This was a unique read and the focus on not judging others and what it means to be a "true Christian" and not just a churchgoer made this storyline imThis was a unique read and the focus on not judging others and what it means to be a "true Christian" and not just a churchgoer made this storyline impactful. I enjoyed the characters, and the commentary on how the church so often loses focus of Christ's true mission in favor of self-gratifying pomp was excellent...although I don't necessarily agree with the book's emphasis on denomination not mattering. Especially in Christianity today, while it is important to put aside trite differences to unite for Christ, there are denominations that proclaim to be Christian yet teach a prosperity gospel or watered down theology. My only other complaint with this book was that I felt like there were actually a few too many storylines going on at once; while it makes it interesting initally, I felt bounced around a bit and confused. I would rather it focused on two or three storylines and fleshed them out a bit more. The Jim Whitley/Richard Faulkner bit wasn't my favorite. Overall though, Lamplighter ministries publishing has provided pure, beautiful, God honoring reprints of literature- and this is no exception! I would certainly recommend this book. In stark contrast to some other Christian literature, this does not rely on salacious shock value to sell its storyline....more
As usual, absolutely hilarious. The audiobooks (with Jonathan Cecil as narrator, always) create a very lovely diversion as I go about my daily tasks. As usual, absolutely hilarious. The audiobooks (with Jonathan Cecil as narrator, always) create a very lovely diversion as I go about my daily tasks. This is one of best ones for sure, although these books tend to blur in my memory. Bertie NEEDS to stop getting himself engaged to people! But the descriptions of Cheesewright wanting to break Bertie's spine in an increasing amount of places as the book goes on, and Bertie's descriptions of the "Wooster hare-like reflexes" had me giggling maniacally. ...more
Excellent and timely book about the 5 biggest lies/hot button topics facing our nation today, and how we are pursuaded by the world to be more lenientExcellent and timely book about the 5 biggest lies/hot button topics facing our nation today, and how we are pursuaded by the world to be more lenient in our view in the name of "kindness and empathy". As someone who unfortunately fell victim to this myself in 2020, attending Black Lives Matter protests (As a Christian!) who was convinced it was on the side of right...I deeply appreciate this book and how Allie Beth boldly and compassionately confronts these seeming just causes and exposes the lies behind them. We do not need to be ashamed of having the Word of God deeply influence our view (especially in politics!). ABS emboldens us to live true to God's word and not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. My favorite quotes: "Toxic empathy is a tool of the Deciever to convince women that biblical love means affirming someone else's sin. It makes its victims weak-kneed and simple minded, convincing them that standing up against evil is mean that niceness is an acceptable replacement for obedience to God."
"Affirming sin means nudging someone off the edge of a cliff. It means helping them toward the thing that's going to destroy them and those around them.
"Because God is love, we cannot outlove Him. The most loving thing will always be to agree with Him." "It's tempting as Christians to beleive that we can be nicer than God, that we can appeal to people better by being more polite or gentler than He is. We feel like we need to take God off the hook for the harsher things He's revealed through Scripture...........But this is both unbiblical and inefective. It's self idolatry, to believe that we are more loving and wiser than God, who is the source of all wisdom and love itself." "People are won over by Christian courage, not Christian compromise."
"Our job is simply to do the next right thing, in faith, with excellence, and for the glory of God. At all times, in all places, that is all the Christian is called to do. That requires us to be brace, thoughtful, discerning, reasonable, hopeful, cheerful, grateful, and steadfast. It is to beautify and cultivate the tiny spot in the universe, the miniscule speck of eternity, in which God has purposely set us."
WOW! The conclusion of this book is just excellently written. I would highly recommend this for anyone.