‘Bathsheba’ by Jill Eileen Smith – Book Review

One of my favorite new authors is Jill Eileen Smith. Her latest book is the last book in her ‘The Wives of King David Series,’ ‘Bathsheba.’

Here is the synopsis of this novel:

Can Love Triumph Over Treachery? Bathsheba is a woman who longs for love. With her husband away fighting the king’s wars, she battles encroaching loneliness – which makes it all too easy to succumb to the advances of King David. Will one night of unbridled passion destroy everything she holds dear? Can she find forgiveness at the feet of the Almighty? Or has her sin separated her from God forever?

With a historian’s sharp eye for detail and a novelist’s creative spirit, Jill Eileen Smith brings to life the passionate and emotional story of David’s most famous – and infamous – wife. You will never read the story of David and Bathsheba the same way again.

Here is the biography of this author:

Jill Eileen Smith is the bestselling author of Michal and Abigail, books 1 and 2 in the Wives of King David series. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time with her family – in person, over the webcam, or by hopping a plane to fly across the country. She can often be found reading Christian fiction, testing new recipes, grabbing lunch with friends, or snuggling one or both of her adorable cats. She lives with her family in southeast Michigan.

You can contact Jill at jill@jillsmith.com. She loves to hear from her readers.

I had the opportunity to review ‘Abigail’ – one of my first reviews – on my blog last year (you can read the review here). I also have her first book in the series, ‘Michal;’ I have not had the time to read that one yet. These books are very well written and obviously Jill had done a great deal of research to show life in Jerusalem in 994 BC. She is currently working on her next series, which will feature the Wives of the Patriarchs; the first book will be about the wife of Abram, Sarai; following that will be books about Rebekah and Rachel. Following that will be a series called ‘The Brides of the Promised Land,’ detailing the lives of Rahab, Deborah, Ruth and Hannah. Jill is going to be one busy lady! I look forward to those series with great anticipation, based on the excellence of this series!

I had the pleasure of meeting Jill in February 2010; she’s a very sweet lady. I look forward to the next time we meet!

You can order this book here.

Available March 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. 

The Winner of 'Always True: God's 5 Promises for When Life is Hard' is....

We have a winner for 'Always True: God's 5 Promises for When Life is Hard' by James MacDonald.


That blessed person is....


Shawna!


Congratulations, Shawna! I pray you will be blessed by this wonderful book!


Thanks to everyone for your heartfelt comments; I loved reading them! And thanks to Jule at C. Grant & Company for the review and giveaway copies.


For those of you who didn't win, you can order your own copy here.


Please come back soon, as there are more reviews and giveaways to come! Have a blessed day!

‘A Trail of Ink: The Third Chronicle of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon’ by Mel Starr – Book Review

One of the interesting things about historical fiction is that the novels transport you back to another place in time. Such is the case with 'A Trail of Ink: The Third Chronicle of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon’ by Mel Starr.

Here is the synopsis of this novel:

Some valuable books have been stolen from Master John Wyclif, the well known scholar and Bible translator. He calls upon his friend and former pupil, Hugh de Singleton, to investigate. Hugh's investigation leads him to Oxford where he again encounters Kate, the only woman who has tempted him to leave bachelor life behind, but Kate has another serious suitor. As Hugh's pursuit of Kate becomes more successful, mysterious accidents begin to occur. Are these accidents tied to the missing books, or to his pursuit of Kate?

One of the stolen books turns up alongside the drowned body of a poor Oxford scholar. Another accident? Hugh certainly doesn’t think so, but it will take all of his surgeon s skills to prove.

 “I have never seen Master John Wyclif so afflicted. He told me later that it was as onerous to plunder a bachelor scholar’s books as to steal another man’s wife. I had, at the time, no way to assess the accuracy of that opinion, for I had no wife and few books…”

So began another delightful and intriguing tale from the life of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon in the medieval village of Bampton, near Oxford, and bailiff of Bampton Castle. Hugh sets his cap at the delightful Kate, who proves equally resourceful in the search for the missing books. Some very determined adversaries are out to stop him, permanently if necessary – but are they motivated by greed, or more personal animosity? Then the corpse of a poor scholar, who had tried to sell one of the books, is found in the river; but he had not simply drowned….

Here is the biography of this author:

Mel Starr was born and grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating with a MA in history from Western Michigan University in 1970, he taught history in Michigan public schools for thirty-nine years, thirty-five of those in Portage, MI, where he retired in 2003 as chairman of the social studies department of Portage Northern High School. Mel and his wife, Susan, have two daughters and seven grandchildren.  Mel has studied medieval surgery and medieval English. He lives in Michigan. He is also author of The Unquiet Bones and A Corpse at St. Andrew’s Chapel.

