Wild At Heart

Wild at Heart

This is a review for Thomas Nelson and Booksneeze.com. In approaching this book, I had heard many mixed reviews going into it. Some folks were saying it was not worth the read, was unbiblical, and painted men in a bad picture. That being said, I think the jury is still out in some areas and you could look beyond the critical reviews on masculinity and femininity to find some theme that could be beneficial to the Christian male (Oops! I meant man). What appears to be the premise of the book is that culture (and churches) has slowly emasculated men to the point John Eldredge has a hard time separating the two. It is a call to rebirth the male soul back to his masculine roots.

There are a few concepts I believe men can take from this book no matter your thoughts on the masculinity vs. femininity or the potential over usage of King David as the example of a man. (Tangent: I don't think Eldredge's goal is for people to assume you have to murder people for their wife and/or dance naked before the Lord to become a true man.)

First, every man longs for a battle to fight. Eldredge suggests instead of men taking a passive approach, men need to take charge and learn to fight for things he wants. Second, every man longs for an adventure to live. Eldredge is referring to this as man's search for what he was always meant to be. Third, every man longs for a beauty to rescue. Eldredge is suggesting we men all have a deep desire for romance.

Overall, I think it's worth the read and like anything people should remember that books are written from the author's point of view.

Plan B

Plan B

Well, I never expected the events that happened in 2010. I had a plan in mind and then Plan B kicked into place... we had someone walk up to us and ask to buy our house, sold our house, lived out of suitcases for a month, found and bought a new home, moved into and made the new home livable in time for our second child's birth. Talk about having things laid out in your mind and then God changing the plans you had. And during all this I saw a book by Pete Wilson on Plan B: What to do when God doesn't show up the way you thought he would? by Thomas Nelson Publishing. I thought it'd be a great book to read based on the circumstances.

I feel this book is perfect for the twenty or thirty something that is going through the phase of life where nothing seems to be going as planned and nothing seems to be making any sense. A quote I found reassuring from the book was, "Your dreams may not be happening, and things aren't turning out the way you expected, but that doesn't mean your life is spinning out of control. It just means you're not in control." It seem liked during the point in my life that this book was placed into my hands that I thought I had things under control. Even though I have been a Christian all my life and have read and heard the scripture that says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't depend on your own understanding," it seemed like I thought I had it all under control and my plans were solid.

Well, God changed his plans and had a "Plan B" in store, and Pete Wilson's book helped play an important role in that. I would highly suggest this book to anyone, but specifically the twenty or thirty something. I plan on reading this book throughout the coming years and sharing it with others, too.

The Word of Promise

The Word of Promise New Testament

I was excited when I received this audio bible. Growing up I remember listening to what seemed like an innumerable amount of cassette tapes with the velvety smooth voice of James Earl Jones as he “thee” and “thou” his way through the King’s English. So, needless to say, I was very excited when I saw this was a multi-voiced dramatization of the New King James Version with great actors like Jim Caviezel as Jesus, Lou Gossett Jr. as John, and Michael York .

The case is very nice and holds each disc snuggly in place so there is no risk of a disc slipping out of its spot. The tracks can easily be uploaded to an MP3 player for on the go or use the CDs in your player at home or in your car. Each disc holds enough chapters to provide enough listening for a good, non-interrupted, hour or so of round trip commuting. There is a song by Michael W. Smith and behind the scenes DVD.

The audio quality was good. I felt like the music score could have been a little bit more variety but was nice to listen to in addition to the sound effects. One thing I didn’t care for was the choice of “casting” the demon voices and the usage of distortion on their voices. To me it seemed to take away from the class of the rest of the recording.

Overall, I feel like this is a great product and would highly recommend it to any Christian. Whether they be a new convert or seasoned saint, the Word of Promise New Testament will be a blessing to their life.

Choosing to Cheat

Choosing To Cheat

Everybody cheats. Shocking isn’t it? That is just one of many thoughts in the book Choosing to Cheat: Who Wins When Family and Work Collide by Andy Stanley. This was a book suggested during one of The Union marriage events in 2009. It is a short read (125 pages excluding the study guide) that helps shed some light on how we choose to prioritize our time between our family relationships and our work.

In the book, Stanley suggests that with the proper balance between family and work we can cultivate better relationships for God to bless, both at home and at work. We need a restoration of love and godly priorities & principles in our homes. Without those to follow we can get ourselves in trouble. We cannot afford to have an imbalance. Stanley says, “Reprioritizing your world around your family is not just a good idea. It is a God idea.”

One of my favorite quotes from the book is “actions speak louder than intentions.” When we tell our family that they are the most important thing in our life, we need to let our actions make that statement truth. Colossians 3 talks about how we are to love our families and do our jobs. Sometimes we get this backwards and start loving our jobs and doing our families. Stanley suggests when we do that we have “not only stepped outside the bounds of family life, you have stepped outside the will of God.”

