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Mind Your Own Mortgage by By Robert Bernabe

2010-06-02T09:32:13-05:00

So i do reviews for books and i got one from booksneeze called Mind your own Mortgage. I am looking at purchasing a new home and this book could have not come at a better time. Mind your own Mortgage starts off with how the housing market got into the mess it is in today (2010). Then it goes into detail on what is going wrong with people and how they handle their mortgage. I feel one of the most important points that was made in the book was that when you purchase something today that you really don't need you are borrowing against your mortgage. Even if you have as little as 75$ a month to put on your mortgage do it. The worksheets that are presented show you how to shop and get good pricing on your mortgage. The one annoyance i have is that when you go to the website to get the forms you need to subscribe to the site. Now the cost at this writing is only 29.95 for a year. Not allot of money, but was not expected, how naive of me. :-D So anyway i read Gods plan for your finances before reading this book, and that got the ball rolling. Mind your own Mortgage reinforced the information i got from Gods plan for your finances. I am currently reading Money management for those who don't have any. It has some good info, and some things that i would not ever want to do, but this is not the place to review it.

So since i spend time writing software and not much is available for Linux in regards to good financial software i thought i would write something for myself to help me keep track of what is going on with my money. I plan on releasing it as OSS GPL but it may be a year or so. I have so many other things. Granted i will be using it before the year is up, but we will see.

If you have a mortgage or are looking at purchasing your first home i strongly recommend reading this book. The information in it's pages will save you thousands of dollars on your mortgage.

God Saw Them Through, by Glenn Thomas

2010-05-01T12:55:29-05:00

So in my reading today i just finished God Saw them through by Glenn Thomas. Now when i started the book i got to the second chapter and thought man if it keeps up like this it will be a long time before i am finished with this book. But once deployment happened things started moving allot faster. So much faster that i finished the book and was wanting more. I am almost sure that i read about the 2/8 in another book i have, but i have not found it.

This book is a testament to prayer and faith that God is in control. How situations happened that were advantageous for the solders of 2/8. I will give this books to friends and tell them, let the author introduce the soldiers in the first two chapters, because after that you won't want to put the book down. Also it's a reminder that we need to pray more, and set a specific time to pray. That is something that was mentioned in the book. People would pray at 9:00 pm eastern time each night. And how the Holy Spirit would wake people up and impress upon them to pray for specific people. It is an awesome recording of specific details of American military history.

This book is something that i will keep in my collection and share with many other people.

Living with Confidence in a Chaotic World By David Jeremiah

2010-04-27T09:04:49-05:00

This is the first work i had read by Dr. David Jeremiah, probably will be the last. In this book, page 52 Dr. Jeremiah is recalling the story of Peter being asked by Jesus if he loves Him, this is after the resurrection. I felt that Dr. Jeremiah missed one of the beautiful parts of this meeting. Jesus used the same type of coal for the fire that was used when Peter denied Him. The odour that would have come from that fire would have reminded Peter of the time when he denied Christ. Dr. Jeremiah in my mind destroyed the entire story to focus on the words that were used. I cannot tell Jesus that i "Agape" Him. I am not capable of "Agape" love. And to my knowledge the only person that has lived who is capable of that love is Jesus Christ Himself.

On page 180 the section on "Will We Be Ashamed?" Dr. Jeremiah says "Believe it or not, this will occur for many people." I do believe people will enter heaven and be ashamed. But my view is very different. I will be ashamed and filled with joy at the same time, because i will see what my Saviour Jesus Christ gave up to come rescue me and that it is now my inheritance. But what i don't think is people will enter the gates that have had opportunities to share Christ and did not. People that could freely grow in a personal relationship with Christ but choose that something else in this shadow of a life, was more important. The statement "My precious child, I bled for you on the cross. I gave all that I had, and what did you do with My gift?" Will be more like "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew 7:23 I don't see the point in giving people the false hope that all they need to do is accept the free gift, and never develop the close personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But for many i know they hope i am very wrong.

On page 213 Dr. Jeremiah calls for the church to wake up. Granted this is quoted from another book that he included, but it is very well needed to be said. "we need to take down our 'Do not disturb' signs, snap out of our stupor, come out of our coma, and awake from out apathy." On this point i whole heartily agree. The "Church" has become so pathetic that it's not even funny. They have let in "wolves in sheeps' clothing" Matthew 7:15. Not all churches are this way, but to many are trying to pass themselves as Christian Churches, but are nothing more than abominations.

This book did have some good points, but i would not recommend it to friends. However my close brothers i would let read, so if needed they could correct me in my views of it if needed.

Take your best shot by Austin Gutwein and Todd Hillard

2009-10-04T14:43:29-05:00

So i got my new book Saturday "Take your best shot". This is the story behind Hoops of Hope and how it got started. Not only about how it got started but the impact that it has had on people since it's inception. This story shows that no matter what your age God can use you to do His will. I picked up this book because i saw that not many people had done reviews on it. I also am a person that likes to read about peoples "real life" experiences. Take your best shot was a very refreshing read. Austin keeps it real and talks about the challenges he has faced in his journey. The pain of body in completing the first goal, to how pride has tried to creep into his thoughts. Now at the end of each chapter is a question section where you can write in the book. Now i don't write in my books but i did answer the questions. The questions also reflect to scripture and challenge the reader to read the verses and to write their thoughts about that verse. Personally i am at the point in my life where i have come to realize that it's not all about me. I want to do something that will change the lives of those around me.

