Understanding the Psalms

I was delighted with this book.  I believe the book of Psalms  is vitally needed for  life. I was happy to learn that  the whole Psalm is about Christ. This is a book about the first 8 Psalms. I hope  the author continues and write many other books about the other Psalms as I would purchase all of them. And recommend them to every one!!

I was moved  to meditate on the Psalms and  make them a subject of prayer.   I learned  some valuable lessons which I never knew one being  that Psalms 1 and 2 are originally one Psalms. You too will find many nuggets, you never knew about. It is good to have books with reminders of things one already knew but it is ever better  to have volumes with information in it you never knew. This enhances ones knowledge of  Christ the Lord!!

By the end of the book I wanted more so i could delight my self in God's law. For now I will re read this book and use it in my quite time so that I can be obedient to it. For Jesus set  an example , by praying and  meditating on the scriptures. May I be like Him!

Thanks  for the book!!

Missionary to Colombia!

This is the sequel  to Rusell Stendal  and how he returns to Colombia as a missionary! Can two arch-enemies reconcile? One man found they can if someone will demonstrate grace, mercy, and faith. 

I found his well  written and quite good. Some day I hope Rescue the captors  two books will be bound as one story.  This also follows the life of his family and  his daughters marriage and stay in the country! Overall, I'd recommend this book to those interested in what God's doing in Colombia.

About the Author

Russell Stendal, a former hostage of Colombian rebels, is a lifelong missionary to that same group in the jungles of Colombia. He is an influential friend to military and government leaders in Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States. Russell’s ministry shares the gospel via twelve radio stations, hundreds of thousands of Bibles, books, and movies distributed through airplane parachute drops, and numerous speaking engagements for groups of leaders, prisoners, and individuals. Russell goes wherever the Lord leads, whether it’s to speak with a president or to go deep into the jungle to help an individual in trouble. He has witnessed the Holy Spirit at work as thousands commit their lives to Christ.

You will be changed, inspired, and awed by these Christian Biographies. Russell has been ambushed, shot at, chased through the jungle and threatened by every means. Yet in all these dangerous and precarious hostage situations, God has supernaturally protected him. In seemingly hopeless situations, Russell has seen Hope! Russell is a regular speaker at Voice of the Martyrs conferences.

You won't be disappointed as you see God's hand working in this grand story full of pictures! Very inspirational.  It's written in an event-based journal style-- which I enjoyed. Check it out at http://www.lifesentencepublishing.com/rescue-the-captors-2-blog-tour/.   

Thanks  for the book to review!

The New Indian Slow Cooker- a cookbook by Neela Paniz

  I had to try this cookbook since I love Indian food!
The rich and complex flavors of classic Indian dishes like  chicken in a creamy tomato-butter sauce can take hours to develop through such techniques as extended braising and low simmering but with the crock pot this recipe was so easy to spin out. In fact we loved the sauce so much we had it the following day on meatballs!

The newest book in Ten Speed's best-selling slow cooker series, featuring more than 60 fix-it-and-forget-it recipes for Indian favorites.  So I was excited as soon as I heard that Ten Speed Press was bringing out an Indian slow cooker book.There is so much information included in this book and I suggest that you sit down and read it all before you get started on any of the recipes( who does not read a cook book any way?)The pictures are amazing! I do so love cookbooks with pictures to make you get into a cooking mood!!


Although I did not try this recipe it sounds good! Chicken Soup with Rice, Spinach, and Tomatoes murghi shorba

One of the more popular dishes we served at the Bombay Café was murghi shorba. I wanted to offer a soup beyond lentils, so using the basic method of another popular dish, Sautéed Chicken with Green Mango Powder (page 40), I came up with an Indian version of chicken and rice soup. Like any good chicken soup, it is a wonderful comfort for those ailing with a cold—and the addition of chiles certainly clears your sinuses!

If you are looking to make a stock without the flavors of the whole spices, just leave them out. If using this method for the chicken stock required in the Mulligatawny Soup recipe on page 41, do not add the ginger, chiles, cardamom, cassia, or cloves. 
 
Stock
1 (4-to 41⁄2-pound) chicken, skinned and cut up 
(see page 21)
10 cups water
1 large yellow onion, 
cut into 6 pieces
8 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 serrano chiles, with seeds, 
cut into 3 pieces each
1 carrot, peeled and 
cut into 1-inch rounds
1 tomato, quartered
4 whole black cardamom pods
1 (2-inch) piece cassia, 
broken in half
8 cloves
8 to 10 whole black peppercorns
11⁄2 teaspoons salt


1 cup hot cooked rice
1 large tomato, seeded and diced small
10 to 12 large spinach leaves, julienned
1⁄4 cup chopped cilantro,
for garnish
1 serrano chile, minced, 
for garnish (optional) 
1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges, 
for garnish


Before prepping the ingredients, turn the slow cooker on to the high setting for 
15 minutes, until the insert is warmed through.

To make the stock, add the backbone and wing tips of the cut up chicken to the heated slow cooker along with the water, onion, garlic, ginger, chiles, carrot, tomato, cardamom, cassia, cloves, peppercorns, and salt. Turn the cooker to low and cook for 4 hours.
Add the rest of the chicken pieces, turn the cooker to high, and continue to cook for another 2 hours.

