Recently I was asked by ChristianAudio.com to review the book Choose Joy by Kay Warren.  It seems like a sound book.  It took me a little longer to listen to it because I feel it was truly written for women, and well, being a man – I didn’t take too well to it.

The book had the usual stories of heartbreak, sorrow, pain and the steps – at least in the author’s mind – to find Joy in those situations.  However like I said – I don’t think it was written for the likes of the man.  This is not to say it is a bad book.  The opposite is true.  I appreciated concept of finding Joy not by merely looking for it – but actively choosing it.

To be Joyful in all situations is not an easy thing – for God does not promise trial free life, but a trial proof life.  (I stole part of that line from a recent Facebook post from Mars Hill Church.) Anyway Kay reads the book well and tells of stories in her life where making the choice of Joy was the only way she would have joy in that situation.

I really can’t write much more about it from my standpoint as I just didn’t like her writing style.  It was not for me, and not, I believe, for men in general.  But that is my opinion, and that is why I was given the book for free to read – to give my opinion.

I am however going to recommend my mother listen to it.  She is in need of choosing Joy and I think she WILL enjoy it.

Be Blessed all and Give with Passion.

Chris

A Mile in His Shoes was a really fun movie for our whole family.  I recently received this move to review and give you my opinion.  Well here it is  - I really enjoyed it.  My twins were excited for a baseball movie and they were not disappointed.

It is now a part of our movie collection.  The premise is simple – a failing minor league ball coach misses the opportunity to get an up and coming player but his luck turns when his car breaks down.

He comes across an autistic farm boy with the arm of Nolan Ryan.  Of course the coach has to battle the father, the team owner, and the fact that his new recruit could fall apart at any moment with the crowd.

I really liked the movie and will probably watch it again in the next six months (which says a lot for me.)

From the directors…

From the director of “Angels In the Outfield” comes an inspiring story about a special boy with an amazing gift, and the coach who believed. Dean Cain and Luke Schroder star in the gmc movie based on the book “The Legend of Mickey Tussler”.

Enjoy it friends.  If you want to get your own copy – leave me a comment telling me your favorite Christian movie and I will randomly pick one person to ship a copy to.

God Bless and Give with Passion!

Chris

 “Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or

services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it 

on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally 

and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance 

with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the 

Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I recently had the opportunity to review this album I love your Presence – Live from Phoenix.  I must say it wasn’t all my style at first but I liked it enough.  I handed it over to my 10 year old boys and it was a little slow for their taste at first as well – but within a day or so they had only deleted one song and a by the time a week had gone by – only two songs were gone.

I would say it fared well in my household.  The message was clear, the music was decent, and I will listen to it for a while.

It is not something I think will cause the crowds to be breaking down the door – however I am really enjoying the soothing touch it has.

I think I will be trying to learn a few of the songs on my guitar – oh yeah – did I mention you can download the lyrics & chord charts?  Yup you can Go ahead – click me for them.

I hope you enjoy the music it was real nice.

God Bless and Give with Passion!

Chris

Don’t forget – I got to review this music for free in return for an unbiased review.  Take it as you will – but I liked it

You can buy the music at Amazon

Yesterday I received a dvd to review from Fly propeller.  It was called THEO – Teaching Children God’s Word.

The premise is that Theo teaches your children THEOlogy through the animated stories.  At first glance it looked like my children would enjoy it (ages 10 and 5) and they did.  They even passed up the Red Sox playing in the other room and that means a lot for sure

The dvd I received had two episodes on it called Saving Faith and Good News.  Saving Faith was approximately nine minutes long and Good News, approximately 5 minutes.  I did not realize that when I put in the dvd.

I am not sure how long the one on Amazon is but it says it has three episodes on it… Saving Faith, Loving Obedience, and Forgiveness.

Anyway – THEO discusses doctrines about sin, God’s character, the Bible, salvation and godly living with animated illustrations that entertain children and hopefully encourage them to learn more about the Christian faith.  I can’t tell you a lot about the theology based on these two episodes except that these two tell their stories right from the bible.  There is no scripture reference of any kind but I don’t think their was meant to be.

I would say that THEO is definitely worth a watch when you need a little help in a Sunday school class, or if you need to introduce a new topic to your young children in a way they would be open to.  However I would not use them as a substitute to a full class or home lesson with your kids.  They are really too short for that.

And to be frank – If the two stories I saw were what comes for each story – I would no want to spend $13 plus shipping from Amazon to buy even the three story DVD.  You pay that much for a old movie.  I think if they were $5 – $8 a cd I would more apt to promote them as a sellable item.

A small update on the buying thing.  I just realized this…

What set’s THEO apart from anything we’ve worked on?

The Buy 1 – Give 1 campaign!  For every Theo DVD purchased, Whitestone Media and Child Evangelism Fellowship® will send a child in need their very own copy of Theo.

You can log onto TheoPresents.com after making your own purchase, and select the region of the world you’d like another copy of Theo to be sent.

So buy it – if only to spread the Word to kids in need.  I like it – Buy 1 Give 1.  A great idea.

You can visit THEO online at http://www.theopresents.com

And on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/theopresents

I hope this is helpful to you all.

God Bless and Give with Passion!!

Chris

A friend of mine showed me this great video – I would encourage you to watch it and ask yourself – are you a Yogi Berra Christian…

This last week I was looking through another book I was sent from Booksneeze – Max Lucado’s “Max On Life”.  It was – ok.

