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Here are some books to keep your mind sharp and renew your faith while enjoying summer vacations with friends and family this summer:

Answering the Call: The Doctor Who Made Africa His Life by Ken Gire / Thomas Nelson 

You don’t have to travel abroad this summer to glimpse life in another region of the world. Just crack open this inspiring tale of Nobel Prize-winning humanitarian Albert Schweitzer. The late Schweitzer, a child of a Lutheran minister, had accomplished more in his first 30 years of life than most achieve in a lifetime: he served in the military, earned advanced degrees in theology and philosophy, became a skillful concert organist, gave lectures in at the University of Strasbourg and was ordained as a minister in St. Nicholas Church. For many, that would have been enough to earn a reasonable living and attain social status in life. Yet Schweitzer was moved by his Christian faith to earn a medical degree and move his family to what is now Gabon, Africa in order to build and run a hospital among the natives.

God had joined faith and reason together harmoniously. It is man who puts them asunder. The more I understand Jesus, the more I am impressed by the way He combined faith and common sense. In the end, it seemed the most rational thing to do with my life, perhaps the only rational thing,” Schweitzer said of his controversial decision in Answering the Call. FULL POST

By Sue Birdseye

Now that I’m further along in the single-parenting journey, people assume that I have it all together. That makes me chuckle. All together? Um, let’s see. I could describe a typical week, day, or hour and dispel that notion in a heartbeat. I most definitely don’t have a handle on this life. I’m not even touching the handle. Is there a handle?

For those of us who have been abandoned, the person who was supposed to be our biggest supporter and partner in all our parenting decisions has bailed on us. What do we do now? Here is what I do know, and this is really, really, really important, so take note: When people offer to help you, take it! Even if it’s slightly inconvenient or embarrassing, let people bless you. With five children, I haven’t found anything easy or uncomplicated about my life. But I had to stop worrying about people knowing I was in over my head and start learning to accept all the help I could get.

Now that I’m past the initial shock of adultery and divorce and into the everyday living of divorced single parenthood, I realize that it’s my responsibility to share my needs with others. At the beginning of this tragedy, I didn’t even have to ask for help; I just had to accept it. Now I need to step out of my comfort zone and ask. My friends are more than willing to help, but they all have their own stuff to deal with, so sometimes I just have to holler, “Help!” FULL POST

By Sue Birdseye

My ex-husband has neither repented nor asked for my forgiveness. I forgave him not because I’m anything special but because I knew that it was the most important step I could take in my own healing.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean that we take away the consequences of our offender’s actions, nor does it mean we forget. I believe that forgiveness allows me to say that although someone’s actions hurt me very much, that person and those actions will not dictate how I feel, live, or think, either now or in the future. Really, so much of the healing process is about our willingness to capture our thoughts and stop the descent into bitterness, revenge, and anger. No healing can take place when we hold on to those caustic emotions. And the only way to release them effectively is to forgive.

Forgiveness for me looked like this: First, I made a conscious decision to forgive my ex-husband; then I asked God to help me forgive. Next, I determined not to entertain angry, bitter, or vengeful thoughts. And then I acted out that forgiveness in my interactions with my ex-husband. Four not-so-easy steps. Each step had its own set of challenges. I decided to forgive because I was convinced that it was the only way I could survive this difficult period in my life with joy and peace in my heart. FULL POST

In the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Billy Graham & Me family members, friends and Christian leaders tell 101 stories about Billy Graham. This is the final excerpt from the forward and is written by A. Larry Ross who served as Billy Graham's spokesman since 1981.

Integrity

Among the many examples of Mr. Graham’s personal, spiritual and financial integrity, I remember when he kicked off the twelve-week, six-city Mission England tour the summer of 1984 in Bristol, west of London. In their coverage of the opening service, local papers appealed to their readers’ British reserve through articles criticizing the “emotionalism” of the American evangelist’s meeting. Their evidence was the fact that the choir sang softly during his invitation for people to come forward to make a faith commitment.

So for only the second time in the history of their ministry, before the start of the meeting the next evening, Mr. Graham told program director Cliff Barrows to refrain from having the choir sing during the invitation. But the next day, the headlines in the paper read, “The emotionalism was in the silence,” and Mr. Graham decided that if he was going to get criticized, they should at least do it right, and they went back to the choir accompaniment for the rest of the mission -- and ever since. FULL POST

In the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Billy Graham & Me family members, friends and Christian leaders tell 101 stories about Billy Graham. This excerpt is from the forward and is written by A. Larry Ross who served as Billy Graham's spokesman since 1981.

Powerful Preacher

The universality and accessibility of Mr. Graham’s message was powerfully impressed upon me one Friday evening in 1984 when he preached to the upper echelons of British society, including the Queen of England, several members of the Royal Family and the Lords and Ladies of London at a black-tie dinner in London.
The following Sunday afternoon, I accompanied the evangelist to an outdoor park in the City’s East End, where he was scheduled to address a crowd of 5,000 low-income immigrants. As our vehicle approached the venue, I asked Mr. Graham what message he planned to preach, to which he replied, “The same sermon I gave to the Royal family two nights ago.”

