Books by Jack Phillips Lowe

Building your spiritual home…do you do so with sticks and mud or brick and mortar? Do you do so on a weak foundation of sand or a solid base of rock? Nathan Lambshead's book, "Withstanding the Storm" explains how he is building his, wall by wall.

The subtitle of this book is "Becoming the Christian You Were Meant to Be." It is basically a letter from Nathan, describing his struggles to do just that and offering guidance for Christians to follow. Unlike many other books on religion, it does not condemn other beliefs, nor try to sway non-Christians. Its target audience is already Christian…those seeking to build a spiritual home in the soul.

Nathan's foundation is not really rock, but the word of God. His walls are not brick but are Thanksgiving, Worship, Grace and Tithe. His roof is Fellowship. His guidance to readers comes through telling his story and recognizing that some church goers are just going to church, not learning to build their spiritual home through the lessons learned there. There is a difference in being thankful for happiness and being thankful for the lessons gone through to get to happiness. There is a difference in worshipping God and worshipping the church or pastor. There are actual examples from life in this book, a testimonial of Nathan's spiritual house building.

The tone is light and friendly, as a real letter would be. The sequence of unfolding his tale and lessons learned is perfectly laid out. Nathan gets his point across and has written an enjoyable piece. He sees how some might be feeling while sitting in the pew, because he may have felt that same way, and he reaches out in understanding. "Withstanding the Storm" is a heartening yet challenging examination of what might be going on in a reader's own life. Well done.

Withstanding the Storm


by Nathan Lambshead


ISBN-10: 1598864076


Review by Heather Froeschl

Cop Out: How a Former Police Officer became a Fugitive for over 20 years - Living in the Woods and Other Locations While Evading Law Enforcement and Eventually Surrendered to God and Authorities


by Robert Davis


iUniverse (2007)


ISBN 9780595425433


Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (2/07)

"Cop Out" is the story of Robert L. Davis. Abandoned by his father, Robert lived with his maternal grandmother and eight siblings in Hollygrove, a ghetto area of New Orleans. By the time of his high school graduation Robert had become proficient in stealing and stripping cars and was becoming entrenched in a life of crime. Two young neighbors, New Orleans police officers, influenced Robert to become a recruit for the police academy.

Corruption within the police department and the example of "bad" cops on the force gave Robert a false sense of his core values and an incident arose that caused him to be examined by the department of internal affairs. He was later arrested. While out on bail, unable to face the possibility of a 30-year sentence to Angola Prison, Robert fled.

His story of evading authorities, as a fugitive, is one of survival. He lived for months at a time in wooded areas and in National Forests. This first-person, fast-paced narrative takes Robert from New Orleans to Canada, from coast to coast.

His reflections and stories tell of significant influences of some of the people he met in bus stations, railroad yards, homeless shelters, church missions, and day job centers.

I appreciated Robert's open, frank, approach in relating his feelings. He has made himself vulnerable. His story is one that will create questions and cause you to seek answers. His journals are filled with a pattern of family, friends, acquaintances, and girlfriends challenging his atheism as he challenged their Christian message. The book is thought provoking for Christian and non-Christian alike.

The central truth of the book is this: the miracle of the redemptive reality of God is that the worst and the most despicable offender can never exhaust the depths of His love. As Robert experienced the miracle of God's redemptive love, after over twenty years of flight, he surrendered, first to God and then to the authorities.

This is a remarkable story of transformation. An angry atheistic criminal was recreated to become a man with "a compassion for the poor, love to those in need, patience to the foolish, and laughter with the innocent."

"Cop Out" is a must read book for anyone considering or involved in the area of criminal justice, faith based ministries, parole officers, gang members, and juvenile offenders. Challenging, life-changing, inspirational.