Rob Seabrook

Rob Seabrook

Author of Beneath the Tamarisk Tree

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Category: Christian History

Turning Points – Mark A Noll, David Komline, Han-Luen Kantzer Komline

This 4th edition is a really fascinating history of Christianity and the Church, reworked and updated 20 years or so on from the original….

Recent Reads

  • Releasing Janet – Alex Banwell
  • The Little Liar – Mitch Albom
  • I Choose Joy – Chip Ingram
  • Pets for Legion – Shawn D Brink
  • Untaken Three – C O Wyler
  • Silent No More – Christine Kohler
  • Sins of Fathers – Michael Emmett
  • The Language of Rivers and Stars – Seth Lewis
  • The Veil – Blake Healy
  • Where the Light Fell – Philip Yancey

rob_seabrook

Author of Beneath the Tamarisk Tree, a fictional take on the miraculous story of the Penitent Thief. Christian book reviews.

BOOK REVIEW - Releasing Janet by Alex Banwell On BOOK REVIEW - Releasing Janet by Alex Banwell

On the surface this may look like an ordinary, unremarkable family. But this story highlights that nobody is ordinary. Everyone has a rich and fascinating history that has formed them to be the people they are.

Benny has his unusual medical issues, but a massive open heart that welcomes the vulnerable and mirrors the love of Jesus. Janet has a broken heart, but has poured herself out completely to care for her son. The others are equally different, damaged, precious and valuable...

Read the full review at www.robseabrook.com (link in Bio).

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BOOK REVIEW - The Little Liar by @mitchalbom Thi BOOK REVIEW - The Little Liar by @mitchalbom 

This is an exceptional book. It deals with the difficult topic of the holocaust, not holding back on the horrors. Not in any graphic way, but rightly upsetting. It should disturb us.

The story is fictional, starting when the Nazis invade Salonika, Greece, and a German officer offers an eleven-year-old boy, known to be always truthful, a chance to save his family. His role is to tell his fellow Jewish residents to board trains to a place where he is told safety and protection prevail. But when he sees his family being herded into a boxcar on the final train, he realises he has in fact helped send them to their demise at Auschwitz. Truth becomes a stranger to him from that moment on, as his story intertwines with the stories of his family, friends and that Nazi officer.

Using the mechanism of having the book narrated by "Truth" personified, allows the reader to ponder their own relationship with Truth...

Read the full review at www.robseabrook.com (link in Bio).

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BOOK REVIEW - I Choose Joy by @chip_ingram This BOOK REVIEW - I Choose Joy by @chip_ingram 

This book is centred around a lovely quote from C.S. Lewis, that I had not come across before, but one that certainly deserves some deep thought. He said, "Joy is the serious business of heaven."

Taking much of the teaching from the book of Philippians and the example of Paul, the essence of the teaching is about being intentional. Despite our circumstances and situations, if we want to, we can choose joy, we can choose to be wholly positive. Paul modelled the attitude and we can follow.

Chip Ingram teaches directly from the scriptures, encouraging us to refocus and choose joy, even if we are in the midst of difficulties and it is counter to our instincts. He asks us to take a Godly perspective, rather than our own.

There are some great real-life examples through the book to highlight the teaching, helping to show how it can be achieved.

It could also be used as a teaching series, perhaps in a home group situation, with some questions for discussion included at the end of each chapter.

A good book that sets our thinking and attitudes back on track.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, but was under no pressure to provide a favourable review.

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BOOK REVIEW - Pets for Legion by @shawn.brink2 W BOOK REVIEW - Pets for Legion by @shawn.brink2 

We have possibly all read the Gospel passages and asked questions like : what happened to the legion of demons when the pigs leaped into a lake and drowned? Did the demons die too? If not, then where did they go? There were perhaps thousands of them, especially as the Gospels says there were about two thousand pigs.

Clearly Shawn has had similar questioning that has inspired him to come up with a story that follows that train of thought. Over the years legion may have had all sorts of influences and possessions throughout the world. This iteration is set in modern-day USA, in a small town where the deception, lies and violence can be obscured.

This story is of a local school teacher who rescues a child from a mysterious attacker and unknowingly becomes the next target of this supernatural enemy. With a couple of other characters who get wrapped up in the events, they all have to search deep within themselves physically, emotionally and spiritually to overcome the evil powers at work.

The book is set at a rapid pace...

Read the full review at www.robseabrook.com (link in Bio).

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author, but was under no pressure to provide a favourable review.

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BOOK REVIEW - Untaken Three by C O Wyler This con BOOK REVIEW - Untaken Three by C O Wyler

This concept continues to fascinate me, offering a view of what the world would look like after the Rapture. With all believers gone, all children gone, no one left who would know or think that what had happened was from God.

