​I was so excited to hear that Katie was releasing another book. Her first book Kisses from Katie was a very influential book in my first few years after I graduated college. I was also on the launch team for her last book Daring to Hope. So I jumped at the opportunity to read an advanced copy and join the launch team. I discovered a book that, much like her two previous books, was exactly what I needed to read in this season of my life. The continuation of her story is not what I expected it would be, but it is still a tale full of God’s love, faithfulness, and provision. She even taught me something new about the biblical story from which my name originates. If you have read either of Katie’s previous books or you struggle to trust God to be your Prince of Peace, then this is a book you definitely want to read ~ Bethel

Safe is a word that describes how many of us long to feel. But it’s also true that it’s a feeling that too many of us struggle to maintain. When we don’t feel safe, we tend to feel worried and afraid. We get caught in anxious mental spirals of “what-ifs” and “if-only's” that steal the joy of the present from us. Especially in the aftermath of a global pandemic, people in our world seem to be struggling to find their peace. As Christians, we know God is there, but we struggle to fully rest in His love, grace, and provision. It makes us ask the question: can we ever feel safe again?

In her book, Safe All Along, bestselling author Katie Davis Majors walks her readers through the struggles of overcoming anxiety so that they can realize that she did that we have been safe all along. She begins the book by describing a story of swimming in the Nile River with her daughter in a place with fast rapids. When they both got caught in the rapids, Katie thought her daughter would get swept away. When they both came out alright, Katie’s husband took her to a higher vantage point, where she could see that there were several places along the river where her daughter could have swam to safety. This illustration sets up the whole book, encouraging readers to realize that in Christ, we are safe all along. This is hard-earned wisdom for Katie, as she experienced serious anxiety over the last several years between the weight of worrying for her family and loved ones, a global pandemic, and a difficult move from her beloved country of Uganda to the United States. While she has chosen to see a therapist and medication to help with her struggle, Katie has also chosen to process her struggles and anxieties through the lens of Scripture and help her readers do the same. The first half of the book lays the foundation for overcoming the spiritual aspect of anxiety and worry by sharing Scriptures and part of the story of her emotional roller coaster of the last few years. The second half of the book lays out 10 practices based on Scripture that can help readers in their own journey toward finding biblical shalom.
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This book is honest, relatable, and full of powerful biblical truth. Katie continues to speak with wisdom beyond her years and a vulnerability that allows readers to find a place in which they relate to her journey. This is a great book that I highly recommend. Get your copy today!

*I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review

In his book, Case for a Creator, Lee Strobel walks his audience through his own journey of initially embracing Darwinism in his youth, only to be led on an investigative journey that would led him to creationism and Christianity. What initially prompted him toward this journey was when his wife Leslie became a Christian early in their marriage. While expecting her to more incompetent and hypocritical, she actually became an overall better person. So he decided he needed to prove both Christianity and creationism false by interviewing experts in their fields. While he expected to find evidence to prove Darwinism true, he found the exact opposite. He eventually discovered that many pieces of evidence that he convinced him of Darwinism in his youth were inaccurate and bias. Through his accounts of his journey and interviews with many experts, not only did Strobel become a Christian himself, but he also discovered that faith and science can go hand in hand.
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This book is great at simplifying terms and concepts that are sometimes difficult to understand. This book is a perfect companion to Case for Christ and one that I highly recommend. Get your copy today!

​I am a huge fan of both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit ever since I read the books when I was in the 7th grade. A year later, I also became a fan of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia after I started reading them. I became fascinated not only by the spiritual depth of the fantasy worlds they created, but also with the lives of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien. I even wrote research papers on both of these authors when I was in high school. Over time, I started my “Tolkien/Lewis book collection.” Many of the books are biographies of these authors and behind-the-scenes books about the production of the films based on their books. But the majority of the books are reflections on the spiritual values contained in Narnia and Middle-Earth. As I have been collecting these books for almost 20 years now but have still not reviewed one, I think it’s time for me to start sharing reviews on some of these titles. I’m excited to start by sharing two of my favorite devotionals. While it’s true that this one was written almost 20 years ago, I still believe that this is a journey worth taking for any Lord of the Rings fan ~ Bethel

In her book Walking with Frodo, Sarah Arthur uses the beloved fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings to take readers on a devotional journey through the biblical themes present in the story of Frodo Baggins and his companions in their journey to destroy the Ring of Power. Eighteen devotionals are paired together to present the reader with nine choices, such as choosing darkness or choosing light. Arthur uses stories from the trilogy and other relevant illustrations to set up the Scriptural truths for each devotion and summarizes each devotion with a main point to take away. Each devotion also follows up with additional Scriptures and reflection questions. Even when I read this as a teen who was not big on using devotionals, I found myself compelled by the way that Arthur integrated Scripture in the story of The Lord of the Rings. This was done in such a way that doesn’t allow one to dominate over the other but allows both to work together to communicate their point.

