Christian Readers discussion

Yan wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Yan, a new Christian after being an atheist for 30 years. I just started to read Christian books this year. After becoming a believer, I see the world from a completely different v..."

Yan, first of all, to God be the glory! I am thrilled to know that you know my Jesus! If you do find yourself looking for a book on Christian living, I wrote a book on Christian marriages, C Through Marriage. Many blessings!

Welcome Dawn and Yan--wonderful to have you on the site!

Hello to everyone. I am an avid reader and in particular, I enjoy reading Christian non-fiction. Currently, I am absorbed in The Shemitah, but also am reading Forgotten God by Francis Chan. I'm new to Goodreads and thought a Christian reading group would be best for me. I am a widow, I live in Southern California, am 61 years young and am looking to deepen my walk on the narrow path. I look forward to making new friends.

Dana wrote: "Welcome Dawn and Yan--wonderful to have you on the site!

"

Thanks, Dana! It's nice to be here!

Dana wrote: "Welcome Dawn and Yan--wonderful to have you on the site!

"

Thanks Dana!! :)

Jim wrote: "Yan wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Yan, a new Christian after being an atheist for 30 years. I just started to read Christian books this year. After becoming a believer, I see the world from a completely..."

Thanks Jim! God bless.

Dawn wrote: "Yan wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Yan, a new Christian after being an atheist for 30 years. I just started to read Christian books this year. After becoming a believer, I see the world from a completely..."

Hi Dawn, nice to meet you. I'm happy to share my story. It was a long journey for me. I was born and raised atheist and materialist and had been for about 30 years. Spirituality was non-existence for me. In my 20s, the goal in my life was to advance my education and land a good job, which I achieved in my late 20s; however, after I got the degree and the job I wanted, I felt empty. I was looking for the next goal to achieve, but nothing was satisfying. At that time, I started to read Dalai Lama's books and some new age material. My husband has been a Christian, and sometimes we'd get into some spiritual discussion. Gradually, I came to accept the idea of Creation and that God is the Creator of the universe; however, I didn't take Christianity seriously and was confused about the terms such as salvation. I was in that spiritual stage for a couple of years, during which all of my grandparents and my mother-in-law passed away. I started to question the purpose of life and kept asking "what's the point?" I was depressed. One day, I happened to come across Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life, which made so much sense to me at that point. And it happened to be right before I got baptized. Then things changed completely after baptism. I started to read The Bible, listen to sermons, and just soak it all in. I've been so hungry to learn more and more and more... Listening to Chuck Missler made me take The Bible more seriously. I realize that salvation probably carries more weight than creation. The happiness and peace that I tried to find in Buddhism philosophy are being fulfilled by knowing Christ.

So here I am, just continuing to learn how amazing our Lord is, and "amazing" is an understatement.

Sorry for the long story. :)

God bless.

Hi Dawn, I'm fairly new to this group too, but welcome! I make my home in Madison, Wisconsin. Good to meet someone from Wisconsin.

Yan wrote: "Dawn wrote: "Yan wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Yan, a new Christian after being an atheist for 30 years. I just started to read Christian books this year. After becoming a believer, I see the world from..."

It's a beautiful story, Yan! Thanks for sharing it!

Catrina wrote: "Hi Dawn, I'm fairly new to this group too, but welcome! I make my home in Madison, Wisconsin. Good to meet someone from Wisconsin."

Hello to my fellow Wisconsinite! Good to meet you, Catrina!

Hello everyone,

Just a quick introduction about myself.
I am new to Goodreads and look forward to learning from all of you!

My book "Fire & Ice: My Wall Street Journey" was previously published in Asia
with traditional publishers and was a best seller.

For the US Edition, I chose to self publish primarily because I was not
happy how traditional publishers edited out portions of my faith journey.
Feedback from readers showed in fact, they were very curious how I became a Christian,
which is answered in the very chapter that was eliminated by publishers!

Shows you how traditional publisher often don't know what readers want!
So my message is: don't be discouraged, those of you who have faced rejections of your manuscript.
There are many paths to success!

