Free Book Reviews

Tell Me Where Humanity Is

2015-12-10T16:16:00.000-08:00

It has been some time since I have made a post that is of the nature that this one will be but it needs to be done and why not me. So here goes…

In the time that I have been part of the group known to the public as #Anonymous I have seen many things and have tried my best to help just the same. Up until recently I held my involvement with #Anonymous a closely guarded part of my life to protect (so I thought) those that I loved and those that I helped that I may not love but neediness does not know the boundaries of man within the scope of what we have come to see as boundaries. Mankind has drilled so hard at the need to categorize things in order to understand that we forgot the most basic of things that drove us as a species in the beginning. Before you get excited about the "it" that I am referring to, "it" would not be sexual of nature so sorry folks but this is not that kind of post but stay tuned because what comes from my lips no one knows not even #thehappyhypocrite knows in any degree nor does he really care for diplomacy. These posts will piss you off but rest assured I am pissing in everybody else's Cheerios as well, therefore I must say that your are most welcome.

I took off the mask and stayed in the fight because why in the hell not. I put a large amount of time and self into my #Anonymous and there was not anyway I would leave my brothers and sisters to fend for themselves in this mission of OURS. And I do mean OURS, as in the whole damn planet because we are not just for #"Murica nor #blacklivesmatter nor or any other group. We are simply doing our part in trying to bring back our community and ultimately our humanity. That is what led to this post as you will see now….

Shortly after "coming out" as it were on Facebook with my three accounts and two pages of which I will not link to in this post because this is for a brother and I will not jump in with links on that. Anyway I met a fellow anon (short for Anonymous Member) that goes by the name Sage Wolf (cool name right), and seeing that he is anon and that I am anon and that his history of posts were not this mass of hatred and what I like to call fuckery and stoopidness, I see that man a friend request. He accepted (cause I am the shiznitz) and anon family has begun. Then I see a post about him needing some help so I go to read what this "help" was and what I may be able to do about it or for him. I go over the post and watch the video and I have to help. His family is in need of home repairs to properly insulate and heat their home in an area that does get quite cold. I live in Las Vegas so anything is cold as ice to me, but I grew up in the Midwest so I know what winters can get like and I knew that I would not have money so I offered what I could. This happens to be talking and posting things online until the point of madness for people. So I share his video and post everywhere I can think of and send it everywhere I can think to get exposure and hopefully help. But you know what happens. What "humanity" does to this giving fellow human being. They report him and his post. He was simply asking for help with the costs to fix all the issues with the home so that the children could have ample heat and maybe a warm Chriistmas this year and some grinches out there decided it fell onto their shoulders to report him and get the post removed. With what I have seen posted on numerous webpages including good old Facebook, there is not a reason that comes to mind to report this post unless of course your desire is to watch children suffer through Christmas. All I have to say any further on that subject is that you sir/madam are no longer desired to be in the human species and are therefore caste out from this species along with rights, privaleges and status. Be gone with you.

Back to Sage and his quest to help his family with a warmer Christmas. As I do not want to cloud what is needed I have included the videos in this post along with the message from Sage. I have linked to where money can be donated and Sage's Facebook account so that readers can reach out to him directly. Please show me that "Humanity" is not done for. Please donate cash if you can, or share this post across your network if you cannot. I do not want to think or know that I brought children into a world that is an attitude of "MEH" to all things.

SAVE HUMANITY

SAGE's STORY - I felt it best to start this with a post of his I saw that really spoke to me about who he is.

Language is not just script or vocalizing. Its an entity within itself, and to be blind to its magnitude; that it speaks from in the many dimensions it reaches into. Is the very understanding we lack in. It is the I in me, and the me in I.

Sage can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/sage.wolf.35

For Donations please send donate to the following places if you can….
Paypal - https://www.paypal.me/sagewolf
Google Wallet - Please Contact through Facebook as I will not give out email addresses

I have also started a GoFundMe account for this activity. I am trying to get $2000 in total so if you can donate please do so as every $1 counts towards the goal. Once the campaign is over I will send all donated funds to Sage through his paypal account listed above and I thank each and every donator right here and right now because I know humanity has the heart. The person, persons or company that donates the largest amount can have an advertisement of their choice placed as the header image on each of my social sites. All other donators will receive a shout out across all of my social networks. So please be sure to shoot me a note about on what and how much and the name that you would like props to go to. You can find the GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/bgedae6c

Videos Are Located here:

https://youtu.be/WEZw-XUGXUM
https://youtu.be/w3CSEtzF9Sg
https://youtu.be/r9yTMH3CzhY

Author Interview: Glenn Langohr author of Roll Call

2015-10-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

About your Book Roll Call, A True Crime Prison Story of Corruption and Redemption ( Roll Call Volume 1 )

Roll Call shines a light at the dark, hidden underbelly of the U.S War on Drugs. The author takes the admonition from the Biblical story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, “God doesn’t want you to eat of the tree of knowledge because he doesn’t want you to become as smart as him”, and relates it to the modern drug war, showing how the American justice system has turned illegal drugs into forbidden fruits; leading to a roller coaster ride through drug cartels, street gangs and outlaw bikers, all trying to get their piece of the action. Add a good detective squeezed out of the loop by an overzealous detective, a robust prison union calling bad shots, and a handful of drug criminals trying to find their conscience; and you have the perfect recipe for a revolutionary uprising; bound by blood, all leaving the reader wondering, who are the real criminals?

FBR
What do you think readers will find most notable about this book?

Glenn Langohr
The depth of research into the drug war, that led the author, me, to prison and the fighting spirit to find redemption and show the public a better, more compassionate way.

FBR
Did researching and writing this book teach you anything or influence your thinking in any way?

Glenn Langohr
Writing this novel was the beginning of change for me. I woke up at 4 Am in a level 4 California prison every morning to write and find a way to turn what I'd been through into a blessing. I want to find a way to bridge the divide with this drug war and the families seperated from addicted children.

FBR
What would you most like readers to tell others about this book?

Glenn Langohr
To share it with anyone who suffers an addiction, or has family members or friends who have been incarcerated, to find hope to turn things around.

FBR
Can you suggest one question readers might find interesting to discuss, concerning you, your writing in general, or this book?

Glenn Langohr
How much of the novel Roll Call is based on fact?

FBR
How can readers help you promote this book?

Glenn Langohr
If you read it and feel it, review it on Amazon, share it with those in need.

About You Glenn Langohr

I ran away from home at 14 years old from a broken home and got into dealing drugs. I spent 10 years in California prisons, have been labeled, thrown the the SHU, don't have a tattoo or claim a gang, have a big heart I wear on my sleeve, love animals, kids and old people and am married to my dream girl ballerina Sanette.

FBR
Why do you write?

Glenn Langohr
To purge and find how deep I am, to illuminate the community, to get closer to God.

FBR
What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Glenn Langohr
I have been told I have a strong, raw voice in my writing and I am deep.

FBR
What quality do you most value in yourself?

Glenn Langohr
LOYALTY

FBR
In addition to writing, what else are you passionate about?

Glenn Langohr
Making my loved ones smile and laugh. Dancing, singing, Jesus, helping others.

FBR
What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

Glenn Langohr
The Kirkus Discoveries review for Roll Call

FBR
Is there any new or established author whom you feel deserves more attention, and what is it that strikes you about his or her work?

Glenn Langohr
My vision is to help other prisoners in the SHU at Pelican Bay to write their way out of the hell they are living in and illuminate themselves and the community.

Intrigued by this interview? Then hop on over to Glenn's Amazon Author Page to find out more or grab her book at the following:
Amazon
Website

Author Interview: A. C. Ellis author of Shadow Run

2015-10-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

About your Book: Shadow Run

Someone is trying to kill Susan Tanner!

A Federation Fleet captain, she had not commended a ship since losing Defiant ten years ago during a colony’s bloody rebellion. Although vindicated at her court-martial, she still blames herself. Since then she has been Admiral Renford’s personal security operative, a job for which she is eminently qualified because of her super-strong prosthetics and martial arts training.

Now, again, Susan is given the opportunity to pilot a ship. The civilian Survey Service wants her for a job.

Are her attackers stalking her because of Defiant’s loss, trying to kill her as payment for the deaths of its crew? Or are they somehow connected with her new assignment?

FBR
What do you think readers will find most notable about this book?

A. C. Ellis
Time paradox stories, although fun, tend to be confusing. My writing style (lean and clear) Lends itself well to this sub-genre.

FBR
Did researching and writing this book teach you anything or influence your thinking in any way?

A. C. Ellis
I learned a lot about the Multiverse theory of the universe.

FBR
What would you most like readers to tell others about this book?

A. C. Ellis
It's a fun, fast read.

FBR
Can you suggest one question readers might find interesting to discuss, concerning you, your writing in general, or this book?

A. C. Ellis
How does writing with simplicity facilitate clarity and understanding?

FBR
How can readers help you promote this book?

A. C. Ellis
If you like it, review it. Particularly on Amazon.

About You: A. C. Ellis

I've had science fiction and mystery novels and short stories published as both electronic and print editions. I spent two terms in the U.S. Navy and worked twenty-two years for a major telecommunications company.

I live in Denver, Colorado.

FBR
Why do you write?

A. C. Ellis
I write because I must. That sounds like a rationalization and a cop-out. But it is simply the truth.

FBR
What is your greatest strength as a writer?

