I just listened to an interview with this author on Moody radio today and have placed an order for this book. The full title of this book is Work in Progress: An Unfinished Woman's Guide to Grace and is written by the former wife of Lance Armstrong. Personally i am not a huge fan or Lance with his arrogance in his selfish version of "team" cycling where he gets all the credit and multiple failed marriages( although his zest for life and recovery from cancer is certainly a real tale of courage), so i did not buy the book because of him. It was listening to Kristin in her "down to earth" approach about achieving grace in her life. She too is a survivor... of "life after divorce" and heartbreak. I could hear her optimism and hope for all of us in her radio conversation talking about grace. I love the idea that we will always be "unfinished" in character. I have always believed in "lifelong learning"( as an educator) and so this goes hand in hand with that philosophy of life. If we think we are finished then we have no room for compassion and reaching out to God or others do we?... if we know it all- that is a dangerous notion! Kristin discusses 12 traits of grace in her book:Beauty( not physical but rather as a reflection of who we are) ,Confidence,Softness,Trust,Truth,Generosity,Forgiveness,Courage,Diligence,Wisdom,
Authenticity and Freedom. What a comprehensive list that is!! I cannot think of anyone who has all those traits polished up and ready to go?!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES HANDBOOK BY ADELE CALHOUN
I just started reading the book Spiritual Disciplines-Practices that Transform Us by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun. I believe this is such a COMPREHENSIVE handbook that perhaps it will be a "resource book" vs a "read through book" and a very valuable book in my "life library". One of the pastors of our church did a series of summer workshops on some of these practices but I missed it. In my inquiry about it recently Pastor Matt referred me to this book which I ordered from Amazon.com. I tend to read "loaded topical books by interest, so i started not with the first chapter but rather with the chapter of interest- bad habit perhaps but it gets me reading quicker!!I started with the chapter entitled "Silence" in "Discipline 3 of 7: "Relinquish the False Self".The other disciplines include: Worship, Open Myself to God,Share my Life with Others,Hear God's Word,Incarnate the Love of Christ, and Pray. Under these chapters are 55 practices!!Pastor Matt said this is one of his most valuable books in his library and I can see why as it so very comprehensive-- good food for thought and learning and growing in Christ!
"SILENCE" has always been MY challenge as I am a talker!! So ANYTHING that helps me become "still" is a blessing. The quotes that struck me are these. " Silence challenges our cultural addiction to amusement, words, music, advertising, noise, alarms and voices. Silence asks for patience and waiting. Silence is a time to rest in God. leaning into God, trusting that being with him in silence will loosen your rootedness in the world and plant you by streams of living water. Like a can opener the silence opens up the contents of the heart, allowing us a deeper access to God..." I am a multi-tasker in all I do: read or email while watching tv, clean while listening to a sermon on Moody radio, talk as I go on a walk.... so this is a challenge for me! Lord give me peace and patience in this process!!
I do believe that without becoming a good listener we cannot really be a true disciple of God. So I am yearning to become a better listener and be able to truly hear God in the silent prayer vs. fill it up with MY thoughts. One simple method( for beginners) that they talk about in this book is to use a timer for 10 min of silence with God as a recommended technique to try if we are struggling. It made sense to me so I will give it a try....a place to start. Then while in that 10 min "becoming quiet to what we hear in the way of outside sounds. As we remain in silence the inner noise and chaos will begin to settle. Let it go continue to let the quiet deepen and be with God. Place yourself in the presence of God by saying 'Here I am' . If you struggle with this bring the timer into this silent time and count each distracting thought that comes to mind and let it float down a visual river. Continue with this method and be patient as it takes practice to gain the silence." It sounds basic, but I believe I need this basic beginning.
"Then progress to spending half a day alone in silence with only the Bible- just listen...what surfaces ? Continue to build solitude, silence and retreat into your daily lifestyle."
There are many, many chapters and topics discussed in this book this is just one of them.
