The Mrs. & the Minister

Samenow's Inside the Criminal Mind is an odd book to review.  Samenow, a research psychologist, says criminal behavior is 100% voluntary.  It is a product of disordered thought patterns that are almost entirely congenital.  Poverty doesn't cause crime, Samenow claims.  Nor do bad parenting, peer pressure, drug use, or any of the other "standard excuses".  Some kids are born anti-authoritarian thrill seekers and will remain so pretty much no matter what.  The only hope is to get criminals to intensively examine their thought patterns, and change them through sheer force of will. Originally written in 1984, I have to wonder:  Is this book merely a product of its time?  That is, does it represent the best of the cultural thinking that went into personal responsibility and individualism that was so rampant in America in the mid-1980s? Because, let's be honest:  Inside the Criminal Mind has a glaring problem.  To quote another 19...

Paul Bloom, professor of psychology at Yale University, puts forward a simple thesis in his new book, Just Babies :   Morality, or its roots, appears to come so evolutionarily hardwired that mere babes can tell good from bad.  According to Bloom, we humans are not born moral blank slates, proposing that "we possess an innate and universal morality". And Bloom should know.  He has conducted some of the most notable studies in the field.   In a lively, accessible style, Bloom also draws on research into adults from many societies, including the extant hunter-gatherer tribes.  And he tackles the moral claims of philosophy and religion, arguing that we understand how the "amoral force of natural selection" may have instilled the foundations for moral thought and action. I found Just Babies  to be one of the easiest psychology books I've ever read, and he supports his thesis convincingly.  But there's a glaring oversight:  Where, then, does evil ...

Having worked in a variety of non-profit residential settings, I know quite a bit about "toxic relationships".  And since my husband is a minister, I've seen first-hand how work environments -- particularly our churches -- can turn into toxic workplaces.  The fac t is, there are so many places that have a toxic environment that can discourage and turn off ordinary workers from discharging their best -- not just churches and other non-profits.  According to a Gallup poll, seven in ten people work in toxic workplaces.  A bad workplace also leads to stress and reduced productivity.  Class tensions create divisions within organizations.   This book offers wisdom and help for negotiating those "toxic workplace" environments.  Each chapter contains some survival strategies for workers as well as leadership tips for bosses.  Both are needed in order to cultivate a positive corporate culture.  The most common factor for these toxic workplaces are wor...

Love Without Limits  is the true-life (and true-love) story of Nick and Kanae.  They met  after his many dating disappointments and a failed relationship -- he was in his mid-twenties.  After their first date, the chemistry between them grew and was undeniable, while they went through many twists and turns before becoming one in Christ marriage in 2012.  The book recounts their story:  The improbable grace that brought them together, and their shared fight against the lack of faith that would keep them apart.  It's a book filled with practical insights that will benefit any couple, and it describes a godly courtship and the early years of the Vujicics' marriage and parenting journey.  The 15 chapters have so much spiritual wisdom for couples, that I hardly know where to begin.  It's a great book that every couple -- whether preparing for marriage or married for years -- need to read.  I received this book free, from the  Bloggi...

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life  is a book to which I wish I'd been introduced years ago.  In it, Joanna Weaver offers challenging and helpful advice for drawing me -- and women like me -- back to the core of those things that really matter in life.  My husband has been a pastor for 17 years.  I work with developmentally challenged adults in a residential setting.  And when we married (just a year ago), I never realized all the ways in which our busy lives would impact our relationship and, more importantly, our spiritual lives.   We all have different lives with different choices, pressures, situations, challenges and opportunities.  But most of us -- or, maybe just me! -- feel overwhelmed by those choices and pressures, the situations and challenges.   This is the book I needed to expose how so much of all that is my own doing.  Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World is based on an exc...

I was excited to receive a free copy of The Study Bible for Women  from the publisher, in exchange for my review.  I want to thank Jamie George of B&H Books for getting this to me.  I chose the Teal/Sage LeatherTouch cover.  It's a beautiful Bible.  The Study Bible for Women has several wonderful features that lead me to recommend it to every woman looking for a study Bible.  The presentation pages come with space for a family tree and life's events.  There's also room to record Spiritual Mothers (complete with a list to write mentor info and verses referencing spiritual gifts), and the Jewish Ketubah ("Marriage Contract"). The translation for the biblical text is the HCSB, one of the newest translations, but taken from the Greek and Hebrew texts used by scholars.  And the "How to Use Guide" has lots of wisdom about reading the Bible with understanding.  Throughout the Bible, there are sections for Word Study, Character Profiles, Bib...

Right now, talking to You seems like a chore. It's more of an oughta than a wanna. "Pray for me!," she asks. And I do. I pray to a God she doesn't believe in...on her behalf. It feels heavy, as if I have to have enough belief for the both of us. I suspect she thinks of prayer in the same way that people bury saints upside in their yards to sell houses, or kiss a blarney stone for luck, and blow out birthday candles to make a wish. A superstition. A good luck charm. A magic word. And what does she really want me to pray? That the elderly man will be healed of the cancer that riddles his body? Probably. However, he's lived a full life and he's likely tired of pitting the good cells against the bad ones. Maybe he wants to be done. Should I pray that she gets to say good-bye? Or perhaps that she can grieve openly and well,,, surrounded by loved ones. Or maybe, just maybe, this will be the first time she encounters You.  In her grief. In the prayer that didn't ...