Camilla

Thank you for sharing that Yan. Inspiring.

I'll have to look up chuck Missler. I've heard the name but no very familiar.

Rod wrote: "Thank you for sharing that Yan. Inspiring.

I'll have to look up chuck Missler. I've heard the name but no very familiar."

Hi Rod, it's easier to find Chuck Missler on YouTube. There are a lot of good materials of his.

Praise God! I am a new Christian author and have recently joined Goodreads. I am new to this group and wanted to introduce myself. I look forward to joining discussions about our shared faith.

Good morning, everyone! Hope you are all having a blessed day in the Lord! I wonder if I could ask for some advice from the community here?

I have been having a long running conversation with an African Christian via Facebook Messenger. We 've discussed the state of the American and African Church, as well as topics like the Pauline Gospel, Christian consecration and so much more! I would LOVE to put these conversations. into a book and preserve the conversational form as much as possible. My question is how to do that without it getting tedious to read, page after page, "Shiloh said.... Dawn said..."

Yan wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Yan, a new Christian after being an atheist for 30 years. I just started to read Christian books this year. After becoming a believer, I see the world from a completely different v..."

Hi Yan, Great to hear that you have given your life to Jesus. I started following him a few decades ago, but still need his forgiveness everyday. It is a great feeling being forgiven. I love Him. You mentioned you are interested in Christian apologetics. You may therefore be interested in my book Echoes of Jesus: Does the New Testament Reflect What He Said?. Twenty free copies of the book are now available through the Goodreads.com free giveaway program. Good luck! This book addresses several common questions about the New Testament, such as: how was it possible for the disciples to capture Jesus' words when he spoke them; were the original hand written manuscripts copied accurately over the centuries; and did the bias of the New Testament authors negatively impact the truth about Jesus? It is written in a friendly tone, and without expecting the reader to be a Christian or a Greek scholar. It is however academic in the sense that it presents detailed evidence that is fully referenced. You can check out the endorsements, table of contents and introduction on the website http://www.echoesofjesus.com

Hi Jack, I think it great that you are writing fiction from a Christian worldview. Would you go so far to say that Quest for the Middle Kingdom is historical fiction?

Hi everyone! I'm Lee-Lette and I live in Clarendon, Jamaica. I'm a young christian who is passionate about Christ and is looking forward to reading and exploring God, hopefully with new friends.

Hi Lee-Lette. Welcome to the world wide family of rescued sinners and fellow disciples of Jesus. Thank you for sharing your fantastic news. How is it that you recently became a Christian?

Jonathan wrote: "Hi Lee-Lette. Welcome to the world wide family of rescued sinners and fellow disciples of Jesus. Thank you for......"

Well, I attended a Youth Crusade in which I recognized that I can't continue to successfully live without Christ in my heart so I decided to give my life to Him and since then I just have a great zeal for worship and I saw this as a great opportunity to read, meet new friends and explore God all at the same time

Thanks Lee-Lette for telling your story. Apart from the Bible have you read much Christian literature? What genres do you normally like to read?

No Jonathan,I haven't really read much Christian literature,actually i'm just getting started in the genre with 'The Seven Spirits of God' by Ron Auch. Usually I'd read YA adventure and mystery books.

Hi. I have been a member for Goodreads for many years but never been active in a group because it was confusing (hopefully, I'm posting in the right place. ;)

I live near Charlotte NC with my husband and three boys. I am an engineer, adoptive parent, and writer. My three novels are Christian contemporary. It's good to be here.

Looks like you found a good place to start, Sharon. Welcome!

So.... are you guys reading anything in particular?

Hey Jack, is 'Quest For The Middle Kingdom' available as an ebook?

Hey Jenna! Welcome to christian readers, thanks for sharing your story. I know you'll have a good time reading and making new friends with us and I hope that your faith and strength will increase and your relationship with Christ renewed and improved.

jenna- i just need to feel your body against mine wrote: "Hey everyone! My name is Jenna. I have been struggling in my faith the past 2 1/2 years, and I hope I can renew my relationship with the Lord. I love doing my devotions, reading the Bible, travelin..."