I found it charming how Hugh approached his courtship of Kate:

I left the stationer’s shop with both joy and apprehension. The joy you will understand, or would had you seen Kate and spent time in her presence. I was apprehensive because next day I must begin a thing for which I had no training and in which I had little experience. While at Balliol College I was too much absorbed in my set books to concern myself with the proper way to impress a lass, and none of those volumes dealt with the subject. Certainly the study of logic avoided the topic. Since then my duties as surgeon and bailiff allowed small opportunity to practice discourse with a maiden. And there are few females of my age and station in Bampton. (p. 14)

Being that this story is set in 14^th century England, there are a lot of differences in culture and language between their lives and ours. Fortunately, Mr. Starr shares a Glossary with his readers at the beginning of the book. It came in handy with this particular paragraph:

We stood between the yard-spinner’s house and that of the cobbler as we discussed ladders and walls. While we spoke my gaze drifted over the town wall to the water meadow to the south and the willows lining the banks of the Cherwell. Two figures walked there; a woman dressed in a long cotehardie of blue, and a man wearing parti-colored chauces, a red cotehardie, and a cap ending in a long yellow liripipe. The couple were two hundred paces from me, and walking away, so I could not see their faces. I did not need to. (p. 45)

I loved Hugh’s perspective on life; here’s a great example – he is inspecting a patient:

It was as I expected. When I put my fingers to Aymer’s collarbone I felt the fractured end move under my touch. And the shoulder was swelling, turning red and purple beneath the skin. Aymer gasped as the broken bones grated against each other. I had used hemp and lettuce before, with good result. God provides much for men to ease their suffering in this world. But he had provided nothing which will end all suffering. So Aymer’s pain was less than might have been, but was real enough. Pain is God’s way of telling us not to do some things again. Surely Aymer, when he is next upon a roof, will take more care. (p. 57)

I also love how Hugh called on his Lord in times of trouble:

The gloom of my spirit matched the gloom of my cell. No friend knew of my plight, and those who put me in this place would not tell them. No, this was not true. There was a friend who knew of my affliction. I knelt in the rotten rushes covering the dirt floor of the cell and called upon the Lord Christ to free me from my unjust captors. Perhaps, I hoped, He had already noted my misfortune and set a plan in motion for my freedom. But it would do no harm to remind Him of my trouble in case others matters had captured His attention. An unwelcome thought came to mind. If the Lord Christ loved and served me only so much as I loved and served Him, where then might I be? (p. 70)

He also made an observation to that end later in the book:

I believe I am like most men. I call upon the Lord Christ when in need, but forget to speak to Him when my life is smooth and pleasant. I treat the Savior like a lawyer; I call upon Him only when I am in trouble. I vowed to amend my ways and prayed that some escape might appear before Arthur and I were made food for worms. I told him of my plight, and pointed out that, unless He intervened, I was likely to die soon. I concluded this prayer with that thought that, although he was surely occupied dealing with all the troubles men brought upon themselves and others, it would require of Him little effort to see us set free. (p. 177)

I found the ending to be very satisfying – and there is a fourth chronicle of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon, in the works; its title will be ‘Unhallowed Ground.’  

To be honest, I didn’t ‘get into’ this book until about page 50. It is set in Oxford, England in 1365, and it was hard for me to gain sympathy for the characters at first. Gradually, Hugh de Singleton, his cohort Arthur and fiancée Kate drew my interest. It was definitely hard going at the beginning, though. It was interesting to learn that this story included actual locations and real people in history. Mr. Starr shared with his readers that some of the locations still exist, and some are simply piles of rubble.

As has happened in previous novels I have read that are set in a bygone era, this book made me grateful for the era and the country in which I dwell. It is good to be a citizen of the United State of America in 2011!

You can order this book here.

This book was published by Kregel Publications. I am proud to be participating in the blog tour through the LitFuse Publicity form with many other bloggers.

‘A Billion Reasons Why’ by Kristin Billerbeck- Book Review

One of the things I’ve loved about reviewing books on my blog is becoming acquainted with new authors – new to me, anyway! The latest book and author that fit those categories is ‘A Billion Reasons Why’ by Kristin Billerbeck.

Here is the synopsis of this entertaining novel:

There are a billion reasons Kate should marry her current boyfriend. Will she trade them all to be madly in love?

Katie McKenna leads a perfect life. She has a fulfilling job, a cute apartment, and a wedding to plan with her soon-to-be fiancé, Dexter. She can think of a billion reasons why she should marry Dexter. He’s everything she wants in a husband.

