Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo!

Have you ever known anybody who’s had a near-death experience, and claimed to have visited heaven? How would you describe heaven?

Colton Burpo was a child who suffered from a serious illness. During a medical operation, he told his dad (Todd Burpo) that he’d gone to heaven. While in heaven he saw Jesus, John The Baptist, dead relatives, animals, etc.

This is a popular book that’s been made into a movie. When I read this book, I’d wondered if there were many people out there who’d experienced heaven. I know I’ve heard of a few people, on TV and in the media, who claim they’ve been to heaven during a near-death experience.

I enjoyed this book, but, wonder what would’ve happened if Colton Burpo had not survived? I know if I’d lost a child, my faith would weaken…a lot! But, if Colton had not survived, we would not be reading about his miraculous journey to heaven and back!! This book has touched so many lives. It’s a book about having a deep faith in Jesus, the faith of a child!

So, have you ever known anybody who’s had a near-death experience, and claimed to have visited heaven? How would you describe heaven?

Have you ever attended a Kirk Cameron event?

My husband and I found out that Kirk Cameron was speaking at a church a few miles from our house’ so we decided to attend Kirk’s Love Worth Fighting For Marriage Event last Sunday. The event started at six o’clock. Warren Barfield, a musician who performed one of the songs from the movie, Fireproof, was also speaking and performing.

The program started with Kirk talking about his time on Growing Pains in a comedic manner. He said he had to do that because lots of people remember him from Growing Pains, so he did a Growing Pains skit, solo, complete with a wig (since he no longer has the eighties hair from twenty + years ago).

After his humorous skit, he started talking about marriage and about what the Bible says about marriage and about how a husband should treat his wife. During his sermon/talk/speech he gave numerous examples from his movie, Fireproof. My husband and I were only a few of the people in the audience who had NOT seen the movie. If you want to hear Kirk talk about marriage, I’d strongly suggest seeing Fireproof first.

Warren Barfield sang a few songs and also told the audience about his missionary work – making us aware of opportunities to sponsor children in other countries. There was an intermission before Kirk came back onto the podium. He showed some clips from Fireproof to emphasize the points he was making about how to get through the trials in marriage – for example, men should not raise their voices so loudly to show their strength and make their wives cower in fear. He also mentioned that the first step to a successful marriage is to have faith in the Lord, believe in Him. He also talked about his upcoming movie, Monumental.

They also sold love and marriage t-shirts as well as other memorabilia in the lobby. Kirk’s book was also for sale. I rarely read non-fiction, so, I didn’t feel compelled to purchase the book.

The event was over around ten o’clock and I was tired and hungry since the program was four hours long and was smack-dab in the middle of dinner time! I kinda wished this event had been held earlier in the day, or, maybe on a Saturday from ten until two. The time wasn’t convenient, but, I’m glad we made the sacrifice to go – we had to get a babysitter and my husband and I rarely stay out that late anymore!

I thought Kirk was a good speaker and he was corny, but, corny in a good and funny way. If you’re wondering about hearing him speak, I highly recommend this seminar. If you have any questions about anything specific, feel free to leave a comment.

Have you ever heard Kirk Cameron speak at an event?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey

Have you ever participated in Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University? If so, what’d you think about it?

Ok, I’m actually reviewing a non-fiction title for the first time in ages. My husband decided we needed to read this book together in order to get our finances in order. Initially, he wanted to do Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University through our church. I told hubby that I didn’t have time to attend Ramsey’s FPU and I could already give him a rundown of some of the items that Ramsey would cover both in the University and in his book. It turns out I was pretty accurate.

I thought this book gave good, practical, Christian advice about managing your finances. A lot of the material I was familiar with because, back in my earlier days, I was deep in debt and I used my highly practical mind to get myself out. A lot of the things that I did to get my finances in order back then were covered in Ramsey’s book. He talks about creating a Debt Snowball where you list all your debts and then pay off the ones with the lowest balances first. He also covers other topics such as savings, mutual funds, retirement accounts, etc.

My finances were in order until I got married and we had a child. Things just got kind of haywire and I didn’t give finances the attention they deserved as I did in my earlier/single years.

A lot of the stuff in this book was familiar to me bacause I have a degree in Finance and I work in the accounting/finance field. I don’t really talk about that much on this blog since my passion is fiction writing.

