Who Needs God / Harold Kushner 208 p. Self-Help Challenge

Who Needs God / Harold Kushner 208 p.

Harold Kushner offers advice for these times where one feels overwhelmed, dissatisfied or unable to cope with one's problems.  Rabbi Kushner helps understand how a spiritual commitment can make a real difference in one's life.  His approach is ecumenical.

Interrupted/Jen Hatmaker/273 pages

     This is a very thought-provoking book by Christian blogger Jen Hatfield.  Hatfield, who lives in Austin, Texas, writes about the changes she and her husband made in 2007 when they felt called to quit the successful church where he was a pastor to start a new missional church on faith.  Their new life includes people from all over the area in all walks of life.  They partner with other churches and many secular groups to serve the poor, homeless, and any other lost or people in need of help.  It is about how to meet people where they are instead of waiting for them to come to the church which many times is unlikely.
    This book is generally on reserve.

Bad Girls of the Bible / Liz Curtis Higgs 244 p.

Bad Girls of the Bible / Liz Curtis Higgs 244 p.

Higgs features several 'bad' women of the Bible, e.g., Rahab, Delilah, Lot's wife, Jezebel.  She seeks to teach us lessons from these women.  Women she has categorized as bad to the bone, bad for a moment, and bad for a season, but not forever.  Their story opens with a modern retelling of their life.  Higgs introduces personal notes into the telling like with Jezebel, she says

I understood her personality, I empathized  with her need for control, I tuned into her angry outbursts ... but boy did she teach me what not to do in my marriage.

 Each chapter closes with some lessons to be learned from the life of the bad girl and thoughts for the reader to consider.  Higgs tells these biblical stories in her own style filled with insight and humor.