Book Review - The Beautiful Fight

More on serving to come, but I just wanted to take a minute to write about a book I read recently. It's the best book in the Christian nonfiction genre that I've read in a while. Written by my favorite author, Gary Thomas, The Beautiful Fight details many of the components of spiritual transformation, delving into what seems like quite a paradoxical issue: We make choices to grow into holiness, yet the Holy Spirit is the One making us holy.

I started writing posts on various chapters of this book before, but I never posted them because I would read another chapter and think I'd post something on that one instead. Eventually, I finished the book and regretted not having shared something about each chapter as I read it. At this point, how do I summarize a book that is so full of helpful, practical truths about the transformation we're all saved by grace to experience throughout our lives? Thankfully, at the end of the book, there is listed a review of the main point of each chapter, so I thought I would share with you some of that review so you can know a tiny bit of the topic each chapter deals with:

• "First, we must gain a new vision for how compelling Christianity can be (chapter 1). We need a larger understanding of what it means to be strong 'oaks of righteousness' (Isaiah 61:3) for the display of God's splendor. Until we are captured by this vision, we won't let go of our old way of life.
• Second, we must grow in our understanding of what it means to be experience God and to be empowered by his Holy Spirit (chapter 2)...Instead of just knowing about God, daily experiencing God's power and presence must become an essential element of our faith.
• Third, we need to recapture the theological importance of the ascension (chapter 3). The ascension gives us hope that we can become more like Jesus is now and leads us to look at our bodies in a new way (chapter 4).
• This sets us on a journey of offering up our eyes to see as God sees (chapter 5), closing our eyes to what is against God, and opening our eyes to God's goodness and power. We also begin cultivating mouths that speak God's words (chapter 6) and embark on a life of active listening (chapter 7). We train our minds to think God's thoughts (chapter 8) and our hearts to feel what he feels (chapter 10). This leads us to offer up our hands and feet to be God's servants and to go to the needy and lost (chapter 9).
  
• With transformed bodies, we start living a life of intentional and conscious availability (chapter 11), motivated by gratitude and a desire to give God his due glory (chapter 12). Lest we grow weary in the Beautiful Fight, we remember the need to pursue perfection (chapter 13). Even though we'll never achieve perfection, the journey toward it keeps us from the snare of complacency.
• We'll face many obstacles along the way. The Beautiful Fight is certainly not an easy struggle (chapter 14). But when we submit and surrender to God, we accept the lessons we can learn from our disappointments, illnesses, and failures, trusting that God will use them to conform us to the image of Christ.
• On top of all this, we recognize the importance of being an active member of a Christian community (chapter 15). The Beautiful Fight is not a solo pursuit; we need to cultivate healthy, inspiring relationships - in person primarily, but also receiving inspiration through books and study to keep us from becoming too ingrained by our local culture and age.
• Finally, we recognize that while God is the force, power, and inspiration behind all of this, we have a responsibility to cooperate with his work and make decisions accordingly (chapter 16). We can put ourselves in places that encourage growth."

Thomas so eloquently answers questions that, I admit, have plagued me for a while. Questions about my role versus God's and questions about the end goal of perfection versus reality on earth and human nature. The chapter on community was extremely good. Being a small group pastor's wife, I've been privy to a lot of great teaching on the subject, but The Beautiful Fight's teaching of the subject was fresh and insightful. The epilogue had me in tears as I was overwhelmed by the comprehensiveness and precision of God's purposes for man on earth. I highly recommend this book. For part of the reading of this book, Joel and I read through it together, discussing various parts. I think it's helpful to read this with someone, to help pull out personal application opportunities. There are study questions at the back that would be suitable for small group settings and one-on-one discipleship relationships. But you can certainly read through it on your own too, just letting Jesus guide you in your understanding of His purposes for us on earth.

(Note: I've reorganized my reading list on the right side of my blog, and I plan to link those books mentioned to posts that I write in review of that book. I'll try to get to the others soon. I hope it will be helpful to some of you who are looking for a little reading inspiration!)

