Anne LeGare

I’ve been hesitant to review this book because others have done so in and eloquent fashion, and in great detail. I wish this book was around when I was struggling through my MBA. It is easy to read and grasp, without too much “business-ese.” I bought it for my husband, a small business CEO, and he picked up some good pointers for future marketing.

I’m going to give it to a friend, who just is just starting as a marketing director for a small company. I think it will give her an edge. Thanks to Thomas Nelson for making this book available.

Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck have collaborated to create a sweet work of fiction that feels like real life. Having dealt with some of these issues myself, I could relate to the emotions and situations Jade, Beryl, and Willow dealt with.

My take away — moms make mistakes, daughters make mistakes. Moms and daughters: lavish grace on one another because the time is short. My mom just died, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to reconcile some of these issues with her before the “Sweet By and By” for her. In the end, forgiveness and salvation are the important issues, and Evans and Hauck “get it.”

I said “Amen” with Max Lucado, and closed his newest book, Fearless. The hairs on my arms and legs were standing on end, and I had tears in my eyes. That’s a first for me – and I read a lot of books!

In Fearless, Max Lucado somehow allows his readers to crawl into his lap and admit all the things that go “bump in the night” of our spiritual, emotional and physical lives. He addresses and dismantles those fears one-by-one, with the heart of a pastor, and with wonderfully picked scripture.

I started highlighting all the pithy quotations I wanted to use in my review, and found myself highlighting every page instead. In this 15-chapter page turner, Lucado exposes 13 of our fears, (as well as a few of his own) and puts them into beautiful context.

I loved an acrostic he used to help us stop worry in its tracks:

P ray first

E asy now

A ct on it

C ompile a worry list

E valuate your worry categories

F ocus on today

U nleash a worry army (of prayer warriors)

L et God be enough

Thanks to Lucado’s honesty, I don’t feel like a heretic when I sit in church teetering on the edge of fear and doubt. Apparently pastors go through that too. But the answer to our fears isn’t unbelief or total reclusiveness. Lucado says: “The worship of safety emasculates greatness. No wonder Jesus wages such a war against fear. His most common command emerges from the ‘fear not’ genre.” According to Lucado, of the 125 imperatives Christ issued, 21 of them urge us to take hold of our fears through courage, heart, and cheer.

This is an exceptional book. I’m sending one to each of my loved ones and keeping this one on my bookshelf for the next time I need an infusion of courage.

This book was a joy to read! It was like reading an “Idiots Guide to the Brain.” My mother has a rare brain disease, and now I understand which parts of the brain are controlling (or not controlling in her case) different parts of her.

I loved how Henslin incorporated the spiritual with the physical, without excuse, and with great enthusiasm. He has a way of making the hard-to-understand simple, yet not simplistic.

I can now read my mom’s MRIs and understand what I’m seeing, and I feel I can help her with some dietary changes and my own new awareness of how she “ticks.”

Henslin’s writing style is not condescending, and comes across as friendly and helpful. I have never read a book like this from cover to cover and understood what I’ve read. Now I have.

Here is a somewhat true, mostly allegorical novel, in which author Andy Andrews describes how his life got a rough start: both parents were dead by the time he was 23, and he found himself living in a roughed-out sand cave under a pier. He was barely surviving until he had a strange, almost supernatural encounter with an old man named “Jones.” Jones told him to get a new perspective on life, and introduced him to biographies of famous people. As Andrews absorbed the biographies, his life started to change.

Through a series of similar “chance” encounters with people in a small beach town, Jones introduces how gaining a new perspective on life and using different communication principles can change someone from the inside out.

The author effectively uses Jones to show how one person can make a difference in the lives of others. One story in the book, however, was the internet tale of a man being buried with his fork – awaiting the “dessert” of heaven – which somehow became attributed to Jones. The inclusion of an urban legend in the book made it a bit smarmy.

Another tale involved Jones giving a married couple a lesson on effective communication. The five “dialects” he laid out were strikingly similar to Dr. Gary Chapman’s “Five Love Languages.” Nothing new here.

