Showing posts with label missions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label missions. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Book Review: Touching Heaven by Dr. Chauncey Crandall

John 14:2-3(NIV)
In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

This book has the potential to challenge
boundaries and break down the walls
of hopelessness.

Overview


How a doctor's glimpses of eternity confirmed everything he believed about God, suffering, life on earth, and what happens after death. 

Dr. Chauncey Crandall knows his patients well. When they are dying, he sits at the bedside with them and holds their hands. He prays with them. Sometimes he can feel what they feel and see what they see. At other times his patients have near-death experiences and "come back" with astonishing descriptions of the afterlife. In TOUCHING HEAVEN, Dr. Crandall reveals how what he has seen and heard has convinced him that God is real, that we are created for a divine purpose, that death is not the end, that we will see our departed loved ones again, and that we are closer to the next world than we think.

My Personal Review:


Touching Heaven by Dr. Chauncey Crandall is a very unique and thought provoking book.

https://chaunceycrandall.com/
Touching Heaven by Dr. Chauncey Crandall piqued my interest for many reasons. At the top of my list is that the author is a cardiologist. Dr. Crandall’s experience and background in medicine is impressive. The book states that, “He is chief of the cardiovascular transplant program at the Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Palm Beach Gardens and is on staff at three medical centers.” Having worked for fifteen years as an RN, CCRN in a Cardiac
Intensive Care Unit myself, I am always drawn to the medical story, especially acute cardiac related events. There are many detailed stories within the book that chronicle the resuscitation procedures given to a dying patient. I was quickly immersed in the bedside care and high level of energy that fuels these life retrieving protocols. One particular narrative Dr. Crandall shares, where by the defibrillator did not fire when discharged, had me on the edge of my seat. That is a nightmare scenario for a code blue team!

 A close second on my list for reading this book is the idea that Touching Heaven intersects faith with facts. The collision of spiritual and physical will always make for an interesting read. I am a very logical, formulaic, algorithm sort of gal, so when I have an opportunity to be stretched outside of my comfort zone to a place that is intangible, I will never turn that opportunity down.  

Finally, I was drawn to this book simply because the author is courageously discussing heaven within the context of his personal experiences and observations. Given today’s culture, I feel this is a brave thing to do. I have much admiration for anyone who will take a stand on their convictions with such passion and unwavering resolve. I wanted to digest an evangelical physician’s perspective on healing, heaven, and our earthly purpose. I was not disappointed.  

Touching Heaven is a very personal story of life events in the author’s life. Dr. Crandall’s desire to share the importance of inviting Christ into every situation could not be missed. He effectively communicates the message that we do not need to wait to “go to heaven”, but rather the kingdom of God is wherever believers call upon the name of Christ. One of the most powerful statements in the book encompasses this idea. Dr. Crandall writes, “As we take up our spiritual authority, the situation we’re in switches from defeat and darkness and death to victory and light and life. This is the invisible but very real power of the kingdom of heaven.”

Dr. Crandall boldly interprets a large volume of scripture references throughout this book. His Biblical knowledge and application of God’s word within the pages of this work are inspiring. The unfathomable premature death of his son in the peak of his life, make the author’s testimony personal, credible, and urgent. Crandall’s transparency and willingness to share the painful grief, questions, and finally the assurance he found in Christ, provide enough content for an entire book all on its own!  

I read through the pages of Touching Heaven by Dr. Chauncey Crandall with an open mind, as well as a sensitive heart. I greatly appreciated all of the faith filled stories of healing that the author conveyed have taken place in a direct response to Jesus being “invited into your situation.” This is a beautiful and intriguing work. Crandall’s writing has the potential to challenge boundaries and tear down walls of hopelessness.


Thank you to Faith Words Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc for requesting my review and supplying me with a copy of Touching Heaven by Dr. Chauncey Crandall. I was not required to write a favorable assessment, but only to completely read this book and give my honest opinion.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Book Review: For The Love by Jen Hatmaker

This book will lighten your load and give
fresh meaning to the word, grace! 
For The Love~Fighting For Grace In A World Of Impossible Standards by Jen Hatmaker

Best-selling author, Jen Hatmaker is convinced life can be lovely and fun and courageous and kind. She knows how the squeeze of this life can make us competitive and judgmental; how we can lose love for others and then for ourselves. She reveals how to:

Break free of guilt and shame by dismantling the unattainable Pinterest life.
Learn to engage our culture's controversial issues with a           grace-first approach.
Identify the tools you already have to develop real-life, all-in know-my-junk-but-love-me-anyway friendships.
Escape our impossible standards for parenting and marriage by accepting the standard of "mostly good."

In this raucous ride to freedom for modern women, Jen Hatmaker bares the refreshing wisdom, wry humor, no-nonsense faith, liberating insight, and fearless honesty that have made her beloved by women worldwide.

My Personal Review:

For The Love~FIGHTING for GRACE in a World of Impossible Standards by Jen Hatmaker is a wonderfully burden breaking book filled with sound truths about grace. 
For The Love by Jen Hatmaker takes a relaxed and transparent look at the elements of grace and the pressure we put on ourselves to live it out in a "perfect" way every day. This book gently reminds the reader that the focus of grace filled living should center around the love we share and reveal to one another through kindness practiced in our everyday living; It is more about resembling Christ through a relationship with Him rather than trying harder to be better within our own strength. 


Reading the book,  For The Love by Jen Hatmaker is similar to the feeling one gets from a cool breeze on a hot summer day! With each turn of the page, I could feel the air becoming lighter...crisper...easier to breathe. Jen's candor and honest transparency throughout her writing is so refreshing to me that I can hardly put her work down. Instead of  rushing through and trying to read faster, I found myself reading slower, so as to savor every word. Well done!

Jen Hatmaker will bring a smile to your face!
After digesting this most recent work from Jen Hatmaker, the reader will undoubtedly search their own heart for issues that have been hidden and not dealt with due to the fear of being judged by a harsh world. Jen brings to light that releasing these concerns to the Lord will break chains and set you free to demonstrate the goodness of God wherever you are planted. The humor in this book is plentiful. Is she a comedian in addition to her writing career? I literally could not stop laughing during many parts of this book. Her unstoppable ability to bring liberation to a soul bound in guilt, fear, and insecurity is a priceless gift.

I think what I love most about this author's work is the way her "spicy" personality comes across in her masterpieces. She describes "spicy people" as those who "love obnoxious humor, sarcasm, and the tendency to be very, very loud." She goes on to explain that spicy folks have "enormous feelings, which makes us a passionate, emotional bunch. Our permanent default setting is exclamation marks. We don't really 'do gentle.' We don't actually know what that means." 

For The Love brings out this free spirited sense of abandon and translates to the reader in a comedic way. However, don't mistake Jen's fun spirited delivery with a watered down message, because her case for Christ and her consistent message that we need to reach out to a hurting world in truth and love are vehemently clear. Her insistence that God should not be our "American God Narrative", 'filtered through a middle class, white, advantage denominational lens' sets the stage for one of the most profound statements in the entire book, which is: "Theology is either true everywhere or it isn't true anywhere." Powerful, thought provoking, and true! 

For the Love  by Jen Hatmaker is a treat to read! It will be released on August 18, 2015. This book definitely has the potential to set a warm heart on fire...a captive soul free... a confused mind straight...and perhaps even change a grumpy countenance to a bright and happy one.  

Thank you to Thomas Nelson a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc for this complimentary review copy of For The Love by Jen Hatmaker provided through NetGalley. I received this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions within this review are my own.