And then in walks Luc DeForges, her bold, breathtaking ex-boyfriend. Only now he’s a millionaire. And he wants her to go home to New Orleans to sing for a friend’s wedding. As his date.

But Katie made up her mind about Luc eight years ago, when she fled her hometown after a very public breakup. Yet there’s still a magnetism between them she can’t deny.

Katie thought her predictable relationship with Dexter would be the bedrock of a lasting, Christian marriage. But what if there’s more? What if God’s desire for her is a heart full of life? And what if that’s what Luc has offered all along?

Here is the biography of the author:

Christy Award finalist and two-time winner of the ACFW Book of the Year award, Kristin Billerbeck has appeared on The Today Show and has been featured in the New York Times. She lives with her family in northern California.

Here is Katie’s description of Luc as he walks into her classroom in California:

Luc’s chiseled features didn’t wear humility well. The cross-shaped scar beneath his cheekbone added to his severity. If he weren’t so dreaded handsome, he’d make a good spy in a Bond movie. His looks belied his soft Uptown New Orleans upbringing, the kind filled with celebrations and warm family events with backyard tennis and long days in the swimming pool. (p. 8)

Eileen is Katie’s best friend since age eight. Her passion is fitness and health, and she is very direct in her dealings with people. Here is her side of the conversation with Luc as he comes to visit Katie. This is a great example of the humor strewn throughout this fun read:

“So, Luc,” Eileen said as the men shook hands. “You don’t think Katie has had enough humiliation for one lifetime at a DeForges family function? You really want to dress her like a pink flamingo for this event? Maybe you can buy her a pair of stilettos and stick her in as a yard decoration when you’re finished.” (p. 47)

As Katie reflects on her past, she realized she had given up on some of her passions:

“I miss it. I miss the Barrelhouse Club, I miss singing an old song with passion. Not that I don’t like singing in church, I do, but this is what I did out in the world. This is how I connected with barflies and street people and told them about Jesus. They thought I was a star, like the fairy godmother. It’s not the same here.”

Katie reminds me of myself in that way. Like her, I thought God wanted to ‘cleanse’ me of the all the things I loved before I came to Him. The thought of going into a bar was verboten to me, as was listening to music I used to live (U2 comes to mind). Like her, I realized he created us uniquely – even our likes and dislikes. I am so grateful, as she was in the book, to learn how to become the true person He created us to be!

Katie’s relationship with her boyfriend, Dexter, was strained. Here is the description of a display of affection:

She tried to kiss him back, more romantically, but his lips were hard and pursed. The movement came off as cold and wooden, with an much passion as a woodpecker had for the tree it’s headbutting. She glanced over at Eileen, who had the decency to look so as not to remind she was no Scarlett O’Hara. Katie wasn’t the sort to incite that kind of passion in men, and one of the finest things should could do with life was to embrace what she was – not pine after things that would never be. It was why she and Dexter were getting married, she reminded herself. He loved her for who she was now; not for some false image she used to inhabit. (p. 59)

Luc made an assessment of Katie’s heart when he flew her in his private jet to New Orleans to attend his brother’s wedding:

        “Look me in the eyes, Katie.”

She did, and he visibly saw her hard shell dissipate. The pale green of her eyes seemed endless in their depth, as though he could look for a lifetime and never know all of her. He wanted to keep her there, beside him, away from anyone who might harm her, or worse yet, dim her light within. He couldn’t help but see Poindexter, a man void of real emotion, as a total threat to Katie’s spirit. He would suck the life out of her, like a N’awliner sucked the head from a crawdad. (pp. 66-67)  

One of the other reasons I liked this book is its setting in New Orleans. I have been to New Orleans twice, as part of relief teams right after Hurricane Katrina. I was amazed by the spirit and resilience of the people there! I would love to visit again; in the meantime, authors like Ms. Billerbeck send me back them through their novels:

As the car drew them farther into the city, she turned and faced the window again. Remnants of Hurricane Katrina loomed everywhere. Mostly in vast improvements, not the devastation.  Granted, they weren’t in the Ninth Ward, but the city appeared cleaner. N’awliners had taken pride in their city, and when she was threatened, showed what they were made of. The changes reminded her of what her heart once looked like after Hurricane Luc DeForges. (p. 86)

As Katie rehearsed to sing in Luc’s brother’s wedding, Luc made some observations about her:

Katie glanced back at him from the stage, and he spoke to her heart. “What you don’t realize,” he murmured under his breath, “is that kind of life will ultimately kill who you are.” A life without music, without her soul touched by the natural rhythm within her – was that a life at all? She was born for deeper things, the way music touched her. God had created the music within her. (p. 145)

I loved this advice that Katie’s mother (known  as ‘Mam’) gave to her as she contemplated both men in her life:

        “He [Dexter] brought me his extra suitcase to borrow,” she said.

