Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul By Gary Thomas Book Review

In Every Body Matters, Gary Thomas teaches readers the importance of being physically fit and healthy. We have a silver soul that must be shown to the world. Thomas believed that believers need to turn to God instead of turning to food to make us feel complete and whole. Foods will only temporary fill us up but you always have to keep coming back for more. Some believers in the church are becoming unhealthy and lazy in regard to working out and eating right. We forget that God has given us this body to be made holy and it’s His temple. He can only work through us if we are willing to follow Him. The church tends to not want to discuss the significance of having self-control when it comes to eating. Sometimes the pastors are unhealthy themselves and they aren’t eating and exercising the way they should be doing. If you don’t exercise and eat right you won’t be able to run the race God wants you to run. You will have less energy and you might also die sooner due to not treating your body like its God’s temple.



Some important points that stick out to me were:



“The reality is that overeating and obesity kill far more people than anorexia or exercise.” (99)



“Physical fitness is like farming. Much of the work that produces it is unseen. No one is applauding or even recognizing our efforts. But the life it creates can be used by God to bless and serve many. The “planting” is grueling; the harvest can be great.” (107)





This book isn’t about your typical fitness guide. It doesn’t include what to eat and how much to exercise. The book is about being spiritually healthy so you have the energy to perform what God wants you to do. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to become healthier for God. It’s very helpful for teenagers and adults in understanding the journey of living our lives healthy, the way God intended. It’s tremendously we run our race physically and spiritually with God leading us. Working out and eating the right kinds of foods benefit us to have the strength and energy in our daily lives. Thomas is a wonderful teacher in showing readers to turn to God for our needs and letting him assist us in our lives. Food isn’t our god and we don’t have to listen to it when it says to keep eating more. The devil wants us to not have the energy to follow God’s calling on our lives. If we are unable to have and show discipline and self-control Satan can just keep us running towards anything but God. He will try anything to stop us from listening to our Creator. We can’t help others if we are constant helping ourselves to something in the refrigerator. It’s deeply important to let God take control of our lives and our souls! He will help you to run your race!





Zondervan provided me with a free copy for the purpose of review.



If you would like to purchase a copy of Every Body Matters check it out on Amazon.com:



http://www.amazon.com/Every-Body-Matters-Strengthening-Strengthen/dp/0310290813/




Every Body Matters Book Trailer:

















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOJVmFwlYbA


Listen to Chapter One:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7ZoywOd4RM

Read Chapter One:

http://www.zondervan.com/media/samples/pdf/0310290813_samptxt.pdf

The Essential Guide to Healing: Equipping All Christians to Pray for the Sick By Bill Johnson and Randy Clark Book Review

In the Essential Guide to Healing, Bill Johnson and Randy Clark explored how people can pray for people to become healed. Randy Clark has experienced firsthand his own healing. He got into a bad car accident and had some serious health problems. He started praying for his body to be healed and God healed him. He eventually became a minister and started traveling the world preaching the message that God is still here performing miracles.  The book shared countless stories about people being healed from spina bifida, back injuries, muscles withering, ear problems, and many other sicknesses. The book shared the impact of using the words of knowledge. The words of knowledge are the way we receive visions and words from the Lord to bring healing. We have to listen to the voice and leading of the Spirit on who we need to pray for. If a part of your body hurts and it just started he may be leading you to pray for someone else’s hurting body. The book also revealed a five step prayer model in order to pray for others healing. The book will walk you through on how to pray for healing. It gives a lot of examples and stories on how Bill and Randy has prayed and listened to God’s voice and leading.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to pray for others to be healed. Prayer is the first step in making our requests know to God. Healing is in God’s hands so it’s important to not think it’s us who brought healing. The words of knowledge shown in this book explained how to listen and receive from God who he wants us to pray for to be healed. We have to listen to his small voice and dreams he gives us to pray for others. This book will show you the importance of listening to others stories. You need to try and find out where they need for you to pray for them. The book also contains how other churches respond to the topic of healing. This book will guide you into praying big bolder life changing healing prayers for people who are hurting. God is urging us all to start praying for others!

“I received this book free from the publisher through the Chosen book review bloggers program.”

Read Chapter One:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/66685807/The-Essential-Guide-to-Healing

If you would like to purchase a copy of The Essential Guide to Healing check out Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Healing-Bill-Johnson/dp/0800795199/

The Exceptional Life: 8 Powerful Steps to Experiencing God’s Best for You By Stephen Arterburn Book Review

The Exceptional Life teaches readers eight powerful steps that will radically change their life. The book includes what you must give up in order to have the life you have always wanted. The eight things we must give up are guilt, resentment, fear, anger, instant gratification, helplessness, isolation, and addiction. It also includes what will enrich your life when you give that thing up. For example, if you give up guilt you will receive your hope back. We don’t have to hold on to our past failures and mistakes. We are to accept God’s forgiveness. Another step is giving up fear in our lives. We have to remember that God will protect us no matter what we may go through. If we give up fear we will receive trust back into our lives.

Each chapter is divided into five sections: what we need to give up, how the thing hinders us from living fully, how to give it up, what we will gain if we give it up, how our life will change. Each chapter has discussion questions to assist you in your journey to your exceptional life.  

One of my favorite quotes was:

“We like what we like, and we do what we do. Once we’re in any kind of behavioral pattern, getting out can be a true challenge.” Page 171

I would recommend this book to teenagers and adults who are struggling with how to live their lives. If things are holding you back from living your life this book will help you to become free.  One of the chapters helped me immensely to stop hiding from the world. I saw that I was living and staying in my comfort zone. I realized that I have to give up isolation in order to get back to living in a community with friends. I have to get to the bottom line of why I choose to hide from the world. The past has held me back and I had to choose to stand back up and start living again. If I stay on the sidelines protecting myself, my whole life, I will miss a great life. I started walling myself in and would stay away from people who hurt me. I believed that everyone else would treat me the same way that they did. We don’t to live in fear of getting hurt because God will always be there to put us back together. This book helped me to see I need to live in fellowship with others. God will protect me and he will never let me down. This book is a wonderful book to help you break free from your past. It can help you to stop past behaviors and it will change your life into an exceptional life. Say goodbye to the old you and say hello to the new you. If you will put these eight life changing steps into your daily life you will start seeing changes in your life like never before.

“I received this book free from the publisher through the Bethany House Publishers book review bloggers program.”

Read Chapter One:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/61473712/The-Exceptional-Life

If you would like to purchase a copy of The Exceptional Life check out Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Exceptional-Life-Powerful-Steps-Experiencing/dp/0764204254/