Someone Please Awaken Me

Lazarus Awakening: Finding Your Place in the Heart of God by Joanna Weaver

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I was so looking forward to reading this book. I think the message, "Finding Your Place in the Heart of God" is an important one and one that I certainly need to read more on, but it isn't what I got from reading it. Not long after I began, I was bored to tears and totally confused.

The book and its stories were choppy and metaphors seemed forced. There was no flow and after having read it, I honestly cannot even tell you what the book was about. Weaver used so many personal viewpoints throughout the book that I just became annoyed. "Maybe they thought..." "Perhaps she said..." "He could have done..." "She possibly was feeling..."

I became somewhat disturbed and literally groaned out loud when I read her description of how fortunate she was that her son didn't play mental games with her like greeting her with a cold shoulder when she goes away (as "most kids" do). She writes, "Instead of sulking, he's the first one to meet me at the door" and "He doesn't wait until I reach out to him. He leaps towards me." That was a slap in the face to any mother who wasn't greeted by her child at some point. I'm quite sure she isn't the perfect mother that all her stories in the book make it seem.

Lastly, Weaver depicted the betrayal of Judas as Judas "hoping to force the Son of God to do his bidding and declare Himself king." Say what? All four Gospels describe Judas betraying Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

At this point, I truly had to force myself to continue reading. After all, I did receive this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers in exchange for my review. I feel bad about not liking the book and posting an unpleasant review so I will add some positive notes about this book:

1. I did like the "Dethroning Lies" piece that discusses employing four principles to assist the Holy Spirit in ridding you of harmful and untrue strongholds. Those principles are asking God to Reveal the stronghold, Repenting to Him for seeking comfort in them, Renouncing the hold they have on you, and Replacing these beliefs with Scriptures.

2. I liked the sections "Disciplining Your Mind" and Appendix D "Who I Am in Christ" in which she affirms cognitive psychology with Scriptures, helping us to understand that we are accepted, secure, significant, and loved by Jesus.

I have never read any of Weaver's books before this and can assume from this that she isn't my cup of tea. However, if you enjoyed her first two books, I'm sure you would enjoy this one, as well, as it is the last of the trilogy.


View all my reviews

Tags: Christian Non-fiction

Dramatic Ramblings of a Bibliophile

The definition of a bibliophile is as follows:

"A lover of books, especially for qualities of format; also, a book collector."

I am these things. A lover of books. A book collector. I'm obsessed with books.  Truly, I own more than I can read, and have even more than that on my Goodreads.com to-read list.  With this passion, heavens, the idea of books becoming obsolete to me is one of the most frightening things imaginable! I stare at a computer all day long and the last thing I want to do when I get home is read a book on a stinking computer. I'm sure the iReaders (or whatever they are called) seem like a good idea, but they are not a good idea!!! Books have pages to highlight and write notes on, in different colors if you like. Books have a unique scent that says, "Here I am, a true friend who is always here for you and waiting ever so patiently for you to hold me again." Books are tangible, comfort to the touch, soothing to the soul. A book in my hand is the one constant reassurance I have known my whole life. Before I knew Jesus, all I had were books to escape from a world full of hardships and trials. What is an iReader? An electronic device, a cold computer like the one I use all day at work. Blah!

I uncovered a scroll in my office closet. Curious, I unrolled it to find a picture I drew in middle school. It was an assignment for my art class (I hated that teacher, by the way...). We were to draw the career we dreamed of having. I drew a bunch of books and book covers with my name as the author. Will my dream one day come true only to see my grandchildren reading my published book on the computer? Oh, the horror!

What luxury can be found in a room with no books? I dislike any room in my house that does not contain books. A room without books to me is void of any real comfort and pleasure. A room without books is a room without spirit, without soul.

Books provide a world seen beyond our current circumstances, a window to the past, our hope for the future. For who will not succeed that loves to read and who will not know the lesson of value and sacredness that holds a book in his hand?

Sigh...

Tags: bibliophile