Jenna:
Don't be so hard on your brother who wants to join the Army. I served as a chaplain in the Army for 30 years. I met some of the finest young men our nation has produced. Be thankful there are men like your brother who are willing to serve in the Army. Look at our history. It has been strong Armies that have enabled Americans to enjoy the freedoms we do, including freedom of worship. I also have a son who is an officer on active duty in the Army.

jenna xD wrote: "Marion wrote: "jenna- i just need to feel your body against mine wrote: "Hey everyone! My name is Jenna. I have been struggling in my faith the past 2 1/2 years, and I hope I can renew my relations..."

Someone is playing games. Certainly not what I wrote. Post #80 is what I wrote.

Hello Christian Readers,

I've been following this group for some time but have neglected to introduce myself. I'm an avid reader, an author, a wife and mother of four. I read just about everything -- historical, thriller, some romance and women's lit, even horror on occasion but I'm very picky about good writing. I won't hesitate to put down a book for good if the writing is sub-par. I found the whole genre of Christian fiction accidentally -- when I realized that I'd written a Christian novel! My books, The Living Water series, are biblical fiction published by Howard Books/Simon & Schuster. The Well, The Thief, and The Tomb, A Novel of Martha. I'm enjoying being part of this group and hope I'll get some great reading recommendations from you all.

Hi, my name is Kim and I'm from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I've been a Christian for a good part of my life, and I enjoy reading all genres--short of erotica and auto/home repair :D. I'm always glad to read a well-written Christian (or clean) book, and am hoping to get a lot of good suggestions here. My favorite (secular) genres are history and historical fiction, and mysteries. My favorite Christian interests are the same, and I also like prophecy/eschatology and the occult (from a Christian viewpoint--NOT how-to manuals). It's nice to be here.

Hello everyone! This is Lesley. I hear all of you saying "Hi Lesley". :)

I'm excited to be a part of this group, I enjoy looking up and seeing a little red number at the top of my goodreads.com profile.

I love to read and watch the classics as well as modern day Christian Non-fiction and some mysteries, I love to write, cuddle with my animals and have recently started Vlogging (which I really enjoy since it reminds me of my life in Journalism).

I'm an ex-journalist so I have always enjoyed writing but never Non-fiction. UNTIL...as God does so well He stepped in and changed all that. About two years ago God started asking me questions about my faith. Obviously this interaction was amazing and over the course of several weeks He walked me through a series of several faith questions, what I have since dubbed my "God Questions".

Once I answered all of His questions my Spirit was ON FIRE for the Lord. It was then that He started to impress on me the importance of walking in a DAILY relationship with Him. Now I had been raised a Christian and knew the Lord but had always somehow thought my "relationship" was attending church once a week. It was at this point I asked God a question. I asked Him "How?" How was I supposed to walk in a daily relationship with Him? To my utter amazement He began to answer me. With many basic principles He showed me what that kind of relationship with Him needed to look like. About half way through this teaching from Him He instructed me to "Write it down" and share it with others.

It was from this experience that "The Foolish Sinners Guide to...Living in God's Wisdom" was written. Though He has made it perfectly clear that it is to be a series of books that are structured in such a way that they are easy to understand and fun to learn.
Obviously this journey and experience has been incredible and generally raises many questions and much interaction. I would be thrilled to participate in your blog.

Welcome here Lesley.

Please start some discussions about theology and how to walk with God. WE have many Christians here who get their information from everywhere BUT the Bible. I'd love to see what you learned.

Thanks for the warm welcome Rod,

This experience has been quite amazing. To receive so much information in such a short period of time and to recognize all of the ways God wants to communicate with us. It was not only the information I received that has been a true blessing but the entire journey.

God made it clear to me that the MOST important thing is a relationship with Him. From that everything becomes so much easier. He began my journey with "faith" questions. These questions, and my heartfelt answers to them, stirred up a deep conviction within my heart. This conviction resulted in a longing for and desire to live in a deep relationship with Him.

