By Adam E. Heironimus

“Erasing Hell”, by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle, is about what the bible says about hell. This book doesn’t try to sugarcoat any of the things God said about what will happen after we die, but merely presents what God said in the manner that he said it, in the light that, as God says in Isaiah 55:9,”As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” and he knows what is ultimately best. Francis Chan said that the fact that there is a hell and that many of the people around us will be going there should be a motivation to us to tell everyone we possibly can about Christ’s love, in order to save them from going there. I would highly recommend that you read this book if you have any questions about what happens after we die and what hell really is, and would give it 5 out of 5 stars.

You can buy “Erasing Hell” on Amazon.com

“Lies That Go Unchallenged in Popular Culture”, by Charles Colson, is a collection of short, 4 page devotions that deal with different moral, ethical, and religious issues facing our nation, and what we evangelical Christians can do to fix them.I was very encouraged by it and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a book to help them combat the decay and decadence in our culture with the word of god. I would give this book 5 stars out of 5.

You can buy “Lies That Go Unchallenged in Popular Culture” on Amazon.com

I recently finished reading “Redwall” by Brian Jaques. It was about the adventures of a mouse named Matthias as he tries to protect the abbey of Redwall from being destroyed by an evil rat named Cluny the Scourge and his army. It’s a wonderfully written and well crafted tale of  the struggle between good and evil, and I would highly recommend it  to anyone looking for an exciting fantasy novel, giving it 5 out of 5 stars.

You can purchase this book on Amazon.com

Today I started and finished reading my siblings “Defeat of the Ghost Riders” by Dave and Neta Jackson. It was about Celeste Key, a “negro” girl growing up in the early 1900′s, who, at the very beginning of the book, lives with her family in Statesboro Georgia. Trouble soon strikes, and after members of the Ku Klux Klan burn down her father’s blacksmith shop, they leave in search of a more friendly place to live, finally settling down in Daytona Florida, where her father finds work on the railroad that’s being built there. While she is living in Daytona, she meets Mary McLeod Bethune and becomes one of the very first girls to enroll in the school that Mrs. Bethune is setting up for “colored” girls there. By the end of the book, Celeste has learned to overcome her fear of the “Klansmen” and serve others, living Mrs. Bethunes philosophy of helping others and improving life for everyone around her. We all really enjoyed this book (as is evidenced by the fact that we read it in one solid 3 hour sitting!) and using the 5 star rating system I would give this book a 5!

You can buy this book on Amazon.com

We headed out of civilization at 5:20

Once we got down to the river we immediately began setting up our tent because of the thunder we could hear in the distance 

After getting our camp set up, we did some exploring, finding some sticks that we could use to cook our dinner on

We started cooking our “gourmet” as soon as the sticks were whittled (it was starting to rain)

Yum! (I assume, John ate 5!)We then cooked our dessert: Marsh mellows! (We were manly men and used the same sticks we had roasted our hot dogs on!)

Yum again! We did more exploring until it got darkWe then piled into our tent for the night

John said, “Good night, Don’t let the ground bugs bite!”

We woke up at 6:25 and immediately began making breakfast

John was able to warm two things at once over the campstove!

Yum yet again!

After we finished eating, we packed everything up and left our campsite to make a round-about way towards home

Home at last!

Today I finished reading my siblings “The Bandit of Ashley Downs” by Dave and Neta Jackson. ”The Bandit of Ashley Downs” is about an orphan boy named Curly, who lives in London during the Industrial Revolution. One day Curly overhears a man telling a church congregation that there will be  £3,000 traveling by private coach to Bristol in several days to benefit the orphanage there, thinking no one outside of the small group of people overhears. Curly takes this bit of information to his criminal friends, and they make a plan to hold up the stagecoach, taking the money intended for the orphans for themselves. Their evil scheme succeeds, but after only a few weeks, they are found out and jailed. Curly, because he is so young, is taken to an orphanage run by George Muller called Ashley Downs, where he learns about God’s love and provision by watching God provide for the needs of all of the orphans there. The book ends in a somewhat surprising (and thoroughly good) way, and I would highly recommend it to you, giving this book 4.5 out of 5 stars

You can buy “The Bandit of Ashley Downs” on Amazon.com

Today I finished reading my siblings “The Only Sister” by Dorcas M. Mast.

“The Only Sister” is about a girl named Carrie Seymour, who, although having 6 brothers, is, as the title says, “The Only Sister”. Carrie struggles being the only girl and often wishes that God had sent her family another girl, but in the end she finally realizes that God’s plan for her life is best, and becomes content with the situation God has placed her in. That’s not the whole book though! “The Only Sister” also chronicles some of the many adventures that Carrie and her 6 brothers have, frying eggs in the microwave (with disastrous results!), falling from horses (also with disastrous results!) and building, baking, and inventing all sorts of other things (with varying results). We would all highly recommend this book and using the 5 star rating system I’d give this book a 5!)

P.S. We’ve read this book aloud three times and Rachel has read it to herself an additional 7.- I hope that removes any of your doubts as to whether or not it really is a good book!

You can buy “The Only Sister” on RodandStaffbooks.com

By Adam E. Heironimus

Yesterday I finished reading “Jesus Freaks II: Revolutionaries” by dc Talk. It was a collection of short stories about Christians who were willing to be revolutionaries, people who went against the “norm” and were willing to be “Jesus Freaks”. I was really blessed by all of the stories, but  the story of an Indian believer named Sundar Singh, who was imprisoned, beaten and threatened multiple times and eventually disappeared on a missionary journey to Tibet in 1929, was one that really stood out to me. He said “The true Christian is like sandalwood, which imparts its fragrance to the ax which cuts it, without doing any harm in return.”  I was amazed by how many people were willing to be “like sandalwood”, and continued to pray for and share the Gospel with their enemies, even as they were being tortured in ways almost too horrible to imagine. I was very blessed by reading this book and would highly recommend it to anyone.

Using the 5 star rating system, I would give this book a 5, and I would highly recommend you check it out from your local library or buy it on Amazon.com!

By Rachel M. Heironimus

I recently read “The Seventeenth Swap” by Eloise McGraw. It was about a boy named Eric Greene, who wants to get a pair of red cowboy boots that are on sale for $17.99 for only one week. But the problem is, he doesn’t have any money. So he starts swapping things. There are several times when he wants to give up, but at the end, he’s glad he didn’t. I liked it and would give it 4 out of an available 5 stars.

You can buy “The Seventeenth Swap” on Amazon.com

By Rachel M. Heironimus

I finished reading “Thimble Summer” recently. It was about a girl named Garnet, who lives on a farm with her father, mother and three brothers. One night, she and her oldest brother Jay are outside together, and Garnet finds a silver thimble. She thinks it’s magical. That night it rains, and ends the long drought. After that, many wonderful and exciting things happen to Garnet and her family. I liked it and will give it 4 stars.

You can buy “Thimble Summer” on Amazon.com