Reading and Loving It

Well, I've finished some books recently and started a new one. Hopefully I'll get some reviews up here soon. But I'm kind of behind again in life, so we'll see. But let me tell you about the one I just started that I LOVE: Devotional Classics. I highly recommend it. Highly. Click on the link I have under my reading section to order it from Amazon. Lisa, a lady that is mentoring me, is going through this book with me, and I'm loving what I've read so far. It's a compilation of excerpts from different authors who have written various Christian devotional classics. SO AMAZING. Each excerpt is short, includes a brief passage of Scripture at the end of that excerpt for you to study more in depth on your own if you want, and it gives reflection and/or small group questions. Do you read "old" books? I say you should! Cultivating that as a practice has been a relatively new thing in my own life but one that is probably the most significant and rewarding for my spiritual life/practicing the disciplines of the faith, with the exception of learning how to actually study Scripture itself. Since I have this bad habit of starting about 50,000 books at a time and it taking 20 years to finish each one, I am usually in over my head with reading, trying to multi-task in my learning. I'm not a good multi-tasker by the way. But for the last couple of years, I've made it a priority to always be reading at least one old book. I've found this year that I usually have more old books going than new. It's so refreshing to realize that the things that seem to "work" today in the Christian life are not new. These authors can help us! They've been through a lot, and I'm always amazed when reading them to see how little culture really has changed. It seems to surprise me every time. But I realize that human nature hasn't changed over time. So how could culture, when it's comprised of individual human beings living together, making up societies? (Same for all classics, not just "Christian" ones, but for now I'm just addressing the Christian classics since that's what this book is about!) With our community group at church, I just re-read one of my favorite books, The Jesus of Suburbia, but as I continue to read more of the old books, I realize that while some of the ideas in the Jesus of Suburbia book seem at first to be radical and new, they're not. The Jesus portrayed in that book is the same Jesus so many brilliant authors knew and loved and wrote about. Why wait for some big-name Christian author to write a New York Times Bestseller before we learn how to grow? Help in spiritual growth is already there. And it's been there a long time. It's so easy to relate to what these authors of the great devotional classics are saying and teaching. It is SO relevant. I just really love old books, if you can't tell. I like a lot of new ones too. But I noticed the other day that even my favorite "new" author (meaning still alive and more recently published), Gary Thomas, is such a student of these old books and seems to quote the old guys so much that even his books don't really say anything new! I have a thing for the old. I'm a nerd, what can I say. But I really will try to influence my friends to join in this passion. So be ready! I wanted to share something I read from one of the excerpts, but that will come later, because now I don't have time and I really wanted to first share some things from the introduction that talks about what I've been trying to express; Richard Foster just does it better!

"We today suffer from the unexamined notion that the more recent something is, the better, the more true it must be. This book is our attempt to counter this present-day myopia. It brings together fifty-two carefully chosen selections from the great devotional classics....The word classic has gotten bad press in our day. If a book is a "classic" we immediately think it must be obscure, hard to read, and most certainly out of touch with modern concerns. As Mark Twain aptly notes, it is the kind of book that "everyone wants to have read but no one wants to read." In reality, however, for a writing to be a classic means simply that many people over a sustained period of time have drawn strength from its insights and witness to its value...It is a genuine asset to be soaked in the devotional classics. Pure modernity makes us parochial. But these writings have vintage. They are weaned from the fads of the marketplace. They give us perspective and balance. C.S. Lewis notes, 'A new book is still on trial, and the amateur is not in a position to judge it...The only safety is to have a standard of plain, central Christianity, which puts the controversies of the moment in their proper perspective. Such a standard can only be acquired from old books. It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.' ...A word of instruction needs to be given about reading these devotional classics. These writers make no attempt to grab you quick and hold you tight. They have no intention of tickling your ears and titillating your fantasies. They promise no easy steps to instant holiness, no guaranteed plan for personal prosperity, no surefire technique for peace of mind. Since these men and women wrote before the modern notion of speed-reading, they did not know to fill each paragraph with trite cliches and meaningless jargon. As a result, each phrase is pregnant with meaning and it is best to read at a measured pace, pausing often to reread, rethink, reexperience the words until we not only understand their meaning but are shaped by the truth of them."

Yeah!!!

And when these kinds of books get hard to work through and reading them requires a little bit of support or verbal processing, that's what good friends at a coffee shop are for!

What about you? What are some of your favorite "oldies"?

What I'm Reading....