A. C. Ellis
Simplicity and clarity in my prose style. I don't let the language get in the way of the story.

FBR
What quality do you most value in yourself?

A. C. Ellis
The ability to stick with a project until I have completed it.

FBR
In addition to writing, what else are you passionate about?

A. C. Ellis
Walking wilderness trails, particularly in mountainous areas. And, of course, family.

FBR
What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

A. C. Ellis
My latest book.

FBR
Is there any new or established author whom you feel deserves more attention, and what is it that strikes you about his or her work?

A. C. Ellis
Lawrence Block. He is definitely established, and his work taught me how to use a lean style to great effect.

Intrigued by this interview? Then hop on over to A.C.'s Amazon Author Page to find out more or grab her book at the following:
Amazon
Website

Author Interview: Tina M.E. author of Dantalion Of The Goetia

2015-10-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

About your Book Dantalion of the Goetia: Taste The Obsession Of A Demon

Dantalion, an immortal angel of God, has fallen from grace and is condemned as one of 72 demons of an ancient 17th century grimoire referred to as The Goetia. He seduces a mortal college girl and practitioner of the occult named Laurel, who summons his true demonic form in the Courtyard of the Undead, creating an unexplainable relationship of love, obsession, and redemption.

FBR
What do you think readers will find most notable about this book?

Tina M.E
Everyone has skeletons in the closet, though some refer to them as demons, clawing, controlling, obsessing. Within a real life 17th century Courtyard turned religious site, among its mysterious Druid circle and rock-built altar, reveals the origin of local fiction author Tina M.E.’s gothic novel Dantalion of the Goetia.

The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Dept. of Interior and is considered by some “vaguely disturbing,” according to Elizabeth Mills Brown (1916-2008) Architectural Historian.

The settings are rich in historical background, and the story itself goes deeper than any typical gothic romance. “Sometimes we face something so strong it blinds us, sometimes to the point of obsession, and there is strength in the human spirit to see us through,” says the author.

FBR
Have you acquired any good anecdotes surrounding this book? If so, could you share one?

Tina M.E
There were a few strange occurrences that happened while writing the story of Dantalion...

Since the story encompassed demonic possession, there was one instance where one of the main characters discovers blood dripping down her arm...at the same instance I was writing this, my cats slashed my arm by accident but drew blood in three straight slashes across my arm...

Another peculiar instance was that I became deathly ill and unable to move when close to completion of the novel. Oddly enough, I was hardly ever was sick in my lifetime. The illness disappeared on the 3rd day... no trace of why I was so ill...

FBR
Did researching and writing this book teach you anything or influence your thinking in any way?

Tina M.E
Absolutely! The research was intense for this story... heaven and hell, angels and demons, there was so much biblical research but also ritual and demonic research opened up a whole new world of the paranormal.

FBR
What would you most like readers to tell others about this book?

Tina M.E
I believe for the readers of historical fiction, they would find the basis of my novel factual and credible... yes it was meant to be a fantasy fiction but weighed more toward the historical end when I learned that there was a true 17th century grimoire called The Goetia, and that 72 of the demons depicted in this book of magick were in fact sealed by King Solomen. I decided to create a fictional romance based off Dantalion, the 71st demon of The Goetia.

FBR
Can you suggest one question readers might find interesting to discuss, concerning you, your writing in general, or this book?

Tina M.E
Yes..most definitely it would be my poetic wrting style. It can sometimes be difficult to comprehend, and many readers today sometimes find it challenging when working through my storyline.

FBR
How can readers help you promote this book?

Tina M.E
Readers can recommend my book to as many people as possible, subscribe to my website, follow me on Goodreads, Shelfari, Twitter, Facebook and post kind reviews and comments...Also adding my website link to their own blogs and websites to help promote Dantalion Of The Goetia.

About You: Tina M.E

Tina M.E., winner of Editor’s Choice Award for Outstanding Achievements in Poetry;

Author of The Silent Serenade, an inspirational book of poetry and photography available at www.amazon.com; www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.xlibris.com

Author of Dantalion Of The Goetia, a gothic paranormal romance of a mortal girl’s love for a condemned demon of the Goetia available at www.fantasyromanceoccult.com, www.amazon.com www.createspace.com/3506479

Currently working on sequel, Dantalion Of The Goetia - The Summoning, and screenplay: Unveiling The Morning Star; Active journalist, screenwriter, freelancer.

FBR
Why do you write?

Tina M.E
Writing is like breathing. It is a part of me that connects me to the thing that I love most...to create a visual picture with words, something so deep it touches the reader.

FBR
What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Tina M.E
My ability to write poetically and with passion.

FBR
What quality do you most value in yourself?

Tina M.E
My relentless ability to preservere...no matter how hopeless things may get.

FBR
In addition to writing, what else are you passionate about?

Tina M.E
Photography and music...

FBR
What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

Tina M.E
My ability to survive devastating odds, raising my teenage kids, graduating recently from college, and the publishing of two of my books, The Silent Serenade and Dantalion Of The Goetia.

FBR
Is there any new or established author whom you feel deserves more attention, and what is it that strikes you about his or her work?

Tina M.E
As an Indie Author, I have read so many amazing works by my fellow Indie authors there are too many to list... I think everyone should support Indie...

Intrigued by this interview? Then hop on over to Tina's Amazon Author Page to find out more or grab her book at the following:
Website
Book Trailer
Amazon
Goodreads
Shelfari
Smashwords
Facebook
Twitter

Book Review: Next Move, You're Dead (The Next Move, You're Dead Trilogy Book 1) by Linda L. Barton

2015-10-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

Description from Amazon
Homicide Detective John Cooper has always followed the evidence to solve any case; that is until a mysterious caller begins to make him question that evidence. With the murder cases he has been working on already solved, John wonders what the phone calls have to do with them. The evidence clearly proves the guilt of those involved, but the calls make him begin to question his findings, as well as himself - for the first time in his career.

With each move, John finds himself caught up in a strange game with an unknown opponent. The caller is always one-step ahead of John, and seems to know John better than he knows himself, but how? How can someone know every detail of a murder and not be involved, but more importantly, how can this chilling caller know everything about John? As John prepares himself to take on the challenge, he soon realizes that everything he has believed is no longer part of his new reality, but merely the next move in The Game.

If you enjoy an exciting psychological thriller, as well as a villain you will LOVE to HATE then Next Move, You’re Dead – Book 1 of the Next Move, You’re Dead Trilogy is for you.

This trilogy is not for the faint of heart, but rather for those who enjoy a dark thriller; full of twists and turns until the last page. While reading this trilogy, you will find yourself lost on a journey into the mind of a diabolical villain, as he pulls you deeper into The Game.

Review
Overall Feedback: The story was and is very intriguing and will hold your attention but grammar will pull you out of it just as fast as you were pulled in. I found myself stopping to put it down just so I could re-align myself to go at it again. After getting past those mistakes though I found myself weaving through the plot with the character and trying to beat them to the end game. With a proof reader this novel shall become a best seller.

Point of View: You are in the mind of detective John Cooper, now go and solve the case.

Voice: I had a hard time discerning a voice while trying to overcome the grammar issues.

Character Development: Typical of a book in this genre and commendable to the talent of the author.

Plot: When it comes to a story such as this there can only be one plot with a million ways to sell it. The author did very well on finding the one they needed.

Dialogue: Again with the grammar but I cannot and will not make star modifications based on dialogue as well all have our own expectations.

Pacing: If you can look past the grammar then this book will course through you like a bolt of lightening.

Setting: True to a book in this genre and applicable to what I would have envisioned.

Continuity: The grammar again is what caused the most issues with this book but the end also stopped me cold. I could have enjoyed a little more suspense and doubt toward the end but overall I would give it a fair score.

Where to Find
Amazon

Book Review: The Job by Craig Davis

2015-10-08T07:50:00.000-07:00

Description from Amazon
Joe B. enjoys the sweet life as a vice president at a huge conglomerate, Universal Whirligig. But along with the Big Boss' favor, he has also gained the notice of a bitter human resources manager, Luci Fernandez. Hateful of any success but her own, Luci manages to get him demoted to the mail room! A rollicking comedy of errors follows as Joe B. tries to figure out what's happened to him, and attempts to get a meeting with the Big Boss. Joe B.'s great expectations have taken a dickens of a twist. His family is forced to make a series of hard adjustments, and he gets only lame comforts from a string of the worst friends anyone could have. Will he finally track down the cause of his frustrations? Or will he only learn a lesson about what it is to be the boss, and that what is apparent is often only a shadow of a greater ongoing good? "The Job: Based on a True Story (I Mean, This is Bound to Have Happened Somewhere) is a modern parable of ancient troubles and truths.

Review
Overall Feedback: Seeing the title of this book I was hesitant at first to go for it and agree to review it. However, that quickly diminished as I began to read. Being a student of the Bible I quickly understood that this story really is based on the true story (as it is told) in the Book of Job. I found this to be a very modernistic look at such an poignant biblical story and a lesson to be had and shared by all.

Point of View: You get to ride along as Joe B as he falls from VP to mailroom and losses what he thinks is everything.

Voice: Along with the messages in the story you get to have humor mixed in. From the very first page to the last you will find some sort of humor mixed message to learn from.

Character Development: The characters are so generic that you cannot help but relate to them.

Plot: We all dread this actually happening to us.

Dialogue: Again some points are generic to the point of exhaustive humor and I mean that in a great way.

