6 Books That Can Change Your Life

Reading is very powerful.  I titled this post 6 Books That Can Change Your Life but in all honesty any books that contain truth and are applied to your life can do that very thing.    I also want to note the following book CAN change your life but they won't if you don't put the principles in them into practice.  I love to read but applying what I read is an ongoing challenge in my life.  I also would like to state up front, that some of these books I have not read cover-to-cover, but just used parts of them to implement change in my life.  Here are the 6 titles and why I think they they made this list:

1.  The Bible by God

I have to start with this one.  If you've never picked up a Bible and read it, you really should give it a try.  This book has wisdom from the Creator on all subjects of life : marriage, eating, making wise choices, money, sex, parenting, and how to live life every day.   It is all contained in this Book of Books.   You can glean wisdom on all these topics from The Bible, but you won't get the most out of this unless you get to know the Author : The Lord Jesus Christ.   If this list contained only one book,  I would have to leave this one book on it.    Still a bestseller to this day and a major life-changer!

2. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

Money and managing money is a pretty big topic in anyone's life.  When your finances and debt is out of control, you can feel overwhelmed and not know how to change things for the better.  However, on the flip side when you are managing your money in an optimal way it frees you up to do the will of God and accomplish your goals and dreams in life.  Dave Ramsey has put together a classic book that will help anyone start managing their money better, get out of huge amounts of debt, and start finding financial freedom so that they can accomplish all they wish to.  I haven't read this book cover to cover, but I have read parts and have gone through his DVD course Financial Peace University with my wife, and I find most if not all of his principles very sound and helpful for gaining wisdom in day-to-day money management.    Financial freedom is something we all want, so if you feel that is an area in need of growth in your own life,  you may want to consider reading and applying The Total Money Makeover.

3. The Hour that Changes the World by Dick Eastman

Prayer is a key in any Christian's life and has the ability to change just about anything going on in your life if you are a born-again Christian and follow the Biblical guidelines for doing it.   In this book, Dick Eastman does a stellar job outlining the many aspects of prayer and showing any Christian a method that allows you to pray for one hour a day.  The beauty of prayer is that when done from the proper motives and heart, it not only can change circumstances, it can change yourself.  I have read quite a few books on prayer in my lifetime,  but this one stands out as one of the best ones I have read.  It is practical, wise, and contains some great material on how to maximize your time in prayer every day.  Praying effectively (which is Biblically) can definitely change your life. This book along with #1 above, can help you to do that.

4.  The Runner's Handbook by Bob Glover and Jack Shepherd

This is a classic book in the field of running.  Establishing a habit of running can help you get fit, lose weight and stay healthy.  I love running so I wanted to put a classic book on the list that would establish this habit of exercise in someone's life.  I used to own this book and found it helpful to refer to as a reference.  This is one I haven't read from cover to cover, but it was good to have to stir the motivation and passion to run back up inside. Running can be invigorating and can really change your health and fitness levels for the better - so I'm placing this one as #4 on the list.  I realize running isn't for everyone, but if you are medically able (and find it fun to run), give running a try for several weeks and see if you see positive change in your overall health.  

Last Two are Biographical True Stories

True stories can be very powerful. While they may not be how-to books, they give you examples to try in your own life.   These next books are two that I found very motivational and powerful to read.

5. God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew

This is the amazing true story of Brother Andrew and how he established a ministry of helping the persecuted church throughout the world.  If you think that being a Christian and following God's calling is boring, you should really pick up a copy of this book - Brother Andrew's life is nothing of the sort. What I liked about this book was how real Brother Andrew's relationship with Christ was shown and the miracles that happened in his life as he just following the Holy Spirit's leading.  This book also gave me a fresh look into the persecuted church in the world, and made me more grateful for the religious freedoms I enjoy in my country.   Definitely a powerful biography that makes you realize God is still doing miracles in His children's life.

 6. No Compromise : The Life Story of Keith Green by Melody Green and David Hazard

Keith Green died when I was little - but I know he had a powerful Christian music ministry up until his early death at the age of 28 years old.  This story is a well-written biography by his wife about how Jesus got a hold of this man and made him a burning testimony of God's love to a multitude of people.  This biography is so good, it almost reads like a novel.  The miracles and amazing stories of God's moving are all over this book.   It makes you realize that no life - no matter how short - is beyond the reach of God's saving power! Keith Green was an amazing musician and an on-fire Christian and reading his life story challenged me in my own walk with God.   This is another book to consider reading if you think that following Jesus means just attending church and living a boring life.  It clearly demonstrates through the true story of Keith Green, that following Jesus is an amazing adventure that will change your life.   Far from boring, this is one of the best biographies I have read.