"SILENCE" has always been MY challenge as I am a talker!! So ANYTHING that helps me become "still" is a blessing. The quotes that struck me are these. " Silence challenges our cultural addiction to amusement, words, music, advertising, noise, alarms and voices. Silence asks for patience and waiting. Silence is a time to rest in God. leaning into God, trusting that being with him in silence will loosen your rootedness in the world and plant you by streams of living water. Like a can opener the silence opens up the contents of the heart, allowing us a deeper access to God..." I am a multi-tasker in all I do: read or email while watching tv, clean while listening to a sermon on Moody radio, talk as I go on a walk.... so this is a challenge for me! Lord give me peace and patience in this process!!
I do believe that without becoming a good listener we cannot really be a true disciple of God. So I am yearning to become a better listener and be able to truly hear God in the silent prayer vs. fill it up with MY thoughts. One simple method( for beginners) that they talk about in this book is to use a timer for 10 min of silence with God as a recommended technique to try if we are struggling. It made sense to me so I will give it a try....a place to start. Then while in that 10 min "becoming quiet to what we hear in the way of outside sounds. As we remain in silence the inner noise and chaos will begin to settle. Let it go continue to let the quiet deepen and be with God. Place yourself in the presence of God by saying 'Here I am' . If you struggle with this bring the timer into this silent time and count each distracting thought that comes to mind and let it float down a visual river. Continue with this method and be patient as it takes practice to gain the silence." It sounds basic, but I believe I need this basic beginning.
"Then progress to spending half a day alone in silence with only the Bible- just listen...what surfaces ? Continue to build solitude, silence and retreat into your daily lifestyle."
There are many, many chapters and topics discussed in this book this is just one of them.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Three Cups of Tea written byGreg Mortenson and David Relin
Well this is not a faith based book persay or even that new, but i very much enjoyed reading it and the spirit of passion oriented service work to others that the story unfoldeds for the reader.The true story of how ONE person CAN make an amazing difference in the work done for others they choose to do in their lives. The choice away from conforming to the world, that is in human nature ,and to instead choose to live as a servant to others.This is a story of faith in essence,as it is a true selfless, courageous Christian that chooses to do this with their lives. Once you have seen poverty with your own eyes it will forever open up your heart to help the poor and needy as it did the author in stunning ways. It can bring more joy and peace than you ever thought possible but it is not always an easy or even a safe path.
I somehow picked up the "youth" version of this book ,but I really enjoyed the parts of the book that were included for youth and the detail of directing thoughts at the young reader.I think it will help me to perhaps share it with kids i come across in service work and would love to encourage them to read it as well and to get involved in service work themselves to build their self esteem , better enlarge their view of the world ,and to best serve Christ.
The story is about a young man you loved rock climbing and setting goals to climb various famous mountains to their summit. But as he traveled to other countries to pursue this passion, he began to develop deep relationships with some of the people he met along the way and his focus changed to wanting to do service work to help them.. This turned his heart to want to serve these people in ways that would promote the education of girls and boys in these poor countries by building schools and later building other things they revealed as their community needs. He is still doing this work today and gave some great bits of wisdom and insight into fundraising and working on service projects overseas.
Some of my favorite quotes and concepts expressed in the book are as follows :
* "building relationships is an important as building projects"
*Fundraising results are not always based on the number of people attending an event ,but rather the effectiveness of the speaker to share the essence of real people with names and real needs and how this information touches the hearts of those attending the event
*one needs to use community building to evaluate the needs in an area , using real relationship connections to plan ahead , i. e.where the local culture comes together by elders or village boards to evaluate their needs and determine their priorities of need.
*"The war in Iraq( and other poor countries)can be won with BOOKS vs. BOMBS"(educating its young to give them a sense of future and hope as this is a way to reduce young people accepting being used in terrorism tactics as they begin to choose life not death and this will ultimately lift them out of poverty).
*you can give youth hope and sense of the future by shaking each of their hands and asking them what they want to be or do one day( when they grow up). I saw this used by a house mother at an orphan boarding house for young children in Nairobi,Kenya and it was amazing what hope for a future and individaul pride it gave the children. They were asked to introduce themself by name and future profession( ie James/teacher, Mercy/nurse). It was a simple and effective exercise in building child self esteem and hope.
