Why is that in the Bible?: The Most Perplexing Verses and Stories – And What They Teach Us By Eric J. Bargerhuff Book Review

In Why is that in the Bible, Eric Bargerhuff explored scriptures and tried to comprehend why God included them in the Bible and what their purpose was. He begins the book by looking at some of the truths found in Job’s stories and why God allowed satan to test him and what we can learn from his story. He was faithfully following God and he ended up losing his livestock, servants, and his children. He also lost his health and his wife wasn’t happy with him, and friends wasn’t supportive. Some of the stories, he also explored was Abraham and Isaac, Balaam and the talking donkey, Peter cutting off an ear, no one knows the time or hour, Solomon’s many wives, Herod eaten by worms, a youth group is killed by bears, battle for Moses body, Absalom’s head stuck in a tree, bodily discharges, and much more. 

One of my favorite chapters that is quite shocking was the chapter that covered the story of David and his son Absalom. As we all remember, David had an affair with Bathsheba and how he tried to cover it up. Prophet Nathan, warned David about how the sword will never depart and leave his house. David had at least eight wives. Eric explained how this was directly a sin because the Bible declared that marriage is between one man and one woman. Next, Eric explored David and Absalom relationship. He was David’s third son with Maacah. One of David’s firstborn sons with another wife of David, Ammon rapes his own half-sister, Tamar. David was angry and he chose to not punish his son. Absalom eventually has Ammon killed for the crime and he fleets for three years. David misses his son so he allows Absalom to return but he can’t be in the presence of the king. He tricks one of the commanders of David’s army into letting him seeing David and he publicly shamed David for his actions. He turned around the hearts of Israel against David. He fleets and Absalom has sex with his harem on the roof where everyone can see. David cries out to God and eventually David’s army prevailed and Absalom’s lost his head while he riding his mule it was caught in the branches of a tree. Eric explained the importance of remembering that sin destroys and how it greatly changed everyone’s life and how it affected the dynamic of David’s family and the tribe of Israel. 

I would recommend this amazing book to anyone who is wondering why the Bible covers some difficult topics. I immensely liked how open he was about looking at the topics of rape, incest, suffering, and bodily discharges. There are many stories included in this book that many preachers and Sunday school teachers most likely won’t preach in church because of how graphic they are. I learned a lot about scriptures and stories that I haven’t really seen in detail before. I liked how Eric tried and connected the stories together where readers could understand the background of what was going on around that time. I appreciated how he dived in on how we can interpret the passages and what we can learn from them. 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Bethany House/ Chosen for my honest review.” 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Why is that in the Bible, check it out on Amazon.com:

https://www.amazon.com/Why-That-Bible-Perplexing-Stories/dp/0764233998

Don’t Quit in the Dip: Stay Focus on God’s Promises For You by Shaun Nepstad Book Review

In Don’t Quit in the Dip, Shaun Nepstad explored the topic of the dip and how we can learn not to quit and give up when we face different challenges in our lives. Often times we feel stuck, and in the dip we’re unable to believe and reach for our dreams and goals. The dips in life can be our dreams, health, career, marriage, and any other area that we feel stuck in. In the book, he explained the importance of not quitting in the dip and he reminded us about God’s thoughts and how His ways our higher. He used an illustration about chess and how God has written the Bible like a checkmate between Him and satan. He starts with satan being banned from heaven and this starts a chess game. Next, he looks at Adam and Eve and how they were influenced by satan and sinned and was kicked out of the garden and satan was able to made a countermove. Shaun goes into detail about the different moves that was played throughout the Bible and the dips they experienced and how they overcame the dips and fulfilled their calling and purpose. 

Throughout the chapters, he opened up about how he became a preacher and started their own church. At first, it started with only 22 members and they were meeting in a cafetorium and how in three months, the school kicked them out. He shared how they dealt with having to move schools every year per California rules. He also shared how he dealt with severe stomach pains since the age of 13. He was diagnosed as having ulcerative colitis and how he struggled with wanting to in the dip when he was trying to grow the church and how God changed him and healed him. He explained the process of the church growing and what he learned through the dips he experienced and he guided readers into hanging in there to overcome their own dips. In the book, he explored the story of Joseph, Jesus, Peter, Jonah, the Israelites, Paul, Moses, and much more and how they experienced dips and what we can learn by looking at their stories. 

I would recommend this amazing book to anyone who is ready to learn how to not quit in their dips and how to reach forward and to keep striving and running your race. I immensely liked how in depth Shaun went into at looking at the dips of people from scripture and how they didn’t quit when they easily could have went they faced challenging situations. I appreciated how open he was in sharing how he went from building the church from 22 people to thousands of members and how he faced setback along the way and it wasn’t a quick and easy journey. I liked how he looked at the stories of Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Henry Ford, The Formula 409 cleaner, and Winston Churchill and how they choose to not quit in their dips and how they were able to accomplish their dreams. If you’re looking for an inspiration book, then read this book and learn how to not quit in your dips!

"I received this book free from the publisher, Faithwords/ Worthy Publishers for my honest review.” 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Don’t Quit in the Dip, check it out on Amazon.com:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1546015388

Why Am I Not Healed? (When God Promised) by Glen Berteau Book Review

In Why Am I Not Healed, Glen Berteau explored the topic of healing and how we can receive a miracle. Glen has had his own health issues where he needed God help in getting healed. He experienced four sickness that almost cost him his life. He has coronary artery disease and five stents in his arteries. He explored how he had to go through his own testing seasons and how God gave him healing when he had a pulmonary embolism blood clot in his lungs. It was later discovered it was caused from mold found in his office. God instructed and guided him into peaching the word of God while he was still sick. After a few weeks, God healed him and he was able to breath normal again. He opened up about how wants to forgive our sins and how we can receive our healing when we also get our lives right spiritually. He explained that fear and bitterness can cause something wrong in our spirit and unforgiveness and break us down physically. He shared how speaking the word of God and learning them is like taking medication for our overall health. 

In back of the book, he opened up about how a scary death experience. He had a cardiac arrest and died. He included preceptive from his wife and children on what they learned when their father died and how God was able to save his life and become a miracle. They all wrote how they learned he was dying and how they began to pray and seek God during it. It was revealed that only 1% end up recovering from going through a cardiac arrest. He also shared how he didn’t have kidney failure or memory problems afterwards. 

I would recommend his awesome book to anyone who is ready to seek healing and they are pondering how they can believe God’s word and find their miracle. I liked how he shared how we need to run our race and how he opened up about how God promised him that he would become a minister and thousands would be saved. He shared how God didn’t tell him at the time about how he would have multiple near death experiences, his daughter would have rheumatoid arthritis and be handicap at 16, and his sister would die from ovarian cancer at 33. He revealed that if God did tell us what we would experience on our journey many of us may say never mind, we don’t want it. I really enjoyed how he included a special section of the book on scriptures and what to declare over our lives about healing. I also liked how he explored 17 hindrances to our healings and why people don’t get healed. I loved how in depth he went in looking at the reasons our healing may be held back. I liked how he covered how he received his healing and what he learned from God during all of the experiences. 

"I received this book free from the publisher, Bethany House/ Chosen for my honest review.” 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Why Am I Not Healed, check it out on Amazon.com:

https://www.amazon.com/Why-Am-Not-Healed-Promised/dp/080079964X