Here you will find some books that we think you might be especially interested in. Many people at our conventions ask me what is my favorite book. That is an impossible question to answer because we hand pick all of our books. We try to read all of them, although I do have 50 or more that are on my “to read” shelf. Thankfully Beth, our daughter, critiques them for us also. So we will try to mention some here as often as we can.
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December 11, 2013
I just found this new series called the “Amarias Adventures” by Amy Green. The first book is called Quest for the Scorpion’s Jewel. This is perfect for my son, David, who at this writing is 11 years old. I would say the age range of the book would be 8-13. What I loved about this book is that it is not “Christianized”, with a few prayers and Scriptures thrown in, and it is not “sappy”, with too much Bible thrown in.
It is real. There are several characters who really don’t believe in God. They can’t understand how a God could let bad things happen to people. This is a good question, and one that I want my children to explore. If they don’t question this, and then really seek out an answer, they will never truly get to know the faithful God of the Bible. He does allow bad things to happen sometimes, and when we trust Him, He uses them to help us grow in our walk with the Lord and for His glory.
So, I like fiction books that show God working in a real way just like He does in real life.
Quest for the Scorpion’s Jewel begins with a young crippled boy, Jesse, who wants to be part of the Youth Guard. But only the best are chosen by the king for this very elite group. The mysterious thing is that most of the Youth Guard never come back from their dangerous missions.
Jesse befriends a group of the Youth Guard when one of their members, Parvel, is hurt and another killed. Although an unlikely candidate for the group, Jesse is chosen to accompany the other two in the quest for the Scorpion’s Jewel, while Parvel is left behind to heal. Parvel prays for their safety even though the others do not fear his God. As the story continues, Jesse begins to wonder about Parvel’s God and if He really does help people, even a cripple like him.
The story is well written, exciting, and points to our faithful God! But things are not finished at the end of this story, and many more questions have to be answered in the books that follow.
You can find the books here: http://findingchristthroughfiction.com/2013/12/10/the-amarias-adventures-by-amy-green/
January, 2012
Matthew Harding has written a wonderful fiction series called “The Peleg Chronicles”. It takes place right after the Tower of Babel and is filled with adventure, mystery and intrigue without magic or evolution. The characters portray brilliance, humility, pride, strength, weakness–everything that we shine forth and struggle with in our own lives. The first in the series is Foundlings. Paladins is next and his last and most recent of the trilogy is called Loresmen. I’m not going to go into the details of the books. You can read that in the descriptions on our website.
Matthew has taken a stand against evolution and old earth thinking. Some people, even Christians, declare it is ridiculous that men and dinosaurs lived at the same time. But the Scriptures tell us differently. They mention behemoths and leviathans, and even fire breathing animals during the time of Job and others of the Bible. That is what you will find in these books.
A few have questioned me about Matthew’s view on magic. They say that there is magic in the book because he writes about Druid priests, who use magic. Matthew writes about a time period in our history that was very dark and troubled. When you read in the Bible, you find God writes about priests of Baal and other religions. They were prevelant at that time (as they are now–maybe not Baal, but others). Through these stories, Matthew shows that the magic of the Druid priests is false, utterly wicked, and reprehensible. Matthew does not try to shield us from the truth. He brings the truth of God to shine in the areas of darkness that humans gravitate to.
I highly recommend these books. They must be read in order because they are cliff hangers. You might even want to order them all at once so that you can have the next one ready to go!
Paladins by Matthew Harding
[Price: $10.16; Title: “Paladins”.]
Loresmen by Matthew Harding
[Price: $10.16; Title: “Loresmen”.]
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July, 2011
I wanted to talk about a book that I gave family and friends last year for Christmas. It is called A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World written by Paul Miller. He honestly writes about the difficulties of prayer. He describes how when we come to God, we are all over the place. Our minds start to wander; we try to get back on target, and we start to pray. Then we remember we have to do something, and we get up to do it, but then we stop and try to start praying again. He calls it ADD praying (Attentional Deficit Disorder praying). We can get so discouraged that we give up. But Paul Miller encourages us through this book that God wants us to come as we are–not with any pretenses, but like a child prays, with candidness, and simplicity. He gives many insights into prayer that gave me the courage to pray for others and myself using Scripture as my basis of prayer. For those who struggle with prayer, this is a must read book. God will use it in your life to grow you in your prayer life!
A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller
Retail: $14.99
Our Price: $12.74
