Categories
Christian Nonfiction

“Startling Beauty”, My Jouney from Rape to Restoration by Heather Gemmen

Startling Beauty

“Startling Beauty is a stunning portrayal of spiritual and emotional restoration.
Raped in her own home, in fear for her children’s safety, and battling with a decision about the ‘morning-after-pill’, Hether Gemmen could have seen her life as one extended nightmare. But she didn’t.
Written with a rare blend of grit and subtlety, Heather’s gripping true-life story brings hope for anyone going through dark times.”


“I couldn’t put this book down, it was so good! I can’t even begin to imagine what Heather went through. The way she writes, it’s almost like you’re right there with her, going through it with her, feeling everything she’s feeling. It’s an amazing story of how God can take something so horrible and turn it into something so beautiful.”

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Categories
Biographies Christian Nonfiction

“C.S. Lewis” Author of Mere Christianity by Sam Wellman

Respected Scholar and teacher at Oxford and Cambridge universities, prolific writer of fiction, literary criticism, and poetry, and a committed atheist during the first half of his life, C.S. Lewis is acclaimed as one of the greatest Christian thinkers of the twentieth century.

To explain the Christian faith – and to unite Christians of widely differing backgrounds – he presented “mere Christianity.” The faith that is the center of the Gospel, freed of denominational and historical constraints. To explain the Christian faith, Lewis brought into focus what had become blurred: the identity and mission of Jesus of Nazareth.

Author of Mere Christianity, The Chronicles of Narnia,The Screwtape Letters, and many more well-known classics of Christian literature. Lewis’ story is one of faith and courage, and of joy that, once discovered, cannot be ignored.


Sam Wellman manages to give great insight into the life and motivations of C.S.Lewis in this book. It is not a difficult book to read and so it is perfect for light entertainment, but at the same time it has volume in the information it gives about Lewis.

The book covers the highs and lows of Lewis’ life that really shows the shaping and defining of his character and thinking that, with regards to Christianity in postmodernism, is still revolutionary today. With the Chronicles of Narnia having recently been such a big hit at the movies it is eye opening to be able to read into the background of the author.

Categories
Business and Technology Christian Computers and Internet

Church Next by Aubrey Malphurs and Michael Malphurs

Church NextWhen printing technology revolutionized mass communication more than five hundred years ago, the church embraced the technology – making the Bible widely available and changing the course of history. Today the Internet offers the church an opportunity for worldwide impact of the same revolutionary proportions. Now the church must decide how to creatively and appropriately exploit technological benefits for the sake of the gospel.

Coauthored by a father-son team combining ministry expertise and technological savvy, this book provides a balanced look at the twenty-first-century challenges of uniting ministry with technology. By examining reasons behind the decline of American Christianity, the authors illustrate the upcoming generations. Combining their uniquely matched experiences, they provide workable solutions to reach online generations with the message of Christ


I finally finished reading this book the other day and I would very highly recommend it to church leaders that are looking at using technology, specifically the Internet, to assist them in their ministry.The book is already two years old, which means that it is missing out on some of the new technology that is available out there, like podcasting and blogs, but the foundations are very good, as are the ideas and principles that are presented. We are looking at possibly running a communications school in the next few years and I am toying around with the idea of using the book as one of the textbooks for the school.Here is a quote from one of the last chapters of the book:

Churches should always think of their eMinistry as an ongoing process, not a simple, one time commitment. Consequently, it is important to develop a formal strategy for your eMinistry before it begins.

There are numerous case studies throughout the book and they work really well in assisting the reader to better understand why and how things are done.

Read the review on Amazon.