By Deborah Kirsten (reviewed by Sylvia Bester)

When I first read the title I thought:  How quaint!  However this inspiring, honest and sometimes poignant book is far from quaint…

What I enjoyed most about the book were the quotations ( duly acknowledged and in italics) interspersed throughout the chapters. The author blends all the spices  and flavours of life, different characters, exotic destinations into a charming and challenging story.  The book is beautifully illustrated with Debbie’s mother’s ink drawings and many photographs.

Throughout this engaging and “hard to put down” biographical work Debbie reminds us that our story is actually His (God’s) story

“ I am but the pen in God’s hand- He is the Author of my story” Mother Theresa

As we delve into the pages we quickly realise her wisdom, honesty  and strong spiritual commitment that have guided her and her family through the many challenges of life as the wife of a famous sports star. Debbie takes us on an amazing journey, filled with joy, disappointment, sadness, loss and grief all woven with the thread of her firm faith in the Author of their story.

From her childhood adventures  as a small town girl, daughter of a missionary father and teacher mother to wife of an international cricketer, mother of three and accomplished journalist and motivational speaker, Debbie keeps us enthralled.

This book is definitely a page turner, encouraging yet challenging, heart-warming yet heart-rending, insightful and thought provoking, funny yet heart-wrenching. It’s about ordinary people who realise and acknowledge the Author and Finisher of their faith.

“You can’t write a story together if you’re not on the same page”  Anonymous

Another must read and “proudly South African” product.

CBD PRICE: R135.00

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Author: Helen Thorne   Reviewed by Tim Challies

New from author Helen Thorne, this book addresses fantasy, erotica and pornography, and does so from a female perspective. Thorne is transparent (but not vulgar) in describing her own struggles with lust and in sharing how she has gained increased victory over the sin. She writes in a friendly and conversational tone, inviting the readers to join her arm-in-arm as they pursue purity together.

There is a rumour going around that women don’t watch online sex. There’s a school of thought that says that our fantasies are romantic rather than explicit. Some argue that we don’t think as visually as men, so pornography is rarely appealing. A few believe that we are, by nature, more pure and innocent.  I wish the rumors were right. They’re not. Not in my experience, and not in the experience of most women I know.

But there’s another rumor going around… That there is a way out. That, in Jesus, God offers forgiveness and change.

I’m so glad that rumor is true; that it can be the experience of any and everyone.  Eternity is open.  Purity is possible, and Thorne shows from God’s Word just how it is possible.

One strength of Thorne’s work is that she carefully addresses the heart and not merely the outward behavior. When it comes to sexual sin or any other sin that is manifested outwardly, it is so easy to fixate on behavior modification. But she coaches the reader in examining her heart, and learning the deeper sin problem that is causing her to act out lustfully. She deals well with true repentance, pointing out the difference between tears that flow out of shame and tears that flow out of a true desire to repent. “You can’t cry guilt away. You need to give it away.”   Read more…

CBD PRICE: R120.00

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Anne Bradstreet by Faith Cook

Published by Evangelical Press

At eighteen, Anne Bradstreet left England for the New World in search of religious liberty. Despite many hardships, she became famous as America’s first published poet. A devoted wife and mother, she was a woman of deep spiritual convictions, seeing the Christian life as a pilgrimage with a better world to come. Faith Cook shows how this woman lived ‘not to set forth myself, but the glory of God’.

Anne’s writings reveal the biblical truths that shaped America’s early laws and underpinned its society. Her humble dependence on God and her desire to live constantly in the light of a better world yet to come, ‘whose builder and maker is God’, provide a challenge to our frequently materialistic, earthbound outlook

‘Faith Cook’s biography of Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) is moving, delightful, God-glorifying, and packed with heavenly piety. In it, Bradstreet, America’s first published poet, declares that she wrote not ‘to show my skill, but to declare the truth, not to set forth myself, but the glory of God’. She exemplifies how a godly woman can balance standing in the limelight through poetry and politics, while raising eight children and battling illness, all the while maintaining a biblical posture of submission and humility. This stirring biography is great reading for men and women of all ages but is a particular gem for young women looking for godly mentors.’
– Joel R. Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids

Faith Cook, the daughter of OMF missionaries, was born in China and now lives in Derbyshire, England. She is the author of a number of books, including Fearless Pilgrim – the life and times of John Bunyan; Lady Jane Grey, the Nine-day Queen of England; Our Hymn-Writers and their Hymns; Seeing the Invisible; Lives Turned Upside Down and two historical novels, Under the Scaffold and Caught in the Web, all published by EP.

