The Life of Sarah Jean Cobb

Angels by My Side: Stories and Glimpses of These Heavenly Helpers by Betty Malz

Title: Angels by My Side: Stories and Glimpses of These Heavenly Helpers

Author: Betty Malz

Book Information:

Publisher: Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group (2013)

ISBN 080079561X (ISBN13: 9780800795610)

Paperback, 128 pages

How did I get this book: A complimentary review copy was provided to me by Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Review: Betty Malz dedicated this book to bring hope to the helpless and to offer help to the fearful, and she did so beautifully, as this is one of those books that permanently increases your faith.

This wonderful book is filled with many stories and personal accounts of the experiences that others have had with angels, including Betty herself. It is also packed full of Bible verses, encouragement, and answers many questions about the topic that the reader may have as well as practical application in Biblical context.

I found ‘Angels by My Side: Stories and Glimpses of These Heavenly Helpers’ to be a quick page-turner, but it was also one of those books that I just couldn't keep to myself. I brought it up in conversation, shared stories from it, and strongly recommend it to anyone who may have an interest in Angels in general or any of the following: When Angels Come, Protecting Angels, Rescuing Angels, Angels and Intercession, Messenger Angels, Angels and Temptation.

There are a plethora of stories and I really wish that I could share all of them here with you, but you will enjoy owning the book much more. (I liked this book so much that I am already planning to purchase it myself for my own library once my digital review copy expires.)

This review has also been posted on ChristianBook and Goodreads.

Contentment, Prosperity, and God's Glory by Jeremiah Burroughs

Title: Contentment, Prosperity, and God's Glory

Author: Jeremiah Burroughs

Book Information:

Publisher: Reformation Heritage Books (2013)
ISBN: 9781601782328
Page Count: 144

How did I get this book: A complimentary review copy was provided to me by Cross Focused Reviews (A Service of Cross Focused Media, LLC). I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Review: According to page ix of the Preface, the author of Contentment, Prosperity, and God's Glory, Jeremiah Burroughs' "heart's desire was to serve the Lord and His kingdom in as great a capacity as He would allow." Also on pages xi-xii we see, "Burroughs could not in good conscience conform to such superstitions [897 of them imposed on all ministers by the King of England]. His personal conviction was as follows, "In God's worship, there must be nothing tendered up to God but what He has commanded. Whatsoever we meddle with in the worship of God must be what we have a warrant for out of the Word of God."

The inspirational character of Jeremiah manifested in his nonconformity, cost him his license, ministry, and income. He was slandered, persecuted, and eventually forced to flee his beloved country to Holland in order to escape arrest. Yet in spite of his circumstances, Burroughs' sermons consistently remained free of complaints. Why? Because of his view of contentment, that you can learn from reading this precious book.

Is it possible to always be content, both in need, as well as in times of prosperity and abundance? Paul said it was in Philippians 4:2, and Jeremiah Burroughs discovered the secret, too. Are you curious about the rich content found within Contentment, Prosperity, and God's Glory? As you open this book like a chest, you are sure to find the treasure contained within to enrich not only today, but also your life and your walk as well.

About the Author: Jeremiah Burroughs (1599–1646) was a member of the Westminster Assembly and a prominent preacher among Congregationalists. Several of his works have been reprinted by Soli Deo Gloria Publications.

About the Series: Interest in the Puritans continues to grow, but many people find reading these giants of the faith a bit unnerving. The Puritan Treasures for Today Series seeks to overcome that barrier by presenting Puritan books that are convenient in size and unintimidating in length. Each book is carefully edited with modern readers in mind, smoothing out difficult language of a bygone era while retaining the meaning of the original authors. Books for the series are thoughtfully selected to provide some of the best counsel on important subjects that people continue to wrestle with today.

This review has also been posted on Amazon.

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The Romance of Grace by Jim McNeely III

Title: The Romance of Grace

Author: Jim McNeely III

Book Information:

Publisher: Vox Dei (2013)
ISBN: 9781935961970
Page Count: 148

Review: Grace. In the Christian community, there tends to be much more material about what it isn't as opposed to what it is; Grace has been made out to be more of a scandal than a romance. However, Jim McNeely III tackles this subject head on and with a fresh approach in The Romance of Grace.

