Heidi's Haven

"If the Bible is based on facts, we have hope for our present crisis in religion and morality." "The Bible is a book of answers, not a book of questions." "Religion, if it is worth believing, must be based on facts." 7 Reasons Why You Can Trust the Bible  by Erwin W. Lutzer is a thorough examination of the historical, logical, and scientific proof of the validity of the Bible. No ancient manuscript in history has been doubted or held with as much skepticism as the Bible. For Christians, this book will validate and give you reassurance in your beliefs. Our faith is based on lots of evidence, but it is still faith. For non-Christians, it gives you another perspective to consider will all of the facts and information. This book is so full of information regarding the validity of the Bible, and the lack of validity of many other popular theories. I had no idea that so much physical or historical evidence existed that proves the Bible. Ho...

Acceptable Worship  by Dr. C.H. Snyder helps readers understand what kind of worship God accepts and what pleases Him. The author's goal was to write a book that would help people understand what the Bible says about worship. The focus of the book is to more from correct understanding to wise and proper obedience.  God designed man with the need to worship. However, it is important that we choose to worship God and no one/nothing else. In order to give acceptable worship, our actions need to be for the glorification and honoring of God, and not for our own benefit. We should worship God in order to be close to Him, because we are in awe of Him. In good times and in bad, we should always be glorifying God. Not only in church on Sunday, but throughout the rest of the week as well in our everyday lives. Obedience is also an act of true, acceptable worship. The book is Biblically sound and easy to understand. I really enjoyed reading it, and I feel like I learned a lo...

Your Money Map: A Proven 7-Step Guide to True Financial Freedom  is a guidebook by Howard Dayton instructing us in how we should handle our money and get out of debt: doing it God's way.  Many people are surprised to learn that there are over 2,350 verses in the Bible that deal with money and possessions. Overall, I believe that the main point is to be faithful to God with your possessions, since we don't actually own anything. We are stewards of everything that God allows us to have. We come into this world with nothing, and we can take nothing with us when we are gone. Dayton recommends that the reader interact with the book and do the exercises within, rather than just reading the book. He also suggests that the reader do this with another person for support and accountability. It gives all kinds of additional resources for those looking for more information about getting out of debt and being financially responsible.  The one big problem that I had wi...

"Discipling as Jesus Discipled" is a workbook by Dann Spader and published by Moody Publishers. It aims to make disciples who will go out and make disciples who will, in turn, make more disciples. Spader uses this workbook to teach Christians how to create disciples who make disciples. The focus is all about relationships, with each other and with non-Christians (or future disciples). When Jesus made disciples, he loved them and cared for them, he maintained relationships. This is how we should be discipling, too.  This is a workbook designed for a 10-12 week small group study. Unfortunately, since I received this for review, I just worked through it quickly on my own. I think that it would be much more beneficial to go through this workbook in a group study and be able to have discussions about the content. I would love to go through this again in a group study in the future. The questions are very challenging and thought provoking. I highly recommend this f...

The Story: 365 Devotions  is a daily devotional from Zondervan with the purpose of helping you discover your role in God's story. Each day shares a short Bible verse, which an explanation and a connection to the reader's life. I started this on January 1, and I will continue to read a page each day until the end of the year. So far, I have really enjoyed the devotionals. It only takes a minute or two to read the devotion of the day, and each day comes with an impactful personal take-away. The publishers created this book to help the reader find their place in God's epic story and to help them understand how God's plan works.  It slowly goes through the Bible and is split into Old and New Testament. On Day 45, I'm still in Genesis, so it's a very in depth study.  The book itself is a small paperback. I really like the size, and it's really good quality. I haven't finished it yet, but I am loving going though it a day at a time, and ...

Is anxiety un-Christian? The Anxious Christian  is a book by Rhett Smith, in which the author talks about his own struggles with an anxiety disorder. All too often, particularly in the Christian community, mental health issues such as anxiety and depression are seen as the fault of the sufferer, and that if they just prayed harder and trusted God more, these problems would go away. That is just not the case, but that stigma exists that makes Christians ashamed of their anxiety, and prevents them from seeking help. However, Smith asks the questions: Can God use your anxiety for good? What if He is using it to speak to us? That can be hard to imagine, but Rhett Smith uses his book to show how God used his anxiety to create opportunities and show him things about himself. It is important to look at your anxiety as a catalyst for growth, and rethink situations that make you anxious. I did find this book to be helpful and interesting. Rhett Smith has a very friendly wri...

The goal of this study Bible from Thomas Nelson is to aid in understanding the Bible. Understanding meanings, events, and stories in the Bible is something that a lot of people often struggle with. This allows you to study the Bible in three different ways: Book by Book, Verse by Verse, and Topic by Topic.  I received this as an e-book. and I didn't like it. I think the Bible itself is fine, I am just not a fan of the e-book version. It seems very disorganized and it is really hard to find anything. Flipping through the pages, I had no idea where I was half the time. I do think that this study Bible could be useful, but I would definitely recommend the physical copy for study. I'm sure the content itself is great, but to be honest, flipping through, I couldn't find anything I can talk about here to give you some examples. I really wish that I had the physical copy to compare it to, but I would have to give the e-book Bible 1/5 stars. xx Heidi *I rec...