Retail Price: R157.14

Special Equip BoM Price: R100  (price valid until 1 October 2015)

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Reviewer: Tim Challies

We are witnesses today to a massive culture shift. Things we used to hold sacred are now subject to mockery; evils we would never even have dreamed of are now regarded as normal and beautiful. And everywhere we look, Christians are on the front lines—whether they like it or not, they are on the front lines. They are on the front lines of the battle between traditional marriage and same-sex marriage; they are on the front lines of the battle for life in the womb; they are on the front lines of the battle against sex trafficking and pornography. Wherever our culture delights in evil, Christians are attempting to speak with clarity and authority.

David Platt has observed this culture shift and in his new book calls upon Christians to ensure they will not stand idly by. Counter Culture is, according to the subtitle, a “A Compassionate Call to Counter Culture in a World of Poverty, Same-Sex Marriage, Racism, Sex Slavery, Immigration, Abortion, Persecution, Orphans and Pornography.” Platt calls on Christians to wade into the cultural battlefield and to represent Jesus.

He begins with the gospel. He believes that the gospel is meant to compel the Christian to take action, saying “the gospel is the lifeblood of Christianity, and it provides the foundation for countering culture. For when we truly believe the gospel, we begin to realize that the gospel not only compels Christians to confront social issues in the culture around us. The gospel actually creates confrontation with the culture around—and within—us.” The gospel creates confrontation through its most outlandish and offensive claim:

The most offensive and countercultural claim in Christianity is not what Christians believe about homosexuality or abortion, marriage or religious liberty. Instead, the most offensive claim in Christianity is that God is the Creator, Owner, and Judge of every person on the planet. Every one of us stands before him guilty of sin, and the only way to be reconciled to him is through faith in Jesus, the crucified Saviour and risen King. All who trust in his love will experience everlasting life while all who turn from his lordship will suffer everlasting death.

With the gospel foundation in place, Platt sets out to draw attention to some of the most pressing issues of our day, and to show “how the gospel moves Christians to counter all of these issues in our culture with conviction, compassion, and courage.”

The heart of the book is a chapter-length examination of several major culture concerns: Poverty, same-sex marriage, racism, sex slavery, immigration, abortion, persecution, orphans and widows, and pornography. In every case Platt outlines the issue, shows how the gospel speaks to it, and then calls the Christian to action. He is a gifted writer and storyteller and often interweaves the chapters with tales of people he has met and situations he has encountered in his many travels. He is also a gifted theologian, and draws both deeply and accurately from the wells of Scripture. Inevitably some will wonder how this book compares to his bestselling book Radical, and I would say it has all the passion and intensity, but with far more nuance.

In the end, his call is both strong and convicting. Early in the book he lauds Christians for the ways they have already countered culture, but expresses this concern: “On popular issues like poverty and slavery, where Christians are likely to be applauded for our social action, we are quick to stand up and speak out. Yet on controversial issues like homosexuality and abortion, where Christians are likely to be criticized for our involvement, we are content to sit down and stay quiet. It’s as if we’ve decided to pick and choose which social issues we’ll contest and which we’ll concede. And our picking and choosing normally revolves around what is most comfortable—and least costly—for us in our culture.” He is exactly right, and in this book he brings needed balance, dwelling not only on issues that will earn applause, but also the issues that will earn criticism or even persecution.

Platt believes that “the greatest way to achieve social and cultural transformation is not by focusing on social and cultural transformation, but by giving our lives to gospel proclamation.” I agree entirely. His hope for our generation is this: “May it be said of us that we not only held firm to the gospel, but that we spoke clearly with the gospel to the most pressing issues of our day.” Counter Culture will equip you to do that very thing.

Watch a trailer here on Counter Culture.

