Janet Sketchley's Blog: Tenacity, page 59
October 24, 2016
Review: Traces of Guilt, by Dee Henderson
Traces of Guilt, by Dee Henderson (Bethany House, 2016)
Evie Blackwell has a different take on cold cases: the intervening years are a bonus, because they’re full of opportunities for the criminal to have left further clues to this and other crimes. Her approach is methodical and effective, and her time in Illinois’ Carin County is a test-run for a soon-to-be-announced cold case task force.
Her two assignments: an abducted child, and a missing family. The child belonged to a family who were p...
October 19, 2016
Our Victory Comes from God
I wait quietly before God,
for my victory comes from him.
Psalm 62:1, NLT*
Where do you need victory today? In an external conflict? A health issue? Inside your own thoughts or fears?
This psalm describes David’s enemies, sandwiching his plight between two declarations of his choice to wait quietly before God. God is his hope, his source of victory, and his fortress.
Since the psalm ends by affirming God’s ultimate judgement, likely this victory David’s counting on is a literal triumph over...
October 17, 2016
Review: The Domino Effect, by Davis Bunn
The Domino Effect, by Davis Bunn (Bethany House, 2016)
Risk analysis. Esther Larson excels at it in her position with a major US financial institution. But if her personal projections are right, the global economy is teetering on the brink of disaster. There are too many high-level trades that skirt just past the safety restrictions.
The fear of economic disaster is something many North Americans live with, and The Domino Effect catches our imaginations with its horrifying “what if” that coul...
October 14, 2016
Janette Oke Award 2016
InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship added a new award to their Fall Conference event: the Janette Oke Award, created to honour a long-standing contributor to (and pioneer in) the genre of Christian fiction. Here’s the description from InScribe’s website:
Janette Oke is a lifetime member of Inscribe and some members of Inscribe have long wished to honor her faith, writing career and Christian commitment that have impacted millions around the world. The committee is blessed to be able to sta...
October 12, 2016
Rest from the Ordinary
You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 5:13-14a, NLT*
Note the extra word the NLT adds here: “Your ordinary work.”
Rest. He insists on it. God rested on the seventh day of creation, not because He needed it, but because we would need it. Because otherwise we’d find ways to go nonstop in the pursuit of our “ordinary” work.
Stopping becomes an act of faith as well as obedience. It’s a sign to...
October 10, 2016
Review: A Confident Heart Devotional, by Renee Swope
A Confident Heart Devotional, by Renee Swope (Revell, 2013)
Subtitled “60 Days to Stop Doubting Yourself,” this devotional book presents daily Scripture readings and encouraging messages to affirm women in their God-designed identities and to “help you take hold of truths that will unfold the plans and promises God has for your life.” [Kindle location 148]
The author shares candidly from her own experience as well as from other contemporary women and Bible characters. She is honest about the...
October 5, 2016
Worship is for God
Say to all your people and your priests, “During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting? And even now in your holy festivals, aren’t you eating and drinking just to please yourselves?”
Zechariah 7:5b-6, NLT*
True worship is a heart-and-spirit response to the Living God.
Sadly, we can lose focus and make our Christian gatherings about us instead. Congregations can take sides over music styles, se...
October 3, 2016
New Releases in Christian Fiction
New fiction! More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website.
Biblical Fiction:
Providence: Hannah’s Journey by Barbara M. Britton — When the prophet of Israel refuses to heal her, Hannah flees Jerusalem and is captured by an enemy with a curse all his own. (Biblical from Harbourlight [Pelican])
Shadow of the Storm by Connilyn Cossette — In defiance of her mother, Shira pursues her heart’s calling to become an apprentice midw...
September 30, 2016
3 Challenges of the Christian Book Lover (Guest Post)
Giving a Kind Critique
Have you ever been asked to critique someone’s writing or been approached to be a beta reader? (A beta reader is given an author’s unpublished manuscript for review.)
Anyone who writes knows how hard it is to allow others not only to read the words they’ve spent hours—sometimes even months or years—grueling over but also to ask readers for feedback, both what they liked and what they didn’t.
As believers, we...
September 28, 2016
To Hear and Obey
…and the whole remnant of God’s people began to obey the message from the Lord their God. When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, whom the Lord their God had sent, the people feared the Lord.
Haggai 1:12b, NLT*
What was the Lord’s message that the people obeyed?
A remnant of Israel had returned to Jerusalem, but in the busyness of rebuilding the city and their homes, they’d neglected to finish rebuilding the Temple.
God asked, “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house...