Pacing: Non-stop from cover to cover. Well written in a form that you do not feel like you are going to Sunday school.

Setting: Again the naming and usages are over the top but funny, funny, funny.

Continuity: Perfection from the first to the last. I applaud this author for introducing a new spin on a very old story.

Where to Find
Amazon

Book Review: Jabberwocky by Daniel Coleman

2015-10-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

Description from Amazon

How can a boy succeed where an army has failed?

Tjaden, a young man who aspires to be an Elite soldier, blames himself when Elora’s beautiful face is disfigured by a bandersnatch. Elora hides behind her scars, feeling unlovable in a world that only confirms her doubts.

Before Tjaden has a chance to convince her that scars don’t matter, an even more terrifying monster comes between them—the Jabberwock. Tjaden must risk his life not only to prove his love to Elora but to save her life.

If the secrets of the vorpal sword fail, so will Tjaden.

Originally published as a novella (39,000 words) in 2011, many readers asked for a longer version of that delved more deeply into the story and subplots. This 2014 version JABBERWOCKY is a full novel at 69,000 words. It has been completely rewritten and augmented with illustrations by E.K. Stewart-Cook.

Review

Overall Feedback: If you are one of the many that feel through the "Looking Glass" with Alice then this novel will be tug you in deeper. Mr. Coleman has done what I thought would not be possible and expanded the universe of Alice in ways that I could not have imagined. I agree with a previous review and state that I wish I would have more time with the characters but overall my time was well spent.

Point of View: You are riding with Tjaden as he is trying to become an elite and marry the girl of his dreams.

Voice: Even though this novel expands on a Lewis Carol poem, the author easily makes it his own and shines through.

Character Development: As I stated before, time well spent and wish there was more of it.

Plot: Easily fallen into just as it was in the Lewis Carol story.

Dialogue: Brisk and believable.

Pacing: The end will surprise you around the bend. Meaning that before you know it the story is ending and you want to go again.

Setting: Never realized what I was missing from one simple poem. Thanks to Mr. Coleman, I do now.

Continuity: Never misses a beat and stays true throughout. A very well-thought and well-written work of art.

Where to Find
Amazon

Author Interview: Marilyn L Rice author of Sofia's Legacy

2015-10-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

About your Book: Sofia's Legacy

In Sofia’s Legacy, the second novel in author Marilyn L Rice’s fascinating trilogy, Sofia has died, but has come back from “upstairs” to watch her own funeral. She attends with her deceased father to see that everything proceeds as it should. Watching events “downstairs,” Sofia wants to help her loved ones, with no one aware of her presence. As Sofia adjusts to death, she and the others upstairs enjoy the pleasures of the afterlife.

In the previous book, Look After Each Other, Sofia transformed her life after learning of her impending death. Now she is seeking the answers to the questions all of us want to know. What exactly happens after we die?

FBR
What do you think readers will find most notable about this book?

Marilyn L Rice
How Sofia and other deceased live in the parallel universe, the afterlife, while watching those left behind 'downstairs'.

FBR
Did researching and writing this book teach you anything or influence your thinking in any way?

Marilyn L Rice
The inspiration for this trilogy came from my strong relationship with my father, who has proved that he is still around, while being in the 'parallel universe'. Before my father's death I had mixed views regarding the afterlife. I now know that it is a certainty and this book is based on that.

FBR
What would you most like readers to tell others about this book?

Marilyn L Rice
It is inspirational and life-changing.

FBR
Can you suggest one question readers might find interesting to discuss, concerning you, your writing in general, or this book?

Marilyn L Rice
Is there an afterlife?

FBR
How can readers help you promote this book?

Marilyn L Rice
Buy it or request it at a library.
Tell their friends to do the same.
Pop along and become a follower on my blog.
Click 'LIKE' on my FB author page Author Marilyn L Rice-fan Page (Strategic Publishing Group)
Give a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or Barnes and Noble

About You: Marilyn L Rice

I was born in Nottingham in February 1951. That makes me proud of two things: sharing a home town with D H Lawrence and being an Aquarian and I’m a typical Aquarian – independent, forward thinking, humanitarian and definitely unconventional!

My father, a man I adored and idolised, was a farmer and I spent my early childhood in a Nottinghamshire country village. I have fond memories of that time in the fifties when the pace of life was much slower (before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and the computer became an essential everyday item!) I enjoyed school and naturally loved reading and writing. The saddest memory I have of those days is the death of my young sister who was born with Down’s syndrome and only lived for a few months.

We moved to Derbyshire in 1960 when I was nine. I passed the 11+ exam and attended the local Grammar School. I left with 6 ‘O’ and 2 ‘A’ levels and went to the Crewe College of Education. I studied Divinity and Literary Studies for 3 years and obtained a Certificate in Education. I moved on to the University of Keele and read Divinity and Education for a year before gaining a B.Ed degree.

Life, people, cultures all hold a fascination for me. I enjoyed living in the fast lane, looking for adventure and gaining as many experiences as possible. I used the College holidays to take up employment for both money and experience. I was a waitress, a barmaid, a shop assistant, a baby-sitter and I even delivered the Christmas post.

I graduated in 1973 and began a teaching career in Secondary Education that was to last for twenty years. During those years, I married and divorced, like so many of my contemporaries. I travelled, studied Leisure and Tourism, completed a writing course, worked as a p/t holiday hostess, and a market researcher.

Ill health forced me into early retirement from teaching and to take life at a steadier pace. I now spend a lot of my time writing and reading.

I learned that it was extremely difficult to get into mainstream publishing and decided to take the self-publishing route. On my 50th birthday in February 2001 I proudly launched my first book Time & Tide in a West Bromwich Shopping Mall. No Regrets followed in May 2003.
Then, Stay in Touch in 2005 and on September 16th 2007 at Slaithwaite in Yorkshire I launched my fourth work, Look After Each Other. I was lucky with my fourth book; it was taken on by Strategic Book Publishing (an American Publishing Company) and is now available in hardback from them. On December 28th, 2010 they released the sequel to Look After Each Other. It is Sofia’s Legacy. The official launch for this book will be at the London Book Fair in April. I am extremely proud of the fact that in 10 years I have managed to produce FIVE books and there’s more to come…

I am working on Love You Forever, which will be the final work in the ‘Sofia’ trilogy and my legacy!

FBR
Why do you write?

Marilyn L Rice
Reading is a form of escapism. A book will transport you to mysterious, magic, unknown pastures. I love that and to be able to create that magic is even better!

FBR
What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Marilyn L Rice
Determination/Perseverance.

To see it through to the end!

FBR
What quality do you most value in yourself?

Marilyn L Rice
Integrity.

FBR
In addition to writing, what else are you passionate about?

Marilyn L Rice
Life and living it to the full; taking up opportunities and making the most of every moment.

FBR
What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

Marilyn L Rice
Life is an adventure with goals and accomplishments along the way. There have been several crowning glories in my life- degree, driving test, travelling BUT I am most proud of getting my FIRST book published. I will never forget the moment when I opened the first box of books and there it was, at last, in print. Awesome, magic...

Intrigued by this interview? Then hop on over to Marilyn's Amazon Author Page to find out more or grab her book at the following:
Marilyn's Website
Publisher's Website
Amazon

Author Interview: Leo Averbach author of Breakup; Enduring Divorce

2015-10-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

About Your Book: BreakupAid

BREAKUP is a brutally honest and surprising divorce memoir, written as a journal in real time. The narrative interweaves the story of Averbach's painful divorce with his therapy in a deeply-reflective, intimate manner, revealing how he changed and eventually came through his ordeal better for it. It's a veritable odyssey of self-discovery.

FBR:
What do you think readers will find most notable about this book?

Leo Averbach:
BREAKUP is notable on a few counts. Firstly, it is a real-life memoir, written as events were unfolding, not in retrospect, with the 'advantage' of hindsight. It is executed from the inside and I do not know of any other divorce memoir like it. Secondly, it is a divorce memoir written by a man, from a man's perspective and expressing a man's vulnerability. Sadly, this is unusual as the great majority of the divorce discourse is conducted by women. I am trying to encourage men to be more open about their divorce experiences. Lastly, the book records my therapy sessions and integrates the insights I gained into my everyday life. The combination of an intimate account of therapy in a divorce situation is exceptional.

FBR:
Have you acquired any good anecdotes surrounding this book? If so, could you share one?

Leo Averbach:
I have acquired a few. Here's one:

"Leo Averbach has been there...inside the hell of divorce."

FBR:
Did researching and writing this book teach you anything or influence your thinking in any way?

Leo Averbach:
The journal from which my book is taken word-for-word stretched to nearly two thousand A4 pages plus umpteen little notebooks. In order to make the task more manageable I had all the material scanned onto a disc. I then disposed of the originals by putting them into a paper recycling bin. Somehow I thought this act would symbolically take the sting out of the journal's direct, emotional association with the breakup of my marriage. However, as it turned out, the digitalized format failed to keep all my emotions at bay. Despite the time lapse of some fifteen years, rereading the journal really upset me.

FBR:
What would you most like readers to tell others about this book?

Leo Averbach:
You'll need this for the divorce minefield. It's like a map to get you through

FBR:
Can you suggest one question readers might find interesting to discuss, concerning you, your writing in general, or this book?

Leo Averbach:
In your view, what are the major milestones in Leo Averbach's recovery from his painful divorce and in his ability to move on?

