As a Blogger Grid member of Bible Gateway (#BibleGatewayPartner), I was recently given the opportunity to receive the new NET Eternity Now New Testament Series Box Set in exchange for an honest review.

The set presents all 27 New Testament books categorized  in 5 slimline easy-read paperback books: e.g., the books written by Luke in one volume, Paul’s epistles in another, books by John in another, etc. Put together, they tell the story of how Jesus Christ changed the world, and what it means for us today.

The books offer a new way to read the New Testament as a continuing story. For traditional Bible-reading folks like me, I don’t know if I would have looked into this series, but I’m glad I did. Key points I most enjoyed follow:

• A short 1-3 page Prologue opens each individual book of the Bible, setting the background of when and how it came to be written. This is both interesting and helpful before delving into the text.
• The section titles are well done and make it easy to find familiar gospel stories, for example.
• There are no verse numbers in the text! This makes for a refreshing read—more like a novel or an ongoing story.
• The volumes are easy to handle. Each of the five books are small in size (4 ¼” x 7 ½”), have a nice soft feel, and are easy to hold and read. They are small enough to tuck away to carry with you.
• The text is dark and a good readable size—unlike the tiny print found in many Bibles.
• The NET (New English Translation) version is excellent. I’d describe it as a happy medium between the traditional King James Version and the New Living Translation or The Message.

For a different reading experience of the New Testament, I recommend checking out the NET Eternity Now New Testament Series. You’ll find God’s Word come alive in a new and refreshing way!

(See the Faith Gateway Store for more details.)

Copyright © 2022 Cheryl Elton

Photo courtesy Faith Gateway Store

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George Müller’s ministry to orphans began almost 200 years ago, yet the example of his uncomplicated trust in God for every daily provision continues to inspire people around the world today.

In The Autobiography of George Müller, his richness of faith is on full display. The book gives a rare glimpse into Müller’s life through excerpts from his personal diary. We see his early life of rebellion lead to a striking conversion as a young man. We share his daily struggles and triumphs as he answers God’s call to establish the first orphan houses in Bristol, England.

During his lifetime (1805-1898), Müller cared for more than 10,000 orphans as the director of the Ashley Down orphanage and provided Christian education to over 120,000 children in the 117 schools he established.

Yet in all these endeavors Müller never asked anyone for financial support, held a fundraiser, or went into debt. He only petitioned God for his needs and waited for him to move through people. Often he received food donations only hours before they were needed to feed the children. Through countless struggles God supplied every need—each victory further bolstering Müller’s faith.

Christians can find inspiring takeaways sprinkled throughout this book. Mine follow:

Müller spent much time in prayer. He learned that his first concern of the day was not how to serve the Lord, but to have his soul nourished. Müller found rising early in the morning to do so worked best.

Müller meditated on Scripture before praying. Thus, he said his heart was “comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, and instructed.” This also helped him combat a wandering mind while praying.

Müller trusted God’s timing. Müller faced continual challenges and uncertainties in ministry just as we do. He persisted in prayer for more than 3 years for enough funds to come in to begin building the large Ashley Down orphanage. Because he was certain that the assignment was from God, Müller fully trusted He would supply. When money didn’t come in as soon as he would have liked, he adjusted his thinking to trust God’s timing, which always proved right.

Müller never borrowed money. Frequently he was questioned as to why he didn’t buy supplies on credit and trust God to pay for them later.  “I could buy a considerable amount of goods on credit, but the next time we were in need, I would turn to further credit instead of turning to the Lord,” he said. “We consider it our precious privilege to continue to wait upon the Lord instead of buying goods on credit or borrowing money from kind friends. God is now in the tenth year of feeding these orphans, and He has never allowed them to go hungry. He will care for them in the future also.”

Let God work for you. Müller learned that when we work deliverance to a problem solely on our own and don’t wait patiently for God’s help and solution, with every subsequent trial our faith decreases. He shows us that God will prove His willingness to help and deliver at the perfect time. Our faith then will increase.

At first glance this book could be viewed as a dry and boring read, but it progresses into an inspiring testament of unwavering faith. Müller’s words of wisdom on how to trust God in life and ministry will inspire any Christian who wants to wholeheartedly serve the Lord they love. It’s a book I’m glad I read, and will continue to glean inspiration from throughout the coming days.

Copyright © 2021 Cheryl Elton

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While recently browsing books, I came across Elisabeth Elliot’s Be Still My Soul: Reflections on Living the Christian Life. Perhaps because God’s peace is one of the most meaningful aspects of Christian living for me, and something I seek and write about often, the book quickly grabbed my attention as a “must-read.”

It did not disappoint.