* "the true core tenets of Islam are: justice,tolerance and charity"
*Peace is more powerful than war
*"Education is like water, important for everything in life"
I somehow picked up the "youth" version of this book ,but I really enjoyed the parts of the book that were included for youth and the detail of directing thoughts at the young reader.I think it will help me to perhaps share it with kids i come across in service work and would love to encourage them to read it as well and to get involved in service work themselves to build their self esteem , better enlarge their view of the world ,and to best serve Christ.
The story is about a young man you loved rock climbing and setting goals to climb various famous mountains to their summit. But as he traveled to other countries to pursue this passion, he began to develop deep relationships with some of the people he met along the way and his focus changed to wanting to do service work to help them.. This turned his heart to want to serve these people in ways that would promote the education of girls and boys in these poor countries by building schools and later building other things they revealed as their community needs. He is still doing this work today and gave some great bits of wisdom and insight into fundraising and working on service projects overseas.
Some of my favorite quotes and concepts expressed in the book are as follows :
* "building relationships is an important as building projects"
*Fundraising results are not always based on the number of people attending an event ,but rather the effectiveness of the speaker to share the essence of real people with names and real needs and how this information touches the hearts of those attending the event
*one needs to use community building to evaluate the needs in an area , using real relationship connections to plan ahead , i. e.where the local culture comes together by elders or village boards to evaluate their needs and determine their priorities of need.
*"The war in Iraq( and other poor countries)can be won with BOOKS vs. BOMBS"(educating its young to give them a sense of future and hope as this is a way to reduce young people accepting being used in terrorism tactics as they begin to choose life not death and this will ultimately lift them out of poverty).
*you can give youth hope and sense of the future by shaking each of their hands and asking them what they want to be or do one day( when they grow up). I saw this used by a house mother at an orphan boarding house for young children in Nairobi,Kenya and it was amazing what hope for a future and individaul pride it gave the children. They were asked to introduce themself by name and future profession( ie James/teacher, Mercy/nurse). It was a simple and effective exercise in building child self esteem and hope.
* "the true core tenets of Islam are: justice,tolerance and charity"
*Peace is more powerful than war
*"Education is like water, important for everything in life"
Monday, July 20, 2009
THE HOLE IN THE GOSPEL by Richard Sterns
I have just started reading the book, The Hole in the Gospel by Richard Stearns.
Although the author is the President of World Vision ,this is not a book about child sponsorship, it is a book about understanding what it means to live out God's love in our lives.I strongly share his view on methods of evangelism. The following are some of my favorite quotes from the first few chapters:
"Focusing on "the afterlife"(heaven) reduces the importance of what God expects of us in this life."
( I have always been uncomfortable focusing people on reaching heaven through salvation as their MAIN goal in becoming a Christian ,as it really makes every day of living seem meaningless.Living each day by sharing God's love through kindness to others is what i feel i want to share!That to me is what the gospel is.)
"Christ commanded us to go into the world- to bear fruit by lifting up the poor and the marginalized,challenging injustice,wherever we find it,rejecting the worldly values found within every culture, and loving our neighbors as ourselves."
"God's love was intended to be demonstrated not dictated."
"Our charge is to embody the Gospel so that others can see, hear, and feel God's love in tangible ways."
"God is responsible for the harvest-- but we must plant, water and cultivate the seeds."
"It is rare that a simple recitation of the gospel will cause people to instantly change their minds.
It usually takes much more than that. Our own narratives typically involve a journey of discovery marked by relationships with respected friends and loved ones, reading, discussions, learning about the basis for Christian faith,seeing the difference faith made in the lives of people
we knew and witnessing genuine faith demonstrated through acts of love and kindness toward others. In other words, before we became ripe for harvest a lot of other things had to happen first."
