The Abuser’s Evil Demands for Secrecy – by Jeff Crippen and Anna Wood

One of the common tactics that abusers use on their victims – ESPECIALLY if the abuser is wearing a “Christian” mask – is to pervert God’s Word to deceive and control his victim.  Two of the most common of these distortions of Scripture are:

1.  ”If you ever talk to anyone about what goes on in this house, you will be sorry!  God hates gossip and slander and He requires you to obey and respect your husband.”

2.  ”I know that I am not perfect, but sometimes you just push me too far.  Besides, I am trying and I am making good progress.  I am changing.  You need to forgive me no matter how many times I blow it.  God says we are to forgive each other 70 times 7 and that we are to love even our enemies.  Surely that means you need to love and forgive your own husband!”

To read in full, please go to The Abuser’s Evil Demands for Secrecy – by Jeff Crippen and Anna Wood.

Review Of The Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Study: A Survey of the Bible by Starr Meade

Starr Meade has put together a Bible study format that is perfect for Junior High to Early High School age students. Ideal for homeschoolers to use during their Bible study time, these booklets offer the students an overview of both the Old and New Testaments. There are four booklets and an answer key. The format is simple: in each new section, Starr brings the students up-to-date on what they are reading and then offers an area for the students to write out what they have learned from the Scriptures that are to be covered that day. She also offers background information as the students move through the text.

This format makes it easy for the students to explore God’s Word for themselves. By taking the time to think over what they have read, writing down what they’ve learned and seeing how it all fits together, students will come to appreciate the Bible in a way they never have before.

Set up in a Genesis to Revelation format, students are encouraged to move through the Bible chronologically; however, the students can also just dive right in to wherever they are in their study of the Word and move from there. However the student and her parents choose to have her use these booklets, she will be learning to handle the meat of the Word on a day by day basis. What could be better?

 

DISCLAIMER: I received a free copy of these booklets from Crossway for purposes of review. I wasn’t required to give a positive review, only a fair and honest one. My opinions are my own.

Small Space Organizing: A Room-by-Room Guide to Maximizing Your Space by Kathryn Bechen

I’m a Mother of many married to a man whose job situation has caused us to have to move often. More than once, we’ve had to rent a house sight unseen. Because of this, several times we have ended up spending a year or more in a house that was really a tad too small for our family size. Because I am by nature a fairly organized person and several of my children are also, we’ve managed to make do fairly well. However, if we’d had a copy of Small Space Organizing: A Room-by-Room Guide to Maximizing Your Space by Kathryn Bechen I daresay we’d have managed even better.

Covering everything from living in one room to life on the road in an RV, Kathryn gives her reader the ins-and-outs of small space living. There is little, if anything, that she has left uncovered. Moving from foyer to bath, covering baby’s room, office and kitchen and everything in-between, Kathryn helps her readers create beautiful and functional homes  by downsizing, organizing and utilizing the inexpensive, the unusual and the extraordinary 2nd hand find.

I’ve read many organizing books and I’d have to say this is, hands down, my favorite. Highly, highly recommended.

“Available January 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

DISCLAIMER: I received a free copy of this book from Revell for purposes of review. I wasn’t required to give a positive review, only a fair and honest one. My opinions are my own.

Angels of Darkness Masked as Light – The Satanic Nature of Abuse, by Jeff Crippen

2 Corinthians 11: 14-15 “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (15) So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”

Jack’s wife Mary was in the pastor’s office.  Apparently there had been some kind of spat between them and she had come to the pastor to tell him about it.  Jack was one of the finest Christian men in the whole church – everyone knew that.  If you wanted something done, Jack was the go-to guy.  What a servant’s heart!  But now here was Mary – visibly troubled, haltingly sharing a few details of what had happened last night.  Jack, she said, had been in a rage.  He pushed her down hard onto the bed and told her to sit there and shut up and listen to him until he was through!