FBR:
How can readers help you promote this book?

Leo Averbach:
1. By following me on Twitter and Facebook.
2. By visiting my website and spreading the word.
3. By telling their friends in film and TV that the Big D is with us and there has never been an account of it like "Breakup" by Leo Averbach.

About You: Leo Averbach

I was born in South Africa, lived in the UK, where I married, fathered three children, got divorced and remarried. I now live in the Jerusalem hills. My story is told in my brutally honest and surprising memoir "Breakup: enduring divorce."

FBR:
Why do you write?

Leo Averbach:
I express myself using three different media: writing, pottery and carpentry. To clear my mind and straighten out my thoughts, there is nothing like writing. Faced with a tangle of emotions, I find the best thing is to start writing about it. Somehow the act of writing, particularly with a pen on a blank sheet, brings order to the chaos.

While in the throes of divorce, every day, at all hours, I poured my heart and soul into my journal, unexpurgated and unfiltered. I just wrote, page after page. The very act of writing was cathartic; things written suddenly assumed a clarity that was absent before. In short, my journal became my veritable "shoulder to cry on," my refuge, my confidante.

FBR:
What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Leo Averbach:
I write from my heart.

FBR:
What quality do you most value in yourself?

Leo Averbach:
Authenticity.

FBR:
In addition to writing, what else are you passionate about?

Leo Averbach:
I am passionate about people and pottery. The people are my wife, my children and my grandchildren. My pots are made in pursuit of perfection, knowing for certain that it is unreachable.

FBR:
What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

Leo Averbach:
I am most proud of being a loving father to my three children.

FBR:
Is there any new or established author whom you feel deserves more attention, and what is it that strikes you about his or her work?

Leo Averbach:
I was recently struck by Mal Peet's story-telling ability, his excellent turn of phrase and his sense of humor. He is not unknown but I think he merits more recognition. He is an English author and the book I read was called "Life: An Exploded Diagram."

Intrigued by this interview? Then hop on over to Leo's Amazon Author Page to find out more or grab his book at the following:
Leo's Website
Breakup Website
Amazon

Book Review: Inheritance (The Evolution Chronicles Book 2) by RJ Palmer

2015-08-15T15:01:00.001-07:00

Description on Amazon:

It’s been twenty years since that fateful winter night in the Colorado asylum and the Donnelly twins are all grown up. Elizabeth is a bit of a bounder with a taste for adventure and Renee… Well, Renee just wants to be normal.

Like that’s ever going to happen.

When tragedy strikes the Donnelly family and everything goes haywire, Renee finds herself scrambling alone in a race against time to solve the riddle of a lifetime, fix what’s broken and figure out how it all went so horribly wrong to begin with.

Review:

First let me place my disclaimer and state that this is my wife's book and I agreed to review it on my own. I remove one star as she is my wife. This seems to be fair.

Point of View: In this installment you are taken into the mind of Raine's daughter Renee. You know, one of the twins from the first book (Birthright). Be ready for an impressive ride inside the mind of a person who has more power than she can fathom.

Voice: I have always found RJ Palmer's work to have a bit of introspection in them and see her as trying to convey to look in oneself before casting your judgments. She follows this same voice into her third published novel.

Character Development: You can tell that Birthright was written by a young woman trying to find herself in a big wide world. Sins of the Father showed massive growth both personally and professionally. Inheritance steps that learning up a notch and the writer is coalescing with the author and the woman. In other words, outright beautiful character development. I hurt for each of them, cried for their pain and felt the ache of despair. I wanted to jump into the novel and save all of them, even those that may have deserved worse fates.

Plot: Most people are afraid to jump so far into the future (20 years) to start the second novel but this author does it so well you do not miss a beat.

Dialogue: All "good" novels have the "unwritten character". I mean any book worth reading makes the dialogue wrap the reader into the story and causes them to be a part of the story. RJ Palmer does this with expert precision. Be ready to cry, yell and scream for the entirety of this book.

Pacing: Be ready to be exhausted by the end but aching for more.

Setting: RJ Palmer has found the sweat spot when it comes to detailing a setting. Enough to show us her mind, but leaving enough room for our imaginations to take flight.

Continuity: Again, 20 years seems like a long time but the author does well to keep it in line with the first book and does well throughout the story spinning her web.

Where to Find:
Amazon

Book Review: The Game of Pawns (Book Three of the Darkness Series) by Leonard D. Hilley II

2015-08-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Description from Amazon:

Pawns are Expendable . . .

Twelve execution-style murders have occurred in Newark, New Jersey, in less than a week. Each murder has a calling card - a red pawn on each corpse. Kat Gaddis and Lucian investigate the homicides and discover the last four victims were employed by GenTech, a company that recently merged with Mech Cybernetics. After FBI director Mike Carpenter shares evidence with Kat, they soon discover political ties and corruptions that place Kat's life in direct danger. New players emerge and what seems like serial murders suddenly becomes a struggle for biotech knowledge and power. Kat is thrust into their game - The Game of Pawns.

Overall: Picking up three years after the first book in this series the reader is taken on another thrill-filled ride. As a word of warning I ask that anyone reading this review go pick up and read the first in this series so that they can and will understand the development and progression of both the plot and characters. This action-packed follow up is a perfect follow up to the first and caused me to go right into the third of the series because I just had to know where it was going. This author is full of talent and has a very long career in entertaining the brain of this reader.

Review:

Point of View: Again you walk the same path as Daniel from the previous two novels. With a myriad of characters that have been developed throughout the series and some new ones thrown in for fun.

Voice: The author maintains their dark and erotic thrills throughout the series and this one does not disappoint.

Character Development: Flawless execution once again. The characters we have followed are fully fleshed out and roaring for a story.

Plot: Staying in form with the previous books, this installment does not leave the reader clueless.

Dialogue: Well formed if not a bit overdone in some places.

Pacing: At the last page you will try to remember just how long you have really been reading as it goes by the seemingly fast.

Setting: New Jersey 2026. Need I say more.

Continuity: The author obviously took the time to make sure each book related to the next and kept the reader inside the story as it unfolded.

Where to Find:
Amazon

Free Book Reviews is BACK!!!

2015-08-15T13:22:00.002-07:00

After a very log hiatus...

Free Book Reviews is back....

New reviews coming soon...

Inheritance (The Evolution Chronicles Book 2) by RJ Palmer

2014-10-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

They were midflight when the trouble started. Raine had tried not to think about the deep disquiet that had settled in the pit of his gut when he and Sierra had boarded the plane. He had tried to concentrate instead on them simply taking their seats and had pushed the horrifying notion that something was going to go terribly wrong to the side of his consciousness. Clairvoyance was not among his many talents. For all that it was he was capable of, he could not see the future.

Sierra was all too happy to chatter somewhat aimlessly about cakes, food and decorations. She didn’t even care that Raine was only really listening with half an ear. She was completely involved in planning a graduation party for Renee and had successfully blocked out most everything else.

Elizabeth was supposed to be there, too. She had planned on taking time off of work to come and see her sister graduate from college. Elizabeth had chosen differently than her sister in life. While Renee had furthered her education, seeking a degree in neuroscience of all things, Elizabeth had thrown herself full tilt into the adult world immediately upon graduating high school. Sierra could not be any more proud of either of her daughters and she wasted no time bragging about them both to anyone who would listen.

Raine had seen the various consequences of his choice to keep moving the kids around after that fateful night at the mental institution all those years ago. After about six years of them moving around all the time and never staying in one place for more than a year, he and a “Higher Authority” as he liked to call them had reached a tentative agreement. He would not wreak havoc where ever he went, and they would leave his family alone to live and grow as was their right. They really had no other choice, he reflected bitterly. The girls and Sierra had grown tired of moving around from state to state to try to “keep under the radar” and he was ready to settle and live in the same place for awhile, as well. They needed stability in their lives and he knew the “Higher Authority” could keep them running forever. The “Higher Authority” knew that all Raine had to do was think it and they would be cleaning up frightful, massive messes that would have been all that would be left of a few good men. Tentative truce, indeed.

The years of moving around had taken their toll on the girls anyway. Elizabeth never stayed in one place for very long and Renee placed too much importance on staying in one place. Both girls had taken it too far to extremes. Elizabeth refused to even sign a lease on a place of her own, preferring instead to rent rooms where she could simply move in and out at will. She never dated any one man for very long and always spent most of her extra money running from party to party. She called it “the fun life” while Raine thought of it more as wandering aimlessly.

Renee had worked tirelessly during her college years and now had most of the money she needed to buy a home of her own. She had even gone so far as to state that she would never move again once she had the house she liked. Raine had asked her about it once being a worried father and she had said that she just wanted to wake in the same bedroom every morning for the rest of her life. It wasn’t that he could blame her, for he understood all too well. It was simply that he saw in her an uncompromising nature that could well make her life lonely and solitary and even though she had always been the introverted type, she would regret it later in life.

Raine thought about all this while he listened to Sierra talk about different foods for a graduation party and whether or not she might have it catered. He also began to see the flight attendants begin to urge passengers back to their seats. Their outward calm was unshakable, but the tension around their eyes was unmistakable. Their voices as they talked to one another were low and tense and here and there, some of them had darting gazes. Raine knew something was going on, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

Then a voice came over the intercom, filled with forced calm and cheer and Raine felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. The voice stated that they were flying through some turbulence and the next few minutes would be a bit of a bumpy ride but that everyone could rest assured that they would be free of it very quickly and the rest of the flight would be smooth as silk. Flight attendants worked to secure passengers and then themselves. No one seemed to notice the slight temperature change in the air or the fact that the lights burned brighter for a moment.

