The great gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites. It give you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.

- Elizabeth Hardwick

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable holiday season, and that Santa brought you lots of new reading material!

The Purse Driven Life by Anita Renfroe

Non-Fiction: Christian Humor. Paperback from NavPress. Published in 2005. 144 pages. Borrowed from Jodi Olds of Plainwell, MI.

My friend Jodi read an excerpt from this book at a recent ladies dinner. The authors description of a mammogram was enough to make we want to read the rest of the book. She's very funny. It's not all side splitting funny, but it has it's moments and is certainly a good book for lightening your mood. Probably would not be as funny for a guy, but my husband read some parts of it and got a good laugh or two out of it as well. Nice light reading.

Publisher's summary:
The Purse-Driven Life isn't exactly about finding the deeper meaning of life; it's more about shifting your perspective just enough to locate the deep humor and joy waiting to be uncovered in everyday life. Renfroe offers a pull-no-punches look at the life of women, exploring such areas as:

-Trying to understand our husbands
- Mammograms and their fallout
- Hoping our kids don't end up on Jerry Springer

This is the stuff that could drive a person crazy, but won't once you look at life through Renfroe's glasses. Being a female in mid-life is not for wimps. But, it's a great time to discover the humorous aspects of our shared experiences and realize we are not alone.

Online book shopping:
Powell's: The Purse Driven Life
amazon.co.uk: The Purse Driven Life
amazon.com: The Purse Driven Life
Audible.com: Sorry, not available as audio.

Renovation of the Heart

Non-fiction: Hardback from NavPress Publishing Group. Published in 2002. 269 pages. On loan from the Kent District Library

I might as well go ahead and admit that Dallas Willard is difficult for me to understand without a LOT of rereading. In a style similar to C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, he starts off with the deep theological "stuff" then moves on to the more practical "how to's". (My husband informed me the other day that this mirrors one of the NT writers. Sadly, I can't even remember who he said it was from two days ago.) I mostly had to just read the theological stuff without really internalizing it and got more from the later sections of the book. Even knowing that I probably did not understand a good portion of what Willard has to say, I'd still heartily recommend this book! It's not your typical spiritual disciplines book, but rather a discourse more on what you are hoping to end up at through spiritual disciplines. As an aside, since finishing the book I've discovered that there is a version for teens (Renovation of the Heart: An Interactive Student Edition: Putting on the Character of Christ) and a paraphrase (Revolution of Character: Discovering Christ's Pattern for Spiritual Transformation) that are probably easier to ingest. I'm considering getting one of them to use with my teens in school this upcoming year. If anyone has experience with either edition I'd be happy to hear your thoughts.

Publisher's summary:
We aren't born again to stay the way we are. But how many times have we looked around us in dismay at the lack of spiritual maturity in fellow believers? It is evident in the rising rate of divorces among Christian couples. We find it in the high percentages of Christians, even pastors, who regularly view pornography. And we face it each time a well-known leader in the Christian community is found in sexual sin or handling finances dishonestly. Perhaps you have struggled with your own character issues for years, even decades, to little avail.

There's good news. You can experience significant growth in your Christian walk, shed sinful habits, and increasingly take on the character of Christ. In Renovation of the Heart, best-selling author Dallas Willard calls it "the transformation of the spirit"––a divine process that "brings every element in our being, working from inside out, into harmony with the will of God or the kingdom of God." In the transformation of our spirits, we become apprentices of Jesus Christ.

Willard suggests that many Christians today are crying out, "Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart." If that is your heart's cry, this book is the tool to take you to the next level in your quest for true, inward Christlikeness.

Online book shopping:
Powell's: Renovation of the Heart
amazon.co.uk: Renovation of the Heart
amazon.com: Renovation of the Heart
Audible.com: Not available from Audible. You can find it unabridged at Christian Audio: Renovation of the Heart

Christian Audio Free Download - December 06

I decided to give you a bit of time before I reminded you about the December free download, since I just barely eeked by on the November one. Hopefully next month I'll get it posted more towards the beginning of the month. This month they're offing a recording of The Pilgrims Progress: For Young Adults by John Bunyan.

John Bunyan was a simple maker and mender of pots and kettles who received very little education. In spite of that, he penned the most successful allegory ever written in the striking bluntness of untutored prose. He lost his first wife and was imprisoned for twelve years for his compelling—but unlicensed—preaching. Nevertheless, his preaching about the gravity of sin, salvation by grace, the cost of discipleship, perseverance, and the glory of eternal life lives on in the signs and symbols of The Pilgrim’s Progress. Embark on a perilous journey with Christian, the lead character, from the City of Destruction to the luminous safe haven of the Celestial City. The journey will encourage you to “set your hope fully on the grace to be given you” amidst the obstacles of life.