Take Dee’s Summer Reading Challenge

Want to be a part of something big this summer? Take my

Summer Reading Challege.

Join the group on Facebook here. You may win a prize. Yes, Really!!

You can also add books to the challenge to up the ante.

Summer Read Friday

  Chosen started the war. In Destined, brother battles brother for ultimate control of their father’s multimillion-dollar ministry in the captivating second novel from Patricia Haley’s provocative new series inspired by the biblical kings David and Solomon.

Don Mitchell thought he’d left DMI headquarters behind forever when he fled to South Africa after his dying father chose his younger, inexperienced half brother Joel to run the thriving family business. But he could not ignore Abigail’s dire request to return to Detroit. After three years of exile, torn between self-preservation and undying devotion to the woman who was once his father’s trusted assistant, he’s considering a plan to secretly assume control of the ministry that Joel, plagued by a slew of illicit affairs and poor business judgment, is plunging into ruin. When his estranged sister refuses to help him, Don must decide whether to stand up and fight a war he never wished to ignite. Should he face down his power-hungry brother to save the ministry his father worked so hard to build – and take a chance on an unrequited love he never dreamed Abigail would reciprocate – or should he return to the tranquility he’s found in South Africa along with the budding drama-free relationship he left behind? Patricia Haley’s evocative modern-day interpretation of these popular biblical tales will keep readers riveted until the stunning conclusion, when the entire fate of a family rests on their ability and willingness to forgive. Purchase the book via the button below and you can get your book from your local bookstore. Isn’t that cool!

 

Master storyteller Walter Wangerin Jr. pens the historically accurate biblical tale of Naomi and Ruth in this riveting novel. Contemporary echoes of love, deceit, war, and political instability will resonate with readers today, while rich descriptions and gritty realism cast new light on the ancient narrative. A powerful story that you won’t soon forget!

 

 

 

 

 

Faith, family, and friendship have always been top priority to lifelong friends Lawson, Reginell, Sullivan, Angel, and Kina, but each one is about to be put to the test during one turbulent year.

Lawson Kerry is a struggling single mother who has finally gotten her life together. Now, a fierce custody battle with her ex threatens to the tear apart everything she's built.

Reginell Kerry is a starry-eyed singer determined to make it to the top of the charts, but will she change her tune when a chance at fame means shedding her clothes and her self-respect?

Sullivan Webb is the pampered wife of a charismatic pastor with political aspirations, but she just might destroy her husband's campaign and their marriage if she can't control her wandering eye.

Angel King has dedicated her life to nursing following the destruction of her marriage. Can she maintain her professionalism when she discovers that her newest patient is the woman who stole her husband?

Kina Battle has had enough of her husband's verbal and physical abuse. When she's pushed to the edge, the situation heads in a deadly direction, and there's no turning back.

Nothing is sacred, all bets are off, and the lives of these ladies will never be the same. Will they have the strength to hold on to their friendships and put their trust in God?

Shop Indie Bookstores If you live in Georgia, Florida or Alabama, Shana would love to meet you personally, as well. Email me.

Want to take my SUMMER READING CHALLENGE? Start Here

 

Do you think the absence of a father distorts a women’s view of God?

Daddy’s Delight Blog Tour

This past Sunday was Father’s Day. Dr. Karia, do you think the presence or absence of an earthly father distorts a woman’s view of her Heavenly Father? How might she work through her daddy issues so that she can see herself as Daddy’s Delight.

Absolutely. There are a number of books out on what has not been termed “The Father Wound”. Healing for the Father Wound by Norman Wright is a good resource for that. Elizabeth Cannings, who is completing her doctorate at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, is a good resource for discussing the father wound in children. The name of her ministry is Emagine ministries. If people will e-mail me at Dr.Karia @FocusedForwardMinistries.org, I will put them in contact with her.

But with regard to your question, your Heavenly Father knows what happened to you, and wants to replace what was lost. God loves you unconditionally. Frequently when a woman has an abusive or demanding father, she sees God as abusive or demanding. When he is a perfectionist, she is drawn to legalism in religion, and then finds herself unable to please the God that exists in her mind, and sometimes even herself. When she has grown up with an absent father, she feels abandoned by God. But there is hope. She will just need to address that issue directly. When you do, you can solve it.

The issue is that the God that exists in her mind is not the real God. The real God is reflected in His Son, Jesus.