Raine worked to try to control himself. He knew better than anyone else just how disastrous a loss of his self-control could be. More than once, he’d left people nearly dead when he lost his ever tenuous hold on his instinctive power. Sometimes, he simply couldn’t control it and the effects were devastating. Houses leveled, buildings crumbled and people driven utterly insane by the intruding presence in their heads. He’d rather just try to hold onto his errant talents and leave others safe.

He took deep breaths while the plane began to shimmy. Sierra stopped talking and looked at him with a vaguely alarmed expression and said, “It’s getting warmer in here, Raine.”

He tried to manage a small smile for her sake which probably looked more like a pained grimace and continued to breathe deeply. The plane dropped by several feet and then leveled again and some of the passengers stifled cries of alarm.

The lights flickered and temperature in the air rose by several degrees. No one but Sierra and Raine paid any attention to the flickering lights. No one thought anything of it. They were the only ones who knew what was going on and Raine fought with everything he was to try to stem the tide of power. Sierra began to kick him in the shin to try to shock him out of it. Sometimes it helped and others it didn’t. Sometimes it stopped him cold and sometimes, Sierra just earned an angry husband and a bruised foot for her trouble. There really was no telling what would happen.

Find it on Amazon at Inheritance (The Evolution Chronicles Book 2)

Happy Bornday To My Wife Rachel Robbins

2014-05-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

I knew you would be the girl I would marry

Ever since the day I gave you my first look

On the day we officially tied the knot

I felt proud to change my relationship status on Facebook

Not a single day passes by in my life

When your sweet antics don’t give my heart a flutter

You would realize how much I miss you

When I am at work, if you saw my Twitter

I don’t worry about how what others think

I don’t care if they fun of me

I just want continue shouting out to the world

So that my love for you, everyone can see

Happy bornday

No Love Like A Mother's Love by Jill Lemming

2014-05-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

There is no love, like a mother's love,
no stronger bond on earth...
like the precious bond that comes from God,
to a mother, when she gives birth.

A mother's love is forever strong,
never changing for all time...
and when her children need her most,
a mother's love will shine.

God bless these special mothers,
God bless them every one...
for all the tears and heartache,
and for the special work they've done.

When her days on Earth are over,
a mother's love lives on...
through many generations,
with God's blessings on each one.

Be thankful for our mothers,
for they love with a higher love...
from the power of God has given,
and the strength from up above.

Microsoft XP Support Ending

2014-03-31T05:31:00.000-07:00

Microsoft is discontinuing support & security updates for both the XP operating system and XP applications (Internet Explorer, Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Excel, etc) ... effective April 8th.

In the event that you are unable or unwilling to upgrade to Win7 or Win8 there are a few steps that can significantly reduce your vulnerability:

- Do NOT routinely login using an account that has Administrator rights.

Avecto's Analysis of "Microsoft Security Bulletins from
2013" highlights that

- 92% of critical XP vulnerabilities would be mitigated if users are NOT logged-in with Administrator
rights.

- 100% of Internet Explorer (IE) vulnerabilities would be mitigated if users are NOT logged-in with
Administrator rights.

- Do NOT use Internet Explorer.

Microsoft is not updating/securing it.

Use Chrome or Firefox. Enable auto-update.

- If using Chrome; consider the ScriptNo plug-in.

- If using Firefox; consider the NoScript and Ghostery
plug-ins.

- Do NOT use Microsoft applications for XP.

Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Visio, etc. for XP
are NOT being updated/secured. Rather ...

Use XP applications that are continuing to be updated.
Consider Libre Office (a fork of OpenOffice). Enable
auto-update.

If you must keep Microsoft applications for XP installed,
default the file associations (defaults) to their respective
viewers, not the full applications.

- Uninstall Java.

- Uninstall Flash.

- If you must use Adobe Reader; keep it VERY up to date and do NOT use it when logged-in with Administrator rights. Enable auto-update.

Confessions of a Wingnut and Science Fiction Junkie (RJ Palmer): There Is No Hell

2014-01-20T17:30:00.001-08:00

Confessions of a Wingnut and Science Fiction Junkie (RJ Palmer): There Is No Hell: There is something that’s been on my mind for longer than I care to think about and that usually means that I need to write it out. It’s p...

Healing Field - Dr. Terry and Iris Yoder

2014-01-04T08:31:00.001-08:00

Check out this Awesomesauce Healing Company on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Healing-Field/109466769108606

About

Why Choose Complementary Wellness rather than Medicine?

As Complementary Practitioners we know that wellness is natural. We care for the whole person: body, mind and spirit.

Description

Using the innate resonance we are born with to heal those who come to us. We teach out method to anyone who feels called to help heal themselves and others.
Watch for announcements of classes and seminars coming soon. Contact us to speak to your group, we are happy to share information.

General Information
We are conveniently located with The Lee's Summit Chiropractic office.

The One thing this Planet desperately needs NOW, is healing inside and out. If you would like to be an Instrument of Peace, contact us today.

Email - docyoderinfo@gmail.com
Phone - (816) 322-2644

Apologies to All the Loyal Readers

2013-11-26T07:09:00.001-08:00

Over the last year I have been trying to see if I really have the heart to continue this blog. I did not know if I could keep going or if I had it in me to continue going. A lot of work is put into what I do here and I do have a family, a job and a life to live outside the blogosphere. After a long time of inner-looking and back and forth arguements with my brain and heart, I have decided to keep blogging about books and every once in a while sharing my faith. I will st a review and interview at least once a wekk maybe more if I can keep up. It may be slow going at first but I am back and I will try to keep this blog running smoothly. Thank you to all those that remained loyal and thank you to those that still arrive daily to see what I may have to say. Your support is awesomesauce.

Now back to reading for readers and writing for writers.

Author Interview: Joseph DiCristofano author of Paths to Divinity

2013-11-26T07:02:00.001-08:00

About Your Book Paths to Divinity

"My first outing is a collection of horror/dark fantasy tales that are heavily inspired by classical writers and masterful storytellers.

Here is a brief synopsis: An archaeologist gone mad describes the unearthed secrets that drove him to insanity. The tables turn on a ‘tender-hearted’ serial killer who truly loves his victims. A mortally wounded German soldier contemplates the futility of war and love lost in the company of a tennis-obsessed Grim Reaper. A slain Spartan king is awakened by The Furies and finds his vengeance. A little girl stumbles upon a mythical garden and finds within herself the world’s salvation. Paths to Divinity offers tales grotesque and wonderful."

Free Book Reviews
What do you think readers will find most notable about this book?

Joseph DiCristofano
The diversity in the narrative, and the esoteric and philosophical tones each tale calls into question.

Free Book Reviews
Have you acquired any good anecdotes surrounding this book? If so, could you share one?

Joseph DiCristofano
Recently, while promoting my book at Flashback Weekend, a Chicago area horror convention, a gentleman was undecided as to whether he should buy my book. My sales associate happened to be drinking a beer from a cooler he brought. During our bartering, the guy inquired about the beer because, of course, the hotel bar was charging ridiculous prices for a drink. Well, to make a long story short, for the sake of cerebral entertainment and storytellers everywhere, and to my associate's dismay, I offered the gent a free beer if he made the purchase. He did, and I salute him for it (pun very much intended).

Free Book Reviews
Did researching and writing this book teach you anything or influence your thinking in any way?

Joseph DiCristofano
Thoreau’s quote sums it up better than I can: ʺHow vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.ʺThe best way to describe an environment is to visually experience it, to absorb the sounds, colors and effects upon the human experience, and then translate it to paper.

Free Book Reviews
What would you most like readers to tell others about this book?

Joseph DiCristofano
Hopefully that the stories are imaginative, engaging and touch upon what it means to be human.

Free Book Reviews
Can you suggest one question readers might find interesting to discuss, concerning you, your writing in general, or this book?

Joseph DiCristofano
What does divinity truly mean?

Free Book Reviews
How can readers help you promote this book?

Joseph DiCristofano
By reading and sincerely expressing their feelings about it to others.

About You: Joseph DiCristofano

Joseph lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his dogs Loki and Odie. By day, he is an electrician for the CTA, and by night he writes about horrible angels and wonderful monsters and terrifying metaphors beneath the context of reality and whatever else he sits and contemplates. Besides writing, he enjoys beating on his drums, weightlifting, spending time with good people, PC games, MMA, not watching reality television, ineptly strumming his classical guitar and not doing his dishes.

Free Book Reviews
Why do you write?

Joseph DiCristofano
I write to make sense of the world, exorcise demons and because I love creativity.

Free Book Reviews
What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Joseph DiCristofano
If neuroscienctists were to explore the inner workings of my brain, there would definitely be a spot on the image map, somewhere along the fringe, that would read, ʺHere be monsters.ʺ

Free Book Reviews
What quality do you most value in yourself?

Joseph DiCristofano
Hmmm... Prosaic vanity is one of the lesser sins I would rather not cater to. I guess if I were to choose, I would say my loyalty.

Free BOok Reviews
In addition to writing, what else are you passionate about?

Joseph DiCristofano
I enjoy music -- both listening to it and creating it -- and pizza.