Who is Jones? He’s a shape-shifter, and the author said it happened right before his eyes. Is he an angel? The reader is left pondering that question, as the townspeople and Andrews sort it out.

I applaud Andrews’s desire and exhortation to bless each other and pursue lives of good character with honorable perspective. But this book was produced by a major Christian publishing house. I expect a stronger Christian message. If our “perspective” isn’t on Jesus first, we will quickly lose focus. What saves us from our sinful minds and deceptive motives is a changed life through faith in Jesus Christ. Transforming truth and hope can be found in Him alone.

Andrews’s focus was the man/angel, Jones – and our own righteousness. Our focus should be on Christ, his life, death, and resurrection. Without Him, we have no righteousness of our own. When we trust Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit to help give us a heavenly perspective – the only one that can sustain lasting change.

As I read this book, all I could think was “what a terrific idea!” William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb have produced a marvelous work.  Their  introductory words capture the book’s charm, and this quote said it all for me: “Every American has a claim on the contents of this book. Many of us don’t have ancestors who were in this country when it was founded, but we’re all heirs to that founding, even the most recent arrivals. That’s one of the great things about the United States.”

The book is organized like a 365-day devotional journal – but instead of focusing on the Creator, this journal’s target is to illuminate the heroes, patriots, inventors, and everyday people who made the United States great. It isn’t sappy or pretentious. Each day’s nugget effectively captures the excitement and wonder of the event, trial, or personal achievement.

My favorite day so far was January 6^th, “Samuel Morse Starts a Communication Revolution.” Those of us who are fans of all forms of communication will appreciate this quote captured on that day’s entry: “On May 24, 1844, an amazed crowd in the Supreme Court chambers in Washington, D.C., watched Samuel Morse demonstrate his telegraph by sending a message over a wire to Baltimore, 35 miles away. In Morse code, he tapped out a quote from the Bible: What hath God wrought! Soon telegraph lines linked countries and continents, and the world entered the age of modern communication.”

The authors did not disappoint with the September 11^th entry either. They paid proper respect to the events of that day in 2001, and mentioned Todd Beamer’s famous “Let’s Roll!”

The bottom of each page has an “American History Parade,” section, where four or five facts unique to the United States’ history are captured. On the September 11^th entry for that section, I learned that on September 11, 1941, a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Pentagon took place. Fascinating.

I am using this book as a way to teach our children about our country’s rich (and often rooted-in-Christianity) heritage. It is a great companion piece to our daily devotional Bible reading.

I’ve had an opportunity to talk to the fiction publisher for Thomas Nelson, Allen Arnold, about my recent review of The Unseen, by Tony (T.L.) Hines. Arnold was gracious to call me and seek my opinion about the book, and to lay out his department’s goals and objectives for Christian fiction. We had a great chat, which left me with the sense that the publishing house is truly concerned about the work it produces, as well as consumer opinion. Arnold encouraged me to contact the author with my concerns, which I did in a series of emails.

I’ll post the email I received as Hines’ first response to my review, and then some excerpts from the enjoyable email conversations I had with him.  My intent is to enlighten you as to his philosophy of writing, to introduce you to a delightful Christian, and to let you know what can expect from his fiction.  Hines gave me permission to share our emails here.

Hines’ response to my review:

First of all, thanks for such a thoughtful and thorough review. It would be wonderful if all readers engaged with their books as much as you obviously do.

I’ll give you my view (which admittedly, you did not specifically ask for). Maybe you’ll agree with some of it; maybe you’ll agree with none of it.

In my town, there’s a man who takes a bullhorn to one of the busiest street corners every Saturday, and proceeds to yell the salvation message to all the cars at the stoplights.

I’m guessing most people would consider him a committed Christian. And if that’s his interpretation of the Great Commission, that’s what he should be doing. Trouble is, I think that’s the way a lot of we Christians feel about the faith as well. We think all Christians have to be out there on the battle lines (because we always seem to frame it in war terms, don’t we?), yelling the gospel at the top of our lungs.

