The Reason by William Sirls

A collision of supernatural events and ordinary lives, The Reason, by William Sirls is a story of a small town forever changed by the appearance of an exceptional man and a series of incidents and miracles.

I wasn't sure that I would find this book believable but once I started the story, I found myself drawn to the characters, eagerly turning pages to find out what was going to happen next.  This book is very well written and the character development was a big part of what kept me reading and believing the story even though the events at times were somewhat extraordinary.  A small core of interconnected characters and story lines is always one of my favorite novel formats.

A series of miraculous happenings in a small town change the lives of those living there including a single mom, a young boy with cancer, a blind pastor and an alcoholic woman.  Everyone begins to see an association with a migrant construction worker who keeps showing up and saying cryptic things and these events that keep happening.  Some believe he is a prophet and others believe he's a more than that.  But whatever the characters choose to believe, none of them can deny that fact that some nearly unbelievable things have been happening in their town.  Everything comes together for an exhilarating conclusion.

This book was a great read!  I recommend it!

Call of a Coward by Marcia Moston

Call of a Coward:  The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife by Moston is a book written about a family who embarks on what many might say was a crazy idea of serving God.  Moston and her husband feel called to Guatemala, specifically to a remote village of Mayan people and they give up everything in their comfortable life to follow that call.

The conditions were difficult and Moston adjusted to life in primitive conditions, a language barrier, differences of culture and sickness.  They made new relationships and grew in their faith.

I enjoyed this book and applaud the faith it took to pursue a call out of all that is familiar to a place that is completely foreign with a daily life full of challenges.  However, I was expecting to read a book about long-term foreign missionaries.  It turns out the Moston family was only in Guatemala a few months before they came back home to America and took on a different kind of mission.  I was a bit surprised by how much the book built up their foreign missions trip and then how short it turned out to be.

Even though the book wasn't the story I was expecting, I think that is a good parallel of how life often goes.  Our expectations change and our perception of God's calling can change, too.  The Moston family was faithful to what they felt they should do and that is the true story of this book.

Cruel Harvest by Fran Elizabeth Grubb

I read this book in one day, nearly in one sitting.  I could hardly put it down.  A memoir that simultaneously broke my heart for the story it told and caused me to marvel at the resiliency of the human spirit, Fran Grubb's Cruel Harvest was an engaging read.

I've always been a sucker for a memoir, as I love to read about the lives of others, the challenges they have faced and the ways they found to surmount those challenges.  That is the plot of nearly every memoir and I am seldom disappointed in that story, despite the many differences in the tellings.  This book was no different.  The story gripped me from the first page and I was left at the end, wishing I could read more.  In fact, if I have any criticism to offer, it would be that the story seemed to end a bit abruptly, with much of it left untold. 

The remarkable detail of Grubb's nearly nonexistent childhood, abusive father and broken mother would break the heart of nearly anyone.  Yet even in the depravity that she was subjected to, she found love in her heart for her family and hope inside that the elusive someday would indeed be better.  I enjoyed the interweaving of her past with the story of reuniting with some of her family later in life.  Despite the challenges she faced and the innocence that was taken far too early, Grubb finds a way to trust the Lord with her burdens and she shares that fact freely in her storytelling without becoming "preachy" which often happens in memoirs.

Even though parts of this book were hard to read, I could not put it down.  Read it.

Running For My Life by Lopez Lomong

With the Olympics rolling along full force, now is the perfect time to read this amazing story.  But even if the Olympics weren't on, now would still be the perfect time to read this book.  It's that good. 

Running For My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games by Lopez Lomong is a story of hope, determination, support and dreams.  Most people have heard of the Lost Boys of Sudan, the children separated from their families during Sudan's long and violently bloody civil war.  But how many of us stop to think of where these boys have ended up as they have grown into men?

This story tells the tale of one of those boys.  Lopez, also known as Lopepe (his Sudanese name) and Joseph (his name given at his baptism), was taken from his family and wrenched from his mother's arms by rebel soldiers when he was just six years old.  He was able to escape from the soldiers' camp and ran for three days and nights with three other boys.  While running to what they thought was home, they were actually running straight towards the Kenyan border.