Be Still My Soul proves why Elisabeth Elliot (1926-2015) is regarded as one of the most perceptive and popular Christian writers of the 20^th century. She writes with a simple yet profound eloquence that causes us to slow down, ponder deeply, and draw closer to God.

This short book is divided into easily readable chapters with headings that touch on a variety of topics. In a chapter titled “Helps to Holiness,” a section called “Trust and Obey” begins:

There is in each of us a kind of homelessness, a deep, unspoken, inexpressible longing for a safe place away from the clamor. Without God, most of the world tries to satisfy that longing with more money, more leisure, more things. Christians know that is futile, and yet we too hold back from choosing to cling to Him with single-hearted determination.

Another section called “Self-Effacement” in the chapter “A Servant Heart,” begins:

When I get to heaven, I want to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” not “good job, excellent and committed CEO.” In spite of the clamor of society around us, the urgings to succeed and conquer, I would rather emulate my fellow believers who have taken the narrow, lower way.

Throughout the book Elliot shares her reflections on many aspects of Christian living, including peace, God’s love, suffering, holiness, prayer, and walking with Jesus.

She has a wonderful way of seamlessly interspersing personal stories and struggles with scripture, thereby relating the big picture of how she has come to view God’s sovereign plan over her life.

If you struggle with the frantic pace of busyness in our can’t-stop world, this book offers an inspiring collection of reflections on living a life that is “far less about doing than it is about receiving grace, peace, and rest for our weary souls.”

Learning to be still, and leaving our anxieties and cares in the hands of a loving God, is what we are called to do, Elliot says. Here, she helps us do just that.

I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to go deeper with the Lord. I know I will return to it again.

Be Still My Soul portrays with simplicity and grace the beauty and wonder of learning to rest in God.

Copyright © 2019 Cheryl Elton

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Last week at the Montrose Christian Writers Conference, I had the joy of meeting Torry Martin, a faculty member this year.

Torry is an award-winning actor, screenwriter, comedian, and author. Tuesday night we had a blast watching his latest movie, Heaven Bound.

Not sure what to expect, I was eager to see just how funny this “Christian comedy” really is. I’m here to tell you it did not disappoint!

Heaven Bound is laugh-out-loud funny and more!

Ted and Josie Hoover are a married couple who seem to have it all. Ted is a top executive at the Mr. Mitzky Organic Gourmet Gluten-Free Dog Food Company. They own the fancy home, flashy toys, live a lavish lifestyle.

But one day Ted makes a terrible mistake that leaves him a villain in his own town. He loses his high-paying job, and as money dwindles, so does the lifestyle he and Josie enjoy.                                                 

Unable to pay bills, devastated, and desperate for money, they devise a harebrained scheme to rob millionaire Dr. Drake’s home, after getting wind he is about to donate his deceased wife’s jewels to charity. 

As Ted, Josie, and Moochie (Torry Martin), the unkempt brother who shows up in time to get in on the action, embark on their escapade, little do they realize that the good doctor has a home security system designed to keep people in the house. 

Dr. Drake also recently had a spiritual awakening. After spending years with his wife doing missions work and saving people through his medical expertise, he realizes he has never saved a soul.

Three burglars in his home present the perfect opportunity. He traps them in, determined to keep them until he can convince them to accept Jesus as their Savior.

As the “burglars” learn more about their captor, light shines on their own fractured lives, and on a God none of them had considered for a long time. 

Heaven Bound is outrageously funny, yet has poignant moments that cause us to ponder our own lives.

How well do I portray Jesus to others? Do I say “I love you” to my spouse and family, or am I too engrossed in my problems?

Have I lost perspective that life is bigger than the here and now?

The message in this movie is not an overt Christian witness. Rather, it reveals itself through cleverly crafted and hilarious scenes, with excellent acting and skillful dialogue.

I highly recommend this family-friendly movie, and give it FIVE STARS.

P.S. Before leaving the conference, I bought the DVD. Arriving home, I watched it a second time with my hubby.

I found myself laughing even more!

Copyright © 2017 Cheryl Elton

Photo images/pureflix.com

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In July 2013 I ventured solo to Philadelphia to attend my first-ever writers’ conference—The Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference. As I sat down the first day in my first workshop, the first person I spoke with was the woman sitting next to me, Sarah Lynn Phillips.

We quickly discovered we both were working on books, and instantly hit if off. Since that time, we have cheered one another on to see each of our books not only reach publication, but also win awards!

Penned Without Ink: Trusting God to Write Your Story is a book about trusting God, even when the unthinkable happens. Sarah writes with humility, transparency, and vulnerability the true story of a tragic car accident that left her with a broken neck, her daughters injured and shaken, and her husband teetering on the brink of death from a traumatic brain injury.

As the family gradually healed during the weeks and months following, they had to navigate new ways of living and interacting with each other.

