I'm not a huge fan of rap music and I haven't heard a lot of Lacrae's music, but the few songs I have, I've really liked.
His story is what I really am curious about. He sounds like a young man who desires to live for God no matter the cost, and that is so rare in the music industry today.
Goodreads says of his book here:
"Two-time Grammy winning rap artist, Lecrae, learned this lesson through more than his share of adversity—childhood abuse, drugs and alcoholism, a stint in rehab, an abortion, and an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
Along the way, Lecrae attained an unwavering faith in Jesus and began looking to God for affirmation. Now as a chart-topping industry anomaly, he has learned to ignore the haters and make peace with his craft. The rap artist holds nothing back as he divulges the most sensitive details of his life, answers his critics, shares intimate handwritten journal entries, and powerfully models how to be a Christian in a secular age.
This is the story of one man's journey to faith and freedom."
Parables
I love the way Jesus reveals the truth about Himself through parables and gets us thinking and completely dependent on Him for understanding.
This book sounds so interesting!
I'm looking forward to reading it soon.
Amazon describes this book here:
"Jesus was a master storyteller, and the parables He told were ingeniously simple word pictures with profound spiritual lessons.
Understanding the parables is a crucial matter for followers of Jesus. Jesus told parables so His people might comprehend His message about the kingdom of God clearly.
In Parables he helps Christians understand the essential lessons contained in the most famous and influential short stories the world has ever known."
This is considered an American classic, about a young girl growing up at the turn of the century, in Brooklyn, New York. I love reading classic novels and hoping to enjoy this one.
Goodreads says of it here:
"Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident.
The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years.
By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience."
The Magnolia Story
Fixer Upper is my favorite TV show. And it's one of the rare ones my husband and I enjoy together.
Chip and Joanna are funny and loving, and make beautiful things for their clients.
They also have four children that are a part of the show. So adorable!
I'm not sure if they share their faith in this particular book, but I hope they do!
Amazon says of the book here:
"The Magnolia Story is the first book from Chip and Joanna, offering their fans a detailed look at their life together.
From the very first renovation project they ever tackled together, to the project that nearly cost them everything; from the childhood memories that shaped them, to the twists and turns that led them to the life they share on the farm today."
God's Pursuit of Man
Tozer's 'The Pursuit of God' is one of my all-time favorites, and I just started reading the prequel, 'God's Pursuit of Man.'
Tozer's books always steer me towards the Lord and away from myself. He says here of good books:
"The function of a good book is to stand like a signpost directing the reader toward the Truth and the Life."
Tozer's books do just that.
Heres what's on the back cover of this book:
"Salvation is from our side a choice, from the divine side (it is) a conquest of the Most High God." - A.W. Tozer
With words like these, Tozer shakes the soul. He crumbles the lies we believe and calls us to the more sure way.
In these pages, Tozer explains what it means to be truly saved. It is not merely to assent to Jesus and go on our same old way, but to be conquered by the Almighty God and invaded by His Spirit. A saved person is a transformed person. Let Tozer upend you in this moving prequel to The Pursuit of God. And being upended, may you be found standing upright in an upside-down world."