Friday, July 24, 2015

Book Review: The Crowns of the Believers By Gina Burgess


      The Crowns of the Believers: Set Apart, Surrounded, Shielded


Gina Burgess has written a very interesting book on crowns that affect Christians. She quotes the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, which tells its readers there are five basic uses for crowns: decoration, consecration, coronation, exaltation, and compensation. Interestingly, she adds a sixth reason to the list “that of the crown of castigation or denouncement such as the crown Jesus wore on the cross.”1

Gina does her readers a favor; she includes screen shots of a Lexicon Search2 as she goes into detail about the different types of crowns a believer can bear. She also suggests the readers use online lexicons. A lexicon is a synonym for the word thesaurus. After each chapter she includes questions for reflection to make the reader think deeper about the subject she has presented.

I found this book very informative. I believe it would be a great addition to anyone’s personal library. It would be a good resource book as well as a very good study book for Christian book clubs.
I received an electronic copy of this book from the author. All she asked me to do was read it and give an honest, unbiased review.




1,)The Crowns  of the Believers page 2.
2.) Ob cit.,

Monday, July 20, 2015

Shield and Rampart


              
                                                                                       


“He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart”
Psalm 91:4 (NIV)

               We hear so much about God’s faithfulness to us. Scriptures and hymns remind us of this attribute. But do we understand what this means to us?
               A shield protects soldiers in battle. My concordance tells me a shield is a defensive weapon.  I have discovered some shields are worn on the soldier’s arm. There were also some that were large enough for a soldier to crouch behind and not be seen by his enemy.
               A rampart is an outer fortification built around certain Biblical cities 3 I like the distinction between these two terms. A rampart, most likely, would be earthen works encircling the town. Lake Okeechobee in Florida has a large barrier all the way around it. The history behind this structure is in the 1920’s a tornado came through the area and emptied the lakebed of all the water.4

               As children, most of us were protected by our parents. Those fortunate to have older brothers, had them to shield us from harm. We also had God watching out for our well-being.

               We all have stories of times when something happened in our lives that we realized later God had protected us from danger. Maybe He warned you of something that eventually did transpire—an event that caused anxiety or grief to yourself, a family member, or a friend.  
Dear Father God:
                             We thank You for keeping us and my family and friends safe. I appreciate Your vigilance over us our entire lives. We give You all the praise. In the Name of Jesus, I praise. AMEN

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...