Lovett Memorial has a great selection of inspirational DVDs

Lovett Memorial Library, 111 N. Houston, Pampa, Texas, has a number of inspirational DVDs available for the whole family to enjoy. Among the offerings are the following DVD titles:

“Touched by an Angel” TV series (Seasons 1-9)

“Battlefield of the Mind” featuring Joyce Meyer

“The Book of Ruth”

“Breaking the Press”

“Duck Dynasty”

“End of the Spear”

“Facing the Giants”

“Faith Like Potatoes”

“Fireproof”

“The Genesis Code”

“The Gospel”

“The Grace Card”

“The Greatest Miracle: Angels are All Around Us”

“Highway to Heaven” TV series (Seasons 1-3)

“Love Comes Softly” series based on Janette Oke’s books

“The Nativity Story: The Journey of a Lifetime, a Story for All Time”

“New Hope”

“Ring the Bell”

“Rust”

“Secrets in the Snow” (awarded 5 seals from the Dove Foundation)

“Slow Fade”

“Soul Surfer”

“Thou Shalt Laugh 4”

“The Secrets of Johnathan Sperry,” and more.

“Love’s Abiding Joy” and “The Genesis Code” both star Logan Bartholomew. Personally, this blogster’s favorites from this list are “The Genesis Code” and “New Hope.” The “Genesis Code” is well worthwhile for its eye-opening and riveting explanation of Creation based on hard-core modern physics. This blogster also thoroughly enjoyed episodes of “Thou Shalt Laugh” hosted by Patricia Heaton and Tim Conway. Alas, this blogster has not seen the fourth installment. It, and other movies on this list, are among this blogster’s “I wanna see” list.

Keep in mind, the check-out period for DVDs are seven days. Some of these movies have been previewed and rated by The Dove Foundation (www.dove.org). Other sources for Christian movie reviews or ratings include FamilyFiction.com and ChristianCinema.com.

For more information, contact Lovett Memorial at 806.669.5780.

Review:
‘Angels in the Fire’
___________________________________________________

     
     Members of Hampton Village Book Club (HVBC), an inspirational book group, met recently to discuss “Angels in the Fire” by Dann Stadler. HVBC is sponsored by Lovett Memorial Library of Pampa, Texas, and hosted by Hampton Village housing development on Alcock in Pampa.

     The reviews for this non-fiction title varied among HVBC’ers. The book is a very difficult, very easy read. ‘What,’ you say? How can that be? Such a statement is an absolute contradiction in terms! Er, exactly. …

     Though Stadler’s biographical literary effort is not lengthy in volume of pages, the book contains graphic descriptions of the Stadlers’ broken, ravaged, almost inhumanly damaged bodies in the wake of a horrendous traffic accident involving a drunk driver and the Stadlers in September 1989 on a dark Florida highway. Hence, the book is sometimes hard to read.

     The drunk driver who hit the Stadlers’ vehicle died instantly in the fiery, head-on two-car collision.

     The Stadlers though — through seemingly divine intervention — somehow survived the horrific accident. “Angels in the Fire” is the harrowing account of the crash itself and of the couple’s difficult journey to recovery. Bear in mind, however, that post-crash the Stadlers never did achieve or recoup their full, pre-crash health and physical well-being.

Inspirational book group announces July meeting

Hampton Village Book Club (HVBC) of Pampa, Texas, will meet to discuss "Nephilim and the Pyramid of the Apocalypse" by Patrick Heron at 5:30 p.m. Monday, July 28 at Hampton Village. Visitors are welcome. For more information, contact Lovett Memorial Library at 806-669-5780.

"Nephilim" is a non-fiction title. Alas, ChristianBooks.com lists the item for sale sans any ratings or reviews. (See ChristianBooks.com http://tinyurl.com/lm5c5s for a brief description.)

The book is, of course, available for free at Lovett Memorial after the upcoming July HVBC meeting. Until the next meeting date, patrons may place a hold on the library's copy either on-line (www.pampalovettmemorial.org), at the physical library, or by joining the book group.

HVBC is sponsored by Pampa's Lovett Memorial Library, 111 N. Houston, and is hosted by Hampton Village, a residential facility located at 1517 W. Alcock in Pampa.

Review:

‘Lost & Found’

________________________________________________________

     Members of Hampton Village Book Club, an inspirational book group sponsored by Lovett Memorial Library of Pampa, Texas, and hosted by Hampton Village housing development in Pampa, recently chose to read “Lost & Found: One Daughter’s Story of Amazing Grace” by Kathryn Slattery.

     Slattery, according to the bio on the book flap, has been associated with “Guideposts” and has other books in addition to “Lost & Found” to her credit.

     “Lost & Found” actually spawned a very lively and in-depth discussion among HVBC members (also referred to here as HVBC’ers). Slattery writes of her turbulent and often disappointing relationship with her mother as well as her struggles with an eating disorder at a time when little was known about eating disorders and little help was available.

     This blogster thoroughly enjoyed “Lost & Found.” However, not all HVBC’ers agreed. The main objection to this biographical, non-fiction title was its narrow triangulation on the main character and the resulting lack of action intermingled with the prose. There is no doubt the book is introspective. It is navel-gazing at its best couched in the humblest of terms. Consequently, readers who like a few thrills — even in their non-fiction selections — will be disappointed.

