9 Down, 27 to go

Yikes...I definately feel like I am behind towards hitting my goal for the year....BUT, I am starting to make progress again :)


The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the second time I read the book...this time as part of a small group with others and reviewing the DVD material that Lee Strobel has created. I think the book is much better than the DVD material or the study guides that go with it...but I suppose that depends on who you are, and what you are trying to accomplish with the discussion.



As far as the book, it speaks to some things well and certainly gives a believer, or someone who is inclined to believe, more ammunition to help them get over any objections they may have. Strobel is a Christian and certainly tells the story from that position and the fact that he absolutely believes that everyone will draw the same conclusions that he does by reading through the interviews he has with experts.

What the book lacks is any serious review of alternative viewpoints that anyone who really wants to challenge Christianity will make. If you are reading this book for a unbiased review of evidence, then you will not get it...you will get a logically laid out review of much information that all points to Christianity as truth.

I find it an easy and quick read and that it highlights many things in the Christian faith that form the backbone, the reason that people can believe in Christ, so that it is digestible.




View all my reviews.

Upcoming week...time off (kind of)

I am excited to spend some time with the family this week and to finish up some of my books that I have been reading. While I have to work some because it is EMC's qtr end...my company is actually shut down and I am supposed to have the week off. I will be trying to enjoy that as much as possible starting today :)

So, look for some more book postings, some videos or pictures of the family and hopefully a story or two about our week together :)

8 Down, 28 To Go

A Dangerous Faith by James Lund & Peb Jackson

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a reasonably interesting set of short, true stories about Christian men and women who have engaged in extraordinary events either because of responding to God's call or who have engaged in events with a Christ-like response and what that has meant to their lives.

The mix of stories is interesting, and if you are a person who likes to hear stories from other peoples' lives, than this is a good read simply for hearing some interesting stories.

All the stories are tenuously held together under the banner of a dangerous faith...meaning that God does not call us to places of comfort and complacency, but to places of excitement and potentially danger. When you read through some of the author's experiences themselves, you grasp that the adventuresome spirit is at home with these two guys and that is how they relate to life and to their relationship with God. There is not a real story line amongst everything, nor do they really pull them all together, except for saying that these people followed God and ended up in dangerous places....but were glad they did.

As with most reads, I feel that there are things that you can learn, pull out, or insights that are worth writing down and remembering...here are a couple that I pulled from this book.

Bruce Olson wrote about walking through a cacophony of sounds in the jungle and the Montilone people remarking about the sound of a piping turkey...The Montilone's were able to hear, notice and appreciate the small voice amidst this chaos...and Bruce remarked "It was a poignant moment for me. I wondered what else I'd missed-not only in the jungle, but also in my own spiritual life. How much had I overlooked when I'd failed to patiently tune in to God's subtle voice in the midst of life's chaos and stresses?"

At one point in thinking about Bruce's adventure, the author remarks that maybe we misconstrued what God's peace really is...not that we will live in safety, but regardless of the circumstances we are in, our soul is safe and thus we can have peace.

One other story reminded me of how we have to immerse ourselves in the lives of those that we want to have an impact on and that often the most difficult circumstances and challenging places are the very events that strip away everything that is not real from our lives and allows us to actually strengthen our relationship with God.

So, read this book for the stories, to be inspired by people following God's call and being obedient to Him


View all my reviews.

Bethel part 3

This is due in three days and I am still working on it...nothing like waiting till the last minute.

In all reality...I don't even know if what I am doing is really what they are looking for...but, oh well, nothing like expecting them to grade on a curve.

If nothing else, the amount of time I have spent on it should account for something.

I will post my assignment for everyone to see...not that anyone would care...but, for me, it marks the end of the first half of this class and it will be a memorial stone, like the Israelites grabbed as they crossed the river and built an alter...something that helped them remember as time went by the things that they went through to get where they were going.

Father's Day

Had a great Father's Day on Sunday and wanted to post that for the record!
My family gave me these awesome cards in the morning....

Then, I got to go play golf with a friend for the afternoon at a course called Juniper Hills. Never mind that I shot 99!, it was an awesome day out...and the weather even cooperated for the round, though it looked like it would downpour on top of us all day.

Day with thomas

Day out with Thomas - year 6

I haven't posted video of last year, and yet took more this year...so more work to do for me :)
It was a fun day though, and we were very blessed by the great weather that we had. We spent 4 hours enjoying the rides, having a picnic lunch and listening to a singer....we went right through nap time and it showed. Jacob passed out cold in the car within 5 minutes of starting our return trip home.

If you're happy and you know it....

I have been trying to get Jude on video for this song for a long time. Each time, he gets distracted, bothered by his brothers or decides he doesn't want to do it. It is awesome when he decides to do the whole thing and do it right, but...you get this version, which is what I could get on video. And, you get to hear my sorry voice as well :)
Enjoy it anyway, because Jude is awfully cute.

Bethel - Final Exam

So, I have talked a bit about my class on Wednesday nights and we had out final exam a week ago on Wednesday. I spent about 2 hours at the class working on part 1 and 2. I finished part one in about 5 minutes, and then spent 2 hours on part 2 and only got partially through that section.

Why did part 2 take so long? Well, the question was essentially..."write up the story of the Old Testament in your own words"
We had 20 pictures that we used as aides to our studies that gave us markers to help remember, but it is obviously a big task to write up that much information. I brought it home, and on the honor system, had to finish up, which I did a couple nights ago...after about another hour+ of writing.

Now, on to part 3...and that is to essentially write up a commentary and expound on the ninth chapter of Nehemiah. I have until the 28th to turn that in...

And, of course, we have 3 books to read over the summer, write a paper about each and to read some of the books that were written during the period of time between the OT and the NT for an understanding and context of the NT and the period of time between.

This has definitely been a class where you can get a whole lot out of it if you choose to :)

Ten Commandments

I found this site and thought I would pass it along. It is sad that so few people know the ten commandments. Take a look, even register if you want to...never know, maybe they will call you and you could win the 20k!

Here is the site:
http://www.tenandwin.com

And here is an embedded video of the memory tricks they are suggesting to help you remember all 10 commandments, in order :)

Upcoming Movie - The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry

Coming September 18th...

Here is the website...The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry

They are using a similar marketing plan to the movie last year, Fireproof, as they are hoping that churches will get behind this movie and that this will be a good choice for viewers to have as compared to some of the normal stuff that Hollywood pushes out. 

I am hoping that it will be a good thing for my boys to see, especially since they are already starting to deal with the bully and peer pressure types of situations at school.

I am also interested to see if we will continue to see acting and production improve over time for these "Christian" movies...while targeting the group and giving them something they want to see is great, if it is not well done, I think that people who spend their money on movies will start to opt for other genres.

I'm Back

First off...yes, I have not been blogging lately.
Guilty.

I am thinking I will get started again here over the next week or so...I have a number of videos that I have been working on, I am finishing up several books which have some interesting things in them and I am finally about done with my class for this year as soon as I have finished up my take home portion of our final...which should make me feel like I have time and energy to get to this page.

So, I will get back to blogging on a regularly scheduled kind of rate :)

One thing I have been thinking about is this though...and I would love anyone's input...
Should I break out my blog into two different blogs...one that is really about life and family and one that is more about the thoughts I have around the books I am reading and sermons, the bible, etc?