"What we should do and what we do are often very different," Adah put in.~ From The Secret (Seasons of Grace, Book One) by Beverly Lewis

I recently picked up a book (Ocenas Apart) by Karen Kingsbury from the library. This will be the first book I've read by her so I thought I would look online and find out more about her. I came across this clip:

Just finished Desecration. I am committed to finishing this series.



One thing I did want to share (using Wikipedia for a source - for what that is worth) are some of the criticisms about this book/series



Controversies and criticisms
Some evangelicals are seriously concerned about the message of the genre. Their objections are based on the paucity of scriptural evidence for the Pre-Tribulation Rapture which forms the basis for the story. The supposition is that the Christian Church will not be present for the "final witness" nor need to prepare themselves in the faith for that possibility. It forms a growing basis for discussion among evangelicals who hold to a Post Tribulation Rapture, amillennialism, or forms of preterism.
Other evangelicals object to the message of Left Behind because they say it is not a Christian message, though framed as a Christian series. Loren L. Johns, the Academic Dean of the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, writes: "At the end of the day, this series is ultimately a rejection of the good news of Jesus Christ. I say this because it rejects the way of the cross and Jesus’ call to obedient discipleship and a new way of life. It celebrates the human will to power, putting Evangelical Christians in the heroic role of God’s Green Berets. ... Love of enemies is treated as a misguided strategy associated not with the gospel, but with the Antichrist."[3]
The Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) reported that "the ideas expressed in the Left Behind series are in many ways contrary to the teaching of holy scripture. Though containing a fictional story line, the books promote a theology that is, in important respects, at odds with the biblical revelation."[4]
Lisa Ruby, writer of over 50 investigative articles about the Left Behind Series, and a book, God's Wrath on Left Behind, insists the novels are filled with soul-subverting messages: "My focus is not on the author's eschatological bent, but rather, the apostate thinking and behavior of the allegedly Christian characters. The Left Behind Series is conditioning people to believe that Christians may work at Satan's headquarters and even "pretend" to worship the Antichrist during the Tribulation without forfeiting their souls."[5]
Other Christians find the focus on the Rapture as a dramatic device in a "Christian" film gives too much credence to this debatable theory. Some Christians find the use of Biblical interpretations for commercial entertainment somewhat exploitive and disingenuous, in spite of the claims of some that the books and movie have helped bring new believers to Christianity.

JOHN'S STORY. I finished it a bit ago and it was an Audiobook I checked out from the library (my favorite place). It is about the John in the New Testament and it written as him telling his story. Pretty interesting. I listened to it at bedtime and found it better than watching the news.

We are moving full steam ahead with this series. We recently finished Tribulation Force (Book 2 of the series) and I've placed a hold for the third book. I wanted to complete the series by Summer and it looks like I'm going to meet that goal.

I'm finding this series well written and suspenseful (even though I'm still on the parts I've done before). It makes me want to catch up and get to the stuff that is new to me. I also must admit even though this is fiction it has given me new things to study in the Bible.

-Love2Read

While checking out the abcnews.com site, I came across this. I've missed the news and GMA which I usually watch so this is my first time coming across this. So what do you think? - ILove2Read

By Susan Donaldson James

March 4, 2008 —

Using a clever strategy that has pit Christian readers against anti-censorship intellectuals, a new online bookstore has impressed some marketing experts with its enlightened approach.

Abunga.com -- a kind of Facebook meets prayer book -- touts itself as a "family friendly" Web site that allows its buyers to ban saucy books from their accounts. What's more, if enough customers block a certain book, the company removes it from the site altogether.

Just this month, the Knoxville, Tenn., site banned "The Golden Compass," a children's fantasy novel that has been targeted by religious groups as being anti-Christian since the release of the film version of the book in December.

The site launched in the fall and initially blocked 65,000 titles; since then, another 100 to 200 books have been dropped.

Abunga donates 5 percent of its revenues to charity, which are also chosen by customers. The nonprofits include Christian churches, anti-abortion rights groups and mainstream groups such as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Critics have compared Abunga's methods to Nazi book burning, but its founders say the site is more about participation than censorship -- a cross between social networking and cost-friendly online retailing.

Abunga Chairman Lee Martin told ABCNEWS.com that censorship charges were unfounded.

"It is truly a free country, and I'm not the public library or the forced education system," he said. "I believe in free enterprise, and I think people care what we are about."

Last month, Martin sent out an e-mail to supporters, saying, "The battle has now begun."

If you plan to do the Book On CDs, know that they are each a bit over 1 hour. I truly believe that it was well written to be thought provoking for both Christians and non-Christians.

Here is also the information from the back of the case:

Left Behind
A Novel of the Earth's Last Days
#1 in the Left Behind

What would happen if millions of people around the world suddenly disappeared one day? In this fascinating apocalyptic thriller, best-selling Christian inspirational authors LaHaye and Jenkins pool their considerable talents to answer that question. Narrator Richard Ferrone's unusually deep and hypnotic voice will keep you right in the middle of this not-unimaginable end of the world nightmare.

Pilot Rayford Steele is contemplating adultery with a young flight attendant when over 100 of his passengers simply vanish, leaving vacated clothes and bewildered companions. Rayford and the others left behind must deal with mass chaos on top of personal loss.

Among the passengers still left is star reporter Cameron "Buck" Williams, who just got the assignment of a lifetime: find out what happened and why. Theories abound, from Christian Rapture to alien abduction. Buck suspects secret meetings between international power brokers are somehow connected. And rising political icon Nicolae Carpathia seems to be at the center of it all.