I'm going to try to be more consistent in writing about what I'm reading. I have this terrible habit of starting five thousand books at once, so it take forever to actually finish one. I've recently finished one that I will soon write about, and within the next couple of weeks, I should be finishing up some more. I'm going to try to hold off on starting any more for a little while. Although the waiting list is long. Too many of you have been giving good book recommendations! But here are some thoughts on a book I've recently begun to read....( I know, I said I wouldn't start anymore until my currently-reading list gets shorter. This is the last one. I hope.)

Another book I bought at the Focus on the Family bookstore while in Colorado was Grace Gone Wild by Robert Jeffress. This man's brother-in-law was my pastor growing up and our friends, so I've always noticed his books in the bookstore. This one has caught my eye for a long time. But about five hundred books catch my eye every time I enter a bookstore, so I have to exercise much self-control anytime I'm in one. So you can imagine my glee when I saw this particular book on the 75% off clearance table.

Church environments I've been a part of in the past have ranged across a wide spectrum from grace-ignorance to grace-abuse. I've seen many people completely overlook the notion of grace, and in more recent years, I've been exposed to some examples of grace being abused. Grace being used as an excuse for spiritual laziness. I've seen the terms "grace" and "legalism" misused in such disturbing ways that many Christians are starting to believe that because of grace, it doesn't matter how we live and the choices we make. And as I've seen that more, God has really been stirring something in me. I don't know what it is exactly, but have a growing desire to know how to respond to that. How to be a good grace-receiver myself. And how to be an example to the Christians around me of what it means to know grace and walk in it. And what it doesn't mean. So this is a journey I'm just beginning and certainly am nowhere close to "having it down" yet.

I remember reading a blog several months back that brought me to tears. The author wrote transparently about her struggle to resume church attendance after a devastating loss in her life. Although she expressed heartfelt love for the Lord and her experience of Him was very evident through her writings, she did not know if she would return to church. She was unsure of how essential it was, and it was her feeling that God's grace (unearned by man) made it an unnecessary activity, i.e. God saved her from having to earn His approval, so why would she need to prove anything by going to church? I felt compassion for her. I really did. I understood how her grief would lead her to not feel like doing something like that. I certainly can't say that I know for sure how I would respond in a similar situation. I think I know what is right, but do I always respond to circumstances the right way? Absolutely not! I am incapable of doing so, without supernatural power anyway! So I certainly sympathized with her feelings and understood that such feelings are probably a natural part of the grieving process. Hear my heart on that. I want Jesus to fill me with compassion for people in situations like that. I know I need grace and mercy often.

The part that made me really sad though was reading the 60 or so comments by Christians who literally praised her for her decision to not do something she didn't feel like doing. They didn't acknowledge truth about God's heart for our involvement in the local church. Please hear me on this - I certainly would not have told her what to do or "preach" at her that she was doing the wrong thing. I think it would have been just as disappointing if the comments had been void of compassion and took on a tone of instruction at a time and in a context that wasn't appropriate. I know God is patient with me as I take a long time to agree with Him sometimes, and I am overwhelmed by His sweetness in that. It is so undeserved. I don't know exactly what would have been the right thing to say in that situation. But I think there are definitely some wrong things to say in that situation. I think it would not be right to tell her she was doing the right thing if it goes against the teaching of Scripture and the character of God. The commenters saw her authenticity as noble while ignoring the fact that it was based on untruth. I believe it is possible to show grace and empathize and encourage someone in that situation while refusing to call sin something that it isn't. And I was struck with grief as I observed these comments and their consistency in expressing the notion that grace allows us to pick and choose which commands of God we want to keep. Almost as if we get to decide right and wrong. It was like they really believed that the freedom that comes from grace frees us to try to "be God" and live however we want. That couldn't be further from the truth. And again, I'm not really good at knowing how to approach situations or conversations like that. I struggle with it and have no expertise on that whatsoever. I just know that I was bothered by this way of thinking that says grace means nothing is asked of us. I see in the Bible that although our salvation is a free gift of grace, Christ asks us to be willing to give up everything to follow Him. It's not an exhange. We don't obey to fulfill the requirements of our salvation. But obedience is still an essential element of the Christian faith! And I certainly don't know the hearts of those who commented on that particular subject and it could be that that's never what they intended to express, but still, that's what they communicated. And I think their supposed perspective represents what a lot of people within the church really think concerning grace and what it frees us to do and be. Grace didn't free us from having to obey; it freed us up to do and be what God designed: vessels of His holiness that exemplify who He is so that He will receive more glory. Anyway, that was just one example of how I've seen that "grace-abuse" lately....I didn't mean for it to take this long to tell.