“Aha!” Mam said. “You saw the suitcase he had with him. Did he give you the good suitcase? Or take it for himself?”

Katie slid her hand down the long bedpost.

“That’s what I thought. You know, Katie, you can plan so that nothing goes wrong in your life. But something will, and it won’t be what you expected to go wrong. So make sure you’re with someone who will help you bail the water out of the boat, not someone who will blame you for the hole.” (p. 188)

I also loved Katie’s interpretation of love and life, and the decision she made about how to approach both:

Maybe she had put too many constraints on love. Jesus loved unconditionally. Wasn’t that the example? She prayed for the strength to dance like no one was watching, sing like no one was listening, and love like she’d never felt pain. (p. 285)

Here are the last two paragraphs from this terrific book:

Love. The kind of love worth having required surrender. Would she vow before God that which cost her nothing? Love endured forever and no fortress built around her heart was strong enough to withstand its mighty power.

She looked up to the starry night and whispered, “I surrender.”

The book ends with Ten Random Questions with Kristin Billerbeck. I loved her answer to this question; I need to hear it!:

        Q. What is your favorite Scripture verse?

A. Proverbs 16:2 [All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD] – it reminds me that even though someone did something I view as ugly, God may have a different view based on that person’s motive, which may have been from their heart. It reminds me not to judge other peoples’ actions with a broad stroke. (p. 306)

I found the second half of the book to be better than the first; its beginning kind of dragged for me. But once I began to enjoy and empathize with the characters, I wanted to continue reading to see which gentleman Katie would choose!

This observation is a little off the beaten path, but I thought the book cover was a little off. The book mentions numerous times that Katie is a redhead; however, the woman on the book cover is a brunette. I also noticed a paragraph in the book that mentions Luc and his brother Ryan’s last name as McKenna, when that is actually Katie’s last name; their last name is actually LaForges (see page 127). I am surprised that error made it past the many proofreaders and editors, etc…

Despite those nitpicks, I found this book to be full of fun! Kristin is known for her ‘Chick Lit’ books, and this one perfectly fits that category. I recommend it if you are looking for a fun and quick read!

You can order this book here.

This book was published by Thomas Nelson Publishers and provided by the B&B 

Media Group, Inc. for review purposes. 

We Have a Winner for 'The Life Ready Woman'

The Random Number Generator has chosen a winner for 'The Life Ready Woman: Thriving in a Do-It-All World' by Shaunti Feldhahn and Robert Lewis. That winner is:


Nancye!


Congratulations, Nancye! The book will be on its ways to you shortly!


Thanks to B&H Books for providing the giveaway copy!


For those of you who would like the help provided by this book, you can order it here. I appreciate if you'd order from my links!


Thanks to all who entered; I appreciate your visits! Please come back soon - and share my link with your friends and family! 

‘Jesus in the Present Tense: The I AM Statements of Christ’ by Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe – Book Review

I am a voracious reader of any book written by Dr. Warren Wiersbe. The latest on my checked off list is ‘Jesus in the Present Tense: The I AM Statements of Christ.’

Here is the synopsis of this book:

God is in the present? Are you? Do you find yourself living in memories, imaginations, and fears more than in the current moment? As Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe writes, “My past may discourage me and my future may frighten me, but ‘the life I now live’ today can be enriching and encouraging because “Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20).”

In Jesus in the Present Tense, Dr. Wiersbe explores the I AM statements of God – from His burning-bush conversation with Moses, to His powerful reassurances to the Israelites, to Jesus’ startling claims to be the Light of the World, the Good Shepherd, and the True Vine.

The better you understand God’s I AM statements from both the Old and the New Testaments and apply these truths to your life, the more you will abide in Christ and bear fruit for His glory today. Then you will be free to live, serve, and know God more richly in the present tense – which is just where  He wants you to be.

Here is the author’s biography:

Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe is an internationally known Bible teacher and the former pastor of The Moody Church in Chicago.  For ten years he was associated with the Back to the Bible radio broadcast, first as Bible teacher and then as general director. Dr. Wiersbe has written more than 160 books, including the “BE” series of Bible commentaries, which have sold more than four million copies. He and his wife, Betty, live in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

In the Foreword, Michael Catt, senior pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church and executive producer of Sherwood Pictures (‘Fireproof,’ ‘Facing the Giants,' and ‘Flywheel’) said this about this book:

Joy in the Present Tense is a reminder that our Lord is not a distant deity, nor is He just a figure of history. He is the living God, the great I AM. Dr. Wiersbe guides us through a practical and applicable study of these statements. While these statement are familiar, we often forget that they are for us today, not just for those who heard them in the first century.

