Religion Saves: Book Review

After reading no non-fiction aside from child rearing books for nearly a year, I eagerly volunteered to read Mark Driscoll's latest book, Religion Saves and Nine Other Misconceptions. I was intrigued by the title and even more so by the concept behind the book. Based on Corinthians 1 and the series of questions that the Corinthians asked Paul, Driscoll set out to determine the most controversial questions among visitors to his church. To that end, Driscoll took a poll via his Mars Hill Church website and received 893 questions and over 300,000 votes to determine the top 9 questions people have regarding Christianity.

Driscoll gives tons of biblical quotes and lots of personal insights and thoughts on each of the following issues: birth control, humor, predestination, grace, sexual sin, faith and works, dating, the emerging church, and the regulative principle, after a brief introductory chapter debunking the idea that religion is what saves us.

While not the type of book I would probably have ever picked up on my own, it is full of convicting, encouraging, and even shocking information that could possibly be helpful to have around should someone ever come to me with any of these tough questions. Having read through it, I believe I'll eventually go online and watch the sermons that each of the chapters was based on. You can go *here* to read or listen to an excerpt from the book.

About the author from the website:

Mark Driscoll is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, one of the fastest-growing churches in America. He is president of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network and is the author of several books, including Vintage Jesus.

Pastor Mark preaches on Sunday, trains pastors, and writes curriculum. Mark is married to his high school sweetheart, Grace, and they enjoy raising their three sons and two daughters. More about Mark here!

Driscoll is both biblically sound and culturally relevant.... a difficult balance to manage.

The schedule for the blog tour is available *here* in case you'd like to read what others have to say about this book.

Leslie Patricelli Children's Books

Many books already adorn our children's bookshelves, but we received a couple of very cute additions last week for review from Team Mom. Leslie Patricelli is a wonderful children's book author, but I believe her illustrations and ingenuity are the reason my girls enjoy her books so much.



Baby Happy Baby Sad is one of the few books about her cute bald baby character that we didn't already own. In this series of books the happy little baby explores many different types of contrasts including: No No No Yes, Yummy Yucky, Big Little, and Quiet Loud. These books are great for babies and younger toddlers! I enjoyed sharing these books with my girls when they were younger because the seemed to really love the simple concepts and brilliant illustrations.





We also got to preview a copy of Higher! Higher! which is brand new on the shelves now and great for the older toddler/ preschool age group. All the girls are enjoying this ingenious picture book. With few words and awesome illustrations, the girls are able to "read" it themselves. Creativity is huge here with the Four Silly Sisters, and this book enforces the idea that there is no limit to the possibilities of a child's imagination.


All these very cute books are available through Candlewick Press. Thank you Team Mom and Leslie Patricelli... the Four Silly Sisters really love adding to their reading collection with excellent quality books!

Skin MD Natural

Wow, in an effort to clear my desk and mind of all distractions before I go to the airport to pick up Scott in the morning, I ran across the info for a review that I almost let slip through the cracks. The product is a really great shielding lotion called Skin MD Natural. I've been using it for the past month or so, and here are some of my thoughts:

I love that I can use it for both my face and body and the fact that it contains SPF 15. It's small 4oz bottle is easily transported for use on the go. I remember being surprised by how far a little bit really does go when I first started using it. While the product's website and many other reviewers claim that it has no smell, I found that there was a slight sunscreen scent when first applied, but it goes away pretty quickly. In addition, it goes on smooth and doesn't leave your skin feeling greasy or weighed down like some lotions do. Best of all, it really works!! My skin is not nearly as dry and damaged as it usually is this time of year.

There is quite a bit of good information on the company's website regarding the difference in moisturizing lotion and shielding lotions; I won't reiterate all that here. I do suggest, however, if you have dry, winter ravaged skin like me and you are looking for a natural skin care product that really works, you go to Skin MD and check it out!

Qlubb Review

Team Mom asked me to try out this new online service for planning and managing real life groups called Qlubb. Tonight I finally had a chance to sit down and look it over. I decided that I would use the service to set up an online site for my weeknight Bible study group. We are a varied group of women, some of whom work outside the house, some married, some moms, and some not. Email is usually the communication tool that we use, but that can be tedious and can clog up an inbox on an especially busy day.

