Review of ‘The Full Armor of God’ by Larry Richards

Recognizing the spiritual warfare all around us may not be the difficult part of the Christian life. The difficult part is knowing exactly what Paul meant when he wrote Ephesians  while in Ephesus a place known for serving gods and goddess; demons.

Larry Richards, Ph.D. has written The Full Armor of God: Defending Your Life from Satan’s Schemes. The book, although somewhat brief, gets right to the point of how Christians should read Ephesians, Acts, and Luke in the bible. The author mentions plenty of historical, literary, and personal examples to highlight the fact that spiritual warfare is purely real and can be dealt with:

Recognition begins when we understand that real spiritual warfare takes place within the hearts and lives of individuals. Satan operates what Paul calls, “schemes”(18)

In our day to day events, demons watch for an open door in an individual’s life in order to cripple the believer. There is hope: Paul mentions a few weapons believers have in their spiritual arsenal to help fight the war against the enemy: The helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the sandals of peace, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, and the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God.

We must understand that all of the weapons except for the sword of the spirit are defensive methods. The sword is the only offensive tool mentioned in Ephesians. This is amazing to know because Jesus used the Word of God to defeat the enemy for a season while he was on a fast.

Below is a breakdown of the chapters:

Part 1: Understanding Spiritual Forces

Part 2: The Helmet of Salvation(Ephesians 1:1-23)

Part 3: The Shield of Faith(Ephesians 2:1-10)

Part 4: The Sandals of Peace(Ephesians 2:11-4:16)

Part 5: The Breastplate of Righteousness(Ephesians:17-5:7)

Part 6: The Belt of Truth(Ephesians 5:8-6:9)

Part 7: Conclusion: Ephesians 6:10-20

So, what is my reaction to this book? Spiritual Warfare is personal to me to begin with because I have experienced it in my life and used to grab up any spiritual book I could to help me understand a little more. No book is better than the bible of course, but Larry Richards gives some healthy background and advice as well as more tips on combating the dark forces with the power Christ has already given us.

The book is concise, easy to understand, and perfect for anyone wanting to understand just what the full armor of God is.

*This book was received from Chosen Books for my unbiased review.

Freely Love Valentines eBook Giveaway, Hands Sea, and Fortunes

Okay, so you have exactly 14 days to get these eBooks free. That’s right. Download these books until February 28, 2013

Here are the coupon codes for each book-NOT CASE SENSITIVE(clicking on the books will take you to their respective pages on Smashwords, or  title links below.

The Prayer Monologues CODE: MQ73Y

Sea of Iron Hands CODE: AV35Y

Mark of Fortune (does not need a code. Free forever!)

Book Review: ‘The Irish Healer’ by Nancy Herriman, 5 stars

The Irish Healer: A Novel by Nancy Herriman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nancy Herriman’s writing can be described as lovely, on time, and true. Her characters’ personalities and their flaws is what makes “The Irish Healer” such a wonderful read.

It is the 1830s and Rachel Dunne is leaving her home in Ireland to be an assistant to a physician in London. Back at home though, she was accused of murder and the town was set to gossip. At least in London working for the elusive, handsome Physician James Edmunds, Rachel may have a chance to start afresh and perhaps leave healing alone all together.

James Edmunds no longer trusts God with his medical practice or his family anymore. After his wife passed away, he had his sister in law take care of his daughter Amelia- to keep at bay his own mistakes from the past, yet when he meets Rachel Dunne, his new assistant, he wants her around more and more and he wonders if God may be giving him another chance.

What makes this story grand and pleasing, is that both characters are at odds with God. They have both placed their trust in Him at some point before but when things went sour, they lost their faith. So not only does Mr. Edmunds push against the grain of God’s will, Rachel does too as she refuses to help anyone sick for fear she may kill them, yet God keep placing her where she needs to be-

Especially when James Edmunds own daughter falls ill and it may be up to Rachel to push past her hurt pride to help. She endures the stereotypes and dreadful words from those who hate her simply because she is Irish but she does meet a few nice folk along the way who help put her faith back in place.