CBD PRICE (hardcover):  R290.00

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Honour Begins at home : By Randy Alcorn

Courageous is an inspiring new story about everyday heroes who long to be the kinds of dads that make a lifelong impact on their children. As law enforcement officers, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, and their partners willingly stand up to the worst the world can offer. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood. While they consistently give their best on the job, good enough seems to be all they can muster as dads. But they’re quickly discovering that their standard is missing the mark.

They know that God desires to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, but their children are beginning to drift farther and farther away from them. Will they be able to find a way to serve and protect those who are most dear to them? When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a new found urgency help these dads draw closer to God . . . and to their children?

CBD PRICE: R140.00   DVD: R140.00         Also available as a bible study

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The Theology of washing dishes : By Tim Chester

Reviewed by Sylvia Bester

If you’re anything like me you’ll hate washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen!

In this delightful booklet Tim Chester reminds us that mundane tasks such as washing the dishes can be done for the glory of God.  We read that because we have the wrong approach to these everyday tasks they become tedious and joyless.

What then should our attitude be to this seemingly irksome and useless activity?

Tim gives us 2 suggestions:

1. Ordering Chaos: “We are expressing our true humanity and sharing in God’s joy at creation. It is the same with washing the dishes.  The dirty dishes become a pile of clean crockery. The cluttered kitchen becomes new again” (Page 10)
2. Serving Others: “ How do we move from washing the dishes as an unpleasant duty to joyful service?

Part of the answer,  I think, is to offer the washing of the dishes to god as an act of service, to consciously think of doing the dishes in God’s presence for God’s pleasure” (Page 16).  So, washing the dishes  can become a delight and is our sacrifice of praise for the finished sacrifice of Christ

And that is just the first 21st pages, so I invite you to read on….. and see what the author says about:

• When Washing the Dishes goes Bad
• When You Should Not Wash Up

And more……go on… read it …..it will take an hour but it will change your attitude for life

CBD PRICE: R50.00  (booklet)

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Author: John Dickson

Searching for clarity in a world full of claims…

Written from a Christian perspective, this books struggles honestly with questions that face ‘believers’ and ‘unbelievers’ alike:-

• With so many religions on offer, can one of them be considered true?
• Or are they different paths up the same spiritual mountain?
• And how can any one person sort their way through the maze of claims?

Loosely based on Paul’s sermon to the Athenians, the book helps people to think through the issue of clarity in the minefield of religious faiths. It helpfully probes the issue that all faiths are of equal value and shows that such thinking is neither logical nor
fair to the claims of those faiths. The book goes on to suggest that certain faiths lend themselves to being more thoroughly examined because they make claims which can be checked and verified, and therefore offer a seeker a degree of confidence in their claims.

This book is not seeking to explain the Christian faith, but is rather encouraging people to see that Christianity is a faith that repeatedly offers us evidence of its truthfulness.

CBD Price: R75.00

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 Radical: David Platt

“What is Jesus Worth to You?”  “Do you believe that Jesus is worth abandoning everything for?”

In Radical, David Platt invites you to encounter what Jesus actually said about being his disciple, and then obey what you have heard. He challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated a God-centered gospel to fit our human-centered preferences. With passionate storytelling and convicting biblical analysis, Platt calls into question a host of comfortable notions that are common among Christ’s followers today. Then he proposes a radical response: live the gospel in ways that are true, filled with promise, and ultimately world changing.

“Through solid examination of the Scriptures and compelling testimonies from believers enduring persecution, my friend David Platt pulls back the curtain on subtle dangers weakening the church in our Western culture. Radical is the urgent call we need to care more about the spiritually lost and physically impoverished people of the world.”
—Ed Stetzer, president, LifeWay Research

Usual CBD Price: R190    Special Equip BoM Price: R150.00

Price valid until 3 August 2015 or while stocks last.

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By Tony Dickson

A child catches a rare brain virus and is affected for life. A father dies in a plane crash. A dictator murders millions.

Why doesn’t God do something about things like this? Why does he allow them to happen? In fact, can we still believe in God in the face of all the suffering and pain in the world?

In this short book, John Dickson looks honestly at these questions, and provides some compelling answers. He looks briefly at the alternative explanations for suffering provided by Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Atheism, before turning to what the Bible itself says about God, justice and suffering.