I never really understood the power of questions. Since my entire journey began with questions I searched the bible for how questions are used. It's amazing how often Jesus used questions and the strategy behind why sometimes ONLY carefully crafted questions will provide you, and those answering the questions, the desired outcome (and the truest of answers).

From there He told me to "Seek Wisdom first". He showed me that there was a profound difference between wisdom (lower case w) and Wisdom (upper case W). Lower case wisdom is all we are capable of achieving ourselves but upper case Wisdom is His Wisdom and if we seek after it He will bless us with it.

Then He showed me the essential nature of our relationship with the Holy Spirit and HOW and why we should deepen and strengthen that relationship. He showed me the importance of building our faith on purpose and that faith is the lynchpin behind everything we are able to accomplish within our relationship with Him. He also showed me our "Two Faces of Faith" (He named it not me). This is the fact that everything we do, everything we say, everything we experience throughout every day of our life is either building our faith in Him or it is building our faith in the World.

From there He showed me how important our understanding of our own personal assignment from Him is. We truly have a purpose and as Christ Followers we must live according to His will for our lives to be truly happy. But until we learn to live in a relationship with Him it is nearly impossible to discover our Christ given assignment.

Finally, He emphasized the true 'daily' nature of our relationship with Him. Whether we recognize it or not our daily lives are either pulling us closer to Him or they are leading us further away. Once we begin to understand some of these basic principles to LIVING closer to Him our relationship with Him all falls into place so much easier.

Thank you for the suggestion to start some discussions. I will definitely do that. I hope you have a blessed day.

Thanks Lesley.

I too appreciate questions. That is why I am a Christian (partially!). I asked every question and skeptical concern I have towards Christianity and the Bible...then I started dealing with the Questions Atheists/Muslims/Buddhists/Mormons etc have of Christianity.
Then I went and found every single answer. (thank you John MacArthur and Ravi Zacharias).

Although the answers I found MOST Christians do not like. You might not like some of them either - But it's all about Jesus.

A couple of the important things I have found with both the asking of questions (both of ourselves and others) and the answers we might share with others is that we wrap our questions & answers in the LOVE of Christ.

The other thing is ensuring that we have the relationship with God that it requires to not simply accept the opinions of others in the answers we seek but bring our questions to God in prayer and be patient and prepared for the answer HE provides us.

It is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit within us to guide and teach us. The problem is that many do not have the relationship it requires to make the communication with the Holy Spirit possible so His guidance is also not possible.

Greetings:
I'm Dean and I live in far upstate New York after growing up in Wisconsin, going to college in Iowa and even spending time in Alaska.
I'm looking forward to discussing topics in Christian literature.

Welcome Dean.

Please start some discussion topics on anything that interests you.

Kim wrote: "Hi, my name is Kim and I'm from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I've been a Christian for a good part of my life, and I enjoy reading all genres--short of erotica and auto/home repair :D. I'm always glad t..."

I recommend Jim Dameron's "The Master's Reliquary" series (2 books so far). The first, "The Man of Signs" takes place in ancient Scotland when the Picts were in charge there and only costs 99-cents. The second, "The Song of the Cross" takes place in Medieval London around the time of the Wycliffe Rebellion (when Richard II was only 14) and sells for $2.99.

Both are available in eBook format at Amazon and Smashwords.

I don't get here too often so I thought I would introduce you to my writings. I am a pastor who has written a book on Christian marriages and post daily devotions at www.cthroughmarriage.blogspot.com. I also tweet daily on faith and marriage at 4248. Blessings!!

My name is Jack Jones - author of the GDIseries of books. Reside Sheffield, England, UK. My passion is reading/writing/blogging on spiritual Christian topics. Relationships, calling, character, suffering, pain, purpose and overcoming.

http://www.god-thedevil-andi.com

Welcome to christian readers Jack! Make yourself at home and feel free to post,comment,like and share your testimonies and/or struggles

Hello! My name is Susie Michaels I am a new author and just published my first book "Watering Harvest The Treasure He Is"
I pray you will all check it out. Thank you for allowing me to introduce myself. Let the river flow,

Bonjour! Author, T.K. Naliaka http://thedecaturseries.com/ a new classic-style action-adventure series for all ages and photo-illustrator of everyday sorts of things in Africa http://duturist.com/
Enjoy!