A Life Marked by Humility, Integrity, Authenticity and Love

My longtime pastor in Dallas defines success as “when those who know you best, love you the most,” and that certainly holds true for Billy Graham. In an era where confidence in institutions is crumbling, and even religious organizations are being scrutinized or Christian leaders criticized for behavior inconsistent with their beliefs, he has long modeled courage, character and conviction and stood as an example of how to finish well. FULL POST

In the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Billy Graham & Me family members, friends and Christian leaders tell 101 stories about Billy Graham. This excerpt is from the forward and is written by A. Larry Ross who served as Billy Graham's spokesman since 1981.

A Life Well-Lived and a Lord Well-Served

I am honored by the invitation to pen the foreword to this anthology tribute to a man whose prophetic voice has not only influenced three generations as “God’s Ambassador,” “Evangelist to the World,” and “Pastor to Presidents,” but has had a profound impact on my life as a colleague, friend and significant spiritual mentor.

But first I must reframe the underlying premise, “Billy Graham & Me,” into the lexicon of the man himself, who would be more deferential and self-effacing, identifying the source of his strength and success as, “Billy Graham & God.” I have merely been privileged to have a front-row seat at the game to observe that spiritual partnership firsthand and watch Mr. Graham’s agenda-less servant leadership unfold over more than three decades of his public ministry. FULL POST

In the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Billy Graham & Me family members, friends and Christian leaders tell 101 stories about Billy Graham. This excerpt is from the forward and is written by A. Larry Ross.

Larry Ross, president of A. Larry Ross Communications founded in 1994, has more than thirty-seven years’ experience in mainstream and Christian public relations, including serving as director of media/public relations and principal spokesperson for evangelist Billy Graham since 1981.

OVERVIEW
Since 1993, Chicken Soup for the Soul -- one of the world’s most iconic, recognizable and trusted brands, renowned for sharing uplifting stories -- has inspired readers all over the world with more than 500 million copies of its 250 or so titles, translated into more than forty languages.

But the book you hold in your hand is unique and unprecedented, marking the only time in its twenty-year history that the Chicken Soup for the Soul series has focused on a single individual -- evangelist Billy Graham. Regardless of your familiarity with Mr. Graham or your identification with his message, more important than the person are the transferable principles by which he lives his life. FULL POST

In the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Billy Graham & Me family members, friends and Christian leaders tell 101 stories about Billy Graham.

Ruth Graham
Bestselling author and speaker; founder and president of Ruth Graham Ministries, and daughter of Mr. Graham

I gave my heart to Christ at a young age as I knelt beside my bed with my mother asking Jesus to forgive me and come into my heart. It was a private moment. I had yet to make a public commitment, which Christ asks us to do.

My father’s affection and unconditional love for me was a bedrock for my childhood. Though often gone, I knew he loved me. That built my confidence like nothing else.

Perhaps, most significantly for me, when I was ten Daddy took me to a revival at a Baptist church in Florida, where our family was wintering that year. My father’s associate, Lee Fisher, was holding the revival in a nearby city, and Daddy attended in order to lend support. The sanctuary was small and we slipped into one of the pews in back so as not to attract too much attention. FULL POST

Genesis 35:2-"So Jacob told everyone in his household, "Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing."

Pastor Steve Reynolds has probably spoke those same words many times in his Virginia church, continualy urging those in the pews to lay aside their idols and truly lose themselves in Christ.

Years later Reynolds has admited the hypocracy behind his words.

"The truth was that I was a hypocrite. I had no problem standing in the pulpit preaching to the congregation on every sin known to man while I trashed my body with food and avoided exercise," said Reynolds.

At 340 lbs, he confessed "My belly was my god and the food I put into it was my idol."

Reynolds' confession led first to the founding of a "Lose- to-Live"movement to bring health and fitness into the church and then to his most recent book Get Off the Couch: A Man's A.C.T.I.O.N. Plan.

A follow up to Reynolds' first book Bod4God, this book focuses solely on men.

Now a 120 pounds lighter, the self-described "anti-fat pastor" wants men to shake off their insecurities and embrace a gospel-centered view of their physical health .

"You are on God's Team, and He created you to honor and glorify Him with your life and your body," Reynolds wrote in the book.

FULL POST

Captain Scotty Smiley made American history while serving in the military. The book Hope Unseen: The Story of the U.S. Army's First Blind Active-Duty Officer tells his story. This book excerpt comes from chapter 9.

Surgeons at the American military hospital in Balad moved rapidly to save my life and mitigate the long-term impact of my traumatic brain injury. The shrapnel stuck in my left frontal lobe had placed my life in peril, but the swiftness of my evacuation from the battlefield lowered the danger level from grave to worrisome. A multihour operation that removed the metal from my brain and repaired my damaged dura mater (a thin but tough layer just underneath the bone of the skull) also left my brain badly swollen.

To guard against the potentially fatal implications of untreated swelling, the doctors next executed a craniotomy. They sheared my hair (something I think back on with sadness—I was proud of my hair), gently sliced through a layer of skin (tracing from the midpoint of my outer ear to the peak of my head), peeled back my scalp, cut through some muscle, and then removed the front left quarter of my skull. To preserve the hand-sized portion of bone flap for future use, the doctors next cut open the left side of my abdomen, just above the hip, and slid the piece of bone into a newly formed kangaroo pocket. It was supposed to stay there in my side for half a year, waiting to be removed, and when the swelling in my brain receded, that slice of my head could be placed like a puzzle piece back in its rightful location. FULL POST