So a couple of things need to happen. In order to focus forward, there are times when we have to look backward and heal. Don’t expect too much of yourself too fast in this area. Whether the father was in the home and not the man he should have been, or completely absent, there will probably be some anger. Give yourself permission to be angry. Then give yourself permission to work through the process and heal. At some point in that process you will be able to separate your heavenly father from your earthly father. But if you do not go through the healing process, it will be difficult to do that.

As you begin to separate the two “Fathers”, then you are open to see what God is like. The scripture says that Jesus is an exact reflection of His Father. Jesus is the third person of the Trinity – he is as much God as God the Father. So, in the Bible, we have a record of Jesus’ personality and character.

To work through this, there is an exercise you can do.

Get a pad, and write the words: “Jesus Did“. Skip a few lines. Then write: “That means Jesus Is”. Skip a few lines, then write “That means My Heavenly Daddy Is”. Then skip a few lines and write “What that means to me is”. Under that, write, “What I thought was…”, and then “The truth Is…”

Going through the books of Luke or John (you may want to do this with a few friends)..As you read and come upon something that Jesus did write that incident down. Then fill out the rest of your form. What does that say about Jesus’ character? (If you are with friends, brainstorm on it.) If Jesus is God’s exact reflection, what does that say about your Heavenly Father? And then, finally, how does that relate to you?

For the next week, when you look in the mirror, confess over yourself the most relevant characteristic. For example, “My heavenly Father is (cite the characteristic you discovered), and He loves me and accepts me unconditionally. I am His daughter. He will take care of me.“

Let’s do a passage now, as an example:

Jesus Did

Luke 4:1-13. He responded to Satan. He resisted Satan.

That means Jesus is….

Smart. Bold. Not afraid of anyone or anything. Determined. Can be by Himself. Perfect.

(Discuss these attributes with your friends if you are doing a group study).

That means my Heavenly Father is…..

Smart. Bold. Not afraid of anyone or anything. Determined. Can be by Himself. Perfect. (Discuss these attributes with your friends).

What that means to me is

I used to think,.. - When I am in a crisis, God will abandon me. I am on my own, because my dad always disappeared when the going got rough.

The truth is - My heavenly father is smart enough and bold enough to stick with me when things get tough. I choose to believe the truth.

Confession I will say in the mirror daily for the next week:

I am not alone. My heavenly father is smart enough and bold enough to stand with me when the world is attacking me. He loves me and accepts me unconditionally. I am His daughter. He will take care of me.

If you would like, you may go to my website: www.focusedforward.org, and I will post this question under the question and answer section, and provide a Bible study outline there for you to do a biblical study of who God is to you.

The key to the question, though, is separating your view of God from the truth about who God is. Then you will be able to believe what He says to you about you. You are His divine design.

About the Book

In Daddy’s Delight, Dr. Karia Bunting reminds women that they are God’s workmanship, His masterpiece, His “poema”. That God has intricately woven together every fiber of their being and created each one special and unique. That God, having completed His work of art, gave her to mankind as a gift.

Evident in this great care God took in fashioning woman is the importance and value of each one. So why do so many women struggle with God’s design, wishing they could change just this or that one thing about themselves?

Dr. Bunting challenges each reader to accept and embrace the truth that, regardless of what season of life she’s in, she is God’s masterpiece-not her own work of art. When God sees her, He sees His beautiful creation. A creation that yes, has some wrinkles needing to be smoothed out and yet, is one in whom is His delight to love to perfection.

About the Author

KARIA BUNTING is an expository Bible teacher whose mission is to communicate the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ so that people are saved, and disciples are developed. She is the founder of Focused Forward Ministries, a communication and media ministry, and a member of several community and ministry organizations. She also partners with her husband, George, in his management & financial consulting company.

Karia received her master’s degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and a doctorate from Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary. She’s currently receiving a second doctorate from the University of Texas. She serves as an adjunct professor at Dallas Baptist University and enjoys ministering the Word and its’ principles through her lecture series and power lunches held throughout the year.

Karia and George, her husband of 26 years, live in Dallas, Texas where she teaches the Word weekly in the women’s Bible study at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. Mother of three children, Karia is also a mentor to many young women. She enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with family and friends.

Visit her Dr. Karia online at focusedforwardministries.org.