Free Book Reviews
What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

Joseph DiCristofano
Having the courage to put a book out there. It takes guts to express yourself creatively. You are potentially opening yourself up to a flood of harsh criticism. Overcoming that fear, that vehicle, which devours your creativity and aspirations while sending you back into the arms of an ordinary, safe and uninspired existence, that is what I'm most proud of.

Free Book Reviews
Is there any new or established author whom you feel deserves more attention, and what is it that strikes you about his or her work?

Joseph DiCristofano
I recently met Jeff Busch, creator of Zombie Universe. I'm not a huge zombie fiction fan, but his Zombie High, Class of '64 yearbook is awesome. It's the quintessential coffee table book for the zombie enthusiast.

Intrigued by this interview? Then hop on over to Joseph's Amazon Author Page to find out more or grabv his book at the following:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Book Review: Beyond the Darkness: Book Two of the Darkness Series by Leonard D. Hilley II

2013-11-26T06:07:00.000-08:00

Description From Amazon

The Darkness Continues . . .

Three years after Daniel and the other survivors escaped the terrorizing, blood-thirsty shifters in Pittsburgh, his friends have moved forward with their lives, but Daniel cannot. He believes the conspiracies within TransGenCorp have not ended and more shifters exist.

Then Daniel receives a phone call from Lucas that bolsters his paranoia.

Lucas is being charged with murders he insists his clone committed.

Daniel soon discovers darker atrocities are emerging, which not only place his life in immense danger, but all his friends as well.

Review

Overall: Picking up three years after the first book in this series the reader is taken on another thrill-filled ride. As a word of warning I ask that anyone reading this review go pick up and read the first in this series so that they can nd will understand the development and progression of both the plot and characters. This action-packed followup is a perfect followup to the first and caused me to go right into the third of the series because I just had to know where it was going. This author is full of talent and has a very long career in entetaining the brain of this reader.

Point of View: We welcome back Daniel and many others from the first book in the series. The author does a fantastical job in telling his story and making the reader fell like they are part of it.

Voice: Not all things are as they seem. Sometimes bad is not bad and good is not good, it is all in the intentions.

Character Development: The author excels in the development of hi characters and flawlessly hints around to their back story to keep you up to speed.

Plot: Dynamic and action-filled. This plot keeps your eyes shifting to the next event.

Dialogue: I really felt the dialogue in this one grew and expounded the world the author was trying to draw me into.

Pacing: From start to finish, you just cannot quit.

Setting: A world that we can all relate to and imagine will come to pass.

Continuity: Again the author is perfect in hinting at events from the past that tie the first book to the second and he leaves just enough loose ends to cause the reader to want the next in the series. Flawless execution.

Where to Find
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Google Books

Book Review: Predators of Darkness: Aftermath by Leonard D. Hilley II

2013-07-08T06:33:00.000-07:00

Description From Amazon:

Fear What Lurks In The Shadows

The desolate streets of downtown Pittsburgh in 2073 are a reminder of the missile attack that forever changed the lives of the surviving scientists and students hidden in the fallout shelter of Helmsby's Genetic Research Center. Believing themselves to be the only survivors, they station themselves inside the center until food supplies near depletion. Thinking the fallout has lessened, they emerge three years later to discover strange creatures patrolling the streets in search of human flesh and blood. The creatures possess the ability to shift their genomes and alter their appearances by realigning their genetic sequences. Daniel Hutchinson, their leader, teams with Lucas Ridale and together they set out to scavenge the area for food and supplies with the hope to find other survivors. But Daniel's most recent journey uncovers mysteries more frightening than the shifters. He discovers the tip of Pittsburgh has been fenced off from the rest of the area. Low-flying helicopters observe the streets, making him ponder the question: Were the shifters released as simply part of a military experiment with humans being their prey?

Review:

Overall Feedback: From the start I was enthralled by this book. This is a definitive twist on what at first seems like a recycled plot. I promise you that you will not be disappointed about picking up this gem. Read on.

Point of View: Although we are introduced to many characters the main event lies with Daniel. A strong, caring individual who seems to really want to escape the current events.

Voice: This book is full of darkness, thrills and eroticsm. If any of these are not your cup of tea then this author will not ever fit your reading need. He has some darkness to him and it comes through his writing.

Character Development: Although I agree and some of the things that happen are corny, I also believe that corny things really do happen in real life. It is my opinion that the author was able to capture real life in each character. Bravo!

Plot: The pace is at a breakneck speed but you can easily keep up and you already know that there are more books to the series. Yay!

Dialogue: This is where the author really grasps real life and allows his characters to shine. The dialogue was very real to me and brought me closer to the character's heads that I was invading.

Pacing: When most of your novel happens in a night you must do your very best at making the pace keep up with the timeline. This author did it in superb style.

Setting: No issues in this area.

Continuity: I want more so off to the next in the series...

Where to Find:
Amazon
Amazon UK
GoodReads

In Honor Of A Great Father - Andi Gubini Pacheco Iriarte

2013-06-13T09:35:00.001-07:00

Normally, I try to keep my posts from being dramatic or discouraging. Although this may seem to be discouraging at first please finish the entire post before you conclude that it is.

I started a new job and at this job I have met what I consider a good friend. This friend calls himself Johann Reyes and over the past few weeks we have spent every working hour in an office, working on computers and sharing each others lives with each other. He knows of my family, my faith, my friends and many other things that those that know me, know that I talk about. I have come to know of his family ( his soon to be wife in Honduras - Evelyn dare-I-say Reyes), his faith and friends. In this time I believe we have developed the beginning of a great friendship that I can see lasting quite a while.

In our discussions I have come to know of a cousin of his that lives in Honduras. This cousin talked quite frequently with him and I heard some of these coversations while at work. This cousin would open his home to Johann and Evelyn while Johann was visiting (as Evelyn has yet to immigrate here - she is awaiting approval from Immigration). On Tuesday evening, Johann had quite a funny and laugh-filled conversation with this cousin prior to the end of our shift and joked with me about how great a father, husband and man this cousin is. However, Johann comes into work on Wednesday morning to tell me he had a terrible night. Concerned, I ask what was up and he told me that this cousin was robbed and killed last night in Honduras.

To be frank, people's lives are not worth what may or may not be in their pockets, no matter how much you want it. These people only robbed him as a secondary thought. But enough about how I view this crime and on to my story.

I could see the grief in my friends eyes but I have no way of making sense of this to him. I offer words of encouragement and try to lift his spirits but he needs time to grieve. Therefore I asked for a photo and information about his cousin. I ask this of anyone who reads this post. Please share this mans photo on any website you can think of and help me let the two little boys and wife that were left with nothing but grief for what ever may of been in this man's pocket. If you can please put "In Honor Of A Great Father" as the title to the picture.

Andi Gubini Pacheco Iriarte

Died June 11th, 2013

Photo of Johann and Andi (Andi is on the right)

A Note From Johann To Andi

Andi,

I got to enjoy wonderful moments with you and your family during my visit to Honduras. I learned to see what a wonderful person you were; great son, brother, cousin, husband and excellent father. It’s sad to see you go. You will always be in mind and heart. I will miss you cousin. I hate that I can't be there to give moral support to your family during this time of grief. I’m sad I cannot be at your burial to say my good byes to you in person, however my soon to be wife Evelyn is representing us both and giving support to your wife and 2 kids. Why did you have to leave us cousin, why? :(

Honor All Mothers

2013-05-12T05:03:00.000-07:00

Today is Mother’s Day. It is the one day each year that we men put aside to honor our mothers and the mothers of our children. And they happen to be the one person we will generally buy a gift for, and we will still anguish over what to buy. If you have not yet purchased a gift for your mother or your wife, let me give you a couple of quick hints on what not to buy.

Do not buy her anything that plugs in. If something needs to be plugged in, she will only see it as a tool. Also, do not get her any exercise equipment or videos, as this will lead to six months of her asking you why you think she needs to exercise in the first place. And I guarantee you that you will never have the right answer.

My suggestion is for you to buy her something that is only for her, and that shows that you are thinking about her happiness. If you follow that rule, then whatever you get her will be appreciated and loved.

Of course, becoming a mother changes things for you, doesn’t it? And, becoming a mother more than once changes things also. When a woman becomes pregnant for the first time, she will start wearing maternity clothes the day the doctor says she is pregnant.

On her second pregnancy, she will wear her normal clothes for as long as she can, and by her third or fourth pregnancy, she will wear anything because she doesn’t have any more money to go out and start buying new maternity clothes.

Mothers are many things to their children, aren’t they? Mothers teach us most of what we know in our early years.

We have all heard the expression that it takes a village to raise a child. Today, more than ever before, babysitters and nurseries are raising our children. The tragedy in that is more and more children are being taught outside the home, and what they are taught is most-often worldly rather than Godly.

Here are some of the things our small children are learning today.

They learn the world’s morality -
‘If it feels right, it is right.’

They learn Humanism -
‘God doesn’t exist and we are fully capable of everything ourselves’

We live in the society Jeremiah spoke of – a society that “does not know how to blush.” So, with these things in mind, I think it is better for a mother to raise her kids than a village to raise them.

We need Godly mothers and fathers who will stand and say, “I will teach my children to walk in the way of the Lord.” We cannot let the most important thing in our children’s lives be left up to chance, or up to somebody else’s false teachings. We must stand up and be accountable as parents for our children’s spiritual safety.