"The kingdom of heaven is like something precious buried in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field. Again the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a dealer in search of fine and precious pearls, who, on finding a single pearl of great price, went and sold all he had and bought it." (Matthew 13:44-46)

This book starts off with a Princess Bride movie reference, which is fantastic, and then it gets deep real quick, "Like Buttercup, we have a great lover who saved us and has promised to come for us. Yet we treat His love like garbage, as though it were nothing...our greatest sin is that we give up true love. We fall short- not of our obligations, but of glory." (pg. 12)

"Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives." (Romans 3:23)

There are also multiple perspectives discussed here in delightful detail:
The Human Perspective: The Kingdom of Heaven as Treasure
The Divine Perspective: The Kingdom of Heaven as a Pearl Merchant

The Romance of Grace sufficiently conveys how important we are to God, and also gives one of the best definitions for the term 'Grace' that I have ever heard:

"God, by His own initiative, likes us. There is none of this nonsense about "loving but not liking" with God. In fact, He is extremely taken with us, to the point of sacrificing all else to have us. We are not battling an attitude in God in which He is constantly ready to condemn us and reject us, ever focused on our flaws and shortcomings. Rather, He sees something wonderful in us. He has dealt definitively with our flaws, sins, and shortcomings because He wants these things completely swept out of the picture. He is excited about us. We are greatly loved, even as we presently stand. God has joy over finding us! It was from joy over it that He sold all that He had: "Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2-5)"

Is it possible to say enough good things about this book in only one review? Regretfully, I don't think so. Just know that I gave it a strong five stars for very good reasons, and that you should go grab your own copy as soon as possible to find out why.

About the book: What if God sees us the way a man sees a woman he is infatuated with, and His main question is not how to make us moral but rather how to get us to fall in love with Him? In The Romance of Grace, Jim McNeely explores Bible passages that tell us what God really wants for us and what His love means. This is the love of a God who chose to give His life for ours, even carefully retaining His scars into the throne room of heaven and telling us in His very body, “I have gone to great lengths and great costs to say that I forsook all comforts for the love of you.” Join Jim in his exploration of life in God’s unconditional, redeeming, amazing grace.

About the Author: Jim McNeely is a teaching pastor and elder at Dakota Creek Christian Center in Blaine, Washington, where he lives with his wife, Betty, and their four sons. Formerly president of New Century Data, with clients such as Lockheed Martin and American Airlines, he now works as a programmer and database administrator in the health care industry.

Cool Extras:

Jim McNeely interviewed on episode 16 of Author Talks with Shaun Tabatt

Jim McNeely video interview about The Romance of Grace

Jim's Blog: ThereforeNow.com

Jim McNeely on Twitter: @JWMcneely

Jim McNeely on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jim.mcneely

The Romance of Grace on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheRomanceOfGrace

Therefore Now Ministries on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thereforenow

Praise for The Romance of Grace:

“It is time, as Robert Farrar Capon put it, to get drunk on grace. Two hundred-proof, defiant grace. That’s what you get here in Jim’s book. You won’t see a list of qualifications, and you’ll get no “footnotes.” What you’ll encounter isgrace unmeasured, vast and free. It will frighten you and free you at the same time.” —Tullian Tchividjian, Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and author of Jesus + Nothing = Everything

“So often we turn our faith in Christ into a forcing mechanism, which doesn’t work in any event; and if anything, produces disillusionment or hypocrisy. TheRomance of Grace is a prophetic book. I believe that unless we heed its call, to put grace absolutely without condition and frontally as the be-all and end-all of the Good News, we will lose completely, and not just in “the eyes of the world” but in the failure of well-intentioned religious lives that tried to love and never knew how.” —Paul F. M. Zahl, author of Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life

“In The Romance of Grace we are confronted with a truth that we may have previously rejected. It seemed too easy to embrace. It lacked obligation on our part and contradicted accusations we have given credence to for the majority of our lives on earth. Yet herein lies the truth—“Not that we loved God, but that God loved us.” This book will help to right the plumb line in your life.” —David Collins, author of Out of the Box, founder of Canadian Food for the Hungry International.

Little Black Books: Suffering & Evil by Scott Perry

Title: Little Black Books: Suffering & Evil

Author: Scott Petty

Book Information:

Publisher: Matthias Media
ISBN: 9781921441769
Page Count: 56

Review: As someone who is not a stranger to suffering, I found this book to be the best conversation I never had. The potent, honest, Biblical information found here, felt like sitting down for coffee with an incredible youth pastor and having one of the most candid, refreshing, compelling, and interesting conversations imaginable.

