Hope For Today

Dear Friends,  Biblical fiction is one of my favourite genres to read, and Paula Gooder's book, "Phoebe" did not disappoint me. I really enjoyed reading the imaginative account of Phoebe. Phoebe is a deacon mentioned briefly in Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome. In Paula's book, Phoebe journeys from Corinth to Rome to bring the Christians there a letter from Paul. It turns out that Rome was Phoebe's childhood home and we learn that there is another reason why Phoebe needed to return to Rome. At the end of the book, Phoebe prepares to visit Spain to spread the good news there. But it's not just a physical journey she embarks on as she also has a spiritual journey to take. The friendships she makes in Rome help her to grow spiritually, to receive God's love for her in a deeper way, to open her heart to being loved by others, to receive healing from her past and to also give and receive forgiveness. Some of the characters, such as Pa...

Dear Friends, I recently finished reading 'Made Like Martha' by Katie M Reid.  This book is based on a passage in the Bible about two sisters, Martha and Mary. The account of these two sisters can be found in Luke 10:28-42.  In her book, Katie, who would describe herself as a Martha character, explains how being made like Martha is not actually a bad thing. For too long Martha has been described in a negative way as opposed to her sister, Mary, who is held up as the ideal. Katie's book shows how we can learn good things from both these characters.  Katie writes: "Jesus never asked Martha to be Mary, and he didn't ask you to be either. he simply pointed out that you do not have to serve from a place of striving and worry, because he is already enough for you."   That will come as a relief to many of us! In her book, Katie writes about two mentalities. First, the hired help mentality which is a wrong mindset many of us have. We believe we...