Book Review: Priceless by Tom Davis

"'I mean that most people who follow God, most Christians, don't understand the meaning of the word redemption. ... Iskuplenye, redemption, means vosstanovlenye i obnovlenye togo, chto bilo pokhisheno, to restore and renew what has been stolen. Most people squeeze their eyes shut and pretend the Devil doesn't exist. ... They live their lives as if there were no problems in the world, no hunger, no orphans, no child sex slaves. They don't do what God calls every single one of us to do, to redeem mankind. ... [This is] about you establishing the kingdom of God in a significant way by finding freedom for the captives. All of this is the beginning of a new life for you.'"

- Priceless, Tom Davis, Chapter 36

This was a very good read. [Plus, it was free - yay for free ebooks! ;)]

So, it's becoming a well-known stat - there are 27 million slaves in the world.

Priceless takes us on an educational, spiritual, emotional and page-turning journey through that sickening reality.


educational

In Priceless, we journey with Stuart, a photojournalist, who's in Russia to document the rise of HIV/AIDS in the nation. However, through an old friend, he soon finds himself in the middle of an operation working to free trafficked sex slaves.

Throughout the [fictional] story, readers learn about the grim reality of human trafficking and the sex trade. Yeah, you might have heard a bunch of stats before, but this book pulls you right into the brothels, streets and sickening circumstances. [For this reason, I'll say now that this book is definitely PG13 - there are a few gruesome/graphic scenes.]

I also learned a lot about how people are pulling these girls out of captivity and into freedom. While readers learn of the deep darkness of sex slavery, we also learn of heroes who are trailblazers for freedom. Tom Davis does a fantastic job of educating readers on many of the aspects of rescuing sex slaves, without getting too boring or technical.

spiritual

Priceless recognizes that we are fighting for hearts and we're fighting against a real live evil. An evil that grips lives and causes hearts to turn to evil things. An evil that reigns all too often.

Priceless reminds us that "'it's God who will ensure [our] success in this matter.'" [Chapter 37]

And what must we do? "'We give ourselves, in spite of what we might prefer and in spite of fear. ... None of us is good, but God's salvation is perfect. He can do good through people who allow for it.'" [Chapter 36] 

emotional

As we journey with Stuart, we are also pulled into the gripping story of Marina, a girl who is chained into sex slavery, as well as the stories of countless girls much like her.

Their stories pull you into feeling just a tiny sliver of what a sex slave might feel on a daily basis.

The torture. The darkness, the evil. The utter hopelessness.

Their stories rip your heart out. Because it's not fair. None of it is fair.

"'Why does God allow it?' I say this almost under my breath. It's my greatest struggle." [Chapter 36]

Yes. Why? How? Yet there's this -

"I cannot trust life, but I can trust the One who created it." [Chapter 39]

 Yes. That. He has overcome the world.

I'd recommend Priceless 100 times over. You learn. You cry. And you cling to the only hope - Jesus.

Last thing - this book will disturb you. You'll be angered. Discomforted. Wrecked. Fair warning, ok? ;)

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Grab Priceless here [US] or here [Canada].

Would you fight for freedom? Check out International Justice Mission.

Through The Eyes Of A Child

Maybe it's just all too complicated.

The way we over-think things. Everything. From essays to events to what to have for lunch... It's just all too complicated.

Because you know what? That lunch - the taste, the calories, the price, the whole grain vs. white... It's not that big a deal.

And that essay - the therefores, the arguments, the quotes, the grade, the MLA format... It's not that big a deal.

And that event - the organization, the when and where, the who's-coming-with-who, the who's-coming-at-all... It's not that big a deal.

You know what is a big deal, though?

Injustice. Poverty. Discrimination. The fact that loving God has somehow lost it's counterpart of loving neighbours.

So why are we so worried about the this and that, when eternity is on the line?

I recently read Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird in English class.

Sometimes, it's good to be reminded why Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven belongs to children.

Because six-year-old Scout Finch can see injustice faster than any adult or any Christian in that book, and I pray I never ever become a Christian like the ones of Maycomb County, Alabama.

Because the Women's Bible Study in the book... It's not so far fetched. They're too comfortable to be bothered with injustice, and isn't that all of us?

Because when a man's life is taken because of the colour of his skin, only children weep. The grown-ups have become indifferent and that part - the part about grown-ups being indifferent - that part isn't fiction. That is all of us.

The Kingdom belongs to the children because their spirits are the ones that fight for it. They're the ones that cry because of injustice, but shouldn't we all be crying?

Sometimes, we over-think it all. We over-think God. We try to fit Him in a box called theology and we try to comprehend Him and I think that's kinda a waste of time. Sometimes, it's better to look at God through the simple eyes of a child.

Here's what I know. Jesus said to love. Love Him and love others with a child-like love, and yours is the kingdom of heaven.

"[Jesus] said to them, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.'" Matthew 10:14-15

Book Review: There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones

I know I say this every time I finish a Jenny B. Jones book, but it's just true: She out did herself again. 