Scott Perry addresses three big questions in this 'Little Black Book':
1. The question of suffering
2. The question of evil
3. The question of God

"Have you suffered recently? Are you suffering right now? Do you expect to experience suffering soon? Probably not. Nobody expects it- that's part of what makes it so bad." pg.9

"In our society we are masters at denying our problems." pg.12 Job didn't deny his problems or his suffering, and that suffering permeated all that he had as well as who he was. "We live in a world in which people suffer, and sometimes unjustly. When that happens to you like it happened to Job, then frankly it is better to gasp in despair, or to confess your loss of hope or sense of frustration, than to pretend everything is OK. God will not blame you for that kind of honesty."

There were many wonderful things that I learned from reading this book, but I would simply be robbing you of the riches to be found within it if I exposed them all here. So since I know you will be reading Little Black Books: Suffering & Evil by Scott Perry for yourself, I will exercise some restraint and share with you only one, and here it is: It is not possible to use the Bible to make a direct connection between suffering and sin; therefore, even though suffering can happen as a result of our sin, it would be an unsound argument that suffering is God's punishment for your sin itself. (I told you this book is good.)

About Little Black Books: A new series of books that get straight to the point on the topics that Christians always have questions about. Not too big, not too fancy, and not at all boring. LBBs are ideal for young Christians (ages 14-20+), but speak biblical truths applicable to any age range.

About the Author: Scott is the youth minister at Christ Church St Ives in Sydney, and loves the tricky questions young people ask about the Christian journey. He also loves his beautiful wife, Carolyn, his three energetic sons, racing bicycles, Italian coffee, food in general, rock‘n’roll and Apple computers, probably in that order.

This review has also been posted on Amazon.

Good Mood Bad Mood: Help and Hope for Depression and Bipolar Disorder by Charles D. Hodges, M. D.

Title: Good Mood Bad Mood: Help and Hope for Depression and Bipolar Disorder

Author: Charles D. Hodges, M. D.

Book Information:

Publisher: Shepherd Press (2013)
ISBN: 9781936908509
Page Count: 192

Review: Good Mood Bad Mood: Help and Hope for Depression and Bipolar Disorder by Charles D. Hodges, M. D. is absolutely phenomenal. The honesty in this work is beyond refreshing, the passion is evident, and to read a book by such a highly esteemed medical professional that was not only informative and inspiring, but that was also so incredibly transparent it its honesty, was pleasantly surprising.

I expected Good Mood Bad Mood to be good, but I had no idea what kind of a treasure I was getting when I received this gem in the mail. And then, just when my socks have been blown off, it gets even better- everything is backed up with the Bible, examples are used from Biblical times as well as patients in modern times, and you can absolutely tell that Doctor Hodges is empathetic, caring, and knows that our current system needs a change.

It is at this point when both depression and bipolar disorders or over diagnosed, patients find themselves over medicated, and both sides are frustrated, that Doctor Hodges not only points out the problem that has lasted thousands of years, and serves us with this labor of love, but he then proceeds to point us to our True Healer- Jesus.

Again, Good Mood Bad Mood: Help and Hope for Depression and Bipolar Disorder by Charles D. Hodges, M. D. is absolutely phenomenal, and you should read it right now.

About the Author:

Charles D. Hodges Jr., M.D. is a family physician who practices medicine in Indianapolis. He is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Medicine, board certified in Family medicine and Geriatrics and is a licensed marital family therapist.

Praise for Good Mood Bad Mood:
“Dr. Hodges has given the church an important resource in Good Mood, Bad Mood. With the scientific acumen of a physician and the loving concern of a brother in Christ, Dr. Hodges cuts through the morass of solutions for sadness, depression, mania or bipolar disorders. Written for the layperson but detailed enough for the physician or counselor, this book is for anyone who struggles with troubling moods and for those who help them.”
—Elyse Fitzpatrick, Author, speaker and counselor

“Millions of Christians suffer from depression and bipolar disorder. Unfortunately, many of them suffer in silence because of the stigma mental illness often carries in Christian circles. I’m tremendously grateful for Good Mood, Bad Mood, a book that compassionately offers medical and theological insights for those affected by mental disorders. Dr. Hodges is equally at home parsing the relevant biblical texts as he is dispensing medical advice. Throughout the book he intersperses stories of real people struggling to find freedom; this is a must-read book.”
—Drew Dyck, Managing Editor, Leadership Journal

“I highly recommend this resource to anyone wanting to understand or help those struggling with depression or mood swings. While not neglecting the medical research and possible medical explanations for some mood issues, he helps the reader to see what is often at the core of many mood disorders.”
—Dr. Garrett Higbee, Executive Director of Biblical Soul Care, Harvest Bible Chapel

This review has also been posted on Amazon.