Depending upon the initial response Mary gets from her pastor, she will tell him more, or she will tell him nothing else.  Abuse victims “test the waters,” whether they realize this is what they are doing or not.  If they know that their hearer is open to listening and appears to believe them, they will tell more.  If, however, they hear “Well, Mary, your husband is a fine Christian man, and I am sure that he loves you.  He must be under a lot of stress for him to lose his temper like that.  Did you say anything that would set him off?” – then forget it.  She is done talking.

To read in full, please go to  Angels of Darkness Masked as Light – The Satanic Nature of Abuse, by Jeff Crippen.

Abuse as an Attack on Marriage by the Evil One – by Jeff Crippen (via A Cry For Justice)

Genesis 2:23-24 “Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (24) Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Satan hates marriage.  This should not surprise us.  He introduced sin into the world through a husband and wife.  The devil knows very well that marriage is God’s divine picture to the world of Christ and His bride, the church.  When a husband loves his wife as Christ loves the church, the gospel is preached by that marriage.  Satan hates that.  He hinders the knowledge of Christ whenever he can.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. (4) In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

As I have studied the mentality and tactics of domestic violence and abuse, I have been continually impressed by what I call the Satanic nature of the thing.  Describe an abuser – how he thinks, how he attacks his victim, how he deceives – and you describe the devil.  I don’t know about demon possession in our day.  We know it has happened because we have numbers of records of it in Scripture.  Is there any reason why we should not expect Satan to actually possess a man in our day?  What would such a person look like?  I think that a good description could be given by many abuse victims as they describe their abuser.

To read in full, please go to Abuse as an Attack on Marriage by the Evil One – by Jeff Crippen.

Review of Boundaries with Teens: When to Say Yes, How to Say No by John Townsend

Dr. John Townsend has done parents everywhere a favor. Taking principles straight from Scripture, Dr. Townsend explores the necessity of boundaries in the lives of parents while also showing them how to set loving but firm boundaries in the lives of their teens. The result is a Scripturally guided handbook for dealing with various problems that teens might be facing as well as firm but loving guidelines to help ensure that issues don’t come up in the first place. Whether your children’s issues are more complicated or are rather simple, by using the guidelines laid out in this book, you will have the understanding and the tools necessary to resolve them. Through the pages of this book, parents will be equipped with tools for learning methods of communication that foster openness between parents and teens. You will also receive guidance to help your see who they are becoming and help them to plan and accomplish goals for the future.

Boundaries With Teens is also very user friendly.  The easy to use index aids in quickly finding the information you need at any given moment.

When used for the purposes that it is meant for, that is as a guidance manual, Boundaries with Teens is a very useful tool to put into the hands of struggling parents.

 

DISCLOSURE: I received a free copy of this book from Zondervan for purposes of review. I was not required to give a positive review, only a fair and honest one. My opinions are my own.

Review of 7 Money Rules for Life by Mary Hunt

Mary Hunt is a treasure. After suffering through her own season of financial disaster, she rallied and decided to use her hard earned lessons to aid others. Since then she has written several books exploring various aspects of financial soundness and wisdom. 7 Money Rules for Life is her latest.

Mary covers many different topics in this easy-to-understand book: everything from making extra money, making money stretch and managing one’s credit is discussed. Her seven rules are as follows:

1. Spend less than you earn.
2. Save for the future.
3. Give some away.
4. Anticipate your irregular expenses.
5. Tell your money where to go.
6. Manage your credit.
7. Borrow only what you know you can repay.

Mary’s rules make sense overall but not all are reachable for every single person who will pick up her book. One of her basic ideas is to have an expense account for unexpected or irregular expenses. Sounds great but it doesn’t always work for the average Jane and Joe. I understand and even agree with the concept: the money has to come from somewhere when it’s time to pay up so you might as well save for it. Trouble is, in the real world, those trying to make it on very average incomes might have a hard time making it work. That being said, overall, Mary’s book is a good one with information you need to know. If you’ve read her books before, you will find some overlapping; however, there are still some new gems here. If you’ve never read her, you need to.

My overall recommendation: Buy this book; it’s a good investment in your financial future.

Available January 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

 

 

DISCLAIMER: I was provided with a free copy of this book by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing company. I was not required to give a positive review, only a fair and honest one. My opinions are my own.