WORD up!

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Ruth Graham and the book: Fear Not Tomorrow, God is Already There: Trusting Him in Uncertain Times Howard Books (September 29, 2009) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ruth Graham is the daughter of the revered American pastor Billy Graham. She has appeared on a variety of radio and television shows and is the author of the bestselling In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart. Visit the author's website . Product Details: List Price: $22.99 Hardcover: 288 p

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 06/01/09 The most observant eye hasn’t seen what God has prepared for those who love Him. The mind’s eye cannot imagine what God has in store for those who love Him. What have your eyes seen? The beauty of a sunrise or sunset? The simple breathtaking process of growing plants or flowers and watching them bloom and fruit? The incredible view of canyons, mountains, oceans? The flight of a bird? The peaceful tranquility of observing a deer drinking from a stream? The formation of clouds that look like pictures in the sky painted just for us? The birth of a child? The death of a Christian ready to meet their Lord face-to-face? The glimmer of a gold bar or a perfect diamond? What have your eyes seen? This verse confirms that you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Jonas Beiler and the book: Think No Evil: Inside the Story of the Amish Schoolhouse Shooting...and Beyond Howard Books (September 22, 2009) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonas Beiler grew up in a strict and traditional Old Order Amish family during the 1950s. Now he is the cofounder and chairman of the Angela Foundation. He is also a licensed family counselor and founder of the Family Resource and Counseling Center in Gap, Pennsylvania. Visit the a

Give thanks to the God of gods. Give thanks to the Lord of lords. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:2-3, 26 06/01/09 The Hebrew for the phrase “give thanks” is yadah. It means to throw, shoot or cast. Giving thanks is apparently like an Olympic sporting event. Just toss those thanks out there! Whenever you are reminded of something that you are thankful for, throw a quick prayer God’s way. Like a relaxing game of catch with your Heavenly Father. Sometimes, you may need to be a bit more deliberate, like aiming an arrow at a target. Seek out something to be thankful for and shoot a word of thanks to God for that specific thing. Then there are those times that are like relaxing in a boat or along a peaceful shoreline while you are fishing. Cast those prayers of thanks to God as well. Whatever sporting event you happen to be participating in, be sure to include the Lord with a word of thanks.

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Melody Carlson and the book: Three Weddings & a Bar Mitvah David C. Cook (2009) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Melody Carlson has published more than one hundred books for adults, children, and teens, with many on best-seller lists. Several books have been finalists for, and winners of, various writing awards, including the Gold Medallion and the RITA Award. She and her husband live in the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and have two grown sons. Vis

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27 03/20/09 Jesus knew that His departure would break the hearts of His disciples. He also knew that, without Jesus in their midst, they would come face-to-face with their deepest fears. Jesus also knew that His time had come. It was time to leave earth to those He mentored to come after Him. So what did He leave for those He loved so deeply? His peace. Remember that peace is moving and active and alive. Christ’s peace welcomed interruptions and was confident in God and His abilities. We Christians have been given that same peace in the form of the Holy Spirit. What resides in us has the power to raise the dead! Have you used it, lately? Who have you shared the gospel with this week? Welcome the interruption. Pass Jesus’ peace to someone else.

“Everything is possible for him who believes.” Mark 9:23 05/13/09 Memorize this verse! Right now! What is possible for him who believes? Everything. Not one or two things, all things! Each and every thing. Any and all things. Big things and little things. As a believer, what would you like to be possible for you? Forgiving people you’ve held a grudge against for as long as you can remember? DONE! Loving someone you consider to be unlovable? DONE! Understanding a verse of scripture? DONE! Serving God? DONE! Reconciling with an enemy? DONE! The possibilities are endless… Read the Bible for some suggestions. God is very creative. He has allowed people to do some amazing things in His service. Pray that He will do something amazing in your life.

ABOUT THE BOOK Authors Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson love dishing up the stories of the six friends featured in their latest series The Potluck Catering Club—much to the delight of readers. “This is the way Christian fiction should be written,” one reader says. “No cardboard Christian cut-outs of sweet angelic women none of us can relate to. These women are real, just the kind of women I find in my own community.” A Taste of Fame is the latest book in The Potluck Catering Club series and serves up more of what readers have come to love from these feisty characters and the hilarious antics they find themselves in—which takes them this time to the Big Apple for their first taste of fame: The Potluck Catering Club that these six friends started is already a growing business when a budding filmmaker decides to cast them for a class project. For fun, they agree. That is, until they realize that he has entered his documentary in a new reality show “Great Party Showdown”—and they