But I wonder how many unsaved, unchurched people respond to those kinds of messages today. Maybe I should say: “respond positively,” because a lot of people think anyone who attends church regularly is a wingnut…precisely because the guys with the bullhorns get so much attention.

If you’ll allow me me to be blunt, I think the modern church has a tendency to create exclusive circles. We speak in Christianese, our sentences filled with “blessings” and “praise” and “callings” and “gifts” and many other words that are code to other Christians…but have no meaning to people outside our circles.

I think, in general, we need to be more inclusive. We need to stop speaking in our Christianese code, and use words that are meaningful to everyone. We need to realize actions speak louder than words, and therefore realize talking ABOUT Jesus–yelling through the bullhorn–is less important than showing His love.

On the flip side, also in my town, a certain section of the city (known as “The Heights”) has tried to get a community swimming pool for some years. The residents put the issue on a ballot, and had it voted down (partly because the whole city, and not just the neighborhood, votes on the measure). Last year, a neighborhood church said, “Instead of expanding our church, we’re going to build that swimming pool for everyone in the community to use.” They encountered resistance, of course. Some people thought they’d hand out tracts to kids using the pool. Some thought they’d force residents to come to the church, or sign up for a home visit, or…something. But no. They are adamant the pool is going to be for use by anyone, without any restrictions or proselytizing of any kind. They’re doing it because they see a need, and they are serving their neighbors.

And you know what? People are buzzing about it, because it’s the exact opposite of what they expect from a church. Some might say the church is missing a great opportunity to give kids a gospel message while they’re using the pool. But others (myself included) see an opportunity to bring people into the church to find out what it’s all about…because maybe their perceptions have been wrong.

I say all of that to not to argue, but to show you what’s important to me and my interpretation of the Great Commission. In my writing, I want to give people something they’re not expecting on many levels. A bizarre story, of course. Some twists and turns. And ultimately, a redemptive tale that isn’t filled with the traditional motifs we find present in a lot of Christian fiction.

Perhaps what I’ve written on my site does give the impression I’m denigrating “traditional” (for lack of a better word) Christian fiction. That’s not my intent at all, and I’ll look at changing the wording to make myself clearer. I love to see all kinds of Christian books on the shelves, because I think we need those books to serve and encourage all kinds of people.

[ he did change the paragraph I referred to in my review ]

Are many of my readers Christians? You bet. Probably most–and I’m thankful for every one of them. But many aren’t. I’ve spent the last several weeks signing books at Costco stores around the region, as well as Barnes & Nobles. I’ve given several talks at public libraries, where folks of all different backgrounds come to listen. I have no qualms about telling them I’m a Christian, and I work with a Christian publisher–and then I talk with them about some of the obstacles I face as a person writing faith-based fiction in a world that often doesn’t want to talk about faith. (It might also surprise you to know I’ve delivered a couple of sermons, and written non-fiction articles for Christian publications such as the “Conservative Theological Journal” and “Stand Firm” magazine.)

Just as importantly, many of my Christian readers have non-Christian friends who read books, and I hope they feel comfortable passing them along to those friends. I want to write books that have the potential to resonate with all of them. For Christians, certainly, all my books are tales of redemption, which is what God’s unfolding story is all about. For non-Christians, they’re tales of oddity and adventure…but also starting points for discussion. (You’ll notice we put discussion questions in the back of the book.) Like the church building an unexpected pool for the community, I want to build unexpected stories that have diving boards.

In the end, we may not agree. You may find what I do as tepid, and I can live with that; debate and discussion are healthy. Our basic commonalities are far more important than any differences of opinion we might have. We both serve the one and only true God, and we both long to one day hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I look forward to someday celebrating that occasion with you, my Sister in Christ.