Stanley, also, talked about how we cannot leave the success of our families to chance. We can sow the seed of time in our families and reap the fruits of success. “Happily married couples never attribute their success to unexpected opportunities, market conditions, luck, or good timing. You have never met a healthy family who chalked up their success to being in the right place at the right time. With family, success is always related to time.” When you invest time with your family, you can never go wrong.

So allow me to encourage you to read this book and take inventory of the time you spend with your family and the time you spend away. Remember you are the only spouse or parent people have, and we aren’t as expendable in our families as we are on the job.

The Tallest of Smalls

Max Lucado’s The Tallest of Smalls

When I first read Max Lucado’s Fearless and learned about the people of Stiltsville, I thought it to be a rather amusing way of relating a serious issue. Imagine my surprise when I saw the illustration be turned into a children’s book.

Lucado’s The Tallest of Smalls is a children’s book that uses didactic poetry and beautiful, earth toned, illustrations to tell a story. The story is about the Stiltsvillians and their caste system; dividing their people between those with stilts and those without. It tells the story of a little boy named Ollie and his desire to be picked as one of those that receive a set of stilts. Only those citizens whose names are picked can receive their stilts. Otherwise, they are left on the ground with the others.

One night Ollie’s name is called to receive a pair of stilts. Once he was elevated on his stilts he began to learn that it was not as easy as he once thought it was. He experienced trouble and eventually fell of his stilts. When he was at his lowest and no one else was there to help, he is helped by Jesus and given some advice that changes his life.

The Tallest of Smalls is a great book that helps children understand self-esteem and the love of Jesus. Lucado’s book helps children understand that they do not have to fear what others might say. Because no matter if a child’s peers do not pick them to play or consider them to be cool, there is always someone that loves us just for who we are and nothing more.

Fearless

Max Lucado's Fearless

Wow! Amazing! Superb! Those were words going through my mind as I read Fearless. Max Lucado’s book Fearless tackles the topic of understanding how to handle fear in a Christian life the way his book He Chose the Nails tackled the topic of understanding how God’s love is unconditional for a Christian. This was the first Lucado book I’ve read since He Chose the Nails, and like that book, I will be buying extra copies to give to people for their edification.

In Fearless, Lucado has a great balance of humor and poignancy that help the reader through the book. A few of my favorite Points-to-Ponder (PTP) from the book are as follows:

PTP#1: “Fear, at its center, is a perceived loss of control. When life spins wildly, we grab for a component of life we can manage…The more insecure we feel, the meaner we become” (p. 9).

PTP#2: “Jesus faced his ultimate fear with honest prayer” (p. 83).

This is so true in our life. When we lose control of events and life begins to become chaotic and in disarray, immediately we turn to fear when we should be turning to God for direction and peace. We much too often forget that going to God in prayer over a situation has greater results than when we try to handle the problems causing our fear.

I would highly recommend Fearless to anyone struggling with thoughts of fear. The time I spent in the book has been enriching, and there are many PTP that I will take with me for further meditation. This book came to me at the right time in my life. Thank you Max Lucado!

I've not updated this in a long time, but I'd like to get into writing about different books and websites that help make like easier and practical for the Christian. I might throw in a few musings every now and then, too.

Ma'am, Are You Over Eighteen?

An interesting event of love took place on June 25, 1940. During the summer of 1940 two people, who were madly in love with each other, decided to get married at their county courthouse in Cleveland, Mississippi. He was the poor son of a farmer, and her father did not want them to marry. But as love would prevail the two were married 66 years ago.

 

In 1940, couples were not allowed to marry unless both individuals were eighteen years of age or older. If either one of the two were less than eighteen years of age, parental consent was required before the two could be married. These two love birds had a problem. She was seventeen and her birthday was the following day--June 26. Being so in love the two could not wait another second to be married.

 

In order to keep from lying when the couple arrived at the courthouse, the young lady did something rather clever. Knowing she would be asked whether or not she was over eighteen, she placed a piece of paper with the number "18" written on it in the bottom of her shoe. Standing over it, being asked if she were over eighteen, and answering it affirmatively was, technically, not a lie. So, the young couple was married on the day before her eighteenth birthday.

 

To this couple were born eight children and one hundred grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I am proud to say that I am a result of this union. These two people were my grandparents--Frank and Effie Willett. Their fifth child is my mother--Jane Sue Fenimore.

 

This is one of the many stories I heard growing up in the Bootheel of Missouri. It was a story that brought me closer to my grandparents and brought a little bit of humor to our lives as a family. It makes me smile, so I thought I would share the story with you.

 

Coincidently, 65 years later in 2005, my wife and I were married on June 25.