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Book Review: Trusting in His Goodness

Trusting cover-1Can you trust God?

That’s the question this book raises—is God someone we can trust, not only when things are going well, but when life is one catastrophe after another? In the midst of our pain and trials, can we depend on God to come through for us?

Rather than spouting off unsatisfying pat answers, authors Mimi Wilson and Shelly Cook Volkhardt take the reader through a series of easy-to-understand lessons—digging into scripture to find God’s promises, and illustrating each point with examples from their own experience or the experiences of those they know. You feel that you’re sitting at the kitchen table, having tea together, while they relate what they’ve learned in the valleys of their lives.

The truth of God’s goodness, the very essence of His character, forms a firm foundation for a series of practical applications anyone can relate to.

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Eagle’s Flight

I recently added Eagle’s Flight to my blog roll (see the column to the left). Maybe you didn’t notice. Today I’d like to introduce Clark, and let him tell about his blog in his own words.

Pete and I have known Clark for years—since our college days. He’s one of the most insightful people I’ve ever met. He also has an amazing way of stringing words together into blank verse. I have a hard time reading poetry—he manages to do an exceptional job of writing it.

I’m so glad that Clark is willing to share his work with us. You can read each poem as he posts it to his blog, or wait and purchase them all together in his soon-to-be-published new book, Eagle’s Flight. Meanwhile, his first volume, The Walk of the Eagle, is available from Amazon, and no, I’m not getting a percentage of sales.

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Scared: a Novel on the Edge of the World

Imagine that you have only one outfit, and it’s dirty and full of holes. Imagine that you only have enough food to eat once every few days—maybe once a week. You live in a one-room mud hut. You’re physically abused. Two other people are totally dependent on you. Then it gets worse.

Now imagine living like that if you’re only twelve years old, and you’re an orphan.

Scared is a novel, but the conditions that twelve-year-old Adanna faces are drawn from real life. She’s one of millions of orphans, struggling to survive in Swaziland, the part of Africa hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic.

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Spirituality for the Rest of Us

 

Why would you want to read a book on spirituality written by someone who admits he’s really bad at it?

Right up front, Michael Yaconelli explains that his life is a mess. He describes his Christian walk—“The best I can do is a stumbling, bumbling, clumsy kind of following”—and then asks, “So how can someone unspiritual presume to talk about spirituality? How can someone unholy presume to talk about holiness? It makes no sense.”

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Why play Facebook games, like Mafia Wars, YoVille, etc.?

Today’s guest post is from Pete, my sweetie for more than 30 years. He originally (about three weeks ago) posted it as a note on Facebook. I think his observations are worth keeping in mind, especially as I hope to soon share some game reviews written by our son-in-law, who knows much more about such things than I do.

Here’s Pete:

I’ve just finished an experiment in a couple of the very popular online multi-user games. I wanted to learn how they work, how fun they are, and what was the opportunity for play that involves interaction with friends old and new.

Let me say up front: I don’t think these games are evil in some way. I have relatives who play other massive online multi-player games with really great interaction, to the point where one guy’s online game-playing team gets together in person at least once a year, traveling from far and wide to spend time together. I think that’s awesome!

How about the games here on Facebook (FB)? Here’s what I found:

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The Heavenly Man: The remarkable true story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun

the-heavenly-man-coverWhat do you think the reaction would be if this song was taught in your church next Sunday?

From the time the church was birthed on the day of Pentecost
The followers of the Lord have willingly sacrificed themselves
Tens of thousands have died that the gospel might prosper
As such they have obtained the crown of life.

Chorus:
To be a martyr for the Lord, to be a martyr for the Lord
I am willing to die gloriously for the Lord.

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Come Away with Me

come-away-with-meHow much time have you spent alone with God lately? In the midst of our busy schedules, it’s easy to overlook His still, small voice calling out to us for attention. I know I find it extra hard to set aside a regular date with God when my calendar is full of camping trips, hikes, and other summer activities that disrupt my routine.

Sometimes, what we really need is a kick-start, a prolonged time to really quiet ourselves and listen. When Pete has been traveling a lot, we try to plan an overnight get-away aimed at reestablishing our connection with one another. It takes more than just an hour or two at a local restaurant. Longer absences need longer dates. It’s the same way with God. When we’re extra busy, that’s when we especially need to set aside time with Him.

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Fourth Friday Fun: That’s Nifty

I came across this blog quite by accident, and thought it was interesting, funny, cute, amazing, you name it. While some of their stuff is also gross, disgusting, and not recommended, there were enough postings that I really enjoyed that I couldn’t resist directing you to their site. My favorites were the ones listed as “cool.” I particularly loved the pictures of the overloaded vehicles. Reminds me of fitting seven people into a rather small taxi in India.

(Please note that I have absolutely no idea what they will have posted on their front page when you click on the link above.)

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Book Review: Secondhand Jesus

packiam-book-coverYou’ve got to read this book!

Over and over, I started writing a review of Secondhand Jesus, by Glenn Packiam. And every time I deleted what I’d written and started over. Nothing I can say comes even close to doing justice with all that he’s got packed into this one volume.

Then, happily, Glenn gave the sermon at our church on July 5. Naturally, his talk was based on his book, just released last month by David C. Cook Publishers. (I reviewed his first book, Butterfly in Brazil, in June.) Now I don’t have to write a review. You can listen to Glenn yourself.

A video of the sermon is at the New Life Church website.

When you’re done listening, do yourself a huge favor, get your own copy, and read the entire book. You’ll see that that’s just the beginning.

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Threshing Fact from Fiction: An Ignorant Christian’s Views on “Religulous” Part 2

[Don’t miss Part I of Jeremy’s article on Religulous.]

Why is faith a good thing?

To many people, the above question is an odd one. Of course faith is a good thing. Why question that? However, in “Religulous” it is one of Maher’s chief objections to religion (particularly Christianity).

The question is first raised by Maher after he asks the pastor of a small truck stop chapel how any rational person can believe in a talking snake in a garden 5000 years ago. The pastor responded by saying that, “It’s a faith thing,” to which Maher replies, “Yeah, but why is faith good?”

Maher’s argument is that a person who’s life is in danger or who is going through hard times would be justified to believe God, but for anyone else faith is pointless. His objection is that of many other skeptics: faith is unfounded and breeds comfort, but isn’t useful. I disagree.

Maher’s beliefs are incorrect for two reasons: first, he assumes that all faith is blind faith, and second, he thinks faith is not relevant. Although these two aspects of faith are inter-connected, I’ll begin by explaining the difference between faith and blind faith.

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