Janet Sketchley's Blog: Tenacity, page 69
February 1, 2016
Review: Leopard’s Heart, by Kimberly A. Rogers
Leopard’s Heart, by Kimberly A. Rogers (2015)
In this Earth-based present-day urban fantasy, three species co-exist: Humans, Elves, and Therians. There are also assorted nasties held back by a mysterious barrier.
Humans know about the Elves, but they don’t know about the Therians, who work incognito for their protection. Therians are shape-shifters with three forms: humanoid, animal, and half-beast. Each Therian is born into one beast family and has only one beast form.
If this intrigues you...
January 29, 2016
Guest Post: What’s on Your To Be Read Pile?
Do you like how-to books? Memoirs? Novels? Do you carve out regular time for reading or is it hit and miss? Do bookstores and libraries draw you in with an irresistible pull?
As you may know, I’m eclectically interested. The same holds true of what I like to read.
Currently, I am actively reading the following:
Crazy Love by Francis Chan
We are reading this for our small group study at church. I was thrilled to find four of Chan’s books on...
January 27, 2016
Too High a Price
God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world.
1 Corinthians 7:23, NLT*
How is it possible to forget the Cross… and the full cost of Jesus’ sacrifice?
Yet over time as believers, we get caught up in life and responsibilities, and it’s not foremost in our minds.
If God had simply found us at the side of the road while He was out for a stroll, just handed us spare change for a coffee or enough cash for bus fare home, it wouldn’t matter so much if we didn’t reach our potenti...
January 25, 2016
Review: Her Deadly Inheritance, by Beth Ann Ziarnik
Her Deadly Inheritance, by Beth Ann Ziarnik (Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, 2016)
Runaway Jill Shepherd comes home just before she’s declared her legally dead – which blocks her Aunt Lenore’s dream of finally owning Windtop, the historic family mansion.
Jill’s only living family is hostile, dysfunctional… and possibly dangerous. Was her mother’s death really a suicide, or could it have been murder?
Resident handyman Clay Merrick is searching for evidence of murder, and he’s afraid Ji...
January 22, 2016
5 Blogs to Watch
How do you keep up with a blog series? I subscribe via email, because I’d never remember to check the site on a regular basis. And if the series has been going for a while before I find it, I’m unlikely to go back to the beginning to catch up.
Here are three new-ish blog series in early enough stages that you can start from the beginning if they catch your interest:
At Serving Singles, Rev. Shirley DeMerchant has just begun a series where she’ll explore what she’s been learning from studying...
January 20, 2016
Temples
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NLT*
Think about the care that went into building the Israelites’ temples in the Old Testament. God has put that same care into us (see Psalm 139:14).
The temple building was
a place to meet with God a place to bring sacrifices and find forgiveness a...January 18, 2016
Review: Make Love, Make War, by Brian Doerksen
Make Love, Make War, by Brian Doerksen (David C. Cook, 2009)
The title of this one may be a little intimidating, but look at the subtitle: “NOW is the time to worship.” Songwriter Brian Doerksen challenges Christians to adopt an intentional lifestyle of loving and serving God.
Each chapter begins with one of Brian Doerksen’s songs. Part memoir, part expansion on the themes that sparked the songs, this is an honest reflection on circumstances both joyful and sad. Topics include a Christian’s i...
January 15, 2016
Intentional
Some of my online friends have chosen (or discovered) their “word for the year.” Others seek out a Bible verse of the year. I knew one lady who spent the closing months of each year praying for a verse for each of her loved ones for the year to come.
Me, I’m usually scrambling to keep up with the close of a year, with no time to think about the one to come until it’s been here for a week or so. As I’ve been going through my “learning journal” from 2015, summing up what I need to take forward...
January 13, 2016
Renewing or Regressing?
For you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?
1 Corinthians 3:3, NLT*
Is it any wonder Christians often find ourselves “living like people of the world”?
We live among people who give no allegiance to God. Some are our family, friends, co-workers. Others produce most of the current entertainment and music. And we still hav...
January 11, 2016
Review: Two From Isaac’s House, by Normandie Fischer
Two From Isaac’s House, by Normandie Fischer (Sleepy Creek Press, 2015)
Rina Lynne’s father insisted they had to live on limited funds, but she inherited a fortune when he died. She’d always lived a safe, predictable life, so now, before she marries her fiancé, Jason, and settles down, she’s off to see the world.
First stop: a small town in Italy, for a month of language school. But a passenger on the train is murdered, and the man she shared a carriage with looks like a terrorist.
Favourite...