-Tony

My reply:

Like you, I am a bit afraid of the kooks who make loving Jesus look so weird for the rest of us. However, I feel it’s urgent we tell the message when we have opportunity, and before it’s too late. The example of the church and the pool is a good one; and I like how you tied it to your way of presenting God.

I don’t know if I’m spiritually blind to your tale, but I just don’t see God’s redemption in it. I see that he was “redeemed” by his co-worker. And I was wondering if they were going to stay in hotels together as they went off into the sunset, etc. I suppose I’m a concrete thinker, and I need the message spelled out.

Tony:

I’m not quite sure what Sarea did that could be read as redeeming Lucas; for that matter, I’m not sure what any person could do to redeem another. But certainly, she’s one of the catalysts on his journey. I think Lucas’s redemption is summed up well by Mad Billy Weevil, his angelic messenger: he becomes a person who looks and can see, a person who hears and can feel. Lucas discovers we’re meant not to live in isolation cut off from others, but in community with those around us. Being human is about being relational; being human is not about dispassionately observing the suffering of others (as the Creep Club and, frankly, our society, do), but by doing all we can to help the injustice we see. The moment he kneels at the front of the abandoned church to pray and the bird breaks free into the light, is symbolic of Lucas’s own transformation; he’s no longer afraid to be the person he was meant to be. The moment he refuses to kill his tormentor, the man who has made his life a hell since age six, is symbolic of Lucas leaving behind vengeance and hate and guilt. And the moment he sets off at the end of the story to find the springs that are so vivid in his dreams–the springs he visited in Great Falls as a young boy with his father and mother–promises to be a journey to healing waters, where he can be washed pure and reborn. He starts out as Humpty Dumpty, the ultimate broken vessel, but becomes whole by story’s end.

My reply:
My goodness, that’s why you’re the writer and I’m the reader. If there’s a sound for something going right over my head; it just happened. Thanks for taking the time to lay it out. I got the dove and the light part, but didn’t piece together Humpty or the rest. Lovely.

Thanks for engaging — probably a pain on your part, but fun for me.

When my husband was a plebe at West Point, he used to have to report to the upperclassmen so they could haze him. They would say “What are YOU LeGare?” and he would reply: “I am a wedge, the simplest of tools.”

Enjoy your Christmas and try not to think about “wedges” like me!

I love that wedge story…in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up in one of my books at some point. Wedges are my favorite kinda people–the people, frankly, I usually write about in my books.

-Tony

Unseen Christianity

It’s hard to categorize this book into a certain genre.  It could be called a techno-thriller; but then again it could be called spy fiction.  When I got further into the book I realized it had some cold war themes mixed in, so it might appeal to conspiracy seekers.  One thing is for sure:  it wasn’t Christian.  I guess this was the biggest surprise of all since it was published by Thomas Nelson.  It’s certainly not a “chick” book either; but I found myself unable to put it down.

Its author, T.L. Hines, calls this genre “Noir Bizarre,” which is an apt title for such a work. I think Hines has found his writing niche – very few could craft such a story.

The main character, Lucas, is an unfortunate loner who gets his kicks by secretly watching people.  But he’s no kook or peeping Tom – he only watches people in public places.  That bit of information alone puts the reader in a position of superiority – we know that if he’s a voyeur, (getting vicarious kicks from the stories he invents about people) that he’s surely a sicko.  But then we find out – we think – that he’s an orphan and had a terrible, lonely life.  This should excuse some of his eccentric behavior, shouldn’t it?  And then the reader wonders:  Were there really orphanages in Washington D.C. in the late 1970s and early 1980s?

If I had to rate it using the movie rating scheme, I’d give it a “PG 13,” for violence.  I was thankful that Hines stayed away from making his character a sex predator; but at the same time it was a bit unbelievable, because the main character’s voyeuristic behavior most certainly would  be mixed in with sexual dysfunction in the real world.