*Book was received from Worthy Publishing for my unbiased review.

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Free eBooks weekend: A look at ‘Dunamis Sanctum’ from ‘The Prayer Monologues’

Church in Vienna at Night from Microsoft Images

Dunamis Sanctum

Daily, I watch the way of people,

Observing and finding flaws so openly hidden.

They do not know what I know.

Some call me shy or fearful

When I avoid their eyes and

Am slow to speak- but they don’t know what I know.

My power comes from abstract dreaming and imaginings

Which doesn’t happen often. Night visions from God

For the appointed time-secrets told in due time.

My smile fazes you,

My praise astounds you, and all the while,

The Holy Spirit slices you from bone to marrow…

***

My Note on why I wrote this poem: I wish I can say I was only inspired by the Bible, which is part truth, but the other half of it involve how I feel about people’s personalities in the church and how we all worship God in our own unique way and should never rely on others’ worship as a model for our own.

For instance, I have been to a church where if you don’t jump around or shout with tears flying around everywhere- then you must not have the Holy Spirit. In other churches, Westernized churches, if you don’t dress in a starched suit or take off your hat when you go inside you are disrespecting the Lord.

This is also not true.

So one day I found some words, either by reading or doing actual research- I don’t remember which and discovered dunamis sanctum- which in Greek means sacred power.  I prefer secret power, but it communicates who I am because I am typically a quiet person everywhere I go but God has deposited unique gifts in me as well and traditional churches can not manipulate that.

In the poem here I highlighted a few choice words and phrases. “Openly hidden” is an oxymoron although juxtapose to one another to convey a point about me. An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms. How can something/someone be open and hidden? Well that’s me. A box of conradictions.

At Night is the hour/time I had dreams which were potent enough to manifest the next day or three days later. This doesn’t happen often though. I captialized the N in night because it is an important hour for me.

Finally, the last phrase, “The Holy Spirit slices you from bone to marrow” is just a comeback of what could happen to those who judges others. Learning God’s Word and languishing in His love while still doing kindly to our enemies who judge us is what heaps coals upon their heads. I put a different spin on it though.

That’s my explanation for this particular poem but you can enjoy the entire eBook for free at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/20106

A contemporary parable: The story of Yeres

Yeres

There once was a beautiful woman named Yeres, who was comfortable in the confines of her boudoir. Men came from all over the country, nearly the world to lay with her because the saying went: “She elicited unknown pleasures from men without producing of a child thus protecting him from his wife and his wallet. Yeres took a fellow to bed each night. Each night a different man whether of the religious cloth, a governor, prince or king. She began to tire of these fruitless nights.

She wanted a child.

She would think about how her mother prayed to this unseen god and would pray to his faceless face and Yeres would laugh inside. “There is none but us mother,” she’ll say after her mother’s prayers. But one day, after a gentle prodding from somewhere, Yeres went into the Night Temple and offered a prayer to the top of the dome. She could not dig to find tears. She was a hard woman.

Nothing happened.

Photographer/ miyukiutada

The next night, Yeres went into the Night Temple and offered a prayer and a few more moments of worship. She did this for three successive nights. Nothing. She did not feel warm inside, instead, she felt even more alone than before. She went to the witches, the soothsayers, the astrologers to give her some guidance and direction and they all told her the same thing: “You’re womb is closed.”

One night, while everyone was asleep in the village, Yeres thought: “I don’t want to pray for a child if my womb is closed. God has saw fit for me to remain in my boudoir.” She instead prayed for her long lost sister, whom she hadn’t seen in years. She prayed for her dying king, and she prayed that the rains would bring forth a good harvest this time. After a few days, the townspeople noticed a gray storm appearing overhead and a great burst of cool, rain melted upon the earth. It is said that the king’s spirits rose great that day and a stranger- a woman who looked like Yeres came into town, with a small child in her arms.

Yeres met the woman and it was confirmed they were sisters. The child was sweet and warm. A little girl with a smile like sunshine. Yeres sister had not long to live but commissioned Yeres to care for her little girl once she left the Earth.