In PROVERBS 22:6, we are given some clear advice.

‘Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.’ We know that being a good mother is helpful to our children as far as their physical well-being goes, but is it really that important to a child to be brought up spiritually sound in Jesus Christ?

In 2 TIMOTHY 1:5, Paul reminds us of Timothy’s parental influence.

‘I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois, and in your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded, now lives in you also.’

Timothy had sincere faith, and he had that faith because of his grandmother and mother. Surely a mother helps form our spirit, and if she is a Godly mother, she will be the first introduction we have to our Lord.

Mothers are also protectors of their children, no matter how old her children may get. Mrs. Zebedee was the mother of James and John, and like any mother, she wanted only the very best for her sons.

Jesus gave us an illustration in MATTHEW about a landowner, who hired some helpers, and no matter how long they worked for him, they all got paid the same wages. This may have caused Mrs. Zebedee to worry about what kind of reward her sons were going to get in Heaven, so she found a time to ask Jesus about it.

In MATTHEW 20:20-23 we read,

‘Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of Him. “What is it you want?” He asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right and the other at Your left in Your kingdom.”

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from My cup, but to sit at My right or left is not for Me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by My Father.”

Mrs. Zebedee was certain that when the Lord formed His kingdom, her boys would have positions of responsibility and authority. After all, the human way is to reward the best worker with the highest reward.

Jesus did not grant her request, but He did not deny it either. He simply reminded her of the cost of being seated on the right or left, and then told her that only the Father knows such things.

This morning, let’s look at what Mrs. Zebedee did for her sons, and compare that with what you, as a mother, might be doing (or have done) for your children.

The first thing we will see is she prayed for her sons to be …

1. PART OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

I think she was a very good mother. I can think of no more important task of motherhood than to want your children to be a part of God’s Kingdom.

I know that many mothers pray. Sometimes they pray out of necessity and sometimes they pray because motherhood is sometimes very difficult. I have heard it said that the reason women are mothers is because men couldn’t take the pressure. I fully agree with that statement.

I am reminded of the story where a man came home after work and his wife started telling him just how hard a day it had been. She said that both of their small children had taken turns throwing tantrums and that both had even taken turns getting sick during the day. She said she had not had one moment of peace all day, and as she was saying this, both babies got sick at the same time. She looked at her husband and in deep frustration said, “Is this in my contract?”

Certainly, mothers do get frustrated, don’t they? Perhaps one of the most frustrating times is when we are trying to communicate with the smaller ones.

A friend of mind had two kids; a three year old boy and a 5 month old daughter. He was watching them so his wife could get out of the house and relax for the day and he said the infant was lying on the couch and the son was sitting next to her.

My friend said he wanted to go into the kitchen for a second and told his little boy to watch his sister. He had not been gone for more than 20 seconds when he heard a thump and then the daughter started to wail. He ran back in there to see the daughter had rolled off the couch onto the floor and the son still sitting on the couch, just looking at her.

As he picked up his daughter, he said to his son, “I thought I told you to watch her!” The boy replied, “I did! I watched her roll off the couch and fall on the floor!” Well, at least he followed directions, didn’t he?

Being a parent is not always an easy job. There are times when your joy and pride cannot be contained, and there are other times when the sadness is so great your eyes can’t hold all the tears.

What good have we done by teaching our kids how to be successful in life if we have not also taught them how to be responsible?

I think Jesus said it best in MATTHEW 16:26:

‘What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?…. “

Being a parent is not always easy. It is a job full of deep responsibilities and I think Mrs. Zebedee carried her responsibilities well. She prayed that her sons would be a part of God’s Heavenly kingdom. I think all parents should pray the same prayer for their children – and this includes the fathers as well as the mothers. And we should do this for our children no matter what their ages.

I hope that in the heart of every mother and father here this morning, there is a burden to go before the throne of God in prayer for your children - to pray they will be saved for eternal life.

Mrs. Zebedee prayed that her sons would be a part of God’s kingdom, and she prayed that they would be …

2. INVOLVED IN THE WORK OF GOD’S KINGDOM

I have heard many people say that they want to enter Heaven running for the very middle, while others say they would be content to just step foot inside and stay close to where they came in.

One little boy kept falling out of bed one night, and his father finally asked the child why he kept falling. The boy said, “I guess I just stayed too close to where I got in.” Staying too close to the edge is not always a wise thing to do.

We must remember that we are all called to be of service to the Lord, and I think that service should begin in the home. It should begin with moms and dads going in prayer, and then including the children in those prayers, too.

It begins with parents setting the Godly example of how to live and how to serve the Lord. It begins when parents pray that their sons and daughters might be involved in the work of the kingdom.

It begins when parents pray that their children are not only a part of the kingdom, but are involved in the work of the kingdom.

Mrs. Zebedee prayed that her children would be actively involved in the work of His kingdom. And, as parents today, we need to walk in her footsteps. We need to follow her example in …

3. HAVING GODLY EXPECTATIONS FOR OUR CHILDREN

Mrs. Zebedee had big expectations, can’t we?. She didn’t just pray that her children would be doorkeepers or such. She wanted them to sit on the throne, on either side of Jesus.

Too often, we have a tendency to settle for mediocrity in our lives and in the church. Too often, we settle for aiming just about two feet inside the door. Too many Christians have been content to just sit back and let things happen around us instead of our getting up and making things happen for us.

As a good mother, she was looking out for her children’s best interest. She wanted her boys to be the most they could be.

I think we should start looking for more in our Christian walks, too. Jesus called us to be doers of the word, not just hearers only. And one of the best ways to do God’s holy and righteous word is to be a person of humble prayer.

Erma Bombeck said that when mothers were being created, they were created with enough hands to handle many jobs at once; they had enough eyes to see all that was going on around them; and they were created with the ability to heal nearly everything with nothing but a loving kiss. She went on to say that God had created someone very much like Himself.

Maybe she was right. Certainly a Godly mother cares for her children much in the same way as our Lord cares about His children, wouldn’t you say? The mother loves her children enough to go into the Valley of the Shadow of Death and bring life into it; a love that sacrifices much for her young.

I remember when I was young and we did not have much.

Mom never let any of us kids know about it, but during this period of time, we were very poor. I remember several times when my mother would say she wasn’t really hungry and only ate a little bit for dinner.

I realized later in life that she made that sacrifice just so her kids could have more to eat. That is what mothers do, isn’t it? A mother’s love is so special, she would lay down her very life for her children.

During World War II, Solomon Rosenberg and his family were sent to a concentration camp. There several members of the family, including a very frail and sickly son named David. The rules were simple: You will live as long as you are strong enough to work.”

Each day, after work, his family would come back to the barracks and hug each other. Once day, they all came back and Solomon could not find his son David or his wife.

A friend said that when the soldiers came to take young David to the furnaces, he cried out for his mother and said he was scared. The mother could not let her son go alone to that horrible fate, so the friend said she stood up, smiled, and said, “Let me go with you so you won’t be afraid.”

That is a true story. And that story shows how a mother love is a Godly love. It shows how a mother will sacrifice everything she has for her children, just like the Lord did for us. And it is all born out of love; a true and Godly love.

This is Mother’s Day. In EXODUS 20:12, we are given a commandment.

‘Honor you father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.’

It says to honor your mother. You might say that your mother doesn’t deserve to be honored. Well, the commandment from God didn’t say anything about your mother’s qualifications to be honored, it just says you are to honor her.

There was a young lady in her early 20’s who came from a very dysfunctional home. She had no idea who her dad was, and her mother was a mean lady who had no use or time for her own daughter. This young lady could have treated her mother with disrespect and hatred, and the world would have said she had every right to do so.

But this young lady became a Christian and began to love her mother. She would say and do things that showed her love for her mother. She began to honor her mother.

At first, it made no difference, she could do no right in her mom’s eyes. But over a period of an entire year, it started working on her mother’s heart. It had been almost a year, and it was two days before Christmas. The daughter had purchased some very expensive perfume for her mother and was giving it to her for Christmas. The mother got mad, flew off the handle, and threw it on the floor, breaking it.

The daughter told me later that as her mother stood there, seeing the mess she had made of her daughter’s gift, it dawned on her that she had done the same thing with her daughter’s life. And that is when the mother dropped to her knees, tears in her eyes, and begged her daughter to forgive her for the life of torment she had put the girl through.

To cut a long story short, they now sit side by side in church every Sunday morning – all of them; the mother, the daughter, the son-in-law, and their kids.

The Lord gave us a commandment to honor our mothers. When this girl applied God’s word directly into her life, Godly things happened.

This is a day in which we are to honor our Mothers. We do not put parameters on that. We simply follow directions.

Little David was afraid, but he found a loving hand reaching out to him. A hand that guaranteed he would not be left alone. A hand he could love and depend on. A hand that said, “Here, let me go with you.”

In no other country do parents spend less time with their children than in America. God did not intend for our children to grow without spiritual discipline in their lives, yet too many of our children today have none. And when we have no spiritual and moral codes to live by, we end up in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, where we seem to spend most of our lives.

If you have been raised by a Godly mother, or if you are a mother raising your kids in a Godly way, our hats are off to you this morning, and we want you to know you are truly loved and respected.

But, if you have been raised without that Godly influence, and you feel that your life has been spent mostly in that Valley of the Shadow of Death, let me encourage you to recognize that there is a hand reaching out to you, too.