In this third instalment of life after the 'disappearances', pitched as the time “12 weeks following the Rapture”, we continue to follow the story of the main protagonists, but this time through the eyes of a new character. A young man, an IT expert, who is following their progress online, as their lives are broadcast globally via a new AI system.

Seventeen year-old Jack (appropriately nicknamed ‘Hack’) lives on a rural ranch, spending his time away from farm chores hacking computer programs. He stumbles across the others when accessing the back-end of the AI implant system, slowly unravelling this emerging new world order of ever-present surveillance. It has some interesting shared themes with George Orwell’s classic 1984.

We see the prophesied natural disasters begin to happen around the world, politically there is an emerging single world order, whilst civil unrest and violence increases. Society is in meltdown. Kindness has been sucked out of the world and in it’s absence society is wholly exposed to evil influence. It is the glue that holds things together.

And then the anti-Christ emerges and begins to takes charge, in the form of the charismatic leader of a corporate conglomerate that is taking control, using the power of AI to manipulate and control everything.

A number of end times pointers are dropped in, like …

Read the full review at www.robseabrook.com (link in Bio).

Thanks to the author for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

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BOOK REVIEW - Silent No More by Christine Kohler BOOK REVIEW - Silent No More by Christine Kohler

Christine is clearly a skilled technical poet, which she couples with the ability to select beautifully crafted words and a deep understanding of the Bible stories and their context.

Silent No More: Bible Women Speak Up is a collection of 35 poems of varying styles and formats, including the odd haiku thrown in to the mix, taking the reader through a chronological journey in which women of the Bible tell their own stories.
Her deep understanding of the Bible and the fresh outlook on the circumstances that the female subjects would have faced, combine to offer a deeper insight into their stories. In addition, there has clearly been much research into the cultural background of each story.

The first poem in the book, Eve's Lament, is spectacular, voicing the raw emotions that Eve must have felt at losing her firstborn son. And feeling that she was to blame...

Read the full review at www.robseabrook.com (link in Bio).

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author, but was under no pressure to provide a favourable review.

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BOOK REVIEW - Sins of Fathers by @michaelemmettoff BOOK REVIEW - Sins of Fathers by @michaelemmettofficial 

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Michael while we were both guests on the same podcast, Things Unseen, talking about the Penitent Thief. Having met him and heard just a small part of his story then, I just had to read his book to find out more...

Through his childhood, Michael wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps in the family trade - the dangerous world of organised crime. As a young adult, Michael’s criminal activities were funding a reckless lifestyle of drugs, sex and violence. However, by 1993, alongside his father, he was arrested for being involved in a £13m drug smuggling operation, ultimately receiving a 12 year sentence.

It was whilst in HMP Exeter that Michael discovered something he was not expecting. A spiritual encounter in the prison chapel led to a new direction for his life.

To say his background is colourful is an understatement. From a very young age he followed he became embroiled in a culture of drug abuse, promiscuity and violence. He was a victim though. Yes, a victim of sexual abuse that haunted him and led him down a path towards self-destruction. But also a victim of circumstances and upbringing that presented him with an outlet to further his addictions....

...It is the second half of the book that is key here. It is not about glamourising the life of crime. It is about how a life, so broken, can be wholly changed and redeemed by finding faith, in this case whilst in a prison.

The work of prison ministries is to be honoured for the amazing work they do, in this case the prison Alpha course run by Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London. These ministries reach people who are desperate for the slightest chink of light to break into their darkness.

Michael's repentance is genuine and heartfelt...

Read the full review at www.robseabrook.com (link in Bio).

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BOOK REVIEW - The Language of Rivers and Stars by BOOK REVIEW - The Language of Rivers and Stars by @sethlewis.ie 

Seth rightly points out that for many people, being in the natural world, surrounded by beauty, is often a way for us to feel a peace and connection to God, the Creator. So his aim in this book is to help the reader experience the beauty of creation in a deeper way, offering a biblical understanding of what God is saying to us through the world He has created.

Seth has a poetic style of writing that glides along, effortlessly explaining and unfolding the logic and theology, highlighting the beauty of the created world and the reason why we inherently relate to it. He describes the created world as God's language, His equivalent to words, written for us like beautiful prose or perfect poetry.

He weaves in Scripture to highlight that God's words, Scripture, and nature share a common language.

Seth has a lovely use of language, his words paint pictures of the beauty of creation, showing us why we are inspired by all that God has created for us to enjoy. The language of creation speaks loudly to us, telling us how much God wants us to be in relationship with Him. That is the purpose. So that we will draw near, lean in and embrace. So that we will know Him close.

One section of the book offers a chapter on each of the seven days of the Genesis creation account, which could also work well to be read as a daily devotional or even a study series for a home group or discussion group.

See www.robseabrook.com for more reviews of Christian books (link in Bio).

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I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, but was under no pressure to provide a favourable review.
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