And the Shofar Blew Book

I'm not a huge fan of Christian fiction (sorry!) because I think much of it is not well written. Add to that the fact that I'm not a romance novel fan at all and it's a wonder that I like Francine Rivers Mrs. Rivers is a former romance novelist-turned-born-again-Christian novelist. I first read her Redeeming Love more than a year ago and just recently picked up "And the Shofar Blew."

Shofar is about what a church really means. Is it the building and numbers/goals or is it people who are gathered in Christ's name to learn, to grow, to worship and praise?

But it wasn't this central theme that kept me reading the book so much as it was watching how the central character maintained her faith - and used her faith - to work through distressing, hurtful and seemingly unsurpassable struggles. Rivers doesn't sugar-coat Christianity. She holds up false righteousness for what it is - self-aggrandizement and pride. And she also makes sure her characters don't "pray away" their troubles. God doesn't always work overnight in real life, and He doesn't in Rivers' book.

The book is fiction, but it gave me a new resolve to be faithful to what a church really is.