankind."), and the way she wove references from classic literature all throughout her experiences. Her love of learning and studying and taking in the world, the way everything she encountered added to her thoughtful questioning, her adoration of The Romantics and flawless incorporation of their wisdom and experiences into her own, and the way England brought it all to life-- it all resonated so deeply with me. I also went to England as an idealistic, inexperienced young girl, and left with horizons widened on my whole world. I think she and I could be kindred friends, and reading her story was like taking a walk together through the beloved Oxfordshire landscape and sharing the struggles of our souls and the encouragement He gives to press on...

She wrestled honestly with God. She came from a background with only a vague understanding of Christianity, and many prejudices against it. It was the most unlikely of places to draw up close to Him-- the world of Academics. But one after the other, professors and scholars and friends she greatly respected came out with beliefs which made her question her own lack of them. She became enthralled by this plain of love she saw in some people's lives that she had not experienced. And so she started seeking out what it was that they had and she didn't-- and she didn't like the answer she inevitably came out with. But when she finally accepted that Christ is Who He says He is, her whole world was awashed in a new hue of colour. And the way she is able to encapsulate it in words thrilled my little literature-loving heart. Everything in her existence is touched and illuminated. Even the literature she'd studied for years suddenly read with a new dimension when she opened her eyes to The Holy. A lightbulb moment of the grandest kind.

The way she shares her story is so intimate, so detailed, and deep, and beautiful, that I felt honoured to be reading it, as if being imparted with a gift.

More and more I am convinced that what the world needs is to hear our stories. Jesus told stories. And crafted stories out of the lives of every one of His followers. He told them to go and share what they had seen and heard-- share their stories. I grow so frustrated so easily carrying around this incredible truth that so few think they want to hear, but as we share our stories-- unassuming, unaggressive, just letting people in-- we are free to just love with no agenda. Sharing our stories is loving like Christ loves, being vulnerable for the sake of someone else who needs to hear what you've lived to share. "Surprised by Oxford" was encouraging as you see a cast of characters coming in and out of Carolyn's life-- some of them for a moment, some of them for years, sharing their stories, unobtrusively, gently, honestly, but deeply-- until, in her own good time, it finally all just "clicks". And then she becomes a voice in the whole cast of characters sharing her story for someone else to one day "click" upon hearing...

It is a beautiful economy, this kind King's.

"That is the bizarre thing about the good news: who knows how you will really hear it one day, but once you have heard it, I mean really heard it, you can never unhear it. Once you have read it, or spoken it, or thought it, even if it irritates you, even if you hate hearing it or cannot find it feasible, or try to dismiss it, you cannot unhear it, or unspeak it, or unthink it."

"Belief is really hard work... And it's radical work. I mean, imagine if we really implemented the golden rule, among individuals as well as nations. If we really did everything from holding doors open for each other, to helping raise each other's kids, to feeding and clothing one another. If we really took God at His Word, and He is real, and so love, and grace, and accountability are too. Like Mother Teresa telling us to love until it hurts, with a smile."

"Life is messy. Life is beautiful and terrible and messy. So why would we expect a faith in this life that is easy to understand? Why expect a gift wrapped up neatly within the tissues of our brains and tied with a nice bow of material clarity? ... A round gift is the most difficult to wrap."

So beautifully written and honest, "Surprised by Oxford" is, among so many other things, just a delicious joy to soak up. Find yourself a copy and a bit of sunshine to sit in and you will be entertained as well as touched!
 
p.s. I want to move to Oxfordshire even more now!


 *I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck

One dress with a story spanning a century. Four brides with four unique lives in four different generations. 

Those two lines probably have you thinking you know exactly what this book is about. Aw, it’s been done before, you say. Maybe so, but never like this. 

Charlotte is a modern woman running a successful wedding dress boutique in the American south and suffering from twinges of panic without understanding why at the thought of marrying her wonderful, family-man, architect, studmuffin  of a fiancé. Orphaned as a young child, she can hardly remember a time she wasn’t lonely, until Tim showed up and won her heart in a whirlwind romance. They were each everything the other had always wanted. So why, then, the feeling that it was all just going too fast?

Emily was desperately in love with Daniel when he left to play ball semi-professionally in 1912. By the time he came back to claim her heart only 5 months later, her father had given his blessing to an offer of marriage from the son of one of the weathiest families in Birmingham…

 Mary Grace fell in love with her childhood chum and in the midst of the Great Depression, he asked her to be his wife and to go away with him to serve the Lord by hosting tent meetings all across the country...

