It's All A Conspiracy - Book Review

UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have to Be Crazy to Believe

A great read. I just picked this up at the local library and thouroughly enjoyed each page.

Belzer is a good writer and does acerbic wit with the best of them.

There is a lot of information in this book that will get you to thinking about what the government really wants us to know.

We already knew that Lee Harvey was a patsy, but Belzer puts out some info that may not have been in the full public view.

I heartily reccommend this one to read, but as Belzer says, don't use a credit card to buy it (think Mel Gibson's "Conspiracy Theory"). 

Book Review

Soulprint: Discovering Your Divine Destiny by Mark Batterson

My copy of Mark Batterson’s “Soulprint: Discovering Your Divine destiny” was provided to me by Blogging For Books/WaterBrookMultnomah Press.

“Soulprint” is the first book by Pastor Mark Batterson that I have read.

The book opens with the statement, "there has never been and never will be anyone else like you. But that isn't a testament to you. It's a testament to God who created you... You owe it to yourself to be yourself. But more important, you owe it to the One who designed you and destined you."

The author fleshes out this opening by using periods from both his and King David’s life to make the point that we each have a God imprinted calling for our life.

The comparisons to King David’s life were refreshing and give one pause for reflection.

To be honest, I had a difficult time engaging in this book. While there are definitely “nuggets” that I found in it, for the most part it was a difficult read for me.

I plan to re-read this book at a later date to try and glean more from its pages.

Flight of Shadows - Book Review

www.waterbrookmultnomah.com

"Flight of Shadows" is the sequel to Brouwer's previous "Broken Angel."

Set in a "not to distant future" America, this book portrays a society overseen by a "big-brother" style government, trapped in a caste system by which the rich run the country.

I had not read "Broken Angel" prior to receiving this book, so at times the plot and characters were hard to follow early on. FoS is still a very good read for all of not having the previous book to fall back on.

Somewhat formulaic in the plot, there is still enough meat to separate FoS from other "Fugitive" style books.

While the heroine, Caitlyn Brown, is interesting enough, I found myself much more interested the other characters populating the book:

Razor - the all purpose "McGyver"

Pierce - the conflicted agent chasing Caitlyn

Mason - the psychotic murderer on a mission of vengeance

Theo and Billy - the friends searching for Caitlyn

Caitlyn's journey of escape and her coming to peace with abnormality thrust on her by tampering with her genes while an embryo is just the outer shell of the story, Caitlyn's acceptance and reunion with her father is the more powerful and pervasive storyline.

There are passages which my be somewhat intense for younger readers. Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it) the intense sections of the book are nowhere near as graphic as what might be seen on cable, the news, or motion pictures.

The dilemma of genetic science and a country divided by class struggle is not far-fetched, nor unrealistic. One just has to read a newspaper or watch any type of newscast to know that our country is very divided along class lines, exacerbated by a government that is well on its way to becoming "big brother."

Author Sigmund Brouwer has fashioned a very good book, which will no doubt cause me to read "Broken Angel" to see what I have missed.

 I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. You can too, go to www.BloggingforBooks.org

Starting Again

On August 25, I lost my job. A series of stupid decisions on my part and a nearly 14 years of employment at one place down the tubes.
As bad as it was/is and as stupid as I was/am, God (as He always does) used the situation to bring about good.
Over the last month, I have grown closer to my family and my wife. Changes has come to my heart and while I'm not perfect, I'm a much better dad and husband today that I was on August 25.
The time hasn't been without challenges.
My health hasn't been the best for quite some time, but in some areas I'm feeling better.
Through the use of biofeedback I found out some interesting things.
I'm allergic to cheddar cheese, my type of deodorant, too much sugar in my body, I have too much stress, and a bunch of other things.
I've found out in changing some dietary things and taking some natural medications, that I can't eat pork, red meat and peanuts because they cause me to be ill.
The pain in my knees, ankles, elbows and hands has not eased any though.
But we are making progress.
Biofeedback does seem like voodoo a little.

Over the past year I have lost 45 pounds, and am down to 215. My goal is to get somewhere between 190-200 by the end of 2010.