I heard the other day that there are two things you are remembered for 1. The problems you create, 2. The problems you solve. I want to be a part of the team that solves problems. As i was reading this book i knew Austin is one of the people that solves problems. He saw a problem and used what he could to help address that problem. In the book Take your best shot, Austin does not sugar coat it at all, the highlights, struggles and challenges are written about as well. I am happy that i got this book, and am reading it again to my daughter. I want her to know that with God nothing is impossible. Also i want her to know that others out in the world her age are doing mightily things for the kingdom. This book has challenged me to do more as well.

So Maiya keep up the good work. I will add you to my prayers that God will continue to guide you and bless you in your ministry. It's good knowing that the next generation has leaders in such as yourself. I know more will be joining your ranks.

What Difference Do It Make? By Ron Hall, Denver Moore and Lynn Vincent

2009-09-21T20:13:38-05:00

So the new book i have just finished reading is What Difference Do It Make? . Anyway as you may have noticed i read and review books. Not something i am formally trained in, can you even be trained for such a thing? I am sure someone somewhere would take money for it, you know how people are. Anyway back to the book. This is an update on what has happened to Denver Moore and Ron Hall after their first book Same Kind of Different as Me. If you did not read the first book don't worry. Areas where you would be lost are included in this book. Now it's not a rehash of the first book, but just gap fillers.

Before i finished this review i pulled quotes that i liked out. One mistake i made is not writing them down so i could use them. But i remember the gist and i will correct these when i get the book back.

God don't pay overtime -- Denver Moore

How many times do you (i am included in that you) do something and expect praise or recognition from others? I wouldn't say i set out to do something to gain the praises of others, however i do have a desire to be recognized, but at the same time not. I guess it's kinda like i want people to notice what i do, but not make a big deal about it. Just a thank you every now and then would be nice. I just need to remember that nothing i do goes without notice, Jesus is always watching.

Who's gon'a stick around and show us Jesus -- Denver Moore

A part of the book that got me thinking was the time when Ron judged Jose by his outward appearance. Denver then filled Ron in on the error of his judgement and gave him some history on Jose. I know i am guilty of judging people by their appearance. Where i go to church there have been many occasions that people have asked me for money. I remember this one time a guy gave me a story about how he ran out of gas and his wife was in the car. He was limping around with a cane, and he just wanted some money to get some gas. I asked him how he was going to go get the gas, his reply was he was going to walk. At least that's what i remember, well see that he was limping around on a cane i told him to hop in and i would give him a ride to the gas station to get some gas. Well it turns out that this guys story was true, he had run out of gas and his wife was in the car. He asked for a way to get me the money back, i told him don't worry about it. However another time a guy asked me for money he talked about how his family was without food and he wanted some money to buy food for them. I told him to hop in and i would take him to the store. We rolled a few feet and he asked where we were going. I told him to the store to get him some food, and he said no thanks. I stopped the Jeep and let him out.

I have seen homeless people sleeping on the benches outside of a building i work in sometimes and i just pass them by. One thing that was taught to me was to ask "what is your need now". I guess most will ask for money, but some may ask for food. I guess it's a way to share with others, something i need to start doing more of.

I really enjoyed this book and hope others get a chance to read it as well.

Fearless By Max Lucado

2009-09-08T09:09:02-05:00

This was a very challenging read for me. I am not sure why i just got very irritated from the start with the plethora of translations/transliterations of the Bible that Max Lucado used in this book. I really did not know what to think about it. Why in the world does someone need to use so many translations? Was it a good read, well ya it was ok, would i recommend it to anyone. Not really.

After finishing the book and going into the question topics @ the end i felt Max Lucado had pulled it out, i had read a book that was not a total waste of time. I know this is something i am probably just going through and others will not have the same reaction to all the different translations/transliteration of scripture used in the book. It will suite some people just fine. However it is that sticking point for me and it was just something that i found very unsettling. I don't know why, but it's something that did not leave me alone.

But on the topic of fear Max Lucado covers areas that i feel at sometime everyone has struggled with. Fear seems to that force that is holding allot of people captive these days. Job loses, repossession of cars,homes,furniture. Young people graduating from college and not knowing where they are going to go, what job they are going to be able to get in this economy, or how they are going to pay back all the school loans. Granted i am not in that boat, but i have some family and friends that are. Fear is something that has inflicted us just after the fall(see Genesis 3:10). However it's something that with Christ Jesus we don't need to let control us. The smarter we are the more we fight with fear. The book by Andy Andrews The Noticer has a character that deals with fear. Once you learn to turn your fears over to Christ life becomes that much easier.