I personally believe offering unconditional love to others in need, developing true relationships , sharing your own testimony and publicly giving the glory to God when good things happen in our lives ,can be some of the best tools of evangelism. Seeing the love of Jesus through our lives can be more of an honest effort at evangelism that preaching the gospel to someone. I feel sharing honest love to others is really what the gospel is all about.
I read a story about a group of pastors who traveled out of country on a church planting mission but no one would come to their meetings.One pastor who was walking around the village then began to see that many people were sick and dying in that village due to contamination of the water well by animals too close to the site. He and the group of pastors then began to set out to clean up the well that was the cause of so much disease and death in this village.After doing so many villagers came to their meetings. Reaching out in love to those in need better demonstrated the love of God- much more than any meeting could. Love brought them to Christ- not a meeting!! This is a good example of getting the cart before the horse. Why do we go on mission trips- hopefully to genuinely help others in need and in that process many come to faith not the other way around. Let's all share that love that Jesus demonstrated for us in the gospel story, not just on a mission trip but in every day we live!!
Although the author is the President of World Vision ,this is not a book about child sponsorship, it is a book about understanding what it means to live out God's love in our lives.I strongly share his view on methods of evangelism. The following are some of my favorite quotes from the first few chapters:
"Focusing on "the afterlife"(heaven) reduces the importance of what God expects of us in this life."
( I have always been uncomfortable focusing people on reaching heaven through salvation as their MAIN goal in becoming a Christian ,as it really makes every day of living seem meaningless.Living each day by sharing God's love through kindness to others is what i feel i want to share!That to me is what the gospel is.)
"Christ commanded us to go into the world- to bear fruit by lifting up the poor and the marginalized,challenging injustice,wherever we find it,rejecting the worldly values found within every culture, and loving our neighbors as ourselves."
"God's love was intended to be demonstrated not dictated."
"Our charge is to embody the Gospel so that others can see, hear, and feel God's love in tangible ways."
"God is responsible for the harvest-- but we must plant, water and cultivate the seeds."
"It is rare that a simple recitation of the gospel will cause people to instantly change their minds.
It usually takes much more than that. Our own narratives typically involve a journey of discovery marked by relationships with respected friends and loved ones, reading, discussions, learning about the basis for Christian faith,seeing the difference faith made in the lives of people
we knew and witnessing genuine faith demonstrated through acts of love and kindness toward others. In other words, before we became ripe for harvest a lot of other things had to happen first."
I personally believe offering unconditional love to others in need, developing true relationships , sharing your own testimony and publicly giving the glory to God when good things happen in our lives ,can be some of the best tools of evangelism. Seeing the love of Jesus through our lives can be more of an honest effort at evangelism that preaching the gospel to someone. I feel sharing honest love to others is really what the gospel is all about.
I read a story about a group of pastors who traveled out of country on a church planting mission but no one would come to their meetings.One pastor who was walking around the village then began to see that many people were sick and dying in that village due to contamination of the water well by animals too close to the site. He and the group of pastors then began to set out to clean up the well that was the cause of so much disease and death in this village.After doing so many villagers came to their meetings. Reaching out in love to those in need better demonstrated the love of God- much more than any meeting could. Love brought them to Christ- not a meeting!! This is a good example of getting the cart before the horse. Why do we go on mission trips- hopefully to genuinely help others in need and in that process many come to faith not the other way around. Let's all share that love that Jesus demonstrated for us in the gospel story, not just on a mission trip but in every day we live!!
Monday, July 13, 2009
"Same Kind Of Different As Me" by Ron Hall and Denver Moore
I just finished reading the book Same Kind Of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.
It is an amazing true story and a NY times bestseller. It is a great, fast, summer read and I highly recommend it! It is told through the eyes of these two authors in a unique way.