Yeres kept that promise.

Copyright© 2012 Erica Jean Smith

All Rights Reserved

A christian whose versatile with choice of reading material-any harm in that?

 

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I promised in my last post to explain what it means to be versatile with genres of choice to read and write. I suppose there are many reasons why people choose the books they read- emotions and moods, curosity, work, school reports. anything.

My aunt one day handed me this thick, pink book of Inspirational Fiction with Christian themes- they were all romances and I read the book and actually loved it. I fell in love with Romantic CF but soon I fell in love with another genre- African American Romance/ Erotica while in college. After that I discovered YA books again with the introduction of Twilight in 2008.

Alright. That’s the watered down version and will be saved for a longer diatribe. The fact is I love to read. If there is a story I can relate to or wish to relate to then it is okay with me. I love storytelling and enjoy the many trips fiction has taken me on. I’m sure you know what I mean fellow reader/viewer/writer. It’s the best!

Different books have shown me different facets of my own heart:

R.L. Stine/Horror: showed me I can be spooked from the pen of an author and what power words can have.

Christopher Pike/Speculative-Horror: Christopher Pikes books took me to places where vampires can cry and young girls could be gods, and there is an answer to the afterlife if we search hard enough.

Christian Fiction/General: Helps me to see my life struggles and happiness are not my own. Some books have actually helped me with my prayer life!

African American Romances: Black women need love too Yeah thats all I got out of most of them…

So here I am,  a Christian Fiction Examiner who promotes these works to another kind of demographic. Am I a hypocrite for this? Aboslutely not! Books rooted in a certain theme or religion are not bad books if the writing is good. Period. However I am born human first with many sins and my color, culture and religion all come after that fact(singer Erykah Badu can explain this better than I can!) Anyhow, I have learned so much spirituality from secular fiction as I have from Christian Fiction. Put another way:

Secular Fiction= the reality of the need for a Savior.

Christian Fiction= needs to write more about the need for a Savior and not just those who are already saved.

For now I am comfortable in my skin, enjoy good music, books, and what I write about. All these things are me.

Question: Why do you like Christian Fiction/Secular/Both?

Christian fiction romance novel embued with emotion and reality at the same time

Earlier this week I wrote an article on Questionable Language in Christian Fiction and also visited blogs and forums which told the horrible  truth that most “clean” Christian Fiction are dull, unrealistic, and just not up to par with others. This does not mean that secular writers have it going on- many don’t.

Which is why when I read “My Stubborn Heart” by Becky Wade, I was pleasantly surprised. It has been many moons since I’ve read a good Contemporary Romance infused with Christian ideals and still love it. Here’s a brief review from my article about this book:

“Kate Donovan, 31, has had one bad relationship after the other and prays for God to send her a husband. Then one day her grandmother invites her to Redbud, Pennyslyania to a little town called Chapel Bluff to renovate her childhood home. It is there Kate meets the guy who will be renovating- the chocolate dreamy eyed ex- ice hockey player Matt Jarreau.

Matt, 32 is still grieving over the death of his lovely wife. It has been three years and the only way he can somehow cope is to help people with fixing their homes, retrieve to his dark home and brood around others.

That is until he meets, spunky, waif, and witty Kate Donovan. Meeting Kate can seem to be like getting hit head on by a train. The author is careful with word choice to really communicate Matt’s torrent of emotions as his heart and spirit wrestles with one question: Why am I still attached to my wife who would want me to move on?” (Read more on Examiner)

I never thought I could actually read a Christian Fiction Romance without putting it down and even now I have to reflect back on why didn’t I put it down? I think this is why:

1. The character of Matt Jarreau was described as physically gorgeous but had eyes that were a deep, deep unusual brown, it is telling of the tragedy he endured- this hooked me.
2. Kate is 31 and never been in a stable relationship. She resembles Audrey Hepburn and wear black ballet shoes or “flats” as she calls them. I like how she isn’t the typical 31 year old – whatever that means.
3. The setting was different and fictional- Redbud, Pennyslvania.
4. An old family home being renovated so I had the pleasure of reading about Kate’s love for antiques and watching the Antique Road Show.
5. Cooking! The foods they ate in the book sounded absolutely delicious!
6. There was overt mention of church, God, and faith- but Matt really needed these things and the author kept the plot realistic. No one gets over their dead spouse easily and Matt made it hard for Kate’s faith and care to pierce through.