I was not overly impressed simply because it was just a book of letters.  It seemed to me it would be a devotional of some kind – but it had only a handful of topics.

The topics were:

Hope

Hurt

Help

Him/Her

Home

Haves/Have-Nots

Hereafter

Then n each of those topics was a collection of letters that Max wrote to people who had asked those types of questions.  Each letter was it’s own page.  Anyway – the questions were in no seeming order besides the main topics and it was just not a book I was really interested in getting through.  It is certainly not a book you pick up and read.  It is more a reference book.

There are many bout there will answer the question “If I had this issue – what would the bible say?”  and this is another one of those – but a little washed down with – “what would Max say the bible would say?”

Please know that I am a fan of Max’s children’s stories and other things of his – but this book just didn’t suit me.  I hope it can suit others.

God Bless and Give with Passion

Chris

-The fine print: I got this book for free as I do a the others in the reviews section – in exchange for my truthful opinion of it.  And yes – the links to the book from this page are my affiliate links – but you could havefigured that out by mousing over them.

Thank you.  This is the day the Lord has made – Let us rejoice and be glad [give thanks].

Thank you God for the gift of salvation through your son.  Thank you to my wife who loves me as unconditionally as can be expected of a human being.  Thank you to my kids – you are a blessing to me.  Thank you to those of you who have been an influence in my life in some way.

Today – like every other day – is a day of thanks.  I will admit This outpouring of thanks was prompted by a blog post I just read from Terry Dean – but it is appropriate.  Terry mentions how easy it is to just take every thing and every one for granted.  You know it truly is too easy to forget to say thank you.

I have so much to be thankful for.  Thank you to my mom and dad for being exactly who they are and for loving me for who I am.  Thank you to my brother who I just never seemed to give enough credit to.

Father God – you are my all and all.  I n You will I put my trust alone.  Thank you for NEVER letting me down.

God Bless you all and may you remember today to be thankful for all that you are and have.

Chris

I recently read the Final Summit by Andy Andrews (admittedly about 2 months ago) but I really enjoyed this fiction book.  It was a real quick read for me.  The main character’s name is David Ponder and it would seem that he has had some contact in the past with the angel Gabriel in past books (Which I have not read yet)

David was called to head up the “Final Summit” which was to determine if the world should be allowed to continue or if the world should be destroyed again as happened in the flood.  His challenge in the summit – come up with two words that described what mankind needed to do in order to turn itself around from the track it twas on.

If the words could be found – mankind is safe – if not – well it would be destroyed.  What I think was the best was the who all was attending the summit.  The attendees were many and all were figures from the past – with both great and seemingly small influence in history.

I loved the book and can’t wait to go back and read it’s predecessors.  I am particularly fond of fiction of this kind.

Because I have to – I did get this book for free in order that I might review it.  It came from Book Sneeze

God Bless and Give with Passion!

Chris

Tonight I watched the movie The Grace Card.  (It was sent to me y FlyPropeller to review.) I was tearing buckets by the end.  I was the epitome of what my love bride deems me – a Hallmark Guy.  I have to say I loved watching this movie.  It is certainly one that will be hard pressed to make it anywhere in the main stream.  The reason:  it is a Godly film that proclaims more than just grace as the name implies.

Some logistical info and the movie maker’s description…

DVD Release Date: 8/16/2011

Website: http://www.thegracecardmovie.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thegracecard

Everything can change in an instant … and take a lifetime to unravel. When Mac McDonald loses his son in an accident, the ensuing 17 years of bitterness and pain erodes his love for his family and leaves him angry with God … and just about everyone else. Mac’s rage stonewalls his career in the police department and makes for a combustible situation when he’s partnered with Sam Wright, a rising star on the force—who happens to be a part-time pastor and a loving family man.
Can they somehow join forces to help one another when it’s impossible for either of them to look past their differences—especially the most obvious one? Every day, we have the opportunity to rebuild relationships and heal deep wounds by extending and receiving God’s grace. Offer THE GRACE CARD … and never underestimate the power of God’s love.

IT really was a great movie.  I immediately plan to give it over to at least two friends to watch asap.  I was slightly surprised by some of the ending which was good as I often think I know how it is going to end.

It really was a blessing to watch and honestly – there were moments where I was almost sobbing at both the heartbreak and the grace shown.  I highly recommend you get it.

God Bless and Give with Passion!!

Chris

“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services

mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I

only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255:

“Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I got another album from Buzz Bloggers to review – Selah – Hope of a Broken World You can get it at Amazon of course.

Anyway I really like this one. There is a variety of tempo but from what my wife tells me, it is mostly their existing style. There is a bit of ‘almost hymn-like’ and even a rock/blues mix in one of the songs. That is the style. The purpose of the music – is the gospel and I think it preaches that very well. Having no listened to the group before I can’t compare tis album to past albums – but I will say they are now in my iTunes library to stay.

I like how they sing together and well – it is just pleasing to the ear. There are one or two songs that I will take out of my library b/c it is just not my style but that is me. I think overall most people will enjoy the whole album.

I really like “On the Mountain” It has a GREAT message and is sung very well. Not much really to write today – just know that you won’t be disappointed if you like traditional music, if you like a little country or southern flair , but probably not if you are just into rock – or not being able to hear/understand the words. This album is about preaching Christ – and it does!

God Bless and Give with Passion!

Chris