So, have you ever participated in Ramsey’s Financial Peace University? If so, what’d you think about it?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

***Note that this is a non-fiction title. I haven’t talked about a non-fiction title on my blog in a long time.

I’m Perfect, You’re Doomed – Tales from a Jehovah’s Witness Upbringing by Kyria Abrahams

From Amazon.com:
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Given that Abrahams is now a stand-up comic and spoken-word poet, it makes perfect sense to begin her very funny memoir with her performance debut at the Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Kingdom Hall, at age 8 (her presentation was about freedom from demon possession). She describes the children’s books she read as a child as a cross between “Dr. Seuss rhymes and tales of how sinners would scream and gnash their teeth at Armageddon.” In her world, Smurfs were “little blue demons” and yard sales were enticements from Satan. As a bored teenager with OCD, she didn’t know what to do with herself or how to make sense of the world. On the verge of 18, she married a 24-year-old part-time college math teacher because, even if his interest in her was, at best, halfhearted, she wanted a boyfriend and didn’t know any other Jehovah’s Witnesses who liked her. Anyway, she reasons, “this is what adults did, and I was an adult.” It wasn’t long before she longed to be out of the marriage. Between threats of suicide, she tried to be “disfellowshipped,” or shunned, by her congregation, which proved surprisingly difficult to accomplish. Abrahams is a natural writer whose prose flows effortlessly as she easily mixes throwaway humor and painful memories in a compelling narrative. –June Sawyers

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I spent a great deal of my Memorial Day weekend reading this book. I purchased it about a month ago, but due to other reading commitments, just got around to reading it last Saturday.

Kyria was raised in The Truth (this is what the Jehovah’s Witnesses call their religion). She became active in the Theocratic Ministry School (when JW’s give skits about preaching door to door and “witnessing” to others) when she was eight, and continued to be active in the religion until her early twenties.

During the course of her life, she had a lot of issues to deal with. Her parents were unhappily married, and half of the time her father did not work. Wanting to escape her unhappy homelife, she quits school at seventeen and marries another JW who’s in his mid-twenties. She doesn’t love this man, but no longer wants to remain living at home.

As she struggles with OCD, alcoholism, and self-mutilation (cutting herself) Kyria realizes that The Truth is not working for her and takes steps to leave the controlling religion.

It’s hard to talk about all that happened in this book without giving away spoilers. Overall, the book was funny while talking about seriously depressing issues, giving the story a bittersweet tone.

Kyria also has a humorous glossary in the back with various JW terms. I didn’t notice the glossary until I was almost finished with the book, but didn’t really need to refer to it since I was already familiar with most JW terms.

While reading this book, I felt like I was taking a step back in time. I was raised a JW until I was twelve – when I was abruptly stopped from going to the Kingdom Hall(this is what JWs call their church). While away at college, I hooked up with JWs again, still erroneously thinking they were the “true religion.”

I became a Christian after college, while still in my twenties, after discovering all sorts of things about JWs that I did not like – too many things to discuss within this blog post.

Anyway, Kyria’s book depicts the life of JWs very realistically. The details and descriptions of the meetings, the Kingdom Hall, the programs, going out in service, and the terminology is accurate. If you want to really know what it’s like on the inside, being a JW, then this book will give you an accurate picture of life in The Truth.

However, if you read this book, you’ll have to remember that Kyria had a lot of problems with her OCD, alcoholism, and self-mutilation. Although being a JW certainly contributed to her problems, I felt that she still would have led an extremely troubled life even if she were Catholic, Baptist, or any other religion. I didn’t think that JW’s caused ALL of her problems, but, she did make some crazy decisions that she probably would not have made if she hadn’t been a JW.

I could really relate to her experiences with education. Her husband is a college professor, a job the congregation frowns upon since JWs don’t advocate higher eduation. They don’t see the benefit of preparing you to take care of yourself financially for the future…because there is no future…Jesus will be here any day now and we must preach the good word and not worry about going to college and getting a good job to support ourselves!

However, I’ve heard their views on education have changed in recent years.

I thought the book ended rather abruptly. It appears that the author never finds another religion. She doesn’t talk about becoming a Christian, so the reader is left unsure about Kyria’s religious beliefs. You’re kind of left hanging about what happens next.

Oh, just wanted to end this blog post by stating this: If you’re an active JW, don’t think The Society has the power to decide your salvation…they don’t. Read the Bible (NOT THE NEW WORLD TRANSLATION) for yourself, ask lots of questions, and think about the Word independently of the Watchtower and Awake.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

I saw this book listed on literary agent Rachelle Gardner’s blog. As some of you may know, I don’t read very much non-fiction. It’s hard for me to stay focused while reading a non-fiction book. However, I’ve always been interested in the subject of cults, and the description of this book intrigued me. I ordered it from Amazon and after I receive it and finish it – whenever that may be – I’ll post my thoughts about it. I posted the Amazon link on one of my loops and one of the loop members found the author’s testimony here. You should listen to the testimony if you have time. Makes you stop and think – I thought it was powerful…

Illegitimate: How a Loving God Rescued a Son of Polygamy (Hardcover) by Brian Mackert
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition edition (October 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1434766918
ISBN-13: 978-1434766915
From Amazon.com
Product Description
The recent events at a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church) compound in Texas have ignited a national dialogue on religious sects. Fundamentalist Mormon sects formed as splinter groups of the mainstream LDS Church exist in a world far removed from mainstream American culture: a world of abuse and twisted theology that seems too bizarre to be true.
Yet for Brian Mackert, life inside this sect was all too real. As a son in a family of one father, four wives, and 31 children, Brian experienced firsthand the devastating realities of polygamous cults.

