Jay's Blog

(One of my weekly downloads ‘just so happened’ to be a song by Spoken called “Calm the Storm” and while I could go for a ‘calmer’ version, this is a direct reflection of what the Lord showed me at the last day of our local convention in Dgable, Togo. All italicized words within the text are lyrics from “Calm the Storm,” quoted because I couldn’t have ever written it better.)

At Sunday’s Maritime Convention service, Bro. Adams was preaching on the disciples’ seaside adv...

Newest book read: The Respect Dare: 40 Days to a Deeper Connection with God and Your Husband"  by Nina Roesner. This book, though seemingly large, is set up to be read individually or in a group setting and each day is only about two full pages long, with a scripture, short introduction, relative story, and a "So What About You?" section for application. I did not take the 40 days to read through nor follow all the suggestions to improve my relationships: I read to review and thus read the e...

I've taken forever to write this review with all the busyness of events happening in Togo the last month or so. I received From Bitter to Sweet-Ruth (Welwyn Commentary Series) by John Currid before leaving the States in December and, when I finally had a chance to read, I read this book almost straight through! After having recently read The Girl's Still Got It by Liz Higgs Curtis (a fabulous commentary on Ruth mixed with fictional intros) and The Road Home by Tommy Tenny (a very modern take...

drums beat and roll

no so far way

in the distance

as you chant

as you sing

when you listen to 

the drums,

the rhythm

what do you hear

tribal warfare 

centuries ago,

a pagan rite for rain,

a hunting party send-off,

a wedding dance

or 

do you hear

the oft present and recent

feet of soldiers and 

accompanying tatter of ...

Cross Focus Reviews is keeping me supplied with good reading material and this may have been the best yet! I love Biblical fiction and Carole Towriss does a great job dropping the reader into the centuries past world of Egypt. "In The Shadow of Sinai" recounts the story of an obscure Bible character, Bezalel, presenting him as former slave and artisan for Egypt's Pharaoh and follows the Divine will of God for his life as he is anointed to build and craft the elements of the Tabernacle in the...

I received Christmas Uncut: What really happened and why it really matters… by Carl Laferton to review for www.Cross Focus Reviews.com. This little book shares a hilarious scene from children's Christmas plays gone wrong then recounts the nativity story, using the Scripture and bullet pointing the both the actual events and why those 'really matter'.  

Very short and concise with really cute, penciled in Christmas scenes, Christmas Uncut was a quick read. Several of the real life stories ...

"There is no source of power for God's people-for preaching or teaching or anything else-except Christ Himself. Apart from Christ, anything which seems to be spiritual power is actually the power of the flesh."

I received Bitesize Biographies: Francis Schaeffer  by Mostyn Roberts recently from Cross Focus Reviews and was so excited to dive in as Francis Schaeffer was one of few authors I read in BIble School that, once finishing How Then Shall We Live, I kept thinking, "Where's the rest of...

In the midst of all the craziness of my life these past few months with preparation to return to the mission field, I was sent a short little book Christ and The Desert Tabernacle by J.V. Fesko to review (www.CrossFocusReviews.com).  This small work takes one through the often viewed as ‘boring’ passages of scripture, primarily in Exodus, which gives explicit details concerning all the implements of the tabernacle the Lord instructed Moses to build in the wilderness. Fesko covers the bui...

“These new "miracle" lose-weight-fast shakes remind me of the new postmodern, emergent church: no change of lifestyle or exercise required. Both are unsafe, unhealthy, and un-Biblical. Thank God for wholesome holiness and righteousness.” (July 31, 2012)

While the tri-level marketing-ishness of new ‘magical’ weight-loss programs’ media barrage of quick fixes and empty promises has indeed driven me startlingly close to the invisible brink of insanity, this post via Facebook, while c...