Envision Publishing

I have always wanted to read this book so was really excited to see it available for review from WaterBrook Multnomah. (I am a book review blogger and received a free copy.) The reason I wanted to read it was to see if I could use it for a girl’s youth group bible study. Its contents did not disappoint. While I haven’t used it yet, I do plan to. I also plan to use it for our ladies’ ministry.

I think there’s a deep need in the church for women to know that they are forgiven and can have their lives restored completely by the grace of God and the love of Christ. This book gives examples and then asks the questions that help women know that they can truly be forgiven. No one is perfect. And they can emerge with the confidence that they don’t have to believe Satan’s lies because Jesus makes them worthy. God’s forgiveness makes it just as if it never happened.

Liz Curtis Higgs is an award-winning speaker and writer. She has addressed audiences around the world and is the author of eighteen books, including Bad Girls of the Bible, Really Bad Girls of the Bible, and Mad Mary.

Liz openly shares that she, too, was once a bad girl. I think this makes the book even more poignant and effective. I am more than thrilled to have this book and get to use it for my church. I give it five great big shining stars.

When the Bottom Drops Out by Robert Bugh

I chose this book to review for Tyndale because the bottom has dropped out of my life recently and is still continuing to drop. It happens to everyone. No one is immune to sorrow. There’s a saying in the south that says, “all God’s childrens gots troubles.” And it’s very true. All of us find ourselves at one time or another broken and in desperate need  of God’s grace.

Author Pastor Robert Bugh lost both his wife and best friend to cancer within a year and a half of each other. This book outlines his journey from loss to restoration and assures the reader how to hold tightly to Christ through the most painful episodes of life. While pain and disappointment are unavoidable, God is still faithful, and holding us close no matter the circumstance.

Pastor Bugh shares intimately the pain he experienced in the loss of his wife, and how much change is a hard thing to bear as well as the loss of a loved one. He also shares the joy of coming out the other side and the challenges of being a stepfather to his stepchildren and husband to his new wife. It seems that at every turn in life, we are given opportunities to rely on God’s grace.

This book is an excellent tool for anyone dealing with loss or personal pain. For me, the examples of Joseph, Abraham, Jeremiah and other Patriarchs encouraged me and gave me courage to face the difficult days ahead.

I plan on sharing this book with those who are suffering with me, and also to encourage those who have lost loved ones to read it. It’s a good book for churches to keep in stock to give grieving families, whether their loss is death, a child in trouble, or watching a loved one suffer with an illness or disability.

I give this book five stars because it’s truly an anointed book that God uses as a healing balm. I highly recommend it for others. It is good medicine for the hurting soul.