Hines is a master at getting his reader to think and strategize throughout the book.  He gives us just enough information to think we “get it,” and then dangles a piece of new information that throws us off track.  That makes the reading fun, and ultimately is what had me rooting for Lucas, the unlikely weirdo-turned-hero of the tale.  And I liked the people who liked Lucas.  His co-worker could be anyone’s good friend, and ended up providing an opportunity at normal life for Lucas.  But she shouldn’t have been his source of ultimate redemption.  That was my biggest internal complaint about the book.

I was specifically looking for something or someone in the story to point Lucas to the One who could truly save him from his unhappy and disjointed life.  There were several opportunities Hines could have used to tell readers the good news, but didn’t.  Again, since the book was published by a major Christian publisher, I expected to see some reference to Christ in its pages.  When I didn’t, I was sorely disappointed.  As Christians, aren’t we to give glory to God in all we do?   Apparently, Hines doesn’t think so.

Here’s what he says at his website about the lack of a spiritual message in his books:

“But if it makes you feel any better, I’ve heard from more than a few people who have felt my books aren’t “religious enough,” for lack of a better term. My faith is an integral part of who I am, and so the worlds of my books naturally reflect some of that. But not overtly so. Nowhere in any of my books will you find a big conversion scene, or a thinly-disguised sermon telling you to repent. I write novels, not tracts. And if you think I’ve preached at you in any book, let me know. I’ll buy it back from you.”

Is he saying that the skillful manner in which Francine Rivers weaves the gospel into her superb historical fiction is a sermon or a tract?  There are plenty of excellent Christian writers who use their talents to bring others to Christ without veiling the gospel at all.

The book was a great read.  The author’s tepid Christianity isn’t so great.

Through the Storm, A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World

by:  Lynne Spears with Lorilee Craker

First, my own confession: I read this book because I’m a blogger for Thomas Nelson.  It was a quick read, and filled the time nicely as we drove to our holiday campground. I wouldn’t classify it as a Christian book.

I was prepared to read the book with a jaundiced eye toward the entire Spears family, mainly because I considered Britney to be a bad example for my daughters. To tell the truth, I was a bit shocked to see Lynne Spears’ story marketed by a major Christian publishing house. After all in 2003, Britney kissed Madonna in a media event I’d like to forget. `Nuf said concerning her morality. Britney’s association with Madonna alone was enough to keep me away from her and her family.

Since the Thomas Nelson folks were kind enough to give me a free book, I did my homework before I cracked its spine. I watched Lynne Spears’ interviews and tried to understand her motive for writing the book. What I took away was that she wrote it for her children, and someone talked her into publishing it.

That changed my outlook, as I have often wanted to write my life philosophy and story for my children. I have also spent sleepless nights worrying about decisions my adult children have made. So I started reading with the hope that I’d find a kindred spirit in Britney’s mom.

Lynne Spears began her tale by telling the reader that the book is not:

· parenting advice

· a guide for stage moms

· a juicy tell-all

· a source for dirt on her kids

She also said she is not trying to persuade people to think well of her or to change their minds about her. Since I had no opinion about her whatsoever, I was ready to be open to what she had to say.

She then laid out what she wanted the book to accomplish. Her biggest reason for writing the book was tied to the loss of her sister Sandra, who died recently. Specifically, Lynne said: “I took a good look at myself and realized that if God were to take me, I wanted my children to know what my thoughts were about the most important elements of this life.”

After I read that statement, I was excited to read the book, because in its pages, a woman who loves God was going to instruct her children. I just knew the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ would be laid out simply and the plan of salvation clearly so her children wouldn’t miss it.

That wasn’t the case. Somehow she or her writing assistant missed the great opportunity to share the good news with her children and many readers. Instead, it got lost in a bunch of spiritual mush.

Lynne laid out the grace, mercy, and compassion of God throughout the book with such phrases as “God’s abiding strength and comfort,” or “God held me in his strong hands,” or “God had opened door after door” (concerning Britney’s career). But she never addressed the holiness of God. As I was reading, I was thinking “Can she honestly think that a HOLY God would answer her prayers that “Baby One More Time” would “somehow notch the Top Forty?”‘ (Sample Lyrics: “Oh Baby Baby the reason I breathe is you. Now boy you got me blinded.”)