It is God’s hand, and He is telling you that He loves you and that you can depend on Him. He is saying He will go with you – no matter where that is.

In ISAIAH 41:10, God gives us a promise.

‘So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Someone has already gone through that Valley of the Shadow of Death. As a matter of fact, He went through it for you; so you would be able to live forever. And He is extending His hand out to you once again, this morning, hoping that you would just trust Him enough to take it; to trust Him enough to let Him lead you through your valley.

I would like to do two things in closing. I would like to take this opportunity to tell all the mothers, and mothers-to-be in the future that you are loved and honored by Godly men who truly treasure you. And you are loved and honored by God Almighty. And secondly I would like to encourage all the men here today to hug and thank all the mothers and mothers to be for the Godly love they provide for our children.

Jesus and Women

2013-05-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

“Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.”

I find it interesting and very revealing that of all the people to whom Jesus could have appeared first, He chose to reveal Himself to the women in His following. I am going to begin today a short series that will deal with women and what the Bible teaches about them in the church. It is my intent to demonstrate that Jesus placed a very high value on women through His life and teachings.

The place of women in the first-century Roman world and in the Jewish culture is well known. Most frequently, women were regarded as second class citizens: property even. Both Old and New Testaments present situations where women were demoralized and depersonalized, but I want you to know that these presentations of women in the Scripture don’t mean that God endorsed that treatment. Just because you find something in the Bible doesn’t mean God endorses it. He never authorized or approved of behavior that put a woman down, just as He doesn’t condone other practices in the Scriptures like child sacrifice, polygamy, the sex cults and other such things.

Jesus’ regard for women was much different from that of His contemporaries. He treated them with high regard, and there are at least three ways He did it.

Jesus Demonstrated the High Value He Placed on Women by Recognizing Their Value as Persons

Did you know women are people too? It took me a long time to realize that my mom wasn’t always my mother! She had a life before I came along, wanted to enjoy one while she was raising me that didn’t revolve around me, and would enjoy one after I left. When you think of the women in your life, you probably think of them in terms of the roles they play. She is your wife, your mother, your daughter, or whatever, but what we very often fail to recognize is that they are people with great value without any of those roles.

Jesus recognized the value of women first by making them equal with men before God. Jesus quoted Genesis 1:27 when He said in Matthew 19:4 that God made them male and female. Women are created in the image of god just as men are. They have free will, self-awareness, conscience, personal responsibility, and all the other traits of humanity that any man has.

Think about it: Jesus didn’t come to earth primarily as a man, but as a person. He didn’t treat women as females so much as He treated them as human beings. I can assure you that when you hear the word disciple you think of a man. You may think of Peter, James or John. You may think of any one of the twelve, but listen, according to Jesus disciples come in two sexes: male and female. What is a disciple? It is someone who learns and follows the teachings of another.

Examples of the even handed treatment of Christ are found throughout the Gospels. He regularly addressed women in public. Men didn’t do this in Jesus’ day. Remember how the men were amazed at the Samaritan well? He was in public and He was speaking to a woman. He spoke freely with the woman caught in adultery, with the widow of Nain, the woman with the bleeding disorder, and many others.

Not only did Jesus speak with these women, He spoke to them in a thoughtful, caring manner. When He spoke to the woman with the bleeding disorder He called her “daughter.” He referred to another as the daughter of Abraham, again giving this woman equal spiritual status as the men who called themselves the sons of Abraham.

He showed their value as persons in the way He held them responsible for their sins. Not once did He condone the sins of any woman. He confronted them as people with personal freedom and personal responsibility. He didn’t go soft on them, nor did He treat them too harshly.

He showed a woman’s value in His treatment of divorce and lust. Remember that Jesus said a woman is not just a sex object, someone to use and discard. He said that to even think lustfully about a woman was to commit adultery. He taught that women had rights as individuals and that they were to be respected. They weren’t to be avoided, they weren’t to be shunned either. Instead of avoiding women, Jesus taught His followers to discipline their thoughts, and in doing so created an environment where men and women were allowed to work in harmony with one another in the church setting.

Jesus Demonstrated the High Value He Placed on Women by Ministering to Women

Jesus showed the high value He placed on women by ministering to them in a vital and practical manner, both physically and spiritually. He healed many women and cast demons out of others displaying His care for them. Some are only briefly recorded; others are given in more detail.

He healed Peter’s mother-in-law. He met a widow lady who was burying her only son, and He raised that son for her. He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and in front of the religious leaders He defended and helped a woman who was hopelessly bent over for 18 years. He spoke to her, put His hands on her and caused her to stand erect.

On another occasion He met a poor woman who had been ceremonially unclean for 12 long years by a bleeding disorder. This woman came up and touched Jesus in a large crowd, making Him unclean as well. He didn’t rebuke her, but bragged about her great faith, addressing her as daughter, then publicly strengthened her faith which had healed her. He then went on to the house of Jairus, who, with his wife had just lost a 12 year old daughter to death. In addition to being ceremonially unclean from the woman, He went in and touched the young dead girl and restored her to life.

There are several others, but not only did He minister to their physical needs, He addressed their spiritual needs: something unheard of in a day when only boys were allowed to be schooled. Remember His meeting with the woman at the well. He gave her as much or more attention in John 4 as He did to Nicodemus, a highly respected man and ruler among the Pharisees. Remember His occasion with Mary and Martha as He ministered to them at the tomb of Lazarus?

Over and over Jesus placed high value on women as people, and there is a third way He did it…

Jesus Demonstrated the High Value He Placed on Women by According Them Dignity in His Ministry

Jesus did this in three ways. First, Jesus used women frequently in His illustrations. This may not mean much to you, but it was a big thing in His day. He talked about the queen of the south to teach how a foreign queen traveled so far to find the truth. He compared the kingdom of heaven to the leaven worked into bread dough by a woman. He talked about how when He returned there would be two women working in the field. He mentioned a widow to teach a lesson about receiving God’s blessings, and Jesus told a parable about a woman who lost a coin.

We can only wonder how the women of Jesus’ day must have responded to His teachings. They took notice of them, because living in a male-dominated culture as they were here was a refreshing message that appealed to them also.

Jesus didn’t just choose to use women as illustrations, but He was also concerned that women sit under His teachings. Women weren’t allowed to do so in His day. We impose our culture on the Bible, where women and men sit together and hear the teaching and preaching of the Word of God, but it just wasn’t so in that day.

The third way Jesus accorded women dignity in His ministry was by allowing them not only to be used as illustrations, and not only as pupils or disciples, but also by engaging them in their very own places of ministry. Over and over in the gospels the women are mentioned as being active in the life of the church as Jesus traveled from place to place. They were present at the wedding of Cana, when He went to Capernaum, when He was on the cross, and everywhere in between.

It was a woman who anointed Jesus’ feet. It was a woman who anointed His head. Martha is often thought of as a woman who helped to provide meals for the church group, as though that was her ministry. In Luke 8 there are women who supported Jesus financially. When you think of names like Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome, you should think about women who followed and labored right along side of Jesus and the disciples. I’m not saying that their ministries were the same; they were not, but they each had places of service nonetheless.

A final look at the women during the personal ministry of Jesus was at the tomb, going to prepare His body with spices, and then in His appearing to them first after the resurrection.

Conclusion

As we close, there are two thoughts I want to leave you with: two challenges I want to issue. The first is particularly to the women, but it is really for anyone.

Jesus cares about you this morning. Many of you who are mothers know more than anyone here what it means to be underappreciated, unthanked, and undervalued. You know what it means to be overlooked and taken for granted, and while women in America aren’t treated as property or even as second-class citizens, I know that too often you are just not seen as a real person with real individual needs. I want you to know today that Jesus not only knows you have needs; He knows what your needs are. Even better yet Jesus can and will meet your needs.

In the eyes of a loving Savior you have real worth. God sees you as a real person and He wants to have a personal relationship with you. But as I said earlier, you have a free will and are personally responsible to respond to Christ’s invitation today to accept Him as your Savior. No one will ever love and accept you the way He will, and no relationship on this earth will fulfill you the way one with Christ can and will; but you must make the choice.

There is a second challenge I want to give, and it is for our men. The Bible teaches that as disciples we are to be like Christ: we are to be Christ followers. I’m going to ask you to make a special commitment today, but not just for today. Jesus placed a high value on women. He did it by treating them as real people. He treated them as real people who were equal before God with men. He spoke to them tenderly and with loving concern. Jesus gave them high value by ministering to their physical and spiritual needs, by recognizing their need to be taught, and by encouraging them to fulfill their respective places of ministry.

Men, we need to do the same today. Are you treating the women in your life like real people with individual needs? Or are you treating them as women who are only there to meet your needs? Your wife isn’t just your wife and the mother of your children. She is a real person apart from you and them. Do you treat her that way? Do you speak to the women in your life with care and concern? Do you minister to them? Or do you expect them to minister to you? Jesus didn’t come to be served by those women, He came to serve them. Are you allowing them the time they need to get involved in ministry? Are you encouraging it?

A wife had a husband who was encouraging her to get involved in ministry. He had his places of ministry, enjoyed men’s fellowship, working around the church, but although he was encouraging her to do the same, it was in word only. He wouldn’t watch the kids, wouldn’t help her, wouldn’t attend with her, and was just not understanding how hard he was making it for her to get involved, so she just stayed at home and didn’t participate.

Men, I am asking you to love the women in your life like Jesus does. Would you make that commitment today?