Lopez spent the next ten years in a refugee camp and through a set of circumstances he attributes solely to God, he was able to come to the US at age sixteen.  Through another set of circumstances, which he again gives God the glory for, he becomes a runner who is good enough to run collegiate races and eventually turn pro.  Lopez ran in the 2008 Olympic games and competed again in 2012 in London.  This book tells of all of the remarkable twists and turns his life took as he grew from a little boy torn from the only home he's ever known to a pro athlete on the other side of the world whose greatest dream is to give back to his home country.

Read this book.  You will learn something, you will be challenged in your faith and you will want to cheer your heart out for a remarkable young man who was once a Lost Boy.

Miraculous Movements by Jerry Trousdale

A book that encompasses both techniques for reaching nonbelievers and a collection of compelling stories of Muslims who have embraced Jesus, Miraculous Movements is definitely a book worth reading.  The book alternates between introducing and explaining the principles behind the Disciple Making Movement in a way that is understandable and relevant and stories of dozens of former Muslims and their amazing and often miraculous coming-to-faith stories. 

I think this book would be ideal for anyone who is preparing to become a missionary, whether abroad or in service in their own country.  The ideas presented would be easy to implement, are detailed but not constrictive and are biblically based.  In fact, the principles given in this book are useful to any Christian who wants to serve the community that they live in and reach others for Christ.  Although the book is focused on reaching Muslims, the approach that is explained would work for any people group.

The stories of Muslims who have become Christians were the most interesting part of the book for me.  I was surprised and amazed at the numbers and the research presented, but the personal stories of miracles and redemption were my favorite part of this book.  Weaving them into the explanation of the approach of Disciple Making Movements was a very engaging way to write this book and allowed personal examples to illustrate the points that were being made.

The 13th Tribe by Robert Liparulo

Robert Liparulo writes a novel that is engaging, fast-paced and an intriguing and fresh perspective on an age-old legend - immortality.  The 13th Tribe is a book that asks reader to believe that anything is possible, and Liparulo makes it easy with his detailed characters and command of story sequence.  Woven with mystery throughout, as soon as one question is answered, three more spring up in its place and kept me turning pages until past my bedtime.

The 13th Tribe begins with the idea that a group of Israelites has been punished with immortality for their sin of worshipping the golden calf in the time of Moses.  Since then, this group of forty people of all ages has been wandering the earth, searching for a way to end the curse.  Using their remarkable knowledge and power that they have gained over the last three thousand years, they have come to believe that ridding the world of evil is the mission God has given them.

The main character, Jagger, has his own demons to battle and has come to a remote archeological dig as a security guard as he tries to piece his life back together.  An unavoidable collision between this man and the Tribe's mission brings the reader on a fast-paced ride of intrigue, adventure and mystery.

This book was entertaining and made me think...immortal beings roaming the earth for thousands of years as part of God's curse for their disobedience doesn't really make sense theologically to me.  However, I am enough of a conspiracy theorist to leave a tiny margin of possibility, at least enough to allow me to enjoy this book.  And enjoy it I did.

I Am Second by Bender and Sterrett

I have to admit, it was the cover that drew me in first.  Clean, crisp white with just a boxy armchair and an intriguing title.  But once I read the snippet about the book, I knew I wanted to read it.  Bender and Sterrett bring twenty stories to life, complete with photos and QR codes which link to videos on the I Am Second website.  This book is a twenty-first century experience, multimedia, raw and real.

Each story was personal and honest, sometimes brutally so.  From famous athletes to former drug addicts, wealthy businessmen to reality tv show participants, the stories have a wide variety of components but one core message.  Jesus first, me second.  For every story in the book, there are links to one or more other stories just like it.  I did not take the time to explore the website, but it looks incredible at a quick glance.

I enjoyed this book, but more than that, I felt my faith was strengthened by it.  I believe the church is built up when we share our stories of meeting Christ and that is what this book is about.  It's not pretty or neat and it doesn't fit into the typical Christian box.  But it's real and I appreciated that.  I think others, Christians and nonChristians alike will appreciate it too.