Hillary married her Marine fiancé on a whim just before he shipped out to Vietnam, and only a few months later she received back his dog tags, threw them in a trunk with the dress she wore the day she married him, and welded the trunk shut...

 

One day Charlotte found herself wandering through a random auction when something made her bid on a worn out old trunk, welded shut. The auctioneer wore vibrant purple and when he looked at her, it felt as if his eyes bore into her soul.

Little did she know that the contents of that trunk would connect her life forever to these other three women, and to one of them in ways she could never have imagined…

My cousin calls me a book snob. I don’t read many novels these days unless they are old enough to be considered “classic.” But if I do, they generally have to be Christian ones, because I often find contemporary secular novels a bit too graphic and crude (There are always exceptions, though :)). But, being a supposed “book snob”, I am very sensitive to contrived spirituality or overly-done religiosity in these books, leaving a story flat or shallow (Walking with Christ is REAL LIFE, people, and Christians are human too). Thus, I generally reach for my classics when needing a novel break. That said, it’ll mean something when I tell you that I have literally been purposely dragging out my reading of Rachel Hauck’s The Wedding Dress, luxuriating in its lines, in its love stories, in its twists and turns; savouring the feeling of being lost in the plot of a contemporary Christian novel without a hint of that tell-tale cringe. 

I still wish I hadn’t quite reached the end…

*I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

In The Hands of the Master-Poet's First Ever Giveaway! -- Now Closed

The bigger picture has always captivated me.

The idea that God is on a rescue mission to restore the world He created and the people in it to relationship with Him-- and how everything in the story of our lives, and all the individual stories we're living, are all working together to that end, and how, in fact, we are invited to play a part in that rescue mission story... It puts things in perspective.

Randy Frazee calls this bigger picture the 'upper story' in his book The Heart of the Story: God's Masterful Design to Restore His People. He calls our circumstances as we see them through our human experiences the 'lower story'. What I loved about this book was the idea of taking the whole entire bible--the hundreds of memorable and not so memorable 'lower' stories of human experience -- and making a basic summary of it to repaint it in light of the upper story, the bigger picture. In these stories innumerable many of us have grown up hearing about, the characters were firmly entrenched in their own lower stories of human circumstance, just like you and I. And yet, when we stand back and look at the bigger picture the Word of God is showing, we can see the upper story significance of each individual character's lower story (Have I driven home enough the 'story' idea yet?). There is something so innately encouraging in that. I happen to be firmly entrenched in my own lower story, and need constant reminders of that upper story God's unfolding just beyond my human vision, closer than my circumstances tell...

I was excited when I was offered this book for review because I relished the idea of digesting the whole entire story of the Bible all in one big gulp. Frazee, a teaching pastor by vocation and the author of numerous previous books, didn't disappoint in his anecdotal summary. I often get tripped up in the minor prophets. I take them one by one as moving pieces of literature, but struggle to fit them into the chronological narrative of Israel's story. The Heart of the Story helpfully wove the myriad of true tales together in a way that I could cognitively see where they fit into the story in history. And Frazee did it while also lifting the reader's eyes up to the way it all fits into the bigger picture / upper story.

If I could make any criticisms about this book, they would be only from a point of view of my admittedly snobby literaturary tastes :) I sometimes found his writing style a bit juvenile, as if he was trying too hard to sound 'cool', but because I believe this was an effort to make God's Word approachable by anyone, I think we should let it slide ;) It was extremely readable and that can be hard to find when it comes to wrestling with Biblical literature and matters of Theology.

All that said, I think you should read this book! Who doesn't need some help to focus on the bigger picture when we are so caught up in our day to days? So... to aid you to that end, I'd like to offer In The Hands of the Master-Poet's first giveaway! I have an extra copy of Randy Frazee's The Heart of the Story: God's Masterful Design to Restore His People to give away to one lucky reader of this blog :) Ooh, exciting :) All you have to do to receive your free copy is leave me a comment explaining why you would like to read this book, and giving me some way to contact you so we can be in touch about where I should mail it if you win the giveaway.

So, comment, comment, comment! The contest will be open over the weekend and I'll contact the winner early next week. Let's seek out this God actively working to restore us to Himself, and let's equip ourselves to let the upper story, the bigger picture, the greater purpose influence the way we live our lower stories day to day. Let's be encouraged: "since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Heb. 12:1).
What a gift it is to live wrapped up in such purpose! And what a gift it is to have The Bible to be told of all the ones who lived out their stories for such a purpose before us. What did they do before they had those testimonies to look to and be encouraged by?

Yay for free giveaways of encouragement :)