Gifted Hands - Dr. Ben Carson

This book is the life story of Ben Carson who grew up in poverty in Baltimore with his older brother, and through encouragement from his mother, hard work and study, is now the Head of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.  He has recently been in the news for his comments at a prayer breakfast attended by the president  Link to the speech- .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFb6NU1giRA
Several chapters he reviews the environment in which he grew up, despite racism and a single parent home, worked hard, read books at the direction of his mother, and became successful. Dr. Carson discovered at a summer job that he had a tremendous eye hand coordination and vision.  That lead to medical school and a specialty n brain surgery.  The stories of his experiences in college and meeting his wife are interesting reading.  Through all of this, Dr. Carson trusted God for his leading and direction.  Several chapters describe many complex operations, some in which the patient did not survive, and many that did.  The directions of surgery and medical procedures is not for the squeamish.
At one point he "saw the impossibility of trying to do it all.  First, I concluded that my top priority was my family.  The most important thing I could do was to be a good husband and father."
I couldn't agree more.
 One of the most highly visible operations was successfully separating siamese twins. Even though Dr. Carson played a crucial role in this surgery, he refused to take credit and insisted it was a team effort, and mentioned everyone involved.  This displays a humble character and something that I personally highly respect.  Others have noticed also to the point of beginning the Ben Carson Club at Old Court Middle School that have inspired many students to read and work hard.  He also dreams of a scholarship program that recognizes pure talent in any field.
I would recommend this book to anyone who needs to hear a personal success story of someone who never played the victim or blame someone else, but worked hard and got his priorities straight, and can be a inspiration to others.

Published by Zondervan publishing. www.zondervan.com.www.authortracker.com.

Gods At War - Kyle Idleman

Defeating the Idols that battle for your heart.  The author is teaching pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky and has written a previous book titled Not A Fan.  The author states that your heart is a battlefield.  Many gods are competing for it.  And according to to Idleman, "Idolatry isn't an issue, It IS the issue."
The 1st of the 10 commandments makes it clear, that the one true God desires that no other gods be before Him.  This book reviews the battles that continue every day for our hearts, our devotion, and our worship.  Joshua 22 states that there is a choice to make about who you worship, and Joshua made it clear that "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  All of us have to make a choice.  There is no choice but to choose.  What or who will you worship? It is a question all of us must answer.    "All of us are worshipers.  Everyone worships." 
Each chapter tackles a specific god that may come up in our culture, such as the god of entertainment,  god of me,  god of money,  and the god of success.  These are broken down into 3 sections, The temple of pleasure,  temple of power, and the temple of love.  In the god of entertainment he includes quotes from C.S. Lewis and A.W. Tozer.
Mike Huckabee, Lee Strobel and Max Lucado offer praise for this book.  I found it a very readable and relevant book for today .  We may not bow down to a golden calf,  but being aware of the things that are more important than God can be just as much a god as an idol. 

Roger Ebert Comments

I was sad to read this post by Roger Ebert that he had no faith or belief in the after-life.  So many are commenting that this is a great approach to life, and that is even sadder.  You can read the entire article  at the link.  I invite your comments.
http://www.salon.com/2011/09/15/roger_ebert/