     The latter half of the book is faith-filled and interlaced with enlightened discoveries-slash-observations by Slattery. On the minus side, this blogster felt Slattery let her father off with somewhat of a free pass. The ending is positive if lacking in resolution. The book will more than likely resonate with readers who’ve experienced troubled relationships with their mamas.

Web 2.0 tools and Social Media …

This month at Lovett Memorial Library, 111 N. Houston, Pampa, Texas, we are hosting our annual summer reading program — SRP, for short. One segment of the program is focused on Web 2.0 tools. Teens and pre-teens involved in this portion of the program are exploring several Web 2.0 tools including Inklewriter and Popplet. A central theme to this portion of the program is robotics.

This poor guy is our SRP robot!

The truly great thing about the Internet is its interactive applications that make presentations fun and lend themselves to fostering creativity within entire user groups. We at Lovett Memorial hope the kids involved in this aspect of summer reading will let their imaginations run wild while having a good time just being kids creating and making things.

The collaborative nature of Web 2.0 tools emphasizes their social slant; however, traditionally when people think of social media they think of such sites as Facebook and Twitter. For readers who want a better way to keep up with books they’ve read or books they’ve purchased and read while keeping in the social whirl, Goodreads (goodreads.com) is a great site.

Focus’ focuses on books …

Looking for reliable, wholesome book reviews suitable for the entire family? Focus on the Family has a great offering of book reviews — both for parents seeking guidance on appropriate reads for their kids AND for adults seeking to cut through the literary dross in pursuit of literary gems.

At http://tinyurl.com/n4vfdo4, parents can view a selection of book reviews organized alphabetically by series' titles. Focus divides its reviews into thoughtful segments including “Plot Summary,” “Christian Beliefs,” “Authority Roles,” “Other Belief Systems,” and more. Following are some, though by no means all, juvenile titles reviewed by Focus that just happen to be owned by Lovett Memorial Library, 111 N. Houston, Pampa, Texas:

• “The Maze of Bones”
• “Beyond the Grave”
• “Amber Brown is Feeling Blue”
• “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”
• “On the Run”
• “Geronimo’s Valentine”
• “The Golden Compass”
• “Hunger Games”
• “Inkheart”
• “Katy’s New World”
• “The Lightning Thief”
• “The Field Guide”
• “Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer”
• “Into the Wild.”

Check out Focus on the Family’s book reviews. Some of the reviewed items may also be found in the library’s online collection as well as its physical, in-house collection. Have fun, and remember: Readers and patrons may cross-reference the reviewed titles via the library’s online catalog to see if the materials are held by Lovett Memorial.

To access the catalog, simply follow the following link: http://pampalovettmemorial.org and select the "Search Our Catalog" button.

Bonhoeffer: The Harlem Influence

Did you know Lovett Memorial Library, 111 N. Houston, Pampa, Texas, has access to no less than four non-fiction works on Dietrich Bonhoeffer in various digital formats? Check out the digital audiobook edition of “Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in the Community” by Bonhoeffer as well as the following e-books: “Bonhoeffer” by Eric Metaxas; “Bonhoeffer Speaks Today: Following Jesus at All Costs” by Mark Devine; and “The SPCK Introduction to Bonhoeffer” by Keith Clements.

A 2014 article by Louis Porter quotes from Metaxas’ book. Porter’s article — titled “An Unlikely Alliance: Adam Clayton Powell Sr., Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Seeds of Transformation” — is available through the library’s Web site via TexShare Databases. The Metaxas’ book, listed above, is available as a Spanish edition e-book through Lovett Memorial. For more information on accessing Porter’s article and other articles provided through TexShare, contact the library at 806.669.5780. This blogster discovered Porter’s piece through the database Academic Search Complete.

The primary focus of Porter’s article is Bonhoeffer’s visit to America and the impact of that visit on the theologian's future decisions. Of particular interest is Bonhoeffer’s relationship with Adam Clayton Powell Sr., leader of an African-American Church in Harlem, New York, and the effect that relationship had on the rest of Bonhoeffer’s historic and hugely influential life.

For those unfamiliar with the story of this great man, Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran theologian who not only refused to flee his country in the face of the corrupt and hateful Nazi regime with its all-encompassing annihilation of personal freedoms, but who worked doggedly behind the scenes to depose Hitler and to counteract the evil swamping Germany and German-occupied lands. Alas, Bonhoeffer suffered the ultimate consequences of his valiant and heroic efforts. Bonhoeffer, according to Wikipedia, was executed by the Nazis a mere two weeks before Allied liberators swept to the rescue and freed those imprisoned in the concentration camps.

Bonhoeffer is best known for his writings during his incarceration, first, in prison, and, later, in the concentration camp. Wikipedia described his “The Cost of Discipleship” as “a modern classic.”

References

Porter, Louis. 2014. "An Unlikely Alliance: Adam Clayton Powell Sr., Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Seeds of Transformation." Cross Currents 64, no. 1: 116-122. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 28, 2014).

Wikipedia. n.d. “Dietrich Bonhoeffer.” http://www.weblinksresearch.com.au (accessed May 28, 2014).