Heidi's Haven

      In Fractured Faith: Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction , Lina Abujamra discusses her own crisis of faith and how she came out the other side. She stresses that it is normal for Christians to question and deconstruct their faith. It's actually a really important part of our walk with God, since a crisis of faith can cause true faith to replace inauthentic faith, and actually lead us closer to God. In fact, what we often call a crisis of faith is just part of maturing in our faith. It makes your faith your own. Each crisis leads us deeper into relationship with Him. Deconstruction our faith can lead to reconstruction.     I really enjoyed reading this book. The author is so open and honest with her struggles, which makes it very easy to understand and relate to her message. I personally have not struggled with a crisis of faith (yet, probably, I'm still young), so I didn't relate to her message as much as others might have. However, it was still a

      This book is all about finding joy in suffering, and looking through pain into God's strength, instead of ignoring it. He discusses the importance of lament and the fruits of suffering. Suffering offers us a powerful encounter with God. Further, Jesus showed us how to suffer with others and show compassion. God constantly cleanses us through out suffering so we're pure when we meet Him in heaven. As the Bible tells us, doing good and suffering for it is something to praise God for.  "When we choose to suffer with rejoicing, a door is opened for the Gospel to be shared."     The author has experienced suffering like I could not believe. He is also in his 90s and suffering from cancer, and he is at the end of his life. His story offers such a unique and genuine perspective on suffering. There aren't many people who have experienced suffering to the extent that he has.      Perkins was very articulate, and it never felt like he was rambling or condescending to

  "The church should be a model, at such a time as this, to reveal to the world what true oneness, equality, justice, and freedom can produce."     In this book, Tony Evans discusses the role of Christians and the church in the racial turmoil our world is experiencing today. Evans defines common and important terms like "systemic racism" and "critical race theology", which we hear brought up often enough but may not know the correct definition.     Evans closes with his goal for the reader to make a difference in the world. He gives steps for what the reader should do next. I do wish that he spent more time on this, as the rest of the book seemed very repetitive, using a lot of words without saying much at all. This  section alone though made reading worth it, as I think this is so important.      I definitely disagree with the author in some ways, as we have differing opinions about the Black Lives Matter organization and their values.      Overall, I thi