Congratulations to Tom Grosso, who’ll be receiving my gently-read copy of Keith Clemons’ suspense novel, Mohamed’s Moon.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by, and I hope those of you who haven’t read the novel yet will get hold of a copy and enjoy the read.

The Christmas Dog, by Melody Carlson (Revell, 2009)

Betty Kowalski still lives in the house where she raised the children alone after her husband died. Now her son and daughter live far away, and their children are leaving the nest. The neighbourhood has gone downhill lately. Most of the folks she knew have moved away or died, and Betty doesn’t know many of the new residents.

She doesn’t want to know the newest, an abrasive young man named Jack Jones, whose property unfortunately backs onto hers.

Truth be told, Betty may actually hate Jack. She thinks it’s justified, but as a Christian she needs to love her neighbour. She can’t do it on her own, so she prays—once—for help.

All that seems to get her is more annoyance. Jack’s unkempt dog shows up at her door—and keeps coming back.

Between the troublesome dog and Betty’s 20-something granddaughter Avery, who turns up for a surprise visit after running away from home, Betty and Jack discover there’s a lot more to each other than can be seen in a cursory, critical glance.

The Christmas Dog will leave you wondering what deeper value may hide in the people in your life. And it’s a good reminder to check our own hearts for critical attitudes. Most of all, it’s a heart-warming story for the holidays. Don’t be surprised if it inspires Christmas baking.

Melody Carlson is the amazingly prolific writer of over 200 books for women, teens, young readers and children. To learn more about Melody Carlson and her books, check out her website.

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The Christmas Dog is available now at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Review copy provided by Graf-Martin Communications.

Jesus told us that God is light and doesn’t have any darkness in him. Now we are telling you. If we say that we share in life with God and keep on living in the dark, we are lying and are not  living by the truth. But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away.
1 John 1:5-7, CEV*

I love the way sunlight strikes trees early and late in the day: slanting to emphasize details of branches and trunks we don’t notice at midday. It helps us see more clearly, and it warms the trees.

I love the image of living (the NIV says walking) in God’s pure light. It’s not a one-time deal, it’s a new way of behaviour that takes practice.

We expose ourselves to His light through the Bible, prayer, listening to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and in all the ways we interact with His believers.

God’s light will reveal thoughts, attitudes or actions that we need to change. And it will warm and strengthen us. Unlike the sun, it won’t damage us if we stay too long or don’t protect ourselves.

Father, help me stay in Your light. Warm me and help me to grow. As You show me things in my life that don’t belong, help me work with Your Spirit to remove them. Help me take wrong thoughts and attitudes captive and help me continually replace them with those which will honour You. Help me behave in ways worthy of the gospel.

Here’s a catchy song from DC Talk to remind us we need to be “In the Light”.

*Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

Last Breath, by Brandilyn Collins and Amberly Collins (Zondervan, 2009)

Last Breath picks up where Always Watching, book one in the Rayne Tour series, leaves off, and it’s been a long wait to find out what happens.

Shaley O’Connor is the sixteen-year-old daughter of rock star Rayne O’Connor. Book one took her through paparazzi harassment and even worse: the deaths of some key members of Rayne’s concert tour team. Shaley herself was in danger, and the villain’s dying words warned her the problems were far from over.

Then we had to wait for the next book to release!

Living the rock star life has stresses of its own, but Shaley’s biggest issue (apart from the danger she met in book one) is that she never knew her father, and her mother won’t even tell her his name. Mother and daughter have a good relationship, but Shaley needs to know.

When Rayne is hospitalized, Shaley won’t leave her side. Rayne overhears Shaley talking about the words the killer whispered with his last breath, and knows danger still haunts them.

Partly to distract Shaley while the police search for threats, Rayne decides to tell her daughter the truth about her father. This love story from the past alternates with scenes from the present as we watch suspicious characters plotting to reach Rayne and Shaley.

Last Breath is a young adult novel that adults will enjoy too. Grandmothers, mothers and daughters are all reading this series. I preferred Last Breath to Always Watching simply because there were no teen-girls-at-the-mall scenes (in my 40’s I don’t relate well, but I really liked both books).

This novel is both suspense and love story—and a bewildered teen trying to protect her mother, stay safe, and figure out life. I had the rare chance to read the entire novel in one sitting, and I’m glad—it would have been really hard to put down.

It ends with more closure than the first book, but I still want to read the last instalment: Final Touch comes out in May 2010. I have a feeling Cat, the malicious photographer, will find a way back into Shaley’s life.

You can read the first chapter of Last Breath here, but don’t read it unless you’ve already read Always Watching. The series is worth reading in order, with no spoilers. Also, check out an interesting podcast interview with the mother-daughter writing team at the Fiction Addict blog.

Thank you to Lena Nelson Dooley for offering Last Breath on her blog, A Christian Writer’s World. I won my copy there!

There are more Canadian authors who are Christian than we know. Lots of times it’s because if we see their books in the stores, especially published by an American company, we assume they’re US authors. I always feel a bit of family-type pride when I see a Christian making it in the world of publishing, and if they’re Canadian it’s that much stronger.

Let me say clearly that I’m not claiming Canadians are better, nor am I saying my favourite authors are all Canadian. Neither statement would be true. But today I want to do a bit of flag-waving.

Of all the Canadian Christians who write, in book-length, short, poetic or lyrical form, many belong to The Word Guild and/or InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship. A good number belong to American Christian Fiction Writers as well or instead.

If you’re in the vicinity of Toronto (Scarborough), Ontario, on Friday 20 November from 7-9pm, you’ll find a gathering of more than 30 Canadian Christian authors at Faith Family Books and Gifts’ Christian Writers’ Expo. For directions, click here.