With Qlubb you can:
Eliminate back and forth emails
Avoid reminding (nagging?) everyone about events and responsibilities
Easily delegate tasks to group members
Create a secure website for your group

I found the Qlubb.com site very easy to maneuver. In no time I had created a site for us, made a calendar with our upcoming events (including a trip to the beach... woohoo), asked for volunteers to lead the next session, and invited all the other ladies to join our Qlubb group.

I think Qlubb.com will truly simplify things for me as the group leader and person generally in charge of drafting and keeping up with the email strings before. I am eager to hear how the other gals enjoy the new system, and I'm excited about the fact that the site belongs to all the group members and we're all free to make changes as needed there.

Thanks Team Mom for the opportunity to test drive something on the web that may just simplify my life!

Mr. Random Says...

Commenter #3 penguinmom is our winner. Please email me at foursillysisters (at) gmail (dot) com by 5 pm Friday the 30th with your mailing address to claim your prize. Otherwise I will ask Mr. Random to pick again! Thanks for playing and enjoy reading National Security Mom.

National Security Mom Book Review and Giveaway

Before strep throat descended on our house, I was almost finished reading a fabulous book by Gina M. Bennett. Now that the meds have kicked in and I no longer feel like I am dying by strep throat, I was able to finish it tonight. Thank you to the folks at Mom Select and Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing for the opportunity to read, review, and give away a copy of National Security Mom.

I was intrigued by the title, and wondered really how interested I would be in anything regarding National Security. In fact, I only agreed to review so that I could have something new to discuss with my husband who is currently serving in Iraq.... he knows a thing or two about National security. On the other hand, I am someone who admittedly knows very little about current events, much less National Security and foreign policy. I can say that this book was incredibly easy to read and understand even for someone like me. I think it will appeal to all moms.

Here's the book's description from their website:

"How Do We Solve Our National Security Challenges? In the wake of the war on terrorism, it seems today’s parents are constantly bombarded with news of the latest threats and messages of fear. But how do we achieve national security or even protect our children when we feel so insecure?
National Security Mom, by 20-year veteran of the intelligence community and mother of five, Gina Bennett, answers this burning question through an insider perspective on national security and a unique “soft” approach to achieving it.National Security Mom examines how many of the age-old, practical lessons we teach our children, such as “clean up your mess,” “tell the truth” and “don’t give in to a bully,” apply to the covert intelligence approach to national security. Through these comparisons, Bennett empowers America’s parents to engage with confidence in the national security debate and reinforces the fact—true and lasting security is a nationwide effort that begins at home."

In her book, Bennett ultimately challenges us as parents to engage in action...whether just in the ways we teach our children at home or through the PTA, Home Owners Association, Mayor, City Council, etc, and teach our children to be good citizens thereby preparing them to be our nation's leaders.

The publishers have offered a hardcover copy of the book National Security Mom to one reader here. Just leave a comment by noon EST on Thursday January 29th on this post. Be sure I can reach you via email in case you are the winner. The book will ship out to the winner the first week of February. Good luck!

No-Cry Nap Solutions.... Winner

The No-Cry Nap Solution is such a great book that I wish I could give copy to each of you who commented.... it's that good, really!

However, I only have one copy for one winner, and courtesy of Random Integer Generator that winner is:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:9
Timestamp: 2009-01-22 03:27:44 UTC

Comment number 9 belongs to my friend and fellow baby buncher Lindsey! Her kiddos will be about a year apart once the new little gal arrives. Her oldest is not quite 9 months yet. It is of the utmost importance that big brother learn to be a great napper!

I am thrilled that Lindsey will now have the chance to read this awesome book and hopefully get some great ideas to help Luke become a champion napper before little Miss Nora is born. Congratulations Lindsey!


***Edited to add- There is something weird going on with Blogger and the time stamp. The time is now 10:50pm on my computer (and watch), but the time stamp for blogger says 7:28. I don't know what's up, but I just wanted to clarify that I did wait until 10pm to stop comments and go to random.org for our winner! Sorry for any confusion. Anybody else noticing weird things with Blogger tonight?