Tamarind

Rating:
Summary: An eye opener
Review: I live a couple miles from a city where a situation like what happened in Tamarind actually occurred. At the time, I was angry with the person who caused the cross to come down. But after reading Tamarind, I realize more than ever that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Thank you, Swanee, for the reminder. Looking forward to the sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Avoid like the plague!
Review: I saw all of the great 5 star reviews and the one 1 star review and figured that he was just one of those people who like to go against the norm just to make people mad so I bought this book. What a waste of money. I literally got headaches from trying to figure out what the author was trying to say sometimes. It's obvious that this was published by a Print-On-Demand company because they don't care about quality and, I'm telling you, this book has no quality.

Rating:
Summary: An objective review
Review: I started out reading this book and could not put it down until finished. I am far from a Bible thumping, soapbox preaching Christian but still became swept up in the storyline. It appeals to your intellect on diffrent levels. You can take the story for whatever you want but there are many lessons to be learned. It shows what America has become and takes a look at society in a light that may seem over the top but makes you think. A good read even if you are not the most religious person and just may make you think a bit.

Rating:
Summary: an eye-opening look into the spiritual realm
Review: I'm not a religious person, but I do like to read about spiritual matters. TAMARIND, though a novel - and I respect it as just that - instilled some thought provokers into my brain. It made me do research into scriptures that I might not have, otherwise, engaged in. And it revealed characteristics about "men of the cloth" that I easily recognize as true and not fiction. I think this book is for people who look past religion and "see" (or want to see) into the spiritual world.

Rating:
Summary: Difficult to digest at times.
Review: If you are not a Fundamenalist Christian or a strong believer in religion, you may be more turned off by this book than enlightened by it. It has very strong religious overtones that may be a little far fetched for some people to believe(ie...casting out of demons). I feel it may be a huge leap of faith for some people to believe. It seems to take normal circumstances (ie...accidents, the weather) and places supernatural forces behind them. I believe in the power of prayer and miracles too, but the things that happened in this book were even a little too much for me. However, the book does show the importance of prayer and that people should pray more often, when ever and where ever they can. The author also writes about something that I also feel is true and that is, it seems that all things that are good and right seem to be oppressed and taken out of sight from the public. Meanwhile, things that demoralize and corrupt people remain in plain veiw and nothing ever seems to be done about it. It's all chalked up to freedom of speech. What an excuse. This was one item that I appreciated from her book. One important thing to remember is that there is a reason for seperation to church and state. As corrupt as the goverment appears to be, do we want these people telling us what to do or how to run our religions. They seem to get thier noses into everything the way it is. And if seperation of church and state means I can't pray in shool...so be it. I can still pray in school by myself without anyone knowing. Another thing I appreciated in this book is that it shows no matter who you are, you can just as easly be tempted by satan whether you're a pastor, priest, minister or lay person and not even know it.

One can take what ever on wants from this book, but be warned that this book is written by some one who appears to have stong religious views which may seem silly to some. One thing was, Santa, based on a true Saint and someone who gives selflessly to others, does not instill fear into children (like the book says he does). Adults use santa as an instument of fear to encourage their childeren to be good. St. Nicholas would give any child a gift. Holloween is not evil and I find it hard to believe that people curse candy. (What does cursed candy do to a person anyway?) Again it's a time for kids to have fun and adults make of it what they want. Kids are good, but end up corrupt by the deeds of their elders. Focusing on God and involving God into all our lives could help stop the corruption of the world. I give this book 3 stars because of content. It does have spititual warfare which is a plus and if everyone lived as the christians in this book do, demons beware. It gives insight into another religion and while I respect the author for her views and beliefs I still find the story a little on the extreme side of religion and feel the average reader may be "turned off" from finishing it. Being Roman Catholic my views and beliefs will be different from others of other religions. And others will walk away with other views. All in all it was a good story, it does show the power of God, but I feel you should have a good knowledge of religion and to not take to heart everything that is written in the book. While God is omnipotent, don't underestimate or sell yourself or others short. People can do things without Gods help, (that's why we have eachother), but it's just nice to include God into what you are doing. By this we show respect and let God know we appriciate Him and want Him to be apart of our lives.

Rating:
Summary: What?
Review: This book was very hard to follow. Not because of the story, not because of the pacing, but because of the horrible writing. There are countless typos and misprints [most common was switching who was doing what around and putting something like this (Murray said," blah blah blah") with the first quotation mark facing the wrong direction.] Also, even though I agree with the fact that Halloween is an anti-Christ holiday (yes, that IS a fact) and that Santa has way too much limelight during Christmas, he does not instill fear into children. Also, demons are not hideous looking gators/moths and cannot take physical forms, neither of those are Biblical. I appreciated the TRUE Biblical representations of demons in the forms of Greed and Jealousy that plagued Pastor Grime. But, the demons are not supposed to be outside of him, they should have been residing within him. Only in the most extreme of circumstances will a demon ever posess a human, they are supposed to cohabitate. Also, demons cannot affect the weather, cut break lines, or any of the many other things I vaguely remember them doing. And, lastly, angels don't have wings. Those are the seraphim and the cherubim, which are not angels. It directly says that angels can fly (once in the whole Bible, in Revelation), but that does not mean that they have wings.

Rating:
Summary: Prayerfully Powerful
Review: Wow what a story! A small town learns the hard way how satan tries to destroy any peaceful setting. Tamarind reminds me of Peretti's novels and packs the same punch. Churches need to have this book in their library to aid their members in prayer warefare. A person seeking the peace that Jesus gives cannot miss the important messeage this book brings. I have already lent this book to our Women's Joy Fellowship leader so that this novel can possibly be a subject of discussion at one of our future meetings. Sure hope that there will be a sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Avoid like the plague!
Review: WOW, what a book. This book was spine-tingling, the suspense was electrifying, I could not put it down! It tackles one of the toughest subjects in today's Christian world...Spiritual Warfare. I'm excited to see that there are still authors such as Swanee Ballman who's not afraid to tackle the issues of today! I recommend this book because it not only explains the physical and spiritual warfare we are under daily, but it gives us a ray of hope. It shows us that good will triumph over evil!

Karla J. Berry - Minister