About the Author
Brian Mackert was raised in a splinter group of the LDS church that endorsed polygamy. He later embraced a true relationship with Christ and became a licensed Baptist minister and is dedicated to doing church plants in heavily populated Mormon regions. In addition to his profession as a telecom engineer, Brian regularly speaks to church groups about the realities of radical Mormonism.

Any of you read this book? If so, what’d you think?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Heaven by Randy C. Alcorn
ISBN-13: 9780842379427
Pub. Date: October 2004
From Barnes And Noble.com:
Synopsis
We all have questions about what heaven will be like. Randy Alcorn helps answer some of these questions by sharing his extensive research on the topic—all from a biblical perspective. His writing will surprise readers and stretch their thinking beyond anything they’ve imagined heaven to be like. And Heaven will help readers strive for eternity while they’re living on earth.

I’ll be blogging about this book here and there, every once in a while. Reason being, it’s a non-fiction title, and for those that know me well, I don’t read a whole lot of non-fiction, and when I do, it’s usually in bits and pieces over a span of time before I finish the entire book. I just started this book, and I’ve only read a few pages so far. Here are my thoughts about what I’ve read.

I think it’s kind of sad how a lot of Christians have a skewed view of Heaven. Randy used the skewed example of Heaven as it was portrayed in Tom Sawyer, and also, he gave an example of a clergyman who had skewed view as to what Heaven was really like.

Another thing he mentioned, which I felt was pretty bad, was that in a lot of seminary and divinity schools, they don’t really teach a required course about Heaven, and if they do, it’s as an afterthought, after focusing on other study items. Randy said that Heaven is living in a New Earth in our resurrected bodies, and usually clergymen, and others, don’t portray Heaven as such. Surprisingly, I have studied this aspect of Heaven before (long story as to where and why) so this information was not new to me.

The pastor at my church did a series on Heaven and I believe he stated he got a lot of the information from his sermons from Randy’s book. My pastor said that Heaven would be living on a New Earth with our resurrected bodies. A lot of this is goes back to Revelations (I believe it’s chapter 21?), but I don’t have the exact chapters and verses in front of me.

If you’ve read this book, I’d like to know your thoughts and opinions about it. It’s hard to say when I’ll be finished with the book, though.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Hardcover: 704 pages
Publisher: Bethany House; Rev Upd edition (October 1, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0764228218
ISBN-13: 978-0764228216
From Amazon.com:
Book Description
The authoritative reference work on major cult systems for nearly forty years. Working closely together, Ravi Zacharias and Managing Editors Jill and Kevin Rische (daughter of Dr. Martin) have updated and augmented the work with new material. This book will continue as a crucial tool in countercult ministry and in evangelism for years to come. Among cults and religions included are: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, New Age Cults, the Unification Church, Baha’i Faith, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and more.

Ravi Zacharias, the general editor, is president of Ravi Zacharias Ministries, a respected speaker, and author of many books.

As many of you know, I don’t read a whole lot of non-fiction, however, the subject of cults has always interested me. I’ve been reading this book off and on for awhile. It’s scholarly written, and that’s why I can only read it in bits and pieces, plus it’s non-fiction, so it’s harder for me to read than a novel. Here is a complete listing of the religious sects covered in the book.

I am in no way expressing an opinion about the following groups, I’m merely stating that the book listed above is a good source to get a general history of the following groups:

Jehovah’s Witnesses
Christian Science
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons)
Spiritism – The Cult of Antiquity
The Theosophical Society (Gnosticism)
Buddhism – Classical, Zen, and Nichiren Shoshu
The Baha’i Faith
Unitarian Universalism
Scientology
The Unification Church
Eastern Religions
The New Age Cult
Islam-The Message of Muhammad
The Cults on the World Mission Field
The Jesus of the Cults
Cult Evangelism-Mission Field on Your Doorstep

There’s also a section entitled: The Road To Recovery

I originally saw this book while browsing around a Christian bookstore. I didn’t want to shell out the money for it. But after I thought about it for a bit, I ended up purchasing it from Amazon months later.

Interesting reading.

Cecelia Dowdy