When you read this book, you’ll love Jesus more. You’ll see how the divine life is intended to work itself out in daily living. Many books today seek to water down truth to make it more acceptable, but not this one. This book will stretch you to look to the Lord daily for all your needs.

In a day when many are offering cotton-candy theology, Warren Wiersbe takes us to the meat, break, milk and honey of the Word of God. The content is sound and scriptural. May the I AM speak to you, as He did to me. (p. 10)

In the Preface, Dr. Wiersbe explains the power of Jesus:

No leader, no author, no organization, and no set of religious disciplines can do for us what Jesus alone can do, if we let Him. Even the book you are now reading can merely point the way to Jesus. Divine truth becomes dynamic life only when we yield to Jesus by faith and follow Him. If the founders of the world’s philosophies and religious systems were alive on earth today, they could only say, “I was.” They are dead, and they can’t personally help you. Jesus doesn’t say “I was.” He is alive and says, “I AM.” He can meet our needs today. He is alive this very moment and offers us a satisfying spiritual life in the present tense. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb 13:8). Past history, present reality, and future certainty all unite today in Jesus Christ, the great I AM. (p. 11)

Dr. Wiersbe explains that God explains Himself to His people in the Old Testament:

         

In nine places in the Old Testament, the Lord “filled out” or “completed” the name I AM to reveal more fully His divine nature and His gracious ministry to His people:

·         Yahweh-Jireh:  The Lord will provide or see to it (Genesis 22:14)

·     Yahweh-Rophe: The Lord who heals (Exodus 15:26)

·     Yahweh-Nissi: The Lord our banner (Exodus 17:15)

·     Yahweh- M’Kaddesh: The Lord who sanctifies (Leviticus 20:8)

·     Yahweh-Shalom: The Lord our peace (Judges 6:24)

·     Yahweh-Rohi: The Lord our shepherd (Psalm 23:1)

·     Yahweh-Sabaoth: The Lord of hosts (Psalm 46:7)

·     Yahweh-Tsidkenu: The Lord our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6)

·     Yahweh-Shammah: The Lord is there (Ezekiel 48:35) (pp. 20-21)

These names apply equally to Jesus.

The book goes on to detail all of the name with which Jesus referred to Himself: ‘The Bread of Life,’ ‘The Light of the World,’ ‘The Door,’ ‘The Good Shepherd,’ ‘The Resurrection and the Light,’ ‘The Way, the Truth, and the Life,’ ‘The True Wine,’ and ‘The Neglected I AM.’

I am involved with a women’s ministry entitled Gracestoration. It focuses on Jesus as the Good Shepherd. So I will focus on that chapter. Dr. Wiersbe explains why Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd:

Jesus calls Himself “the Good Shepherd” because He is the genuine shepherd in contrast to the false shepherds and hired hands who over the centuries had exploited God’s people. Remember that civil rulers such as kings, princes, and governors were called shepherds, even though many of them were like wolves and robbers (Isa. 56:9-12; Ezek. 34). The promised Messiah was to be a loving shepherd (Isa. 40:9-11; Ezek. 34:20-24), and Jesus is that Messiah. The word translated “good” in “good shepherd” carries the meaning of “noble, praiseworthy, desirable, and pleasing to God.” Jesus qualifies. (pp. 81-82)

Dr. Wiersbe goes on to discuss how the shepherd is very aware of each of his sheep: he owns them, he knows them, he calls them, he cares for them, and he gathers his flock. Jesus engages in all of these activities with His church.

Dr. Wiersbe encourages us that the Godhead is still active today:

History is so often being rewritten these days that we may not know exactly what has happened in the past; and since we are not omniscient, we cannot predict the future accurately. However, there is still good news: Right now, in this present hour, God gives us the privilege of making decisions that may alter some of the consequences of the past and also help establish some exciting new directions for the future. “I tell you, now it’s the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Now! Today!