How about you?  Any books you think should be on this list? Leave them in the comments.

Jack Ryan : Shadow Recruit Review

Just finished watching the newest Tom Clancy movie : Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.   I have seen several Jack Ryan movies and my favorite up to this point was Clear and Present Danger with Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan. This movie casts Chris Pine as the new Jack Ryan and I thought he carried the role very well for his first Tom Clancy movie.  The movie also features Kevin Costner as the senior agent working with Mr. Ryan,  and Keira Knightley as Jack's love interest.

Here is my summation of this movie from my perspective:

1. Great plot with interesting twists.  This movie was interesting and kept you guessing but didn't leave you lost in the details.
2. Interesting spin with Jack's love interest.  I haven't seen Patriot Games, but most of the movies with Jack Ryan I have seen have had zero romance.  Keira Knightley's part added a whole new perspective to the Jack Ryan against the bad guys story.  She had a strong role and played it well.  It didn't seem like the script just added her in to the story.  Her role helped develop the characters and made the story better in my opinion.
3. Kevin Costner keeps getting better with age.   I haven't always enjoyed movies with Kevin.  I didn't like his movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves that much, but that wasn't entirely his fault.  His movie role in this one was very likable and added a lot to the overall story.  He added the experience and guiding hand that the young Jack Ryan needed.  Plus he was a fun character to root for.

Now for some of things I didn't like overall:

1. Solving the major crime in 5 minutes of movie time.  I don't want to ruin the movie with spoilers but there are parts where it just comes together too quickly.  I'm all for having the good guys win but at some point you have to question how quickly they can get to the bottom of an elaborate evil plot.
2. Unnecessary Profanity - I haven't read any of Tom Clancy's books, so maybe this is accurate to his writing, but I wasn't glad to hear the profanity that constantly was used by the characters when things got rough.  I think movies could be more creative and cut down on using God's name in vain when things get tense.

Compared to other Tom Clancy movies : how does Jack Ryan :Shadow Recruit come out? My opinion is this is the second best Tom Clancy movie I have seen.  I've seen The Hunt for Red October and Clear and Present Danger.   Clear and Present Danger is still my favorite for edge-of-your-seat adventure and for a tense thriller.   I felt Jack Ryan : Shadow Recruit wasn't as tense, but it was still a good movie and I didn't feel I wasted time viewing it.  The acting is solid, the story well put-together, and overall its a fun ride.   If you like adventure/thriller movies or enjoy Tom Clancy movies, you will probably enjoy this one very much.  4 out of 5 stars in my vote.

Concussion Review

Will Smith has taken on a very thought-provoking role in the movie I just watched : Concussion.   I must admit I was a little surprised to see his role in this movie.  I had envisioned Will Smith would be one of the football players who ends up injured by concussions in the NFL.   That turned out to be quite different than how the story goes.  Instead, Will Smith plays a doctor named Dr. Bennet Omalu who has a passion for investigating why people die.  As a forensic scientist he has to examine dead bodies and many times has to testify to cause of death.  Things get interesting when certain NFL legends in the town of Pittsburgh, PA end up going crazy and having strange deaths that are not in line with their overall health.  Dr. Omalu does some research on his own and finds some serious causes to the death.  The problems start when he tries to share his discoveries.

Let me be clear:  This movies is not a great feel-good story.  It is based on a true story which makes it very interesting.  The observations and discoveries of Dr. Omalu also give you a whole new perspective on the NFL and even watching NFL games.   It makes you think twice.  It makes you realize that NFL players are jeopardizing their health and mental well-being by being successful in the sport.  In the end, it makes a very strong statement about America's love for football.  It just may not be the statement you were hoping for.

Will Smith does a great job in his role and I think he plays his part very convincingly.   Although I wouldn't want to re-watch this movie,  I did feel it made fascinating observations about football and the NFL and it made you think about this sport in a new perspective.   For that it gets bonus points in my book since it doesn't leave hot topics untouched.   I give this movie a solid 4 stars out of 5.   Although I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy the Superbowl quite as much after watching this movie.

