Rhythms of Grace by Mike Cosper

I love this book!  That sums up my thoughts on this book, but I'll expand my thoughts for review purposes!  

Since I have read this book, I have approached worship differently.  Not that I didn't focus on God or anything, but I looked for ways in the worship that pointed the congregation to the gospel.  Many times you miss that in worship and I was glad to see that our church regularly did that.  I also liked how he addressed the differences in the music we sing to.  So many times we focus on the music as "worship" and forget that worship is the whole deal.  I also like how he talked about liturgy.  That for me was very interesting because I had been torn on that some.  Not because I didn't think it was meaningful, but I guess I thought you could easily say the words and not mean it.  But then I started to think that the same is true with singing and with church in general...you could be there, but not really paying attention to God and the stirrings in your heart.  

I really liked how Mike Cosper took a big concept and made it easy to understand, enjoyable to read, and challenging to the readers.  He didn't use a bunch of technical terms that would sound impressive, but you could really feel his heart in this book and know that he meant all he was saying and believed strongly in the power of worship, as we all should.

I wanted to read this book for 2 reasons.  The first was because I love any book dealing with worship, but I am very picky because I don't want it to be a book that focuses on "me."  Worship and our lives are about God.  Second, I wanted to read it because of the people he had review his book, like Albert Mohler and Matt Chandler.  Those are definitely 2 men that I respect their opinions and know that they put their focus on God in their books and not on prosperity gospel.  I also like the Gospel Coalition site, so that was another plus.  All of that to say that who you get to review your books can pull a lot of weight in a person's choice of a book.

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I received this book free from Crossway in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.                                          

Stand By Me by Neta Jackson

I am a HUGE fan of the Yada Yada Prayer Group series and the House of Hope series.  I have fallen in love with all of the characters.  Not realizing that the same characters would be carried into this book, I was thrilled to discover that they were still with me!  I have grown to love these characters and just when I thought I had to tell them "goodbye," I got to say "hello again!"

If I could sum up what I feel like when I read this book (as well as any of her Yada Yada books), it's that the entire book makes me want to set it aside and praise God and worship Him with my entire heart.  When I'm reading this book, it makes me feel like I'm in a spirit of worship and I love it!  Not many books give me that feeling, but this book focuses so much on the intent of worship and the spirit of worship that you, as the reader, just can't help but join in.

The summary of the book (which is extremely hard to condense), Kat is a graduate college student who is graduating and looking to work with students in the city of Chicago.  Her three friends join her and they begin to attend SouledOut Community Church.  Avis is a worship leader at the SouledOut Community Church and her husband, Peter, is an elder.  Avis's daughter is going through a rough spell and is needing extra help and attention by Avis.  However, Peter is thinking that God is really calling them to make a life change and do something different in their lives now while they are younger and have the energy to give more to God.  Before they can make this life change, though, Avis needs to be sure that her daughter is and will be okay.  This means that she stays put in Chicago for a bit longer and at SouledOut Community Church.  Kat seems to be drawn to Avis for some reason, but Avis thinks that Kat is just another student who is passionate but is a flake and all talk, no action.  Somehow these two come to realize that they need each other, despite the age differences, their racial differences, and their cultural differences.

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I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255