God wants His children to live a day at a time, in the present tense, trusting in His guidance and grace. “Give us this day” applies not only to our daily bread but also to everything else involved in our day-by-day pilgrim journey. From the first day of creation, the Lord ordained that our galaxy function one day at a time as Planet Earth makes its annual trip around the sun. The next time you say, “I wish I had more time,” remind yourself that we all have the same amount of time – twenty-four hours a day – and that perhaps we should be saying, “I wish I had more control over our time.” This means being wise and “making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16) (p. 175-176)

I have reviewed several other Dr. Wiersbe’s books on my blog: ‘Be Authentic: Exhibiting Real Faith in the Real World,’ reviewing the lives of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (you can read my review here), ‘The Wiersbe Bible Study Series: It’s Always Too Soon to Quit! – 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon’ by Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe – Book Review’ (you can read my review here), ‘Be Available: Accepting the Challenge to Confront the Enemy’ (Judges – OT Commentary) (you can read my review here) and ‘Pause for Power: A 365-Day Journey Through the Scriptures,’ (the review is here). Just as I did with those books, I recommend this one as well. Dr. Wiersbe writes with wisdom and authority, and the reader will always glean truth and grace in His writings.

You can order this book here.

This book was published by David C. Cook and provided by the B&B Media Group, Inc. for review purposes.

‘Health Care You Can Live With: Discover Wholeness in Body and Spirit’ by Dr. Scott Morris with Susan Martins Miller – Book Information/Q & A

In this post, I want to share some information on a new book entitled ‘Health Care You Can Live With: Discover Wholeness in Body and Spirit’ by Dr. Scott Morris with Susan Martins Miller. I have not read the book as yet, but I look forward to doing so. It is right up my alley – taking responsibility of your health care as opposed to ceding the control to the medical industry, and more preventative care as opposed to care after the damage has been done.

Here is the synopsis of this important book:

The Health Care System May Be a Mess – But You Don’t Have to Be. Your health and wellness belong to you – and you alone. While it’s true that doctors and the health care system play a role in your care, they’re only one part of true wellness. If you’re ready to venture into real health, read this book.

Dr. Scott Morris, founder of the Church Health Center in Memphis, Tennessee – the largest faith-based clinic of its kind in the United States – shows how your physical health is affected by your spiritual well being.

In Health Care You Can Live With, Dr. Morris explains how

·         health care went wrong

·         the church offers real answers

·         you can take care of your own wellness

Showing that healing – both physical and spiritual – is a key aspect of the Christian faith, Health Care You Can Live With provides an understandable framework for wellness and the encouraging real-life stories of those who found a better life within the overarching love of God.

Here are the biographies of these authors:

Dr. Scott Morris is a family practice physician and ordained United Methodist minister who founded the Church Health Center in Memphis, Tennessee. The center, formed in 1987 to provide quality health care for working, uninsured people, has grown to become the largest faith-based clinic of its type in the United States with more than 36,000 patient visits per year.

Susan Martins Miller has been writing books for more than twenty years. She has nearly sixty titles to her credit in various genres – including children’s, adults, and ministry oriented. Colorado Springs is home, where she lives with her husband and two young-adult children.

Here is the trailer for this valuable book:

Here is an interview with Dr. Scott Morris. The compassion of this man makes me even more enthused about reading this book! I particularly appreciate his perspective on pharmaceutical medication; so refreshing to see this from a physician.

Q: You founded Church Health Center in 1986. How did that come about?

I first came to Memphis in 1986. I had no personal ties to Memphis and did not know anyone here. Having completed theological and medical education, I was determined to begin a health care ministry for the working poor. This was not a light bulb that suddenly went on. I dreamed of it for years as I slugged my way—sometimes impatiently—through the training that would make it possible. When the time came, I chose Memphis because historically it is the poorest major city in the United States. I instigated relationships with St. John’s Methodist Church and Methodist Hospital in Memphis, found an old house to rehab, and rolled up my sleeves. The next year, the doors of the Church Health Center opened with one doctor—me—and one nurse. We saw twelve patients the first day.

Q: What makes Church Health Center unique from other community health centers?

Today we handle about 36,000 patient visits a year and 100,000 visits to our wellness facility. A staff of 250 people shares a ministry of healing and wellness. Hundreds more volunteer time and services, and a network of medical specialists makes certain the uninsured working poor get the same quality of health care as anyone with a Cadillac insurance plan. Fees slide on a scale based on income. But what really sets us apart from other community clinics around the country is that Church Health Center is fundamentally about the Church. We care for our patients without a penny of government funds because God calls the Church to healing work. Jesus’ life was about healing the whole person—body and spirit—and the Church is Jesus in the world. His message is our message. His ministry is our ministry.

Q: One thing most people can agree on is that health care in the United States today is a mess. Why do you think efforts to reform health care so far have failed?

Efforts at health care reform fail because they avoid the essential questions of wellness. The starting point is off kilter. Our health care system is built on the premise of waiting for people to break in some way and then come through our doors, where we will use our technological wizardry to fix them. “Access to health care” has come to mean having a card that lets you get through those doors. That’s not health care. Caring for health means attending to the things that keep people well long before they break and need the door to technology. And believe it or not, doctors are only one part of true health care.