My favorite resource on this subject is Dietrich Bonhoeffer's classic The Cost of Discipleship, where the first chapter or two deals with the topic of "cheap grace" versus "costly grace" and what Scripture really says about how God's generous supply of grace should be our motivation to obey Him and not a reason to disobey when we want. Well, this Grace Gone Wild book speaks to that issue as well, and it is definitely easy to read, and so far there are so many good illustrations that have helped me to understand what he is saying. I'm not very far into it though. I'll let you know more about it as I read more. In the meantime, I'll give you a little snippet:

"Although we were originally created in His likeness, sin shattered His image within us. We can try to mend that image through good works and religious ritual, but we are broken beyond repair. However, in a burst of undeserved generosity, God offers to give us a brand-new nature that He purchased for us at the expense of His own Son, Jesus Christ. Why does He offer to do such a thing for us?...One word: grace. God's unwarranted burst of generosity."

I love Jeffress' wording there: "unwarranted burst of generosity." Sweet words. While I'm learning to recognize some of these examples around me of grace-abuse, I am convicted that I corrupt grace all the time in my own life. Maybe it seems like I do it in smaller ways. But they're not smaller. I do the exact same thing as these others. Every day, in fact. These words remind me of the purpose of the saving grace God has given me: to give me a brand-new nature. But do I cherish that grace enough that I actually choose to live consistently according to that brand-new nature of holiness?? Every time I let sin hang out in my heart instead of kicking it out through His power, I am clearly saying that the price paid on the cross wasn't worth it to me. Not that day or with that particular sin. I don't think there's any worse grace-abuse than that. And I do it every day.

Thoughts on Mommyhood...

Melody had asked about my recommendations for parenting books, and I was going to send her a short little comment about it, but it ended up not being very short! The topic of parenting/discipline strategies has been on my mind a lot lately, so I decided to dedicate a whole post to the topic. Not that many will care. But it's my blog, and I'll write about it if I want to. =)

As for discipline and issues related to having a toddler, I really like Shepherding a Child's Heart. I've said that before. But the following is a list of books/systems that I am familiar with because of reading portions of them or by seeing how people close to me have implemented them in their own families, and I have learned enough from them to want to read them in entirety. I'm in new territory now with Jonah, so I'm sort of at the starting point of learning how to parent a toddler, and I have lots to learn. So, know up front that I have not yet read all of these completely, so it can't be an official recommendation at this point. But I know enough about them to know that they teach principles that we feel God desiring us to implement in our home. As with all parenting resources, everything should be measured by not only God's Word but also God's personal leading through our own relationship with Him. More on that later. Here's my list:

• Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman
• Growing Kids God's Way by Gary Ezzo
• Parenting With Love and Logic by Jim Fay and Foster W. Cline
  
• To Train up a Child by Michael and Debi Pearl
  

Now, as for when Jonah was a baby, we used a combination of the ideas in Secrets of the Baby Whisperer and the Babywise books. I'm a big fan of both books, but like I said, I combined their ideas, taking a little and leaving a little from both. What was important to me was that we created an atmosphere in which structure and order existed but where loving affection was not abandoned in the pursuit of a schedule. Flexibility is key. Both of these books promote a eat-wake-play routine based on about a 3-hour schedule for a newborn. It is a concept that I feel works very well for babies. Mine didn't sleep through the night any sooner for being on this schedule (due to some late-discovered eating issues), but most babies do! I saw it over and over again in the infants I nannied for before having Jonah, so I knew immediately that this was the system I wanted to follow for nursing, naptimes, and other aspects of infant life. Oh wait, what other aspects?! It seems like that's about all you do for a few months, right? =) But anyway, that's why I like those books. I just want to state those reasons clearly, because if you're looking to follow a more child-centered approach (like attachment-parenting), then you won't like my infant-book recommendations! Don't bother reading them. And there are other methods that I'm sure work too. This is just what we did.