View the blog tour schedule and read an excerpt at

http://bit.ly/DaddysDelight.

TPT: Michelle Sutton’s Never Without Hope

Happy Tuesday! This week’s Trailer Park Tuesday Spotlight is Sutton’s Never Without Hope(Sword of the Spirit.)

Hope believes she is above sexual temptation; that she would never break that commandment like her husband's previous wives had done. After all, she is a good Christian and a loving mother. She has no reason to stray . . . until her husband starts neglecting her needs and things begin to look hopeless. Though she clearly communicates her pain to her husband, he refuses to get help. She starts to wonder…Will she never have sex with her husband again? She soon learns that she, too, is capable of such betrayal when she succumbs to the unthinkable.

But things that first seemed sweet and reasonable given her painful situation soon produce a bitter taste when combined with the overwhelming guilt. No substitute will ever replace her love and desire for her husband. If only he would touch her like he used to. If only they could make love again. She misses him so much and wants to tell him the truth hoping it will propel him to do something to fix their problem, but she fears his rejection. Yet, she can't continue living such a hypocritical life. She knows it's wrong even though she continues to crave physical intimacy. Steeped in the quagmire of adultery, Hope must find her way back to solid ground to save her marriage. But will she lose everyone she loves in the process?

Click here to learn more about Michelle’s book. IMO Michelle writes stories that get deep into the heart of our challenges and our faith. Get the book here.

3 Gifts to Faith & Fiction Retreat Attendants

 This weekend I fellowshipped with my Write-or-Die Chicks and added some more to the mix, along with the most posh bookclubs I’ve met this year. Honey, these ladies were dressed to kill at the gala banquet.

For those of you who attended the Book Marketing Boot Camp Session, in which I was a part of.  We had to cut our session short, because of a time crunch, so I offered three freebies to you:

10 Book Marketing Tips Every Author Should Consider Before the Book Hits the Shelf

Book Marketing Dee-Mystified Series Planning Workbook: 7 Components to Book Marketing and Social Media Design

The #1 Reason Why your Book Marketing Efforts Fail on Facebook? (expanded version that is not online)

 

You can email me via Facebook and I will send you all three. The first respondent gets a free one hour consulation from me. (A $100 value.)

Once again. Thanks so much for hanging out with me this weekend!

Dee

 

Sins of the Mother & Daddy’s Delight

I giggled when these two books arrived on my doorstep. The two titles sitting next to each other reads like a gospel stage play. However, there is nothing comical or fantastical about either book.

Victoria Christopher Murray’s Sins of the Mother(Touchstone)( was chosen as a top summer read for my Christian Fiction Online Magazine, because it novelized a common question we ask God. Why do bad things happen to good people? During this time in our country—BP Oil Spill, layoffs, authors losing contracts—Murray’s novel may give us another perspective on the subject. Hopefully we can encourage others once we’ve been enlightened.

Dr. Karia Bunting’s Daddy’s Delight(Moody) is a great summer Sunday school breather for women ministries. Chapter 2’s Three Times a Lady: How to Enjoy Being a Woman illuminated me. I’ve been struggling for the past three years, since I lost my second child, with restlessness. This chapter spoke to me of what I’ve been trying to become again(1 Peter 3:3-4.) It has helped me with the decision to some things go and reluctantly, but assuredly step away from some caustic friendships.

Check these books out this weekend. I’ll be seeing Victoria in Atlanta this weekend, as we attend the 2010 Faith and Fiction Retreat. Hit me up.

TPT: Melody Carlson As Young As We Feel

Happy Tuesday. Today are Trailer Park Tuesday feature is Melody Carlson’ s As Young As We Feel.

Before I talk about the book let me say I love this trailer. It is succinct, the graphics and the music fit the tone of this novel. And the length is short enough to get you interested in the book. More importantly the size of this video is small enough to email and share across your networks (something book trailer developers often forget about it.) Kudos David C. Cook Publishers again.

Now the story…

At a crossroads in their lives, four old friends—a New York lawyer, an empty nester, a frustrated artist, and an aging starlet—come together again in their old hometown. Read the first chapter at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/25445313/As..

Related:

• TPT: Rhonda McKnight’s An Inconvenient Friend

• TPT:Terri Blackstock’s Predator

• TPT: Erin Healy’s Never Let You Go #books

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