Heidi's Haven

  In their book Know Own Change , authors Joshua Clemons and Hazen Stevens urge readers to tear down racism and be united as one. Obviously (I should hope) everyone reading this review can agree that is something we all want. However, it's more difficult to know how we can get there. Throughout this book, the authors describe how we can reach this goal, and how doing so is how we can follow God's instruction for the world.  The authors describe how kingdom diversity and gospel-centered reconciliation is God's plan for the world, and how we can see that in Scripture. Gospel love says that our neighbor's problems become our own, so it is clear that we all have the responsibility to combat racism. They also explain the history of racism in America and the church, so we can understand what happened to get to where we are today.  The theme of this book is to know, own, and change. We need to understand the way racism continues to oppress our brothers and sisters, own our own...

In Glad You're Here, Walker Hayes and Craig Allen Cooper talk about their lives and their friendship, and how that friendship changed and shaped their lives. Craig showed Walker the love that Jesus shows us and showed him how to love like that, and that is the story they are sharing with their readers. They tell the reader and show them how to welcome people like Jesus does. One of the biggest lessons I got from this book is that most of us spend our lives avoiding the people Jesus would have spent time with. These are the people Jesus wants us to show love to, yet they make us uncomfortable so we stay away. Walker and Craig show their readers how to welcome and engage with those people in a very real way. They also emphasize that we must not treat non-believers like a project. We need to love them where we are, and they will see Jesus through those actions. I have seen far too many times non-believers pushed away by the dehumanizing treatment by Christians in their attempt to ...

This is an 8-week study of Ezekiel that teaches readers about God's goodness in times of disappointment and doubt. We see a unique picture of revival through Ezekiel's prophecies, and we see how that can be the case for us today as well. We see how the sins of that time are still prevalent in our lives, and how God's promises and lessons in Ezekiel still apply to us today.  Throughout the devotional, we learn how to listen and posture ourselves for revival, and to have the same resilience to share God's message with the world. We learn the things we do that stops revival, and the things we can do to invite it. There are activities, questions, and readings all throughout to help the reader understand and learn. God has already given us the tools we need for revival.  Since I read this for review, I did not to the activities and instead simply read this cover-to-cover, so I did not get much out of this book. However, I do think you might (and other reviews seem to agree) ...

  First of all, this book deals with eating disorder, exercise addition, and mental illness. Though eating disorder is mentioned on the back, I think it would be nice to have a bigger trigger warning about these themes at the beginning. In this book, Melanie finds herself faced with entering rehab to combat her eating disorder. Having always felt a pull to this region and wanting to avoid rehab, Melanie decides to go on a sort of pilgrimage and hike from Michigan to Mount Rainier in Washington. The people she meets along the way help her understand herself. I picked this book up because I am a bit obsessed with thru hiking, however the bulk of the book had very little to do with hiking. This book is more about Melanie's recovery and the people she meets along her journey. My favorite parts of the book were when Mel was in a place I've been, I love to read about places I've visited. I also really enjoyed the focus on chosen family, and how this book did not sugarcoat toxic p...

  In this book, Jennifer Hand shares lots of personal stories of times she was afraid, yet trusted God anyway. She uses personal stories and stories from the Bible to show us how saying "no" to fear is saying "yes" to God, and how our lives can be changed because of it.  The author explains that giving in to fear means saying "no" to God. None of us want that! Instead of letting fear stop us, we need to trust in God to keep moving. Hand refers to these crossroads and choices in our lives as "faith steps" or "fear stops". We can either say yes to God and move forward in faith, or say no and stop in our tracks. Throughout the book, Hand uses the story of the Israelites to show us what happens when we say yes or no to God. Using these examples, she emphasizes that saying no to God can keep us from reaching our "Promised Land", whatever or wherever that may be.  Hand uses many personal stories as examples. While some have clearly ...

  I am sure most of us tend to view the Bible as one big work. However, the Bible is really a collection of many pieces of writing, and each piece should be examined individually and in different ways. We must study and explore the Bible according to the literary style presented in a particular book, chapter, or passage. In this way, we will gain better understanding of the text.  There are eight main literary genres in Scripture: law, Old Testament narrative, prophetic/apocalyptic, poetry/wisdom, gospels and acts, and epistles. Throughout the book, Anyabwile teaches the reader how to examine each of these genres. There are also different types of writing: stories, poetry, and speeches. Again, these must all be examined differently. In addition to literary genre, the reader must also understand cultural and historical contexts. Finally, the author also describes how to examine Jesus' different teachings: narratives, parables, dialogue, and sermons. For all of these, Anyabwile ...

  This book is geared toward women, in any stages of life, to take control of their finances. A mother-daughter team, the authors share two generations of knowledge and covers all of the life stages, from single life, to married life, to widowed life. This is stewardship-focused: everything is God's and we must be responsible stewards of what he's given us. Each chapter features resources for planning and budgeting, as well as tips and journaling questions.  I personally did not feel like this book was very helpful. I wouldn't consider myself super knowledgable about finances, but just about everything in this book is stuff I've heard many times before. I was expecting more, especially as one of the authors is a certified financial planner. The writing felt disorganized and rushed, and very redundant. I did like their tips on how to choose a financial planner, and their information about wills and trusts, but for the most part I don't think I learned anything new fr...