by Blondina Howes Jeffrey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 3, 2016
A helpful guide for Christians who struggle with regret.
A Christian self-help book that urges readers to find relief from guilt in the loving forgiveness of God.
Jeffrey (When the Brook Dries Up, 2013) spent 15 years as a volunteer for a prison fellowship ministries program, a position in which she often witnessed others going through the corrosive pain of remorse. This spiritual manual is designed to teach her fellow Christians how to seek deliverance from missteps, and how to reconcile themselves to their imperfect natures. “The central theme of this book,” she writes, “is that God, through Christ Jesus, opened up a way whereby all believers can live abundantly and joyously, free from guilt and shame.” Much of the book offers a kind of theological anthropology that dissects the ways in which human beings instinctively avoid blame, but then suffer under the crushing weight of the ensuing guilt. Jeffrey contends that all human beings are special and unique, and generally meant to perform good works on earth. However, she also notes that people are also mortal and thus unavoidably imperfect and prone to moral error. The good news, she says, is that one can get a reprieve from one’s regrets if one turns to God for absolution, and that one may also find reassurance in the deathlessness of one’s soul. The author contends that one’s ultimate freedom is found in submission to a higher authority, and that no one can find peace without divine assistance. Overall, Jeffrey writes with great clarity and sympathy, and refreshingly avoids the kind of “doom and damnation” sermonizing that she believes dispirits well-intentioned Christians. Her scriptural erudition is obvious but unpretentiously displayed; she often draws upon her own experiences to illustrate her points, and she’s just as quick to make a reference to a popular TV show (such as OWN’s Oprah: Where Are They Now?), as she is to a biblical reading. She also helpfully includes work sheets with discussion questions for each chapter. Of course, this book won’t appeal to non-Christians, and even some believers may not find much appeal in an extended discussion of Satan’s interference in people’s lives as a “prowler on the loose.” However, the author’s lessons are skillfully crafted and impressively combine biblical knowledge with common-sense reflections on quotidian experience.
A helpful guide for Christians who struggle with regret.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-940243-91-7
Page Count: -
Publisher: Say So Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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