Transfer the pieces of chicken to a platter. Strain the stock and set aside in a saucepan; keep hot on the stovetop until ready to serve. Shred enough chicken to make 11⁄2 cups; reserve the rest for another use, such as Sautéed Chicken with Green Mango Powder (page 40).
Prepare 8 soup bowls with equal amounts of the rice, tomato, spinach, and shredded chicken. Pour hot stock into the bowls, garnish with cilantro, minced serrano chile, and lemon wedges, and serve.

 Note To cook chicken for Sautéed Chicken with Green Mango Powder (page 40), increase the number of chickens to two, weighing about 3 pounds each, skinned and cut into 6 pieces each. Reserve the resulting stock for another use.

Neela Paniz

NEELA PANIZ grew up in Bombay, India. After moving to the US, Paniz opened Chutney's Indian take-out and the hugely successful Bombay Cafe in Los Angeles, and a contemporary Indian restaurant, Neela's, in Napa. She is also the author of The Bombay Cafe, which put her on the national map as one of the leading voices of contemporary Indian cuisine. Since selling her restaurants, Paniz has appeared as the winning contestant onChopped, taught cooking classes, provided recipes for many magazine articles, and been a presenter at The Culinary Institute of America.

This book will make a lovely gift for my sister in a few weeks!

 "I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

 

Prayers for kids!

The prayers are about broken toys, baby brothers, bad moods and daddies who work long hours. This is only a few of the prayer themes  I am not a fan of making kids recite a prayer but it is a good start for them just as we sue   the Psalms as spring boards for our prayers as well as the Lord's prayers). Delightful drawings in this cute book!

Claire Freedman lives on the Essex coast. She is the author of a number of children’s books, and has also written for Little Tiger Press. When not writing, Claire spends her time sailing, walking in the countryside and, when she can, travelling.|Jo Parry trained at Bournemouth Arts Institute before becoming a full-time artist. She illustrates mainly greetings cards, fine art and children’s books, adapting her fun, colourful style to each of these genres. She creates her characteristic style using an Apple Mac, and is fulfilling a life-long dream working as an illustrator. Jo lives in Bournemouth, on England’s south coast - 

Over all I think she did a cute job with this "poem"/ prayer book. It would be good to read a pae each night before your little one goes to bed!
This is a courtesy copy from Kregel.

*A Vine-Ripened Life | Stanley Gale

For the most part this was a good read as  the author Stanley Gale showed that apart from Christ we can do nothing! The cover drew me, it is very appealing! This book focuses on John 15:5

5 I am the vine; ayou are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is thatbbears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

In order for this fruit to grow, we must stay connected to Christ which requires a dying to self and looking to Him. 

Over and over Mr Gale points us to the fact we must have  a changed vine and produce much fruit! This book will help you grow in the charterer of Christ.

The only draw back was comparing Jesus to Aslan and the lion in the wizard of Oz. I thought these were lame examples, Any way I don't particularity think that  these Lions are good  examples of Christ both are to human and earthly. But despite this I used the book for  four days  reading it along side my quite times!  The many bible verses were a great delight!

You will come away from this book realizing that  God's design for us is not withered meager fruit, so we must  take immediate attention  and constant to our sins. This was overall a great read witch would really bless those in their christian walk!

I received this book for free from The Good Book Company via Cross Focused Reviews for this review.

For toddlers!

Big pages with colorful pictures to  make a young one happy! Mostly stories of the old testament. Creation, Noah, Moses, David, Daniel. Jonah John, Jesus and many more characters to meet!

You will use this during  church services to keep your toddler quite.  This is a perfect book for ages 1- 4 years old!  Teach them how the world began Beautiful paintings of creation! There are about four pages about each character. This book is not  out for sale yet but can be pre ordered  at christian book store, so do so now. Put it in the church lilibrary or nursery and b be sure to get your family a copy!

Thanks book blogger for free book!

Biblical Portraits of Creation: Celebrating the Maker of Heaven and Earth Paperback – September 1, 2014 by Walter C. Kaiser (Author), Dorington G. Little (Author)

 Coming some time in September 2014!

I was amazed  by this book. First the cover drew me! I have always enjoyed studying creation and  this book was very useful! A faithful and edifying exposition of key chapters in the Bible that speak of the glories of creation, including Genesis 1:1 2:3, 2:4 25, Psalms 8 & 19, 29, 33, 104, 148, Job 38, Isaiah 65 & 66, Proverbs 8, and selected passages from the New Testament. The volume provides interesting parallels between the old creation and the new (i.e., redemption). The book is divided into 12 chapters, each of which focuses on a particular text (some on multiple text), in which the authors expound the text and show God's grand work and plan in salvation.

Clearly I found this a useful tool!

Overall, I was blessed by this book.  It is a wonderful resource to study God's work in creation, whether in small groups, or  at home .  Make sure you are one of the first to order  this volume In this volume one is  commencing a study of one of the great books of the Bible, the book of Genesis There can scarcely be another part of Scripture over which so many battles, theological, scientific, historical and literary, have been fought, or so many strong opinions cherished. This book was right on target!

Note: I received this book for free from The Weaver Book Company through Cross Focused Reviews in exchange for an honest review. I am under no obligation to provide a favorable review.