Q: You say that we have developed an unholy love affair with technology in health care. What do you mean by that?

Technology and business have hijacked health care. One hundred years ago, or even fifty years ago, physicians had little to offer patients other than a sympathetic bedside manner and a handful of pharmaceuticals. New medical technology of the twentieth century remarkably improved our ability to treat disease and improve the quality of life. With the help of technology, we figured out how to fix a lot of things that go wrong in the human body. People got healthier and generally lived longer. Today we believe that no matter what the situation, technology can solve the problem. No matter how I’ve lived my life, no matter what I eat, no matter how many cigarettes I smoke, no matter how long I sit on the couch—technology can fix what happens when I persist in unhealthy habits. I can go to the doctor, and the doctor will know how to fix the problem. And if a little technology is good, imagine what we could do with a lot of technology! The medical community has become like restless teenagers who insist on having the newest electronic gadget. We’ve built an entire economy around buying the latest technology, and this includes the way doctors practice medicine. But our thirst for new health care technology is irrational. It doesn’t make the patient better.

Q: Do you feel similarly about pharmaceutical medication?

The state of prescription medications follows the same pattern as technology. The Federal Drug Administration rates new drugs based on whether they represent significant improvement over the drugs already available. In the last twenty years, the overwhelming majority of new drugs the FDA considered were “me too” drugs. They look just like something already in use as a generic. Perhaps developers changed a molecule or two to be able to present the chemical combination as a new product. In the last twenty years, the FDA has not rated more than a handful of drugs as true improvements. Yet we see drugs with catchy new names advertised on television every day. People go into a doctor’s office convinced they need a particular medication, but the ads are aimed at physicians. Doctors will say the advertisements don’t affect them, but the ads are incredibly effective. But the prescription medications and over-the-counter bottles essentially act the way poison acts. They invade the body to prevent it from doing something the body is trying to do naturally. That’s how a poison works—it stops a natural process from happening. In general, this is the way medications work. People believe drugs cure disease, but they don’t. Rather, they interfere with a process gone wrong so that your body’s own immune system can kick in and take over.

Q: In Health Care You Can Live With you take the reader through a history of health care in the United States. When did medicine and health care become big business?

People who could afford private doctors continued to call the doctor to their homes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Hospitals were places for the poor to go when they had no other option. People with options did not go to the hospital. And then, around the 1930s, the people of means began to notice something unexpected. People in hospitals got well! People in hospitals did better than people who stayed home and called the doctor in. This was exciting stuff. Now people who were not poor wanted to get involved with hospitals—but they didn’t want to pay for them. After all, the Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians were doing such a good job paying for everything. But technology advances don’t come cheap. Starting in 1965, federal money poured into funding hospitals. The arrival of these government programs triggered spending billions of dollars on developing a hospital system for the poor and elderly. Hospitals found a way to actually make money by taking care of sick people. Across the country, health care became the largest employer in city after city. People carried little cards that guaranteed someone else would pay the hospital. The more services the hospital provided, the more money someone paid them.

Q: What health system do you believe will make people healthier?

Prevention. Understanding what it means to be well, body and spirit. The heart of a health care system that focuses on keeping people well—preventing bodily breakdowns—requires a return to the belief that caring for people’s health is a helping profession, not big business. That’s a huge corner to turn at this point in time. True health care reform would focus on keeping people healthy so they need less technology, rather than presenting access to technology as the answer to every bad habit.

Q: Can you give an example of how we can use prevention?

Take childhood obesity as an example. It’s frequently in the news, and it should be. We are raising a generation of kids who go home from school, sit on the couch, play on the X-Box, and eat junk food. These obese children will be adults who have hypertension, diabetes, heart attacks, and trouble finding employment. But we have to do more than talk about it and look at pictures of sedentary children eating processed food. If we dedicated resources to fighting obesity through preventing it in the first place, we could make a far greater difference in the health of a generation than will ever come from developing a next generation MRI or new drugs for erectile dysfunction. Because of our love affair with technology, we are failing to give children hope for their own futures. While we debate how to give them access to technology in the event that their bodies break down—and they will—we overlook giving them the love and joy and self-understanding essential to the real health of the whole person.

Q: You write about the real way to health. What is that way?