Renée of France by Simonetta Carr

Who was Renée of France? Before a complimentary copy of this book became available to me to review through Cross Focused Reviews in exchange for my honest opinion, I had not heard of her. One of the things that I like most about this book is that it provided many different opinions of her without attempting to force a definitive answer upon the reader.

Renée was a close friend of John Calvin and the two corresponded together for most of her life. She was not regarded as beautiful. Her son could not give her a Catholic funeral because she died as a Protestant without apology. Leaders from both the Protestants and the Catholics sought her out in order to influence the nobility of both France and Italy since she was a princess of one and a duchess of the other.

Her faith caused her great pain within her family. Her oldest son opposed her religious views, her oldest daughter married a fierce promoter of the Roman Catholic church, and her youngest

son even pursued a clerical career in the Church of Rome. At the end of the day, no matter what she did, none of her children shared the same faith as she.

I highly recommend Renée of France by Simonetta Carr. It is interesting, reads well, could not have been better written, and is definitely one of those books that causes you to mature in your own faith.

In reading this work, I found myself rallying behind and pulling for Renée. She stood up for what she believed in, counted the cost, and followed the Lord anyway. She was honest about her frustrations, and learning about her life inspired me. I had heard about the Protestant Reformation before, but seeing it through the life of this wonderful woman gave it new meaning and made it come alive.

Parenting On Your Knees: Prayers and Practical Guidance for the Preschool Years by Vicki Tiede

Title: Parenting On Your Knees: Prayers and Practical Guidance for the Preschool Years

Author: Vicki Tiede

Book Information:

Publisher: Pix-N-Pens
ISBN: 9781938092299
Page Count: 190

Review:
"Arise [from your bed], cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift up your hands toward Him for the lives of your young children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street."
~Lamentations 2:19

"And He took them [the children up one by one] in His arms and [fervently invoked a] blessing, placing His hands upon them." ~Mark 10:16

Children are sweet blessings. Raising them can seem like the best of times and the worst of times. There are many moments where you feel overwhelmed or like you can't make it, but then that one unexpected moment happens that makes it all worth it. This cycle could be repeated several times a day. It is important to remember in those times of need or being stretched beyond what we thought our limits were, that we are never alone. Children are sweet blessings from the Lord, and He longs for is to share everything with Him, lean on Him when needed, and take everything to Him in prayer.

"God has blessed you with this little one, to love and care for, but He wants to share in the joys, hopes, worries, and fears for this child. He doesn't expect you to travel this road solo. Going to God on behalf of your child helps you remember you are not parenting alone." ~pg.3
"...parenting is a process, not an event. It's a journey, not a destination...[when we parent on our knees, we are] eye-to-eye with our children and looking up at Jesus, who wants to co-parent with us." ~pg.5

"For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted my petition made to Him. Therefore I have given him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is given to the Lord. And they worshiped the Lord there." 1 Samuel 1:27-29

God desires to spend time with you and to help you through this, and it is okay if that happens in creative and unexpected ways. Your prayer time may not look like anyone else's but that's okay. The goal is to connect with God in whatever way fits your current place on this ride called life.

"Time with God is not about academic study or getting through a certain amount of Scripture or any of that. It's about connecting with God. We've got to keep those lines of communication open, so use whatever helps. Sometimes I'll listen to music, other times I'll read, Scripture or a passage from a book; often I will journal; maybe I'll go for a run; then there are days when all I need is silence and solitude and the rising sun. The point is to simply do whatever brings me back to my heart and the heart of God." ~pgs.9-10

"When you pay your electric bills, pray that your children will know Jesus as the Light of the world. When you see a school bus, pray that your children will learn new skills and strive toward greater achievements. When you water your plants, pray that your children will grow healthy and strong." ~pg.10

And what about quiet time? As a parent of multiple little ones, 'quiet' is the operative word. So what if the only time the house is quiet are those few minutes in between the kids being asleep for the night and you passing out as well? Never fear, Vicki Tiede offers helpful suggestions for this as well.

