Good and Beautiful and Kind: Becoming Whole in a Fractured World by Rich Villodas # WaterBrook Publisher #Christian Discipleship

 MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW

Absolutely classic and stunning writing. In this wonderful book, by Rich Villodas, before the main themes are being examined he argues that living the way of Christ's love which is good, beautiful, and kind life does not happen overnight. The fruit of holy spirit is love- it grows slowly. There is no shortcut to love. The author has associated sin with love. He deeply takes us to the forces behind the fractures - which is failure to love is equal to sin. Then what is sin? Sin is described as images of lawbreaking, trespassing, and debt. In this book, Rich reminds us the greatest commandment of Jesus- when asked with absolute clarity Jesus responds: Love is the greatest command. You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” Then he added, “The second important commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these” (Mathew 22:37-40)

To paraphrase the old Westminster Catechism, the chief end of humanity is "to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." The fulfillment of faith is love; sin is the negation of it. Rich, the author has explained clearly and deeply the historical and modern fractures in our world. To understand what breaks our society and sabotages the forces of our lives we need to have an understanding of both love and sin. The book is divided into three parts: In the first part, the author will "cut the world in two," exploring the ways that love, goodness, beauty and kindness get eaten from our lives and our world. The themes of sin, powers and principalities, and trauma are navigated.

In the second part, Rich focuses on how the good, beautiful, and kind life gets formed in us through contemplative prayer, humility, and the cultivation of calm presence. The final part will examine the ways all this gets embodied through healthy conflict, forgiveness, and justice.

The author points out practically and truthfully that the self giving love that stretches out to us is discovered in the cruciform love of God, in Jesus. Abide in a love that is self- giving and abundant. His is the love that forms us to become the embodiment of wholeness for a world tragically fractured and breaking apart every day. 

Thanks to Publisher WaterBrook, NetGalley and Author Rich Villodas for this advance copy in exchange of my honest review

Book Description 

We long for a good life, a beautiful life, a kind life. But clearly that’s not the world we live in. We carry the stress of our fractured world in our bodies and relationships. Families that once gathered around tables have converted those tables into walls. Hostility, rage, and offense is the language of our culture.

 
How did we lose goodness, kindness, and beauty? And more important, how do we get them back into our lives? These are the two questions crying out in our streets, homes, churches, and from deep within our souls. 

Pastor and author Rich Villodas is convinced that only Jesus offers a way of being human that is both strong and tender enough to tear down the walls of hostility we experience daily. 

In Good and Beautiful and Kind, he reveals how… 
• These three essentials are stolen by sin, powers and principalities, and trauma. 
• We can get goodness, beauty, and kindness back through contemplative prayer, humility, and the cultivation of calm presence. 
• The traits of healthy conflict, forgiveness, and justice lead to wholeness, healing, and a new collective future—when rooted in the ancient way of Jesus. 

Filled with fresh energy, classic truth, and practical solutions, this is your road map for stepping beyond distraction and division to love like Jesus. Doing so will change the atmosphere within you…and around you!

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ WaterBrook (July 12, 2022)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 12, 2022
• Pages : 230

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• Disclosure of Material: I have received a review copy of this book by the publisher in the form of e-book from NET GALLEY as Advance Reader Copy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Do I really know you by Sheryl Browne #Psychological thriller #Bookouture Publisher #Sherly Browne

MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW

Very enjoyable and gripping book with 65 chapters. I selected this book to read because of its attractive book cover. Maddie and Kiara has been best friends since university. They are married to two different men Nathan and David. Maddie has two children with her husband Nathan. After a detective DS Fletcher comes to Maddie's house door one morning to tell her that Kiara has been found dead at her apartment. Having suspected suicide Maddie couldn't understand why her friend was being so desperate, so lonely, and would have taken her life. Maddie was sure something wasn't right. 

Kiara was pregnant when she died. Cleaned up blood was found at Kiara's apartment. Nathan's fingerprints are all over the apartment. The police found no evidence of anyone having broken in. They were gathering other DNA evidence. Kiara's death, had it really been suicide? Maddie still couldn't accept it. There were so many questions, all of them buzzing around in her head. The police might have missed things within that apartment. Infestation of spiders were found in Kiara's apartment which made Kiara terrified and petrified, phobia in mind. Spiders drove Kiara over the edge.   

This book is full of twists and surprises. A well written, simple Psychological thriller by Sheryl Browne filled with deception, shocks, heartbreaks, and romance the reader need to wait till the end for the nail biting suspense of the book. One of the best Psychological thriller that have ever read.   

I just reviewed the book, Do I really know you by Sheryl Browne, Thanks to Bookouture Publisher, NetGalley and author Sherly Browne for this advance read in exchange for an honest review.

                               About the author Sheryl Browne

                                      

Bestselling Author, Sheryl Browne, writes taut, twisty psychological thriller. Sheryl’s latest book publishing with fabulous BOOKOUTURE is DO I REALLY KNOW YOU? Her previous works include several psychological thrillers with Bookouture, the DI Matthew Adams Crime Thriller series and contemporary fiction novels The Rest of My Life and Learning to Love. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association and the Romantic Novelists’ Association, she also has short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies where she completed her MA in Creative Writing. Sheryl has obtained a Certificate of Achievement in Forensic Science and – according to readers – she makes an excellent psychopath.

Sheryl lives in Worcestershire UK with her husband and her rescue dogs, Brie and Pablo.

Book Description

She’s the friend you trust with your life. But can she trust you with hers?

When the police knock on my door to tell me that my best friend Kiara has taken her life, my world shatters.

Ever since we met at university along with my husband, Nathan and her ex-husband David, the four of us have been inseparable. I can’t believe that, suddenly, she’s not here.

The police say that Kiara fell from the balcony of her small, pristine apartment. But I refuse to accept that she jumped.

I thought I knew Kiara better than anyone. But I soon find out my friend was keeping some big secrets.

Talking to her ex-husband, David, I’m shocked. Was she really having an affair, like he claims?

Searching for evidence, I let myself into her apartment. My heart races as I find her diary and I read the name of her last appointment – Nathan. Why would she be meeting with my husband? And why didn’t he tell me?

It soon becomes clear that everyone around me has been hiding the truth, and when the police call again and ask me to look at security camera footage from the night Kiara died, fear floods through me as I recognize her final visitor. Can I trust anyone in my life? And if someone did push Kiara that night, could I be next?

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bookouture (July 19, 2022)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 19, 2022
• Pages                   :  370
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• Disclosure of Material: I have received a review copy of this book by the publisher in the form of e-book from NET GALLEY as Advance Reader Copy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”