I no longer see health as the mere absence of disease. Health is built around community and grounded in the spiritual life that embraces the physical bodies God gives us. Instead of the absence of disease, I see health as the presence of those elements that lead us to joy and love, and that drive us closer to God. Living longer is not the goal for a healthy life. Loving more fully, with all our capacity, will define a well-lived life. If you want real health, you have to start with the real you. Understanding that God cares about your body may be a new starting point, but it is the right starting point. You honor God when you care for your body. The health care system may be a mess, but you don’t have to be. Reclaiming your health begins with reclaiming God’s view of the real you. And we know ourselves most fully when we know ourselves in relation to God as whole beings, body and spirit. Our bodies disappoint us. But none of this means that the body is not at the heart of how we know God. Jesus lived in connection to God without separating body from spirit. He understood that his life had purpose and meaning—precisely through his physical experience, not in spite of it.

Q: You discuss how we have created a separation of our body and spirit. What do you believe caused this duality?

The Renaissance of western culture and the Reformation era of church history. The union of body and spirit cracked. This came to a head in the era of Martin Luther and John Calvin, who “protested” certain theology and practices in the Church. The result was “Protestants” who pursued a new understanding of the Church. When they broke away from the established Church for theological reasons, however, they also detached from the structure that historically cared for the sick. Protestants were going to have to find their own feet on the question of a healing ministry, and this did not happen right away. On the other hand, new and improved medical understanding flew in every direction. By the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, scientific understanding—including the practice of medicine—mushroomed. Charles Darwin proposed theories that explained a lot of things without having to bring religion into the discussion. Scientists tugged at the shroud covering the workings of the human body, and a new profession of medicine joined the game. People no longer saw the Church as the place to go for care and curing when they were sick. Instead, doctors cared for the body, and it was the Church’s job to look after the spirit. From a biblical point of view, we cannot separate body and spirit. God simply never meant for that to happen.

Q: How do we move from what health care is to what it should be?

Change starts with individuals, not with legislation. Change in your health care starts with you. Set goals you can keep, draw on the support of your family and friends, don’t wait for a crisis, and ultimately share your vision of wellness with others. Health care we can live starts with growing a new culture that features dignity, community, giving, and prevention.

Q: Do you think the Church has a role in reforming health care?

Churches—and individual Christians—can get back in the game by reclaiming their own understanding of wellness and care that promotes health. We don’t have to buy into the belief that technology is the answer to everything—in fact, we know it’s not. Individual choices make a difference. We can turn the discussion away from questions of costs and systems to questions that connect us to God in the way he means for us to be connected. Jesus asks us to care about what he cared about—wellness and wholeness. Healing that flows through personal care, preventive activities, medical methods, and technology announces that the kingdom of God is here. We cannot separate healing from the gospel message. If we’re going to do what Jesus did, and as his first century followers did, we must find some way to be involved in a ministry of healing. The Church—the body of Christ—must show the here-and-now nature of the kingdom of God through healing. Churches face the question of what a healing ministry looks like and come up with answers that fit their situations. It might be a monthly free medical clinic in which Sunday school rooms transform into exam rooms and the fellowship hall is a waiting room. It might be congregations banding together to offer a children’s wellness clinic before the start of each school year and give kids shots, screenings, and school supplies. It might be commitment to regular financial and volunteer support at a community clinic that touches the lives of people who would never come through a church door. It might be a parish nurse who makes herself available to people in the congregation for questions in times of wellness and a comforting presence in times of illness.

Q: You write in Health Care You Can Live With that “sometimes we have the most profound growing experiences when we least expect them, when they don’t fit into carefully laid plans.” Can you give an example of a growing opportunity you experienced?

In the early days of the Church Health Center, I worried about people taking advantage of our low-cost services. Would people come in and not tell the truth about their financial resources? Since we operated on the goodness of people’s gifts, I felt an obligation to make sure we were good stewards of the gifts. That included making sure people who came through our doors did not abuse our system. So I used to do parking lot patrol. At random intervals, I wandered through the parking lot and inspected the cars. If I saw a car that looked like the driver was doing pretty well, I would find out who drove it. One day I found a Jaguar. I stormed through the clinic until I found the driver and demanded to know why someone who could afford to drive a Jaguar came to the Church Health Center. It turned out to be an older guy who worked for the Jaguar dealership in some low level capacity. That day his own heap of junk wouldn’t start, so his boss gave him the keys to his own vehicle—a Jag—so he wouldn’t miss his appointment with the doctor. After that day, I ceased the parking lot patrols. Do some people take advantage of us? Quite likely. But we don’t always know the whole story, and jumping to conclusions because we’re trying to protect ourselves actually can get in the way of providing health care to the poor. And I realized that protecting ourselves is not what the Church is about.

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This book was published by Barbour Books and provided by The B & B Media Group for review purposes.