There You'll Find Me might just be Jenny's best work yet.

In this spinoff of Save the Date, Finley Sinclair [She's the teenage, rebellious, problematic sister of Save the Date's main guy, Alex.] stars, in the beautiful country of Ireland. Except for she's totally done with "rebellious" and "problematic" and showing up in the front cover tabloids of People. She just wants to find peace in Ireland. Peace she hasn't had since her brother, Will, died building schools in Afghanistan. Will did the same exchange program when he was 18, so Finley is determined to visit every place he wrote about in his travel journal. Once she finds her peace, hope, closure, she'll be able to finish her composition [A tribute to Will] and finally nail that audition for the music program at NYU. So that's exactly why she totally ignores it when she gets on the plane to Ireland and sits beside Hollywood's party-boy and vampire Beckett Rush [He's kinda like Robert Pattinson. But better]. She wants noting to do with him. But, as usual, God has other plans.

You can kinda see where this is going. It's not even a spoiler for me to tell you that Finley and Beckett end up staying under the same roof when they get to Ireland. Because her host family just happened to own a B & B that Beckett Rush was interested in. And Beckett ends up being Finely's "tour guide", in exchange for her being his assistant on his set of Fangs in the Night. And they end up being close. But the Finley-Beckett story is just the tip of the iceberg in this book.

You might remember from Save the Date, how much trouble Finely was. She had a rough year after she lost her brother, Will. But now she's determined to finally find some way to let go, while still holding on to Will's memory. She's practically memorized his travel journal, and is determined to visit every place he captured in photo and glued into the journal. Then write her composition based on each place. Except there's one problem. She can't write her ending. Because the last picture that Will glued into his journal is a gravestone, a cross. And there's thousands. And thousands. And thousands of crosses just like it in Ireland, and this was the ONE picture Will didn't write about. Nothing. And Finley just can't write the ending to her song without standing in front of that specific cross. 

"I have to find that cross in the picture. Everything's wrong without it." [Finley]

"Fin, you know when we find it . . . your bother's not going to be there." [Beckett]

I closed my eyes against the pain. "I know."

"And he's not going to meet you in New York City. Whether you nail your audition or not, Will's not coming back." {There You'll Find Me, page 195, all rights to Jenny B. Jones.}

That's all you're getting. I'm not telling you if she finds it. ;)

Finely is also convinced that God is taking an "extended Finley break". She prays and prays and can't hear him. She can't hear his will. Those closest to her tell her she's just not listening. Isn't this just something that we all struggle with? "God, why aren't you speaking to me?!" But maybe we're just not listening.

There is honestly so much more to this book. This blog post is already getting kinda long, and I've barely scratched the surface. If you're a teen girl and you only read one book this year, make it There You'll Find Me. Seriously. People say that all the time, but I mean it. It was just that good. It's an encouraging, wow-I-really-related-to-that-book, even if you're not dealing with loss or Hollywood stars right now. It's... legit-ly amazing. Be prepared to laugh, cry and get closer to God.

And I guess I'll tell you, our favourite gal from Save the Date does make a brief text message appearance. ;)

No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37

My March Break Read...

Okay, fine. So it can't really be a March Break read if I read it on the weekend before March Break in a matter of 24 hours. It didn't take me 24 hours to read the book, but i gotta sleep and grocery shop. So it took me about 3.5 hours...

"Save the Date" by Jenny B. Jones is... Legit. That's not a very English-class approved word, but ask my friends and brother: "legit" is the biggest complement I can give something. So, this book is legit.

You'll get everything from this book: romance, humour, faith, tug-at-your-heartstrings, and even a little mysterious edge. Jenny B. Jones is really good at mixing genres. (Side note: also check out her "Charmed Life" series, even MORE mixing of genres, it's amazing.)

You'll start grinning even before you dig into Jenny's sense of humour, just by reading the plot line. The plot of this story is so bizarre and funny, I loved it:

Lucy Wiltshire runs a non-profit organization called Saving Grace. Saving Grace is transitional housing for girls who've aged out of the foster care system, and are now homeless. This is what Lucy was put on this earth to do. So, imagine her problems when a major donor backs out, and she's about to lose everything. Enter Alex Sinclair, retired early from the NFL and now running for Congress. But he's got a problem too: he doesn't have half the votes he needs.

Alex has the money Lucy needs, and Lucy - well, a relationship with Lucy - surprisingly seems to have the votes Alex needs. So despite their mutual dislike, Alex makes Lucy an "offer." Pose as her fiancee and he'll save Saving Grace.

Lucy's desperation gets the best of her: she accepts. She doesn't know a touchdown from a field goal, or the governor's wife from his mom. But she and Alex has a game-plan, and it's going to work. Alex will win the election and Lucy will have Saving Grace. But when God asks them to put down the playbook and follow His book, will they?

You'll laugh, you'll cry - you'll have the time of your life with Lucy, Alex and their surrounding cast... So go get your hands on a copy of "Save the Date"!!!