CBD Price: R95.00

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By Tim Challies

Reading is kind of like repairing a bicycle. Kind of. For too long now my bike has been semi-operational. It has one brake that just doesn’t want to behave and all my attempts to fix it have failed. Why? Well it turns out that I haven’t been using the right tool. To get the bike working I need to use the right tool. And when it comes to reading, well, you’ve got to use the right tool—you’ve got to know what kind of reading to do. Here are seven different kinds of reading.

Studying. Studying is reading at its best, I think, but reading that can and should be done with only the choicest books. Life is too short and there are simply too many books to invest a great deal of time in every one of them. And this is where so many readers go wrong—they spend too much time and invest too much effort in books that simply don’t deserve it. When you study a book, you labour over it, you read it with highlighter in hand, you flip back and forth, you try to learn absolutely everything the book offers. Only the smallest percentage of books are worthy of this level of investment, so choose carefully which books you study.

Pillaging. Pillaging is one of my favorite forms of reading, and especially when the book is in a familiar category and written to be very practical. I will often buy the latest and greatest books on business and productivity and read them at a rapid pace. As I do this, I am looking for tips that I can ponder and apply. I do not intend to allow these books to teach me a whole new form of getting things done—I have my system and it works well. However, I am eager to pillage these books for ideas that can tweak my system and make it better.

Devotional. Devotional reading is reading deep truths meant to make a deep impact on your faith. This is slow and meditative reading that requires an open Bible and plenty of prayer. The Christian faith has many wonderful devotional works that are drawn from the Bible and will, in turn, draw you to the Bible. Read these ones day-by-day and allow them to lead you closer to God as he reveals himself through his Word.

Skimming. In recent years we have heard a lot about the evils of skimming, and it is true that for many people skimming is now their dominant form of reading. This is not a good development. But having said that, skimming still has its place. Some books are worthy of little more than a skim, and especially if you have already read extensively in that category. If you have read six books on marriage, you probably don’t need to do more than skim the seventh. Most books will benefit from a skim before in-depth reading as it will both help you understand whether it is actually worthy of study and help you better understand the flow of the author’s argument. Do not making skimming your only form of reading, but also don’t feel guilty if you find yourself skimming twice as many books as you read in depth. The more books you read, the more you earn the right to skim.

Stretch. Stretch reading is going beyond the popularizers and reading the sources. Some of us find that we much prefer reading books by the people who write on a popular level and who make their topic eminently accessible. But sometimes we ought to force ourselves to read more difficult texts—the Church Fathers or Reformation-era writers, the historians or scientists.

Re-run. Re-run reading is returning to an old favorite to read it again. This may be that old novel that you fell in love with so many years ago and returning to that novel is like journeying back to an old vacation spot. It may be that formative Christian living book that meant so much to you when you were first saved. Either way, your purpose in reading this book is almost entirely pleasure; you are not reading it to learn from it as much as for the plain enjoyment of finding comfort in its familiar words and phrases.

Failed. Failed reading is an important part of any balanced reading diet. I speak to far too many people who feel it is wrong to stop reading a book before they have finished it. But sometimes you just need to admit defeat and stop reading. The more books you read, and especially the more books you study, the more you earn the right to give up on a few of them.

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By John MacArthur

With Father’s Day just around the corner, it seems appropriate that we review a book for dads…

As a Christian father, you bear a tremendous responsibility – to raise your children through both biblical instruction and personal example – But how can you succeed in a society that attacks the role of fatherhood and godly family values.  Are you sometimes tempted to give in or give up?

The rewards of being a dad who leads are well worth making the effort to stand firm. The Bible offers clear guidance for dads on how to parent effectively. Join pastor-teacher John MacArthur as he looks at:-

• the keys to building healthy family unity
• essential character qualities to teach every child
• how to lovingly discipline children and nurture obedience
• traps to avoid in the course of parenting
• the power of a dad’s example to influence future generations

This book will equip you in the pursuit of leading your family well.  You will learn God’s principles for instructing and disciplining your children – principles that will guide your kids to righteous living and bring blessings into your home.

Commit yourself to being a dad who leads, and God will enable you every step of the way. There is no greater joy in life than to see one’s own children walking in the truth.

CBD PRICE: R210.00  (hard cover)

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