I can’t say enough how excited I am about Becky Wade and I am anticipating another good love story from here. Visit her website for deleted scenes and other fun extras!

Also stay tuned for a post about why I am such a versatile blogger. In other words why am I knee deep in sensual fiction, action, erotica and still talk about Christian books like “it ain’t no thang”…And who else will be receiving this award? See you soon!

Crooked rooms, misrecognition, and anger in Perry’s ‘Sister Citizen’

This is not a political review(I hate politics), but a review of words and what connotations that hold for every word and syllable for every American. Besides, words can hurt and sometimes kill but they begin as small seeds and they  grow in minds, hearts and eventually the spirit and what grows in these places becomes our truth.

This brings me to Melissa V. Harris-Perry’s profound and intelligently researched book “Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes,  and Black Women in America”- a work that is timely and honest for some and too vile and “needs to be forgotten” for others.

The book hit on several good points, too many to place here on a blog post. There are a few terms Perry uses that forced me to slow down and reflect and remember. Misrecognition, rooms, and anger.

Black women desire the one basic thing a human needs next to water, food and air: Recognition. In 2012 it should not be a discussion at all about the validity of a black woman’s right to be judged as fairly as whites and men in general, but Perry uses statistics, past history, and recent history to show us that black women are still  misrecognized as something else.

Even when America first learned Obama had a black wife, I am sure many(including black men) went “Uh oh, she can’t be good for him. Will she submit to him? Will she be a mammy? Will she be the angry black women we loathe?

Turns out Michelle is none of that. She is herself, but we can’t change how others feel when they hear the words black and woman.

Secondly, Perry points out that black women live in crooked rooms. The ”Crooked Room” is based on a study of  field dependence during post World War II when individuals were asked to try to stand upright in a crooked room. Some perceived themselves as straight while others considered themselves perfectly straight because they were aligned with the crooked room(Perry, 2011, pg. 29)

What does this mean?

According to her research of how African-American women have been treated in America and quite frequently by their own men, these women somehow feel that the room must be right and they are wrong. I thought about this room and I thought about media images affect African-American women’s look and outlook: they wear wigs. They perm their hair. They may even feel they need to lighten their skin and submit to bad men in order to prove they can be just as feminine as their white counterparts. Sad.

Could it be that black women already feel that America see them only as angry baby making machines and not as feminine women who are also human? Or could a black woman have tried for a shot in certain positions in business and entertainment, only to be watched like an eagle in case she *gasp*– reacts like a human being?

This brings us to another word: Anger. When Obama got into office, many people both black and white probably expected Michelle to be angry and unsupportive of her husband. And like I mentioned before about words and their connotations, they grow and grow and become our beliefs. America’s collective belief is that black women are angry all the time and so whatever Michelle says in emotion or in jest or just her being normal is readily under the big microscope of judgement.

Other black women suffer from this as well. Perry digs deep into the dialogues and documentaries of black women during  Katrina in 2005, the Duke 88 Case, and even how comedians feel about black women not obtaining a man-comedians as experts??? Yes, Perry exposed this as well.

So were there any solutions offered in the book?

Not really. This is why I enjoyed the work. In reality, no matter how many blogs, videos, companies, or honorable things achieved by people of color in general. Once something is planted, it takes root. Perry does mention about relying on other “strong sisters” and how we turn to God for our help or just continue to have strength pulled from nowhere, but no one knows that at the end of the day, the black woman can go into her private place, curl up like a little girl and cry her tears. She can finally take off her superwoman cape and armor, she can finally look into her mirror and see a staining blush upon her dark cheeks and say softly: I really am a human woman. Huh? W ho would’ve thought?