It starts out with each man writing his own chapter and alternating until their lives come together toward the middle of the book. When their lives come together it shares what transpires in this process of faith and friendship. I especially enjoyed it as i do volunteer work at a Chicago church -based homeless soup kitchen and that is where Ron and Denver meet. It describes some of the characteristics of this homeless man and how he has to live so very guarded on the streets, closed off from everything and everyone, until Ron and his wife come along. It explains so much about the often non-conversational and yet intense personalities of some of the homeless men and women we meet. It gives you a look inside their lives and hearts ,as well as those who struggle to serve them. Ron's wife is the motivating factor but as it turns out, Ron comes along for the journey and his life is forever changed by this man he meets and befriends ,with his "life wisdom" from a life of slavery and later homelessness. It demonstrates that one person's passion for good and serving others CAN not only profoundly change the lives of others but also change themselves- it will change them for the better as well as doing good for others.It is a touching story and reads so very fast as very short chapters- a real page turner, i could not put it down ... the characters and their new relationships draw you in.
Some of my favorite quotes are the following:
from Ron:when driving away at the end of a visit to Denver's original home town where he grew up as a share cropper and where some of his relatives and neighbors still lived on the same land:"We left just before dark, and as we drove away the images of poverty and squalor burned themselves into my brain like hated tattoos. I could hardly believe places like that still existed in America. I thanked Denver for taking me there and for taking my blinders off."Then Denver said- "Mr. Ron,they're livin' better than I ever did when I was livin here. Now you know it was the truth when I told you that bein' homeless in Fort Worth was a step up in life for me."
when Denver asked Ron to introduce him at a church he was asked to preach at, instead of saying Denver's life story as the preacher wanted him to say, he asked Ron to say this:"just tell em I'm a nobody that's trying to tell everybody 'bout Somebody that can save anybody".
from Denver:"I worried that i was so different from them that we wadn't gon' have no kind a' future. But i found out everybody's different- the same kind of different 'as me. We're all just regular folks walkin down the road God done set in front of us. The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or somethin in between, this earth ain't no final resting place. So in a way, we is all homeless - just workin our way toward home."
It is an amazing true story and a NY times bestseller. It is a great, fast, summer read and I highly recommend it! It is told through the eyes of these two authors in a unique way.
It starts out with each man writing his own chapter and alternating until their lives come together toward the middle of the book. When their lives come together it shares what transpires in this process of faith and friendship. I especially enjoyed it as i do volunteer work at a Chicago church -based homeless soup kitchen and that is where Ron and Denver meet. It describes some of the characteristics of this homeless man and how he has to live so very guarded on the streets, closed off from everything and everyone, until Ron and his wife come along. It explains so much about the often non-conversational and yet intense personalities of some of the homeless men and women we meet. It gives you a look inside their lives and hearts ,as well as those who struggle to serve them. Ron's wife is the motivating factor but as it turns out, Ron comes along for the journey and his life is forever changed by this man he meets and befriends ,with his "life wisdom" from a life of slavery and later homelessness. It demonstrates that one person's passion for good and serving others CAN not only profoundly change the lives of others but also change themselves- it will change them for the better as well as doing good for others.It is a touching story and reads so very fast as very short chapters- a real page turner, i could not put it down ... the characters and their new relationships draw you in.
Some of my favorite quotes are the following:
from Ron:when driving away at the end of a visit to Denver's original home town where he grew up as a share cropper and where some of his relatives and neighbors still lived on the same land:"We left just before dark, and as we drove away the images of poverty and squalor burned themselves into my brain like hated tattoos. I could hardly believe places like that still existed in America. I thanked Denver for taking me there and for taking my blinders off."Then Denver said- "Mr. Ron,they're livin' better than I ever did when I was livin here. Now you know it was the truth when I told you that bein' homeless in Fort Worth was a step up in life for me."
when Denver asked Ron to introduce him at a church he was asked to preach at, instead of saying Denver's life story as the preacher wanted him to say, he asked Ron to say this:"just tell em I'm a nobody that's trying to tell everybody 'bout Somebody that can save anybody".
from Denver:"I worried that i was so different from them that we wadn't gon' have no kind a' future. But i found out everybody's different- the same kind of different 'as me. We're all just regular folks walkin down the road God done set in front of us. The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or somethin in between, this earth ain't no final resting place. So in a way, we is all homeless - just workin our way toward home."
