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Thoughts on the Christian life in a fallen world

Monday, December 28, 2015

Your Daily Brain - 24 hours in the life of your brain

From the minds behind Marbles, the brain store, and marblesthebrainstore.com, comes this book explaining what your brain does every day, every 24 hours. This book is divided into 3 sections, The morning, the day, and the evening. There are short chapters with a digital clock next to each describing what is going on in your brain during each of the times. Each chapter moves in 15 minute time periods throughout the day. from 6:30 AM to 9 PM. At the end of each chapter there is a paragraph summing up the activity.
This is an interesting book, but not quite what I expected.I would have preferred longer chapters, with maybe more technical information, Still in my opinion, the best parts are the paragraphs at the end of the chapters. that are short to to the point and full of information. It's the kind of book that appeals to readers into psychology and how people think. Or if you just want to know what your own brain is doing during the day. The author is listed as Garth Sundem, who has also authored several other book, including Brain Candy, Brain Trust, and Beyond IQ, He can be found at www.garthsundem.com.
I can see how this book would be useful those of us who want to find out how we tick, and how our mind works. This is still the kind of book that I like to read.
Published by threeriverspress.com.
I have been provided a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for this review.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Lay It Down- Bill Tell

Living in the freedom of the Gospel. There's good news for the weary.  Burnout, spiritual breakdown, depression. From the very beginning, the author uses quotes from a lot of authors that are recognizable to many readers. Among them, Brennan Manning, Tim Keller, John Eldredge, Wayne Grudem, and John Stott.  And that;s just in the first few chapters.  Other quotes from C.S. Lewis, John Calvin, Paul Tripp, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Phillip Yancey, and Charles Spurgeon.  He certainly is well read and obviously has a lot of respect for those that have come before him.
This is a very personal story of the author's struggle with burn out, depression and exhaustion, that lead him to a crisis and eventually intensive therapy. A lot of people that go through this do not have the luxury of two weeks of intensive therapy, let alone a support group and understanding people around. He had uncovered some deep seated issues of worthiness, culminating in a story of purchasing a new shirt, one that was not a hand me down, The realization that our identity and worthiness is is in Christ, struck him many years after.
This book is divided into three parts, God Views me differently, God Makes me different, God Relates to me Differently. In particular, his discussion of the difference between Punishment vs. Discipline I found interesting. There are quotes from a few versions of the Bible, some may have an issue with quotes from The Message paraphrase. The book does state that the devil will try to convince us to believe lies about ourselves, he is called the accuser for a reason. For those that have been through a similar situation, it offers hope and advice and confidence that there is rest and peace through trusting in Jesus for our sufficiency. He is all we need.
Bill Tell serves as National Staff development Specialist for the Navigators.
Published by Navpress, in alliance with Tyndale House publishers.
I have received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a review.