But two things have been on my mind lately regarding this stuff. One is an ever-growing conviction that our parenting should reflect God's character. We know that. But we often forget that God's character is a blend of grace and justice, mercy and righteousness, compassion and truth. His character traits don't contradict each other, but they work together perfectly. He has a high standard - holiness - but He is full of grace as He mercifully leads us to Him. It just seems right that godly parenting would reflect this seemingly-paradoxical reality of God's character. Our parenting should be blended. There seem to be a lot of people who adhere to more extreme views on parenting. I could talk ALL DAY about the two polar-opposite views of baby-raising that I see all the time. Attachment parenting vs. Hyper-scheduling. I've noticed that a lot of people choose one of these views and have nothing to do with any aspect of the other. I'm not going into detail about what I feel is wrong about adhering to such an extreme view or what the effects I've seen from either end. I will just say that the reason I want to find a mix of the two philosophies is that I want to do my best to represent the whole of God's character and not just represent one part of it. As my child's parent, I am an authority in his life and have the responsibility to set boundaries and teach him to obey. I don't have to apologize for that. God put me in that role! I also have the responsibility to show love, grace, mercy, compassion, and tenderness to my child. BOTH are profoundly significant responsibilities in helping to shape my child's understanding of who God is. Which leads me to conviction #2....

The other thing that God has reminded me of lately is that the ONLY way to be a godly parent is to know Him more and nurture my own relationship with Him. Everything I do as a parent should flow from my relationship with my Savior. Anything else is futile. Really. I'm trying to reach my child's heart; good behavior is not the goal. So if I'm living a life based on "behavior" and not out of real love and heart-devotion to the Lord, then what am I doing? What kind of model am I for my child? If I parent out of anything other than heart-love for God, then I know I won't be the one who gives my child a picture of Christ. That thought makes me sad. Yet, this is hard for me. I confess that too many days I parent, teach, and discipline my child out of my own selfishness - wanting to make life easier for myself, wanting to "prove" myself or my skills, wanting others to be impressed/not wanting to be embarrassed by my child's behavior. That is YUCKY stuff. So I'm just realizing afresh this week how important it is for me to kill my selfishness and pride every day and rely on the Holy Spirit to transform my heart daily so that I desire more of God's glory than my own comfort. And it's a beautiful thing that it works this way. If I focus on my own heart and becoming who God wants me to be, then naturally, God gives wisdom in parenting. I won't say it's a breeze always! But I've yet to not get answers from Him on any parenting question or challenge when I'm really seeking Him from a right heart. Sometimes He'll even lead me to some other source. It's why book recommendations are great, but you really only want to read the ones or take advice from the people you know God is leading you to listen to. Now I'm trying to only seek out answers or help from a book or from a friend when I know God is giving me peace about turning in that direction. And I'm afraid I won't know if the nudge is from Him if I'm not in the Word. It all goes back to "Where is my own heart?" So I hope no one follows any of my reading or parenting recommendations unless they are walking with the Lord and sensing His leading to do so. He might want you to learn from someone other than me or the authors of the books I've mentioned.

Beyond the Scriptural instructions God gives us about parenting, there are so many different ways to parent our children, and I've really come to believe that God leads many people to do a lot of the specific, practical parts of parenting in different ways than He leads others. I know that sounds simple. And for all of you who score high on mercy when you take spiritual-gifts tests, you're probably thinking that's pretty obvious. But I've been slow to learn that one. I tend to think really black-and-white on a lot of issues. There are lots of black-and-white issues in the world. But I'm thinking that nap schedules, breastfeeding, creative correction techniques are not some of them! I shared my convictions earlier on the dangers of adhering to an extreme view of parenting that limits our portrayal of a large part of God's character. I believe that so strongly. But what we do as parents between the two extremes is something that looks different from family to family, even when God is the one the parents are following. I wish the world of mommies could all respect each other, despite these differences. I wish the differences didn't affect friendships as negatively as they do sometimes. I wish women weren't made to feel like big disappointments and failures by other mommies because of these differences and instead received encouragement and respect. I want to learn more from other mommies and our differences. I've met some great families here that I admire and respect what their children are becoming, and a lot of them I've found out have done a lot of things differently than our family has. It is important to have relationships with people who have the same biblical goals, but how we get there is going to look different a lot of times. And that's ok! I think the world of mommies just needs to show each other some more grace. I'm working on this one. After all, none of us is perfect. We will never cultivate our relationship with God into perfection while on this earth. We all go through times when we resist Him in our hearts, refusing to commune with Him, choosing not to spend time studying the Bible - and we all receive GRACE when we come to Him with broken, repentant hearts. We all need grace. And we should all be extending it to one another. Especially as fellow mommies!