"As parents of little ones, you can do things such as: listen to worship music while you play with your children, pray in the car or shower, read Bible stories with your tots, listen to God in the middle of the night when you are up for a feeding." ~pg.11

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. ~Psalm 37:4

When praying for the character of your little ones, you can also pray that the Lord would help them to persevere.

"And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint." ~Galatians 6:9

There are many creative ways to integrate the prayer life that you desire with your current life of madness that seems to frequently knock you to your knees. Above is just a taste of some of the wonderful wisdom and knowledge you can find in this gem of a book. 'Parenting On Your Knees' by Vicki Tiede is packed full of quick and helpful tips, refreshing honesty, and tons of humor. This is a book that the parent with absolutely no time will be able to find time to read, and they will be pleasantly surprised to find more than they bargained for.

'Parenting On Your Knees' by Vicki Tiede also contains actual prayers that you can pray with blanks to fill in for your applicable person and situation. In addition to this, there are even places to write your personal prayers, places to write how God answered your prayers, and also parenting resources sprinkled throughout this delightful work in case you desire to read additional material on a certain topic.

I enthusiastically recommend this book and urge you to grab a copy for yourself as soon as you possibly can. Sometimes parenting may knock us to our knees, but after becoming equipped with the knowledge in this book, you will have knee pads to land on, as well as the tools to intersperse parts of the changes you desire to see, into the life that you already have. This difficult and rewarding time won't overcome you, the storm won't last, and God is waiting and ready to help you make the most out of Parenting On Your Knees.

About the Author: Vicki Tiede, MEd, MMin, is a Bible teacher; conference speaker; author of When Your Husband is Addicted to Pornography: Healing Your Wounded Heart (2012) and Plug Me In and Let Me Charge Overnight (2009). Her passion is to share God’s grace and faithfulness with women through the Scriptures. Vicki transparently relates life experiences that resonate and draw others into a lifelong pursuit of knowing God. Living in Rochester, Minnesota, Vicki is also a wife, homeschooling mom, and women’s ministries coordinator at her local church. You can learn more about Vicki Tiede and her writing at www.vickitiede.com.

An interview with Vicki Tiede about Parenting On Your Knees can be found here.

This review has also been posted on Amazon and Goodreads.

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Suffering Well by Paul Grimmond

Title: Suffering Well

Author: Paul Grimmond

Book Information:

Publisher: Matthias Media
ISBN: 9781921896316
Page Count: 165

Review: This book really spoke to me. For the past twenty-three years I have experienced pain, trials, suffering, and 'tests' on various levels. As soon as I find my way out of one, I am then qualified and trusted to handle the next level and pass another. I never knew until recently that the ministry of suffering was an actual thing. I found a comfort in realizing that my pain was not in vain. Armed with this new knowledge, my perspective shifted more from my temporary discomfort to that which is eternal. I now know that the more that I go through, the more qualified I am to help someone else.

I do have many things about my past that I regret; however, I have been forgiven by the blood of Christ and have been made righteous through Him. I know that it looks like a short distance from my head to my heart, but realizing that truth, accepting it, and then forgiving myself, has taken years of healing.

One of the things that the LORD is currently teaching me is how to leave the past in the past, to let it go, and to just move on. As He promises, though, ALL things work for the good of those who love Him. Because I can identify personally with many situations, the scope of who I am able to naturally provide comfort, help, and guidance to feels like it has increased substantially.

I have been praying for a long time that God would develop Christ's character in me and make me more like His Son, Jesus. I have come to realize that in order for that to occur, it is required that I 'suffer well' through many of the same tests and experiences that He did. He is referred to as the Suffering Servant and His example is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about what it means to 'suffer well.'

I feel like I am currently on my way out of a few trials right now. It is in surveying what I have learned from the "predictable surprise of Christian suffering" that I draw conclusions, and ultimately choose to reinforce or reconstruct my understanding thus far. While pondering the lessons from my most recent 'ministry qualifiers,' I was given the opportunity to read and review Suffering Well by Paul Grimmond. Based on the back-story provided above, naturally I felt a desire to see what additional Bible-based information might be made available to me.

