I do not usually reccommend movies with violent content, much less, hard language, but in this case I am making an exception by reccommending World Trade Center (Widescreen Edition).

This movie, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Nicolas Cage, capture the raw terror and pain of September 11, 2001. The movie unfolds through the eyes of two Port Authority police officers and their spouses as events unfolded that day.
Only 20 survivors were pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center Towers after they collapsed and the 18th and 19th were the two Port Authority police officers Will Jemeno and Will McLoughlin. This is the story of the hours they were trapped in the rubble and the deep strength and courage they had during those hours of pain, fear, and agony.
This is also the story of two United States Marines who continued to look for survivors even when the rescue had been suspended for the night, thus leading to the discovery of both officers.
Although the film has been critized for numerous issues, I myself found the film to be one that inspired me to courage and yet again, Patriotism of being an American citizen as I reflected on what so many hundreds of people personally experienced as a result of 9/11.
Although this movie depicts the story of two survivors one cannot help but walking away from the movie with a deep sense of those who did not survivie the day, including New York City and Port Authority police officers, firemen, and paramedics.

Posted by True Hope Counseling at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Every teen girl needs a hero and in today's society with scandals involving young super stars like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, a positive one is hard to come by.

But in the book She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall we are given a true-to-life adolescent hero!

Written by Misty Bernall, Cassie's mother, She Said Yes is an honest and transparent work. Sharing her own struggles as Cassie's mother during the teen years, as well as revealing honesty about Cassie's own troubled past in her early adolescence, this book presents Cassie as a real teenager.

When Cassie was in her early adolescence she became involved with other teens that were participating in occultic activities. After discovering letters that spoke of killing their parents and a teacher at school, Cassie's parents intervened, and despite Cassie's rage at them, gave her severe restrictions in an effort to help her get her life turned around. One cannot help but grasp the irony of the response of Cassie's parents at that crucial time of her life, in light of the tragic school shooting instigated by two other troubled teens that would later take Cassie's life in the Colombine shootings.

One of the results of Cassie's troubled behavior was her parents making her go to a Christian youth group. While on a retreat with this particular youth group Cassie gave her life to Christ. Although, she was still a typical teenager with mood swings and struggles, she became a teen dedicated to living for God. It was this dedication that caused her to say "yes" when asked by Eric and Dylan, the two shooters at Colombine, if she believed in God. That "yes" led to her being shot at point blank range in the head and with that shot, Cassie was ushered into unexpected and unlikely martydom at that age of 17.

This is an inspiring read for teenagers and a breath of fresh air in today's world where we hear more about troubled kids who can't stand for anything right, much less take a bullet for their belief in God!

Posted by True Hope Counseling at 02:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"The people must be the ones to win, not the war, because the war has nothing to do with humanity. War is something inhuman" Zlata Filipovic

Likened to a modern day Anne Frank, Zlata Filipovic provides us with a pre-adolescents first hand account of the war in Sarajevo in 1991 - 1993. Written with both a childhood innocence, as well as an adult like perspective, the book Zlata's Diary containes a mixture of normal, every day thoughts of a young girl regarding movie stars and famous singers and the deep philisophical musings of a child that has looked war in the face and grown up too quickly as a result.

Filled with poignant passages such as,

"The City Maternity Hopsital has burned down. I was born there. . . The mothers and babies were saved. . . When the fire broke out two women were giving birth. The babies are alive. God, people get killed here, they die here, they diappear, things go up in flames here, and out of the flames, new lives are born."

and

"I keep wanting to explain these stupid politics to myself, because it seems to me that politics caused this war, making it our everyday reality. War has crossed out the day and replaced it with horror and now horrors are unfolding instead of days. It looks to me as though these politics mean Serbs, Croats, and Muslims. But they are all people. They are all the same. They all look like people, there's no difference. They all have arms, legs and heads, they walk and talk, but now there's 'something' that wants to make them different."

this book will grab your heart and keep it gripped long after you have finished it.

Posted by True Hope Counseling at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Randy Alcorn has done it again in his book Deception Combining mystery with spiritual truths, Deception is a book that I just did not want to end!

Using Ollie Chandler, a police detective we met in Deadline, Randy spins a story of intrigue and mystery, slighly reminscent of a Sherlock Homes mystery. With unexpected twists and turns and humor that made me laugh outright as I was reading, this is a book that will grab you on page one and have you staying up late into the night to see what happens next!

In usual Randy Alcorn fashion, he also intersperses theological dialogues throughout his novel, so that you are not only entertained as you read, but are also forced into thinking through what he is presenting in the arguments among the books characters. Always presenting both sides to the discussion in a realistic and unbiased manner, this is part of what makes Randy's books so refreshing to read!

For those that have enjoyed Randy Alcorn's prior novels, they will not be disappointed with Deception either! It is a must read-and a book, that I for one, will be happy to have on my own personal library shelf!

Posted by True Hope Counseling at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Prisoners of Hope: The Story of Our Captivity and Freedom in Afghanistan is the incredible story of two young women taken hostage by the Taliban in 2001. Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer tell their story of being held in a Taliban prison because of their Christian work in Afghanistan,with raw honesty and inspiring courage.

Heroes are hard to find in today's world, especially for teen and college age girls. Unfortunately, the "role models" of today's world are Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton young women consumed with themselves and unable to escape unhealthy lifestyles.

In contrast, Dayna and Heather are true heroes! True heroes in that they are two women who chose living a restricted lifestyle, both materially and socially, as a result of having a heart for the souls of the women of Afghanistan. Counting the cost and eventually having to face the reality of that cost, they dedicated time and money to reaching the Afghani women for Christ.

In their book they describe the culture of the Afghan people, especially highlighting the lives of women who live behind the veil of Islam. You can sense their heartbeat for these women, and the passion that drove them while they lived in the country, prior to being taken by the Taliban.

They then give us a first hand glimpse of what life consisted for them in the hands of the Taliban from their arrest on August 3, 2001 to their dramatic military rescue in November of that same year. Speaking with honesty and transparency they share both the frustrations and fears of being imprisoned as well as the lessons in faith and love they learned along the way.

An inspiring read for all, I especially reccommend this book for women in search godly role models. You can't read this book and not be forever impacted by the lives of these two women and the sacrifice they gave at such tender ages for their Savior!

Posted by True Hope Counseling at 09:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In his book, How to Bring Your Children to Christ . . . and Keep Them There, Ray Comfort deals with a topic that mostChristian parents find is a heavy burden on their hearts; the salvation of their children. However, he approaches this topic with a unique and probably, somewhat controversial approach.

The major premise of Ray's book is that oftentimes in the Christian world we push our children into saying the "salvation prayer" when they have little understanding of why they even need a Savior. As a result, once they hit their teen years they depart from most, if not all, spiritual matters including God Himself.

Ray argues that we need to teach our children more than a way to escape hell, but instead we need to instill in them at a young age that they are sinners, unable to do anything righteous and need Jesus' saving grace as a result. This is not a popular message in todays' culture that focuses on teaching healthy self-esteem to our children. Yet, as Ray points out, if our children do not grasp their true need for God's grace then they will have no reason to hold tightly onto Christ once their teen years hit.

It was a new spin to childhood salvation that was presented in this book, but one that is worthy of full consideration by all parents. How to Bring Your Children to Christ. . . is a short and easy read, and I reccommend that all parents (and perhaps even grandparents and children's ministers) add it to their library of parenting books. Even if you are not in full agreement with Ray's premise, it still provides enough thought-provoking reasoning that it can only serve to enrich the Christian parenting experience.

Posted by True Hope Counseling at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)