**I received a complimentary copy of this book for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

About the Book

Book: The Rabbi’s Touch

Author: Annetta Lammers

Genre: Biblical Historical Fiction

Release date: Sept, 2020

Ten Gospel Encounters

What if you could live in the story? What if you could meet Jesus and have His eyes meet yours and know His great love for you? What if you could feel his healing touch and know your body was well? Author Annetta Lammers explores ten encounters with Jesus found in the gospels and tells their stories. Through reflection, study of the Greek and living each story she retells the encounters of Jesus touch, voice and power.

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About the Author

Annetta Lammers is a wife, mother, homemaker, and educator. She savours quiet walks in the woods, the texture and colour of pottery and reading Biblical fiction with a cup of coffee. Her fascination and love of God’s word has motivated her to study over the years. You will find more of Annetta’s reflections at annettalammers.com.

More from Annetta

I counted my journals, wondering. A drawer filled with thirty-three journals. The years of words held in those pages cover countless seasons of living and following Jesus. Even the gaps of silence speak volumes in the journey.

This passion for writing, evident in that drawer of journals, has had the dream of a book tucked within it. And, quite by surprise, a book has formed and grown these past years. The Rabbi’s Touch began innocently with the study of Blind Bartimaeus. His miracle took shape in my imagination, taking on sounds, images and emotions. Notes and reflections about his healing found their way in the current journal. Hidden Greek meanings fed my imagination until I was Bartimaeus meeting Jesus. That encounter took on words that needed to be put down on paper as his story. Bartimaeus’ story led to another short story, which led to another. Each story was driven by the desire to enter the lives of those who met Jesus and were healed. Each story was written with the longing to encounter Jesus for myself, as if I had never met Him before. Perhaps I would grow in knowing Him. And I did.

As the stories grew, so did a quiet desire for others to meet Him as I had. Perhaps others could meet Jesus on their dusty road, make eye contact with Him, hear His voice and feel His healing touch? Perhaps a conviction of what He can do will grow, and they, too, could be determined to press in to receive what is His to give? Perhaps they also will cast aside the veil they have been hiding behind and walk free? Perhaps you can meet Him, too? So, here it is, a collection of first-hand stories, ready for you to encounter Jesus.

Annetta Lammers – Author

My Thoughts

The Rabbi's Touch is a Biblical historical fiction, which I must admit is a genre that I can be pretty iffy about. I love the idea of fictional tales giving us a look at life during Biblical times and events, but have found in other books in the genre I struggle to stay into the story for the duration. This book was so much different for me, and I found I actually really enjoyed it.

First and foremost, it's quite short... just around 60 pages! As such, it's a very quick read and could be read in less than a day. Of course, because it is made up of short stories, you can also read a story here and there as you prefer as well. I think this shorter format really helped to keep me interested, as it was very much to the point and not dragged out. Aside from that though, these stories were well written as well. They might be familiar stories, straight out of the gospel but they are told in a fresh, fictional format that really draws the reader in. While I don't think anyone would argue that Biblical fiction should or could replace reading the Bible, I do think this book makes these stories a little more readable. It offers us the chance to think about the life of those who encountered Jesus along the way and could be a great resource to help draw people in. I could definitely see this being great to be read with a group and opening up discussion on.

Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable read. Whether you typically enjoy Biblical fiction or not, it's worth checking out. It might just draw you into the gospel in a new way!