The deciding factor that 'sealed the deal' was the following statement by the author himself regarding this insightful book: "As I began to write this book, I thought I knew pretty much what I was going to say. But the more I read the Bible, trying to find the right passages to make the points I thought I needed to make, the more uneasy I felt." After reading that, I knew that I didn't want to miss out on anything, and that I absolutely had to know what Paul's Biblical findings were on how to 'suffer well.'

Suffering Well is not limited to only addressing one kind of suffering, persecution, or trials. Reading the examples of the many things that other believers are going through around the world at any given moment in time, gives comfort to the reader. It caused me to shift my view from being introspective to realizing that on a corporate level, we all have a lot more in common than we may realize, and that none of what we may face is ever an isolated case.

Here is just a taste of some of the treasures awaiting for you in 'Suffering Well':

"She wants to meet God face to face and ask her questions. She wants to make Him give her some answers. Yet, for all of the anger and disappointment, in her frustration and grief her trust does not diminish."
"Suffering is not really a philosophical problem. Suffering is experienced, not just contemplated; it's often an event in our guts before it's a problem in our heads."
"It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. To live is Christ, to die is gain. (Philippians 1:20-21)"
"I am persuaded that the key to suffering well lies in understanding the fullness about God's revelation of suffering. Almost ironically, this means we won't find God's true comfort unless we wrestle with the ideas that are initially confronting and even painful. And so a large part of what follows is a challenge simply to hear and accept God's view of suffering. We live in a world that refuses to look to God's truth for comfort, and we are affected by our world, so the pages of this book may be as disquieting as they are encouraging. I make no apology for that. I believe that God's unsettling truth is much better for us than pillow-soft platitudes. In other words, this book is more of an inoculation than a remedy. Its aim is to help us arm ourselves with the truth so that we're equipped to suffer well when the time comes."
"In the depths of God's riches are truths about suffering that are treasures beyond compare, if you are willing to see them.

So are you ready to know that truth about suffering? How should we live as God's people in the face of suffering? What does it mean to suffer (and even die) well? Based on the Bible, what does God want us to know about Him and our world and suffering? What truth should we be armed with so that we're equipped to suffer well when the time comes?

Suffering Well by Paul Grimmond answers all of these questions as well as many more that you may have on your heart and mind. This book absolutely stands alone and is different from anything else that I have read on the topic of experiencing different kinds of pain. I am so glad to have the Biblical insight and knowledge that this book has provided in my life. I know I will be reading and enjoying it again. As far as a rating goes, this work deserves every single one of the five stars available. I highly recommend it and think that Suffering Well will greatly benefit every single person who reads it. This is a staple for every home library or book collection. Buy it as soon as you can!

There are reasons for the storms in our lives. One purpose for hardship is to cleanse us. Because of our fleshly nature and the world that we live in, it is easy for us to develop self-centered minds. Sometimes we receive these storms in our lives to bring impurities to our attention. Usually a storm reveals the true nature of our hearts, and our initial reaction to that storm brings to the surface things that God is trying to get out of us, that we might not have been aware of otherwise.

Our trials do not sink us; on the contrary, they are often used to guide us back to godliness. God's work on us is not just for ourselves, either. It is designed to permeate humanity on a corporate level. Because we are able to remember how we felt and what we needed when at the time, we are then able to effectively reach out to others and comfort them.

Through suffering we also learn about God's sufficiency, His provision of strength, His character, as well as His comforting presence to help us endure our trials. Reflecting on the divine purpose behind our hardship can also help us to respond appropriately to them, fix our attention on the Lord, and cause us to be in a position where we become attentive to what He wants us to learn.

We are reminded by the LORD in Isaiah 41:10 that we are to, "Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of righteousness and justice."

I have learned many times over from personal experience that God's strength is perfected in my weakness. Sometimes the LORD keeps us from suffering; other times He sustains us through it. In both instances, He is still faithful, He is still good, He understands us, and He loves us in a greater way than what we can ever comprehend. Jesus is always with us and He will never forsake us in our weakness.

About the Author: Paul Grimmond is a gifted and well-known Bible teacher, currently serving on the campus of the University of New South Wales. He is the author of Right Side Up, a book about the Christian life, and co-author with Phillip Jensen of The Archer and the Arrow, a book about preaching. Paul lives with his wife, Cathy, and their three children in Sydney’s east.

An interview with Paul Grimmond about Suffering Well can be found here.

This review has also been posted on Amazon and Goodreads.

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