I am a reader and a writer, and the mother of two black and white cats who are 16 and still spry and healthy. If you like sci-fi and fantasy, and want more of it from the Christian perspective, speak to me and friend me. I have a few things coming out this summer and in the Fall. I am also interested in reading in this genre and wonder if there are any discussions of Christian sci-fi and fantasy on here. CS Lewis comes to mind. Also, there are some novels in sci-fi/fantasy which many feel have strong Christian themes, the Hobbit for instance. If this is of interest, or if there are any threads about it on here, please reply. Great to meet all of you!

Welcome to christian readers Susie, T.K, and Danyele. Make yourselves at home, feel free to get engaged and most of all have fun!

Ps- Susie: sounds like you've got a real interesting book there. I'll definately be checking it out :)

Danyle: I'm not sure if there are any of those threads here but i'll check and ask around for you :)

Hi! Have just finished reading Boy Meets Girl last week( first Christian book I've ever read) and it totally change the way I view relationships. I'm currently in a relationship and realized how sinful it has become. I felt that the Lord used the book in order to open my eyes and change my heart. Now, I started to correct and lead our relationship to the path of the Lord but my partner isn't really happy bout this. I guess I'm not really good at explaining because I can't make him understand why I'm changing. I know the Lord will guide us through. Please pray for us. Thanks!

Lee-lette, fortunately, I have gotten some response on the "Welcome" thread, including some rad recc's and a heads up that the speculative thread is the happening spot for sci-fi/fantasy (clean, Christian) in this forum. so Yay!

Day, I just want to say Praise our Father God that your eyes were opened! He is leading you down the path to real happiness with someone, and I am praying for you both. Books can be lifechanging!

Jung-Sook (Camilla)

Fantastic and good for you for doing it that way, sticking to the truth God's placed in you and on you to share! Wow. There is so much encouraging news for those who wish to self-publish. The main thing is to have a well-edited ms. Not just punctuation but good grammar.

Both you and Yan's story of coming to Christ is inspiring.

Hello All! My name is Paul Parisi (PJ PARISI) I just published "Last Call"




And would love for any one who wants to read and review to check it out. I have plenty of free downloads available (Just inbox me if you would like one). Please find a brief synopsis below as well as a few notes from kirkus review. I feel blessed to be apart of your message board here and thank you all for maintaining it.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...



When God and the Devil make a bet, one man’s soul—and the fate of the world—are caught in the middle in this debut Christian thriller.
Former carpenter James Ryan has a life as close to idyllic as any typical American retiree: a nice house, a wonderful wife, a successful son, a part-time job to keep himself busy and contented. But this peaceful existence shatters one morning when a group of intruders break into James’ house, locking him out while his wife, Amanda, is still asleep inside. The outcome shatters James, but his misfortune doesn’t end there. God and the Devil have taken notice of him, and claiming that the modern world has no place for God, who has lately taken the form of an old woman named Verna, the Devil, taking the form of slick bar owner Ethan, challenges God to once again put a believer through a Job like test of faith. The wagers outcome could in fact deliver hell on earth. As the unlucky target James sees his life fall apart around him, Ethan opens a combination bar and arcade to lure the small town’s vulnerable teenagers into his orbit and put them to use in his crusade of evil, which ultimately results in an all-out war between the teens and adults of the town.

“Debut author Parisi crafts a plot reminiscent of the film Dogma, in which demons are wise to the desires and temptations of the modern world, God disguises herself in unexpected ways, and good people are shown both the flaws and strengths of humanity. The novel is more fast-paced thrill ride than philosophical discussion, which prevents it from becoming preachy and keeps the reader hooked,” Kirkus Reviews