Her View: Creed

As you can tell from Paul's review of Creed, he is now thinking he would like to own this movie. Doesn't he know I'm trying to KonMari our home? I'm pretty sure that will be a life long process, but contemplating owning a movie in a Netflix-instant-streaming-media life seems like a serious commitment. I looked at the cover and read the description with subtle disappointment. Did this look like something I'd want to spend my precious Saturday night watching? Has anyone noticed our queue has not had one romance yet? I remembered watching Rocky on TV all the time and cringing at the end with how disfigured he is in the final match.  So, as I'm hurriedly wiping off our kitchen table, I start to listen in on the movie and start to find it really interesting. I sat down to watch for a few minutes. Then I got up when it looked like it was going to be violent and did a few more house chores. When I came back it was more interesting dialog, so I sat down and was drawn into the story and had to see it to the end. Here are the main aspects that drew me into this film:

Competitive Sports:
The sport of boxing has always seemed brute and weird to me, but as I watched this film they did an excellent job showing the competition, training, and skills involved in preparing a fighter for the ring. As I watched this film, I was remembering all the coaches I've met in gymnastics in my youth. And sometimes when you're not familiar with a sport and all its rules; the sport seems really odd. For example, I loved the feeling of my bare feet on a chalky beam in gymnastics. It felt great, but I sometimes watch the gymnasts now and marvel that they are doing death-defying stunts on a 4 inch piece of wood covered in suede! In the ballet documentary, First Position, I learned a competition tutu can cost, on average, $1500.

In boxing, it showed training for this level requires having a team working with you on different aspects of the sport. It's not as simple as a punch jab done. There are a lot of skills involved. I was surprised how well Rocky's character was a coach/mentor and pushed him where he needed it, but did so with encouragement and built his confidence! One interesting aspect was that although the young fighter had fight experience, he was a rookie in many ways. He needed to learn the lingo of how the sport worked in the professional level; especially negotiating deals. He was very green when it even came to "warming up" without your coach. It would be like a no-name gymnast coming into competitions at the Elite level and having the tenacity and skill to make up for lost time.

Father Figure: 
The main character is lacking a Father figure (his Father died before he was born). According to the National Center for Fathering: "20 million children live in a home without a Father physically present."  It was interesting to see him bond with his coach/mentor as a Father figure. Rocky is  having some struggles with aging and this young energetic fighter comes along and as one of his colleagues says gets him to, "come out of the shadows." To his surprise, Rocky, starts to enjoy passing on his wisdom to this particular young man and it gives him more purpose and vigor to tackle his daily struggles. This made Paul and I both pause and reflect on how important it is to stay involved with young people. It's an enriching opportunity to invest your time into the next generation.

Overall, I wasn't happy I stayed up so late to finish the film, but I gave this film 5 out of 5 stars and if you have a proper mindset I think it can be a date night movie as there is a little bit of a romance. It gave us a lot of conversation to talk about afterwards and it is a very redemptive uplifting story.

Creed Review

Chrystal and I sat down and watched this movie last night and were blown away.   I don't want to over-hype this movie,  but after 6 prior Rocky movies I wasn't sure what to expect.   I've enjoyed following "The Italian Stallion" throughout the movies, but by the 6th one I was beginning to feel his career had a good run.  Then they release the movie "Creed" (7th movie featuring Rocky Balboa) which has Sylvester Stallone taking the coach role that Mickey was to him in earlier movies to help train up Apollo Creed's son into serious boxing.  Sounded like it had potential so last night I saw if it was worth the watch and it didn't disappoint at all.  Michael B. Jordan was perfectly cast and delivered a wonderful performance as the troubled youth who is trying to prove himself apart from Apollo Creed's name even though he is his son.   Sly Stallone returns for one of the best movies in his career in my opinion.  He certainly proves he is not just an action star, he has amazing talent as an actor with a lot of range.   Here is what we liked about Creed.

1.  Great performances all around.  Like mentioned before the entire cast turned in a wonderful effort to make such a powerful movie.

2. Great references to the prior movie, without making you feel like you've seen this all before.  I enjoyed the earlier Rocky movies and this one doesn't ignore them.  However, I never felt like I was seeing another Rocky movie that had been repackaged.

3.  Excellent character driven script that draws you in to care about the characters.  Movies that do this seem to be getting more and more rare.  It was refreshing to see that some movies can really pull you in and make you care about the people in the story.

4.  Encouraging ending to a great story - not going to give away the ending but it was very appropriate and encouraging.  I almost wanted to re-watch the movie again it was that satisfying.

Very few movies that are number 7 in the series get this high of a review in my vote.  Furious 7 was great,  but not as good.  Star Wars VII was very good but still not as well put-together as Creed in my opinion.   I heard Sylvester Stallone almost won an Oscar for his performance in Creed.  After watching it,  I can definitely see why.  His chemistry with the other characters was exceptional.   This is actually a reboot movie that comes across almost as good as the original that came out in the 70s.  Why can't Hollywood produce more movies like this one?  I was amazed how so many other movies seem weak and shallow compared to the substance of Creed.  It wasn't a perfect movie,  but I would say it was my favorite movie of 2015 that I have seen.   Two thumbs up and 5 stars out of 5 for Creed.    I hope many movies learn from this one.