Author: Charli

Southern Cross Volume 1 by Bec..

Posted 01/20/2016 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Ok, here goes. I am not usually a comics/graphic novel person. Probably because I’m not big on pictures in my books. I literally dislike graphics, pictures, graphs, charts, etc., in my books when I’m reading. I’d rather have the information with nothing breaking it up other than maybe different colored/sized headlines. I have to say, Southern Cross was very interesting. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading it and I certainly didn’t expect the ending! It kept me interested from beginning to end. While in some spots it seemed the artwork could use some work, that could also have been due to my reading it on a computer screen instead of on paper as comics/graphic novels were meant to be. The story line is fascinating and honestly, I’m hoping that the author/artist is intending to continue past the ending of this volume because I’d love to know […]

Unlimited by Davis Bunn

Posted 01/20/2016 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

At first glance you’d never know this was a Christian fiction story. The way the book starts out, you’d think you had started your ordinary, run of the mill action/adventure/mystery novel. But as you go on, you see sprinklings of why this is a Christian fiction story. The story was a very good one–and I admit that the mark of Christianity is not over done so the reader isn’t feeling left bombarded by calls to become a Christian as often happens with books that contain members who aren’t yet a Christian. In fact, while the Christianity in the book is obvious, it shouldn’t make anyone uncomfortable if they simply wanted to read a good book. This book moves fairly quickly, which is nice. There isn’t a lot of superfluous writing here–no lengthy descriptions of inconsequential things, just good solid storytelling. I kept wondering who was the mysterious “Jefe” and honestly […]

The Race by Darrell Waltrip, K..

Posted 01/19/2016 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I’ve been a NASCAR fan for quite a while so I know who Darrell Waltrip is. And I’ll admit, I thought this book was going to be more about racing than about being a Christian. I suppose I should have expected the Christianity bit by the publisher, but I wasn’t paying attention when I picked it. The book is surprisingly good and shows how you can live a life on the road, working every Sunday, and still keep and spread your Christian faith. While Darrell doesn’t so much talk about how he’s shared his faith–he talks more about how he kept it than how he’s shared it–Kyle Froman and Billy Mauldin talk about sharing faith as chaplains for MRO (Motor Racing Outreach). The Race brings a new perspective to Christianity. It brings the perspective of people who know that it is a struggle to be a Christian in our world […]

I Will by Thom S. Rainer

Posted 01/18/2016 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

This book will definitely step on some readers’ toes. I’ve always heard that a good sermon or a good book on how to be a proper Christian will step on your toes. That’s not always a good thing. In the case of I Will, it is. Too many times Christians (and non-Christians as well) focus too much on themselves. What they want. What they feel they need. How they think the church and other people in it should act. I fully admit even as a non-Christian that I have a specific idea of how a church I attend should handle their affairs. I have a specific idea of how the music should be, how the preacher should preach, how the congregation should act. And that’s not OK. I Will is about changing the attitude of church members from being focused on themselves, what they want, what they feel they need, […]

Autopsy of a Deceased Church b..

Posted 01/18/2016 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I found this book to be quite interesting and eye opening. I’d always wondered what could possibly cause a particular church location to shut its doors and now I have a fairly good idea of what those reasons are. Rainer doesn’t sugar coat the truth about why churches die. While to someone who might be a member of a dying church might see this as Rainer being a jerk, he really isn’t. He’s telling it like it is – this is a fairly apt description of what is killing your church and here are some ways you can fix it. I like that the book doesn’t just cover what’s wrong with a dying church but also gives ways in which it can be fixed–or in the case of a church that is clearly dying and unable to be turned around, how it can die with dignity. I’ll admit some of […]