Category: Christian author

Book review, Christian author, writing

Book Review: God Isn’t Finished with You Yet by Catherine Campbell

Anita T Kelly

I love how Catherine brings each Bible story to life in her book. She discusses 7 different Bible characters in depth, using an almost Ignatian style, where you can imagine yourself in each scene, immersed in the sights, smells and sounds of those times, interacting with the people there. She helps you to better understand each character’s circumstances and the challenges they face.

As someone who can struggle with concentration whilst reading sometimes, I was surprised at the depth of detail she goes into as she explores how the story is relevant to us in our own individual lives. I tried to use this as a daily devotional but concluded this would work better in a group setting where there was more time to prepare and read the suggested connected Bible passages in the study questions. There would be more time to discuss the themes Catherine brings to light.

However the encouragement her writing brings, in turning around characters’ difficulties and sometimes their self-inflicted situations, is palpable. It shows how God can work through our failures and is an inspiration and hope for all of us in using these shortcomings for His glory.

This book will delight those who can identify with the difficulties each character endures Seeing the transformation of its characters to demonstrate how God moves in our broken lives. Those low times that aren’t the end of the story. It’s also for those looking for more in-depth study of the some less known characters in the Bible.

I’m grateful to SPCK who kindly allowed me to read a pre-publication of this book. This is my own honest opinion of the book.

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Book review, Cancer, Christian author, Mental Health, writing

Matt McChlery Book Giveaway & Book Review

Anita T Kelly

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live through a cancer diagnosis and subsequent chemotherapy? In his book, Standing in the Storm, Matt McChlery, shares his personal story, including growing up in Zimbabwe and how he came to live in the UK. He also readily talks about the importance of his Christian faith through it all.

Matt’s openness and honesty stands out throughout his story as he reveals his experience of being diagnosed with a Stage 4 lymphoma. Although he shares in detail about the pain and suffering he endured, I found his writing style easy to read and didn’t really want to put it down! He talks candidly about his diagnosis and how it affected his faith, his family and him personally. He’s not afraid to discuss the impact it had on his mental health at times too.

It gave me some insight into what it’s like whilst having chemotherapy and the dilemmas and harsh realities of living with cancer. This book would be helpful for someone with a cancer diagnosis but also someone who is supporting a loved one or friend on their cancer journey. It’s encouraging to see a man opening up about how cancer affected him and continues to affect him in the present and will hopefully help those grappling with a diagnosis to open up more about their own experiences. It may also help those questioning their faith in similar circumstances, to see God at work in Matt’s life through it all.

For a chance to win a copy of Matt’s book, head over to my Instagram account @flourishmhuk to enter the book give away…competition closes on Sat 28 May 2022.