The Justice Game by Randy Singer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a great book. The author did an amazing job of telling separate stories and then bringing them together. All with a twist at the end.
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Great book. Lots of twists and turns. Since I’m reading anyway, I figured why not join these ladies in their challenge and get some suggestions for my ever-growing list. So, this is week two and I’m planning to finish The Band of Brothers. Mr. Fox and I watched the HBO Series made from this book after watching The Pacific and I had to read it. I read Flags of Our Fathers last year and then watched the movie and have been enthralled with books about WWII ever since. I normally refuse to watch a movie before I read the book but in this case I’m actually glad I watched the HBO series first as I’ve gotten more of a feel for each of the men and find reading the book is easier. Last week I read: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak and absolutely loved it. I blogged about it here. I also read Sweetie and really liked it. I haven’t finished this book yet, but it is so amazingly powerful that I had to share a bit about it! You can find more info here. I happened upon it at the Thrift Store and am so glad God made it stick out to me. In this book Monte tells about how his parents romanced his (and his siblings) heart to God. The things he says just blow my mind, really. The idea that my children may not have to go through the whole “rebellion” and “questioning” faith stage that seems so inevitable as I look around. p. 81 he quotes Arnie Burton in reference to Ephesians 6:12 “ought to make us as alert as we would be if we heard a news report that a psychotic child killer were stalking our neighborhood, looking for his next victim!” The verse says: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rules of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Um, whoa. Burton is right. That is a serious verse, one that I haven’t really taken to heart. On p. 82 Monte says that Satan “can still manifest himself as an angel of light. He can speak with eloquence and seem stunning in appearance. He is brilliant, knowledgeable, and powerful, and he has a firm hold on our culture.” This stood out to me because I often forget how powerful Satan is and how hard he is working against me. On p. 86 Monte talks about his parents boundaries vs. their rules and says, “None of us ever rebelled. I believe that our parents so out-romanced the competition that we were bound by an uncommon love that wooed and won our hearts. To violate their love in word or deed, in public or in private, would have been the same as raping our own souls.” I don’t have any words. I just keep hearing this last line over and over in my head. On p. 93 he talks about the different realms in which Satan pursues us and our children. He mentions praying in a group for some students who were going off to college and then the group realized they should pray for the High Schoolers, too… and that led them to pray for the middle schoolers and on down. “We wouldn’t dream of sending children to war in the physical realm. But in the intellectual and spiritual realms, where so much more is at stake, we do this without a second thought.” He’s not referring solely to school here, but as a child, school is where most of the day is spent. I love, love, love what he says about the ever-popular and abused “to train up a child” verse in Proverbs. “Train up” also means to “develop or create a thirst.” Amen! “Develop or create a thirst in the child so the child will start walking in the way he should go” – in a way of wisdom. He says there are two ways to create a thirst: behavioristic training and romancing. “A balanced combination… is the proper biblical approach.” This makes so much sense to me. And this is where I had to do some serious praying and heart searching. p. 102 “The crucial issue for us as parents is not what we know (although this is important) or how skilled we are at walking (although this is important) but whether or not we are actually walking in the way of wisdom ourselves. “Discipline imposed from the outside eventually defeats when it is not matched by desire from within.” – Dawson Trotman I’m not even half way through the book and already have written in it (gasp, I RARELY do this!) and know it’s one I’ll be reading over and over.
Phenomenal. Must read. A wonderful story, told so uniquely about a girl and her family in Nazi Germany. This list doesn’t include children’s books, I’ll keep better track of that in 2011. I think I’m missing some, I didn’t start using Goodreads til half way through the year. Fiction (39): Midwives | Bohjalian * Christian Fiction (14): Edge of Apocalypse | LaHaye Christian (8): Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul | Eldredge Non-Fiction (16): Battle for Iwo Jima | Leckie Books I Didn’t Finish: Gilead | Robinson (read half of it but just wasn’t compelled to finish it) * faves I’m slow on the planning here and am kind of just rolling with it but today we will start saying these T’day prayers at meals and we are making these turkeys. I will also read the kids this story of Thanksgiving. And I’m hoping to get some books from the library later today. I know we’ll do more crafts and I’ll post those as we go. Here are a few sites with some ideas for you: http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/thanksgiving/ If you know of any other links, etc, please share!! I’m still reading Prayer by Phillip Yancey and I just HAD to share this part: “At a hospital which specializes in leprosy rehabilitation…As we walked along a corridor, I noticed in the courtyard one of the ugliest human beings I have ever seen. Her hands were bandaged in gauze, she had deformed stumps where most people have feet, and her face showed the worst ravages of that cruel disease. Her nose had shrunken away so that, looking at her, I could see into her sinus cavity. Her eyes, mottled and covered with callus, let in no light; she was totally blind. Scars covered patches of skin on her arms… I’m ashamed to say my first thought was, She’s a beggar and she wants money. My wife, who has worked among the down-and-out, had a much more holy reaction. Without hesitation she bent down to the woman and put her arm around her. The old woman rested her head against Janet’s shoulder and began singing a song in Nepali, a tune that we all instantly recognized: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” This broke me. Hit me hard. It’s so, so true. For so long I have been desensitized to the suffering around me. We are taught to be independent, to take care of our own, etc. but what God wants is for us to take care of HIS children. We are to BE God to His people. When people interact with us they should be able to see Jesus, to see how He loves them and wants to have a relationship with them. I am guilty of thinking only of myself. God has convicted me and changed me and softened me and my heart is broken for those who are hungry, lonely, suffering. I want to DO something but I don’t always know where to start. I tend to think I have do something BIG but really all we have to do is start with ourselves. Talk to God, study His word and let Him have his way with your heart. Then you will BE the salt and the light that He has called you to be. You will BE Jesus to others and they will know by your words and actions who Jesus is. And who they are to Him. |
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