For more about Melissa V. Harris-Perry and her research please visit: www.melissaharrisperry.com

What is a parable? Looking at the sower and those “stony” places

Photographer| Wolfgang Staudt

A parable, according to Merriam Webster’s online dictionary is specifically “a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle” It originated from late Latin, parabola which is formed by para + ballein(to throw more at)

Why am I even discussing this? Briefly, I’d like to mention Jesus’s reason and method for sharing parables.

First, in Matthew 13:3, he tells the story of the sower. If you do not know about this powerful story, please look it up online or grab your bible and turn to the book of Matthew. In a nutshell, it is the story of someone who scatters seeds everywhere and some landed on the “wayside”, others landed on the “stony” places where there wasn’t much soil. And still others fell among the thorns to be choked up. The rest landed in good, rich soil(read more of the story to learn what the parable means)

Now, one thing I enjoy about my Lord Jesus Christ is that he tells you the “why” of something-  including stories. In Matthew 13:10 the disciples ask him why must he tell these stories in the first place? Jesus answers that “the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you” and in verses 12-23 he tells the disciples “people see yet do not see and hear yet do not hear” and he breaks down the parable for what it means.

What Jesus meant with his answer can be interpreted in various ways; however the story of the parable is pretty easy to understand once you have a good grasp on life’s idiosyncrasies. Jesus talks about the prophecies in Isaiah, perception and knowing the truth.

All of this to understand one parable.

At first I was going to break down the entire parable here in this post and see how much fun we can have creating our based on the format of Jesus’ parable, but for now I understand(and I hope you do too), that it doesn’t matter if your parable is really, really short, or just “medium-short”, as long as it illustrates some sort of moral attitude.

It’s a parable.

If you have not already, please head over to my Fringe Fiction page to read my really short parables -this will be updated periodically.

Book Review Alert: ‘There You’ll Find Me’

There You’ll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Eighteen year old Finley Sinclair is preparing for a music audition, trying to seek God and is about to spend senior year in Ireland- the place her deceased brother loved. While there, she meets the teen movie heartthrob Beckett Rush and she gets more than she ever prayed for.

Finley, whose name means “fair warrior” has a few problems in her life and the main one is getting over her brother’s murder. To try and alleviate her pain and see the places her brother writes about in his journal, she travels to Ireland and decides to spend her senior year there visiting the sights, the sounds and the food in the beautiful country. However, once on the plane, she meets a seriously attractive guy in the most unusual way: By snoozing and drooling-on his sleeve.

The handsome stranger is none other than Beckett Rush, the teen movie star who plays a flawless vampire and is in every magazine causing girls to scream and faint on site. But not Finley. She has too many problems of her own and does not earn him the time of day. As the story progresses, however, we learn that Finley has another serious, dark issue which has been going unchecked and it will take a nun, an actor, and a dying woman to show her that God really is still in the picture and letting go of the pain to let Him usher in joy can begin to healing process.

What was so poignant and exciting about this book was Jones’ attention to the little things we miss in life: Such as how someone gives undivided attention when we speak, or when someone comes to rescue us, or how one small misleading incident can draw rifts between families. The very exciting part was how Beckett Rush was a movie star but was so caring- much too caring than a teen star would probably be in real life, but then again who knows? Finley became too unbearable to deal with towards the end, shoving away those who loved her when they began to notice signs of her secret. Again, in reality young adults still have much to bear but may not communicate their needs well if at all.

If You Like: Ireland, fish and chips, and a good love story, then you’ll love There You’ll Find Me

*Book Details:
There You’ll Find Me
Author:  Jenny B. Jones
Published: Thomas Nelson (2011)
ISBN: 978-1-59554-540-4(soft cover)
310p

*Book received for my unbiased review through NetGalley from Thomas Nelson Bonus

Review Feature: In the novel There You’ll Find Me, Beatrice is one of the mean girls with an eye out for Beckett Rush and this forms a kind of stumbling block for Finley. The reading group guide at the end of the book asks why would a girl be this mean. In my opinion, girls are only mean because they have severely low self esteem. Otherwise, why would they belittle  others?

What are your thoughts?

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