Non-Randomness

Doesn't it seem that when God is trying to get a point across to you, he will use various kinds of sources to deliver that message, often at the same time? That has been my experience this week. What He's trying to teach me is coming to me from everywhere! Literally, every time I open the Word, it has to do with this topic. This week, my pastor's sermon, the books I've been reading, blogs I come across, others' stories and just experiences of life have all challenged me with the same exact message. And it is this: Am I just living the "safe" Christian life, or am I willing to live and give ALL for Jesus? He's kind of an all-or-nothing God. Don't mistake what I mean....He is patient with us as we find our way. But we must admit that He does ask a lot from us. And I'm realizing that more this week. I'm reminded of Scripture in Revelation 3:15-16 that says how much God is disgusted by lukewarmness, or middle-of-the-road "Christian" living. Ouch. That one convicts me big-time. I have to admit that I like it safe and comfortable. I think most of us do. We want to protect ourselves from pain, danger, and embarrassment. I am always on the lookout for making my life easier. But easier does not equal better. I just feel challenged with this like I never have been before. I mean, I knew God said to live this passionate, dangerous life that He has for us and to participate in how He's called me to in whatever huge thing He wants to do in my generation/lifetime. But how easy is it to think that this experience on earth is about me and my happiness rather than what God wants to accomplish? I will be the first to admit that it is really hard for me not to get off-focus in that regard. My last post told you about a girl whose three-month old baby girl died last weekend. It really affected me not only on an emotional level but on a deeply spiritual one too. I felt completely broken the day I heard that news, crying out to God about how hard it is that He asks us to be willing to give up our most valuable "possessions"....our precious children being the hardest thing I can imagine having to give up. God does not always take away the things that bring us so much enjoyment in life, but He does ask us to be willing. Don't think I type those words very easily or happily. I realize how hard that is. I told God I thought it was pretty crazy. Don't worry, it was actually from a more humble position than it sounds. =) He knows. I did wrestle a little bit that day, trying to understand why God would ask us to make hard choices like that, but I did so with a heart that said, "Lord, you are God and you are good, these things I know. Even if you do not make it easy or give me any answers, I still trust you." And joy did come in the morning. Peace came too. I was still sad for that particular woman's suffering, as well as suffering on earth in general. But you just get to a point where it hits you....either He's worthy of that kind of living, or He's not. I MUST MAKE A CHOICE. If I believe He is exactly who He says He is in His Word, then He's perfectly right in asking me to give up the things in life that are hard (or nearly impossible) to give up, as He does in Matthew 10:37-39. If I truly BELIEVE Him, then I'll know that the life He has to offer is better than the life I've been asked to let go of (verse 39). I've just been freshly challenged, "Do you believe that, Hannah?" God is saying, "Do you believe ME?" I have to trust that He is good, regardless of how hard life can be or the sacrifices He asks us to make. He's also pressing on my heart that trust is His favorite kind of worship. It's a worship that is real, not just made of empty words. And it's a matter of the heart, which is where He happens to be looking (1 Samuel 16:7).

In the book I'm reading that I mentioned in my previous post, the author, Mike Erre, talks about how far we've gone from living as God intended the church to. He says we've watered down what Jesus is really about....and have missed who He is. In the first chapter, he talks about the political climate in Jerusalem/Bethlehem at the time of Christ's birth and how if we really understood those things, we would better understand what a revolution Jesus' birth really was. He detailed the lives of Caesar and Herod, rulers at the time of Jesus' birth, and how they impacted their world. He writes, "The Christmas story forces us to choose between these two kingdoms. Do we bow before the Caesars of our time, or dare we embrace the kingdom of Jesus?" There's more:

"The white-washed, watered-down version of the Christmas story many of us celebrate leads us inevitably to the tame and safe gift shop Jesus. But if we understand his birth as revolution, then we may glimpse the revolution that his life will bring. Jesus has been, and always will be, a threat to the establish order of things. This should no longer surprise us today. Two thousand years of church history should suggest that the movement of Jesus is most dangerous when it is opposed...Our world doesn't want to be reminded of Christ - because he forces us to choose. In our just-do-it, have-it-all kind of world, the revolution of Jesus forces us to choose: Who is King? Who is Lord? What empire do you serve? What god do you bow down to?...Two kingdoms war on this earth. One is led by Herods and Caesars; the others by Jesus Christ." And finally:

"For Paul, being at the center of the will of God was dangerous. And so it is for hundreds of millions of followers of Jesus today. Only in the West has the heretical notion that God will protect us from all harm really taken root...His revolution demands our complete surrender to him, and our obedience doesn't guarantee a problem-free life. In fact, it may lead to just the opposite. We must be very clear about this, for Jesus asked his followers again and again to count the cost of following him. If we did the same thing, invited people to consider what it really means to follow Jesus, then perhaps our churches would have fewer consumers and more disciples."

Wow. Maybe it's time for the church to seek out the REAL Jesus, not just rely on what we've been sold told through the years....and maybe make some apologies for it to the unbelievers in the world.

I promise the next post won't be so heavy. Or preachy. Well, maybe I shouldn't make promises like that, since I have no idea what tomorrow will bring! But there ARE more light-hearted posts to come! I do promise that.

One Window Down, Five More to Go!

See the beautiful window shade my mother-in-law made for the window in our bathroom. I think she did a great job! It's one of those roll-up shades that you tie, but it's just left down in this picture. These kinds of shades are good options if you need window coverings but are working on a small budget, because it doesn't take much material at all. If Candy's up for it, I'll have her do more!! =) I still have five more windows I need to do window treatments for. I got new curtains for the formal living/dining room too. Next up: the kitchen windows. As soon as I pick out material and save up the money to buy it!

We've been busy having friends visit.....my dear friend Meg came to stay a couple of days with us last week, which was soooo fun. I love her and am so thrilled for the lovely things God is doing in and through her life right now! She's Jonah's "Auntie Meg" - but Jonah calls her, "T Meg." It is cute, and it has stuck with all of us! Also on Saturday, a friend since junior high that was my college roommate, Amber, was in town, and we were able to meet up and hang out for a little bit. That was fun catching up, and it's just going to have to be something we make time for ever so often, because I've missed that girl a lot! My parents are back from their ten day vacation - we've really missed them around here - so we're looking forward to some good Gigi and Papa T time this week, and my good friend Kelli is coming to visit for a day later in the week, and I'm SO thrilled about it! I need to hug on her baby some more....I haven't had near enough chances to squeeze his sweet chubby thighs!! Spending time with Kelli is always a huge blessing and will be so fun, and it's what I'm most giddy about this week.

I'm reading a good book right now called The Jesus of Suburbia by Mike Erre. Its subtitle is "Have we tamed the Son of God to fit our lifestyle?" I cautiously read certain authors associated with the "emergent church," but I must say I LOVE this book and have found it so far to be soundly biblical and strongly convicting. I've only read a few chapters so far, but it's challenging, and I'm sure I'll be posting some quotes soon and telling you more about it. I think its teachings/principles have the potential - if I let it - to be completely life-changing...and if a bunch of us all cooperated with God on this stuff, have a profound impact on our generation. More to come on that.

Book Recommendations by me

Besides my three all-time favorites (Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers; Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas; and The Modern Girl's Guide to Bible Study by Jen Hatmaker), here are a couple of books I've read in the last couple of months that I highly recommend:
1.) 30 Days to Understanding the Bible by Max Anders - It's great if you want a better understanding of the basic framework of Scripture. There's not a ton of heavy reading, just mainly filling in charts and stuff like that, which really helped me to learn the info more quickly. It's great if you've never really studied the Bible much or if you have for a long time but really need some questions answered. It's been an excellent resource for me. It says it's 15 minutes a day for 30 days, but it took way less than 15 minutes, so some days I doubled and tripled up. It was exciting!
2.) Nice Girls Don't Change the World by Lynne Hybels - It's a teeny-tiny book with a big message. Seriously, it's one of those really short books, perfect for those who are short on time, but it's a great subject to think on, especially for people who are really wanting to engage in the role God has for each of us in our local churches. Our group of pastors' wives at church that meets monthly will be talking through the message of this book at our meetings the next couple of months, and I'm really looking forward to the discussion.

I'm always up for hearing book recommendations from anyone!

And I forgot to mention....as of yesterday, Jonah is 19 months old!!! I can't believe it. We're closer to his 2-year birthday than to his first.....crazy.