Monday, May 18, 2009
One Anothering
I just started reading the book " Authentic Relationships- Discover the Lost Art of 'One Anothering'...." by Wayne and Clay Jacobsen . They offered a great list of Bible verses that address this concept of "one anothering" ( i love that phrase!!),so i thought i would share them with you- in case you don't have this book:
Loving... "one another"(John 13:34)
Forgiving...(Eph 4:32)
Accepting...(Romans 15:7)
Bearing with...(Eph 4:2)
Being devoted to...(Romans12:10)
Honoring...(Romans 12:10)
Greeting...(2 Cor 13:12)
Being Hospitable to...(1 Peter 4:9)
Being kind and compassionate...(Eph 4:32)
Sharing with...(Hebrews 13:16)
Serving...(Gal 5:13)
Carrying others burdens...(Gal 6:2)
Building up others...( 1 Thess 5:11)
Encouraging...(Hebrews 3:13)
Comforting...(1 Thess 4:18)
Stimulating others to love and good deeds...(Hebrews 10:24)
Instructing...(Romans 15:14)
Admonishing...(Col 3:16)
Praying for...(James 5:16)
Confessing your sins to one another...(James 5:16)
Being of the same mind toward others...(Romans 12:16)
Submitting to one another...(Eph 5:21)
I would add Gal 5:6- "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."
Loving... "one another"(John 13:34)
Forgiving...(Eph 4:32)
Accepting...(Romans 15:7)
Bearing with...(Eph 4:2)
Being devoted to...(Romans12:10)
Honoring...(Romans 12:10)
Greeting...(2 Cor 13:12)
Being Hospitable to...(1 Peter 4:9)
Being kind and compassionate...(Eph 4:32)
Sharing with...(Hebrews 13:16)
Serving...(Gal 5:13)
Carrying others burdens...(Gal 6:2)
Building up others...( 1 Thess 5:11)
Encouraging...(Hebrews 3:13)
Comforting...(1 Thess 4:18)
Stimulating others to love and good deeds...(Hebrews 10:24)
Instructing...(Romans 15:14)
Admonishing...(Col 3:16)
Praying for...(James 5:16)
Confessing your sins to one another...(James 5:16)
Being of the same mind toward others...(Romans 12:16)
Submitting to one another...(Eph 5:21)
I would add Gal 5:6- "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Getting Started.....
Two new books I recently purchased and am about to start reading are about "living missionally in our communities," a topic our church is exploring at present( I bought them on Amazon.com).
The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearn, CEO World Vision
Authentic Relationships-Discover the Lost Art of One Anothering
by Wayne and Clay Jacobsen
Join me as i read these in the coming weeks and discuss my thoughts. Or add a book that you have read and that has really impacted your life, to share with others. I will try to keep my posts and comments(as i read them)short to make them quickly readable to make room for others to share their thoughts as well. If you are responding to the same book try to write the comments under that book entry to keep things somewhat cohesive for readers. Thanks.
Happy reading to you all!!
P.S. I realize that i have not configured this site to allow others to list THEIR reviews of books they have read or are reading, as i can do! So forgive my slowness to technology as i try to figure this out. Meanwhile feel free to just write your book reviews in the comments section of the most recent book review I did just making it clear that it is about YOUR book. I hope this will work temportarily :(
The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearn, CEO World Vision
Authentic Relationships-Discover the Lost Art of One Anothering
by Wayne and Clay Jacobsen
Join me as i read these in the coming weeks and discuss my thoughts. Or add a book that you have read and that has really impacted your life, to share with others. I will try to keep my posts and comments(as i read them)short to make them quickly readable to make room for others to share their thoughts as well. If you are responding to the same book try to write the comments under that book entry to keep things somewhat cohesive for readers. Thanks.
Happy reading to you all!!
P.S. I realize that i have not configured this site to allow others to list THEIR reviews of books they have read or are reading, as i can do! So forgive my slowness to technology as i try to figure this out. Meanwhile feel free to just write your book reviews in the comments section of the most recent book review I did just making it clear that it is about YOUR book. I hope this will work temportarily :(
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