Wherever you are, if you’re interested in discovering more about Canadian Christian authors, a good place to start is The Word Guild’s annual Readers’ Guide.

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know….  It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.
1 Peter 1:18, 19, 21 MSG*

Is there such a thing as spiritual attention deficit disorder? “SADD” sounds kind of applicable. It’s so easy in the quiet of prayer to bask in God’s presence, but it seems as soon as I get around other people or performing routine tasks I forget to keep my spirit tuned to His.

I need to live each part of each day in relationship with Him, conscious of and relying on Him, serving and worshipping Him. Neither working in my own strength nor begrudging some duties because they keep me from the “important” stuff. Not leaning on my own understanding, trusting my own perspective.

It’s up to Him where He assigns me, after all. Whatever there is to do, I’m to be God’s child serving Him in that role at that time. Being with him there instead of wanting to be somewhere else.

Father, You know how easily distracted I am. Please open my heart and my spirit to a deeper awareness of You. Help me rely on You and rest in Your love. Help me be conscious of You and live in Your care wherever You place me. Thank You for giving me faith to trust You, and thank You for giving me a future in You.

There are some excellent songs lamenting how quickly we fall away or forget to follow through on our commitment to God, and celebrating His grace to take us back, but I can’t find a song that says “Help me remember You and learn to live moment by moment in Your presence.” If you know one, please leave me a note in the comments….

That being said, here’s Casting Crowns’ “I Know You’re There,” to celebrate those moments when we’re conscious of God’s presence… as a prayer that we’ll learn to stay there more and more.

*The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

A Journey to the Heart of Evangelism, by Janice Keats (Resource Publications, an imprint of Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2009)

A confident young woman sits across from you and throws out a challenge: “Tell me why I should follow Jesus.”

Umm… well…

You could probably tell her a few reasons, if you had time to think, but she’s asking now.

What Canadian author Janice Keats did in that situation was to share her own story of coming to faith. No debating or teaching or “shoulds,” just a personal experience that had credibility because she’d lived it.

Some people have amazing faith stories, complete with miracles and release from addictions. Others can’t remember a time when they didn’t know God.

A Journey to the Heart of Evangelism is for all types of Christians, and as the subtitle promises, each of us does have a story.

This is a slim book because our stories don’t need to be complicated – we just need to think through how to share them.

A Journey to the Heart of Evangelism maintains that although some are given the gift of evangelism, all are called to share Jesus’ message – with His help.

The five chapters are designed for personal or group study. Using Scripture, teaching, and application questions, the book addresses our many fears and excuses, and challenges us to live obedient to and dependent upon God.

By the end of the study, we’ll not only know why we need to be involved in sharing our faith stories, we’ll see it’s not as intimidating as we might have thought. And our faith will be refreshed by revisiting our experiences.

The final part of the book contains questions to help us discover and articulate what it is we want to say about this God who’s made a difference in our lives. There’s even a place to record the names of four people we want to remember to pray for and to share our stories with.

And like St. Peter says, we’ll “be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have.” (1 Peter 3:15)

In A Journey to the Heart of Evangelism, Janice Keats has given us a helpful way to demystify sharing our faith: it’s about our stories, not about arguing or logicking people into the Kingdom. Most of us don’t have theology degrees, but we all  have stories.

A Journey to the Heart of Evangelism is available from amazon.ca, amazon.com and from the Wipf & Stock website, and can be ordered into your brick and mortar store as well. For more about the author, visit her web page and her blog, The Master’s Path.

[Disclosure: Janice Keats is a personal friend, and that’s how I discovered her book. I think if it were written by a stranger I’d still speak as highly of the content. I like books that don’t just tell you what to do but – like this one – that equip you to do it.]

I always pray before drawing a name to receive a free book, because I have no idea which person God wants to bless with it. He knows the individual’s needs today and in the future, and He knows how He wants to speak through the book. Sure, drawing names sounds like random chance, but there is Old Testament precedent and nothing’s too hard for God.

All that to say… congratulations to Ginny Jaques at Something About the Joy, who’ll receive my gently-read copy of I Run to the Hills, by C. Maggie Woychik. Maggie, thank you for the opportunity to read, review and share this lovely book.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence  or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Psalm 51:1-2, 10-12 NIV*

King David wrote this psalm after sleeping with another man’s wife and then trying to cover things up by having the man killed: pretty drastic misbehaviour, and not surprisingly it inhibited his relationship with God. [I’m posting this on Remembrance Day, and it’s worth noting that the man who died, Uriah, was an exemplary soldier serving on the front lines.]

Sometimes Christians fall like David did. It shouldn’t happen, but it does. And I’m so glad our God is gracious to restore us rather than throwing us out. The Bible promises that if we sincerely confess our sins, He will forgive them. (1 John 1:9) And He’ll help us face the fallout of our actions.

Other times Christians avoid the “big” temptations but get numbed or dulled by the distractions of every day. Pressures, annoyances, bills, telemarketers, H1N1… you name it, there are enough things to take our minds off God if we’re not diligent to keep Him in first place.

Today seems to be a day for reflection. Have I let my focus drift from the God who loves me? Is He first in my heart, or has that place been taken over by my own feelings and opinions?

Father, please create in me a clean heart, washed from unwillingness, resentment  and hostility. Renew a right, righteous, healthy and steadfast spirit within me. Draw me closer into Your presence, take down any walls I’ve built, forgive any ways I’ve quenched Your Spirit, and be pleased to dwell in me. Restore the joy of my salvation that I didn’t see was missing. I need joy. And grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Because of Jesus, in whom I put my trust.

This song by Echoing Angels, “You Alone,” speaks to me of the intimacy we need with our wonderful God.

*New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

Monday was my day to post at InScribe Writers Online: a few words of encouragement to remind us we’re God’s works in progress.