The latest book that I have read through Thomas Nelson’s book review program was Dr. David Jeremiah’s “Living With Confidence In A Chaotic World: What On Earth Should We Do Now?” I have been a big fan of Dr. Jeremiah and the work that the Lord is doing through him.  Dr. Jeremiah uses some of the most clear speech to bring God’s word to people.  I have read many of his previous books.

This work seems to be a follow-up to a work (“What in the World is Going On?”).  I think that it might have helped to read that book first.  I had a little trouble following Dr. Jeremiah’s line from chapter to chapter.  One thing that I did find still in his work was  the great use of illustrations.  I have always admired Dr. Jeremiah’s ability to illustrate the Word of God and its principles with common everyday stories from our culture.

I would suggest this work to anyone who might be wondering about if God really cares about us and the things that happen in our life.  With the craziness of our culture, this book definitely shows that God is still in control even through the chaos.

Overall Grade: B

Last night, I finished this book from Austin Gutwein about his journey to making a difference in this world.  I was intrigued about this book when I found out that Austin was a young boy who really believed that God could use him to make a difference in the world.  This book was a very quick read for me and easy to follow.  I really liked how it had challenges at the end of each chapter for the reader to put into practice.

This story is amazing and so true as to truly how great our God is.  He took the small efforts of a young boy shooting free throws to change the dynamics of a culture torn apart by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  This book will challenge any reader to search out ways that God may want to use them to make a difference to someone in this world also.

I really liked the layout of the book.  It wasn’t filled with a bunch of facts and reports from what was going on.  It was truly the heart of a child sharing how God had rocked his world, and how that child was being used to impact Africa.  I would highly recommend this book.  I believe that it will get your mind to spinning about what can we really do… one step at a time to make a difference for the Kingdom of God.

Rating: A

I received this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers not long ago.  I was interested in seeing what Max Lucado had to say again.  I have been a fan of a lot of his work in the past because his writing is very easy to read.  For These Tough Times was no different.  The 80-page book was a very easy read.

For These Tough Times tackles the questions that many people hold inside: Where is God when bad things happen?  Does God care?  Does God hear my prayers in the difficult times?  Lucado, as a minister, has heard the cries of people like this often and put together a good work to help shed some light on these subjects.  This work does not seek to fully answer each question, but it does give a good starting point for each question.  The tone of the book seems more like a conversation that one is having with Lucado over a cup of coffee.  Lucado does a great job of using everyday illustrations to make the Scripture he uses come to life for the situations that arise.

I would highly recommend this book to those who are looking for some answers to difficult times that one may go through.  This work will bring encouragement and insight to any difficult situation.