Book Review: Spirit Fighter

Spirit Fighter (Son of Angels, Jonah Stone)
By Jerel Law
Thomas Nelson, 2012
English, 256 pgs


Description:
Percy Jackson, move over! Jonah Stone is here! 
What if Nephilim - the children of angels and men - still walked the earth? And their very presence put the entire world in danger? In Spirit Fighter, Jonah and Eliza Stone learn that their mother is a Nephilim and that they have special powers as quarter-angels. When their mom is kidnapped by fallen angels, they must use those powers to save her.  Along the way, they discover that there is a very real and dangerous war going on between good and evil and that God has a big part for them to play in that war.

Parents today are looking for fiction that makes Christianity and the Bible exciting for their kids. This series is the Christian answer to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Kane Chronicles, The Secret Series and other middle-grade series packed with adventure, action, and supernatural fights.  

Son of Angels, Jonah Stone will be the first series in the market to explore this topic from a biblical perspective with content that is appropriate and exciting for middle-grade readers.

Review:
I thought it was a great read. I don't have a middle schooled child (yet) but I'll be excited to share this book with him when he gets there. The characters are funny and there are a few places where it feels like the story is dragging a bit, but it's a good book for what it's intended to be.

The amount of spiritual content is appropriate for this age and it doesn't get too "deep" or go beyond what a child of that age would know. I think this is equally good for boys or girls and that it's going to be an exciting series!

I'm trying to think of anything in the book that would make me hesitant to share it with kids I know at church, or my own kids in the future and I cannot think of anything. There may be a bit of background explanation required on some of the concepts, but that just opens the door for discussion!

I received a copy of the book in exchange for a review. No additional compensation has been or will be received and I was not required to write a positive review.

I actually like my hair today!

I do not have easy to control hair. It's half curly, half whatever-it-wants-to be and almost always frizzy thanks to the Texas humidity and heat. I have tried so many things to keep it smooth and controllable. It fights back.

So, when I got the chance to try Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine, through BzzAgent, I was so excited! I have washed with it three times now and I'm getting happier with my hair every day.

The first day of using it, I was mostly impressed by the scent. It smells soooo good. It's made with apricot oil and that is just a wonderful smell in the morning! Even my 5 year old smelled my hair after my shower. I didn't see much difference that day. I did notice that it was a little hard to get it to rinse out. That day I only used the shampoo because I'd conditioned the day before and I can't do that every day on my hair or it gets weighed down.

Day 2, I used the shampoo and conditioner and was so happy with the result. Again though, it felt like it took longer to rinse out. But...I had pretty hair without needing to add any style creme or gel. It stayed curly and soft all day. That's a big score!

Day 3, today, I only used the shampoo again and it really is starting to bother me that it feels like I'm not rinsing it all out. It is soft and shiny though.

The cool thing I noticed when I was looking at the bottle today is that Garnier uses recycled plastics in it's bottles and it has a little note on there reminding you to recycle the bottle in your hands. It's a little thing, but every little thing adds up.

The website says that the shampoo and conditioner will "lock out frizz for a full 3 days, even in 97% humidity" and I will be able to test that in the next few days when we're forecasted to be in the upper 90s.

The shampoo and conditioner are part of a system which includes a leave-in conditioner, frizz serum (getting that ASAP) and Frizz Defeat Deep Treatment.

I received a full sized shampoo and conditioner for testing purposes through BzzAgent. I was not required to write a positive review and no additional compensation has been or will be received.

Book Review: 1000 Days

1000 Days
By Jonathan Falwell
Thomas Nelson, 2012
English, 240 pgs

Description:

An opportunity to meet Jesus Christ like never before.

Have you ever thought that when Jesus Christ came to earth more than two thousand years ago, he could have simply given us salvation-period!-and never done another single thing? Jesus Christ could have chosen to be born of a virgin, live for 33 years in relative obscurity, die on the cross, be buried, and rise from the dead three days later, and still give us the opportunity for salvation without doing any of the things we read about in the gospels.

Yet there was more.

For three years-roughly 1,000 days-Jesus served in public ministry while on earth. He didn't need to do this ministry, yet he did anyway, and that's the key for us. This intentionality implies that there is a lot of information in Scripture that we need to grapple with. We need to understand what Jesus said and did during his 1,000-day public ministry, so we can apply his teachings to our lives today.

What makes these 1000 days of Christ so vitally important?

Jesus' public ministry was to help us understand what true love is all about-both for God and for other people. When we love God and others first, the rest of life falls into place: our possessions, our ambitions, our hopes and our dreams. Jesus modeled everything he taught, and his invitation is to make his mission our mission too.

Review:
This is a great book for Christians who want to truly live their lives as Jesus showed us. There's not really any new, earth shattering insights, but a good reminder of who we are to be like in our daily lives. The chapters are not long, but they're packed with information and each ends with questions for self-reflection. There is also a more in-depth Bible Study section for each chapter at the end of the book, with directions and helps for group leaders.  I find it a little strange that a book of this magnitude has less than 20 notes cited for the whole book. That means the majority of the writing is from Scripture and the author's mind alone. Kinda strange now a days, but still great because it's fresh.

I received a copy of the book in exchange for a review. No additional compensation has been received and I was not required to write a positive review.