Sarah captures the essence of hope as she recounts how she moved past the “whys” and “what-ifs” and learned to trust and rely on God, even through unexplainable losses.

With the backdrop that God has a hand in writing each of our life stories, through sharing hers Sarah inspires us to explore our own journey of trust in an ever faithful and loving God.

I highly recommend this well-written and inspiring book to anyone who needs help negotiating through tough times and finding God’s place in them.

Find more about Penned Without Ink here.

Copyright © 2017 Cheryl Elton

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Last week, while browsing books at the Montrose Christian Writers Conference, I discovered Break Out—a short easy read that did not disappoint.

It’s the incredible story of Jed Lindstrom, who left behind the unfulfilling life of drugs and crime to ultimately become a bold evangelist. 

Today, as Founder and Director of Lets Go Ministry, he goes into what he calls “no go” places—places others do not want to go—to reach those mired in the distress of drug and alcohol addiction with the gospel of Christ.

In his simple conversational style Jed shares his story, and how by age 13 he found himself sliding into drugs, alcohol, and crime.

For the next 10 years his life spiraled out of control as he dealt drugs, was almost always high, stole to support his habit, and spent time in and out of jail. At different points he became suicidal and homicidal yet somehow lived, at times against all odds.

Throughout this time God was quietly planting seeds, beginning with his encounter with Jacob Damkani, a man from Israel who shared Christ with Jed during a lengthy conversation in an office supply store. From that encounter, Jed says something in him changed, but not enough to quit his lifestyle until five years later. Throughout that time he says, “God chipped away at my stony heart.”

Finally, on a memorable day in October 2004, he landed in a jail cell during one of the lowest points in his life. Hours later, kneeling on the cold cell floor he begged God to spare his life and surrendered all to Jesus Christ—thereby discovering there is hope for change and a reason to go on living.

As Jed’s new life in Christ unfolds, God brings miraculous restoration to his broken life, including a wonderful wife, and the reconciliation of relationship with a daughter he never knew.

Jed shares from his experience that often the medications doctors prescribed and the rehab programs he was in and out of put a bandage on his problems, but didn’t address the roots. He believes that although helpful, these were never meant to be permanent solutions. Only Jesus is the great healer.

Today, Jed and Lets Go Ministry mobilize churches and ministries, by teaching in prisons, on the streets, in drug rehab facilities, and high schools around the world.

Although a life of drug addiction and crime is something I’ve never experienced, I have perceived the pull of the struggle with family members and friends.

Perhaps you have too.

Break Out is a quick yet powerful read of one man’s story—offering inspiration and hope to those struggling with addictions of any kind.

For more info on the book and Jed’s ministry, see www.LetsGoMinistry.com

Copyright © 2016 Cheryl Elton

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Last summer I had the joy of sitting in a class at the Montrose Christian Writers Conference taught by James Watkins.

I immediately sensed him as a man who deeply loves the Lord and desires to live for Him.

This month I’ve been enjoying a new book compiled and edited by Watkins called The Imitation of Christ: Classic Devotions in Today’s Language by Thomas à Kempis. For five hundred years à Kempis’ devotional classic has brought wisdom and comfort to millions of readers in over fifty languages—second only to the Bible in sales!

Watkins’ new paraphrased version has “modern and inclusive language that remains faithful to the original message,” making it easier to read and contemplate à Kempis’ profound insights on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

The book is set up in a clear readable format arranged by topic. True to the original, at times it is written from the perspective of the Disciple and at other times as if Christ was speaking directly to us.

The meditations of à Kempis invite deep contemplative thinking and insight. Perhaps that’s why this book has been changing lives for centuries. I’m finding my love for the Lord deepening in the process of reading just a few pages each day.

Here’s a sampling from p. 62-63, On Wisdom In Action:

The Disciple

“You must not trust every word of others or feelings within yourselves, but cautiously and patiently ask if the matter is godly. Unhappily, we are so weak that we find it easier to believe and speak evil of others, rather than their good. But Christ-like people do not pay attention to every bit of news, because they know that in human weakness they are prone to evil and untruthful words.

This is great wisdom for us: do not to be hasty in our actions or stubborn in our own opinions. A part of this wisdom also is not to believe every word we hear, nor to tell others all that we hear, nor even though we believe it. Take advice from a person who is wise and has a good conscience. Let us seek to learn from one wiser than ourselves rather than follow our own imaginations. A good life makes us wise toward God and gives us experience in many things. The more humble we are and the more obedient we are toward God, the wiser we will be in all things, and the more our souls will be at peace.”

I believe this book can help any serious Christ follower appreciate our Lord, grow closer to Him, and take greater joy in His presence.

Copyright © 2016 Cheryl Elton

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