Lynne’s love for her children shone through the book, and I can understand her devotion to them and their careers. But devotion becomes reckless when their spiritual lives are at risk. In her chapters concerning Britney’s rise to fame, she said: “day after day, week after week, year after year, during that era, Britney would be wearing out the floor with her dance steps and tearing off the roof of our house with the latest hit by Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, or Madonna. She was, in a word, unstoppable.”

During that same time Lynne referred to, I was raising a daughter who was Britney’s age. She wasn’t allowed to listen to any of the artists mentioned, let alone sing their music. We didn’t allow the lyrics, or the scantily clad women who delivered them into our homes via television, radio, or CD. Was Lynne out to lunch on this?

Later in the book, Lynne said she wanted to make Britney’s dreams come true. She said “What I didn’t know then was exactly what her dream was: to become a pop star like Madonna or Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston. She never said this out loud though.”

Pardon Me? I thought Britney was unstoppable in this regard. And so the book flops from Lynne’s feigned innocence concerning her children’s friends, managers, and motives to her regret for having been bamboozled by the same. She seems to want her readers to believe she was a victim of her circumstances with no control over how things turned out, while at the same time a practicing Christian. Her narrative wavered between “I am a strong advocate for my children” and “I’m just a simple southern school teacher” who was blindsided by bad people.

She alluded to her husband rededicating his life to God (not Christ), but never mentioned that he had any tangible faith in the first place. She even said she knew early on that he was a “bad boy,” but she hoped it was a phase he’d pass through. Similarly, she acknowledged that their marriage started on their own terms, without the blessing of her parents. Instead of giving this act a name such as “rebellion” against her parents, she sugarcoated it by saying “in my era people married young” and that they spoke their vows “on our own terms” (read – we eloped and broke my parents’ hearts).

What was her “era?” That was my “era” too, and I remember it as one of sex, drugs, rock-n-roll, rebellion, and feminism. People weren’t necessarily marrying young, they lived together! When I acted out against my parents, I was in rebellion. Were we living in a parallel universe?

Toward the end of the book, Lynne talked about her faith in less lukewarm terms, with hope-filled sentiments for each of her children. In a little message to her son Bryan, she said all things are possible through “Christ our Lord.” She mentioned the word “Jesus” one time when she quoted a line from the movie “Juno.”

I could discern, however, that Lynne has grown in her faith, and I have to give her credit for making it through the crucible of pain. She’s suffered some horrendous tragedies, and came out praising God. Here’s a list of the difficult things she’s endured, and explained throughout the book:

· Married young to an alcoholic

· Father killed in a freak accident

· First baby, Bryan, almost died twice

· While transporting her seriously injured brother, Lynne was run off the road and her car struck and killed a 12-year-old boy.

· Her mother had a bad reaction to a surgery, leading to mini-strokes and eventually a drowning death.

· Her sister, who was her best friend, supporter, and confidant, died of cancer recently.

· She and her husband declared bankruptcy.

· She divorced her husband.

· Britney has been rebellious since at least age 18 and has had some terrible fallout for her bad decisions.

· Jamie Lynn’s recent out-of-wedlock pregnancy caused another media storm.

What I took away from the book was that the Spears family is a lot like many other families in the United States – broken. It is a cautionary tale about getting what you wish for and not being able to get what you used to have back. It made me want to do an even better job of guarding my children’s hearts and minds from the world.

In a vague reference to salvation, she said: “God takes our failures and exchanges them for release and rescue. It’s called redemption.”

Hmm. How about this: We are all wretched sinners with no hope of saving ourselves. God sent His son, Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, to become sin on our behalf. As God’s perfect sacrifice for us, Jesus died a terrible death on a cross, was buried, and rose again in glory to be seated at the right hand of the Father, so that if we repent and put our trust in Him, we will be saved.

That’s called redemption, and we all need it — famous and obscure.