Thursday, June 12, 2014

Blog Tour/Review: Seeds of Faith by Dan Barker


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Seeds of Faith, by Dan Barker
2014, 311p, LDS Non-Fiction
Rating=5 Stars
Source: Received copy from publisher for an honest review



Early Church history is rich with remarkable miracles and amazing events, leading people to the truth of the gospel. But who were these converts before being blessed by the Lord and becoming spiritual giants? What drove Solomon Chamberlain, Thomas B. Marsh, and Parley P. Pratt to leave the boats that they were traveling on to go to Palmyra? What did Jonathan Crosby and Sarah Rich dream of that prepared them for the Lord’s message? These early Saints have wondrous tales to share.

Dan Barker, author of Little-Known Stories about the Doctrine and Covenants, compiles conversion stories full of visions, persecutions, and miracles. Their stories of heavenly visitations, visions, and marvels will inspire and strengthen your testimony as you live your own conversion story.

This book contains 48 journal accounts of early members of the church. It's divided into 9 parts. Some of the things they deal with are heavenly manifestations, dreams, perspective, and misunderstandings. Mr. Barker gives a brief introduction at the beginning of each part and the types of accounts you can expect to read. Each account varies from a paragraph to a few pages and he includes additional information at the end of the journal entry if there was any available.

I loved reading these accounts of the early saints! It wasn't easy joining the church at that time and there was a lot of persecution and misunderstanding. There was a lot of information for them to wade through. Some people joined right away and others took a while, even if they had a testimony. Some that joined later wound up leaving. I was familiar with some of the names, but most of them were new to me. I enjoyed learning more about each of them and what prompted them to act (or not). Some of the stories would tell about someone else that would promise to join the church if a certain miracle occurred. Said miracle occurred, but they never did join the church and usually avoided the person after that. 

This is the kind of book I like to keep on my nightstand and open it when I want to read a short, faith promoting story. This is a book I would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading about early church history and I will read it again and again!



Dan Barker was born in Montana, but raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He’s a graduate of both Lethbridge Community College (Wildland Park Management) and Utah State University with a major in Forestry. He is also the author of “Unique Stories and Facts from LDS History” and “Mormon History 101.”

1 comments:

Unknown said...

I think this is one I must have. Thanks for sharing :)

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