The only criticism I have is about the devotional format. The author chose to lay out the devotional over nine weeks, but only has two devotions per week. While what is here is well done, I have found that most Christians who like doing devotions want to do them daily, and would therefore prefer a devotional that has more devotions per week or allows the reader to go at their own pace. While I understand that doing an extensive devotional about a book that is over 1000 pages long would be difficult, I feel like the attempt to summarize the large story’s themes led to a rather unconventional devotional format. In the end, I usually end up reading it straight through anyway
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Aside from this formatting issue, this is a great devotional. If you are a Christian Lord of the Rings fan, this is a book I highly recommend.

​I so clearly remember reading The Hobbit for the first time. Reading that book changed my life, helping me fall in love with reading, writing, and learning. So when I found out that the author of Walking with Frodo had written another devotional about The Hobbit, I was so excited. In the end, I found this devotional to be even better than the first. Whether it be because of my fond memories of the first time I read The Hobbit or the improved devotional format, this book seemed to draw me even further into the world of Middle-Earth than ever before. This book, along with the first book Walking with Frodo, also eventually inspired me to write a devotional on another of my favorite movies in a similar format (Redeeming the Beast). While this book was released 18 years ago, I still believe this is a journey worth taking for any fans of The Hobbit ~ Bethel

In her book Walking with Bilbo, Sarah Arthur uses the beloved fantasy book The Hobbit to take readers on a devotional journey through the biblical themes present in the story of Bilbo Baggins and thirteen dwarves on their way to the Lonely Mountain. Throughout 22 devotionals, we follow the powerful story of Bilbo’s unexpected adventure to see what it has to teach us about the Christian life. As she did in her previous book Walking with Frodo, Arthur uses stories from The Hobbit and other relevant illustrations to set up the Scriptural truths for each devotion and summarizes each devotion with a main point to take away. Each devotion also follows up with additional Scriptures and reflection questions. Even when I read this as a teen who was not big on using devotionals, I found myself compelled by the way that Arthur integrated Scripture in the story of The Hobbit. This was done in such a way that doesn’t allow one to dominate over the other, but allows both to work together to communicate their point.
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If you are a Christian fan of The Hobbit (or The Lord of the Rings), this is a book I highly recommend.

 This world can be a scary place to live, especially in the times we live in today. It’s hard enough at times for us to keep our heads above the water as we juggle the trials and struggles of our daily lives, especially when we find ourselves amid crises that we did not expect. But then the struggles of our personal lives become compounded by the tumultuous social and political times we live in. It’s no wonder that we have a mental health crisis on the rise and it seems to only be getting worse. For those of us that are Christians, we want to find peace and hope, but the sounds of the chaos in our lives and world tend to drown out the peace we find. It makes us ask the question: how do we find peace when we don’t always know what the future holds?

​In her book Heaven Rules, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth shares how choosing to take to heart the two-word phrase of the book’s title is the key to calming our fears and finding our courage amid a chaotic world. Nancy teaches her readers that “Heaven Rules” (sometimes abbreviated as “HR”) can become a powerful mantra that can keep us anchored to the truth of God’s word, reminding us that God has control over the micro (the tiny details of our personal circumstances) and the macro (the big picture of what’s happening in your life or even the world). By walking through the book of Daniel, we learn about the prominence of this theme through the book, as well as the consequences when even the mightiest of earthly rulers choose to ignore Heaven’s rule. She even tackles the prophetic half of the book in a way that is contemporary but also biblically sound. 

However, I have a few minor criticisms that are unrelated to the content of the book:
1) I don’t understand why this book does not mention the book of Daniel in its subtitle. I believe this to be an unwise marketing choice, because people browsing for the book have no idea that the author is reflecting on the book of Daniel unless they read the book’s description online or the flap of the inside cover. That is a detail that should be included in the subtitle and the back cover so there is no confusion.
2) This small hardcover book is an awkward size. To get a hardcover book with a dustjacket on this relatively short book, they have to make it a smaller trim size that makes it uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time. I had to take the dustjacket off to read it, and even then it was still uncomfortable to hold for too long. I have never had that problem with a physical book before, so it was quite frustrating. Given its short length, this book would have been better suited as a thin paperback. I recommend reading the eBook version for this reason.

Despite these issues, this book is inspirational, as it challenges its readers to use “Heaven rules” as the lens through which they view and interact with the world. It has the power to calm our worst fears and anxieties, give hope to those who feel hopeless, and inspire courage in the fearful. With these powerful and biblical sound teaching at the forefront, this is a book that I highly recommend. Get your copy today!

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review