The joy of reading ..... Happy 2014!!

Hi there,


Happy New Year!!!


Below are Activate's selected reading titles for 2014.


Please feel free and read along with us.


Enjoy ... happy reading! 

So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore: An Unexpected journey by Wayne Jacobsen and Dave Coleman


 Jan 2014 – Mar 2014










Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick


Mar 2014 – May 2014

 

 

Choosing Extraordinary: Living out the God given dreams you've always wanted to...      by Helen Cottee      

May 2014 – July 2014                                                                                                                      

 
 God on Mute by Pete Greig


July 2014 – Sept 2014

 
 Voice in the Night: The True Story of a Man and the Miracles That Are Changing Africa by Pastor Surprise (with David Wimbish)


Sept 2014 – Nov 2014

 The Divine Conspiracy: "Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God" by Dallas Willard



Nov 2014 – Jan 2015











Love and blessings,

Ope

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Synopsis

Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism.

Choose Joy - Because Happiness Isn't Enough by Kay Warren

Synopsis

 

EVERYONE KNOWS HOW TO BE JOYFUL IN THE PEAKS OF LIFE ..........

When all your fondest hopes and wildest dreams come true, and your heart nearly explodes with happiness, it’s easy to feel joyful.

 But what about the valleys? When nothing seems to go your way? When everything is falling apart? When God is silent, and you feel alone?

 Where does joy fit into those moments?

In “Choose Joy”, acclaimed author and Christian leader Kay Warren shares the path to experiencing soul-satisfying joy no matter what you’re going through. Joy is deeper than happiness, lasts longer than excitement, and is more satisfying than pleasure and thrills. Joy is richer…Fuller…And it’s far more accessible than you’ve thought.

 

Joy comes from God … and it can be yours! Today.

Two great reads ..........

Hello,

I’m so sorry it's been a while. Just lots of "life and doings" happening all at once, however, it doesn’t mean we haven't been reading. We read “Choose Joy – Because Happiness Isn’t Enough” by Kay Warren between September and November 2013, and read “A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini over Christmas.

Two very different and great books; I enjoyed reading both of them!

 “Choose Joy” was very popular with every member of the group. In it, Kay teaches women the difference between Joy and happiness, what joy really is, where to find it, and how to choose it in the good times.  Choose Joy is a brilliant book about choosing to trust God in all the circumstances and situations of life. It is definitely worth reading.

“A Thousand Splendid Suns” is novel (fiction). A gripping and thought-provoking read, but unfortunately not to everyone’s liking in the group. I found it both challenging and interesting.

The consensus within the group was that it had increased our understanding of the Afghan culture, if not the religion itself, as they are so intertwined and confusing, and all its tragic history and differences within the country, but mainly it really increased our empathy for Afghan women and what life is like for them, even today.

If you have read either “Choose Joy” or “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, you are welcome to share your views with us. Please leave a comment.
 
God bless.


Ope