WHY CHRISTMAS? by Barbara Reaoch: My thoughts

“Why Christmas?” by Barbara Reaoch and illustrated by Carol MCCarty  (Shepherd Press, 2012) Has a great combination of scriptures to study during the weeks leading up to Christmas . The 4 week plan has a Scripture reading for each day, followed by a devotion, and what the author calls the Truth, as short pithy statement that encapsulates the Scripture passage. She also includes some discussion questions for each day, and for each week there is a scripture passage to memorize. Each day’s lesson closes with a Christmas Carol that the family can sing together.

The scripture passages that Reaoch has chosen tell the traditional Nativity story along with some of the Old Testament Messianic prophecies, and some New Testament commentary on the person of Christ. The passages are the appropriate ones needed to tell the story, and theologically her devotional comments are sound, and written for children. However some of the discussion questions seemed overly simplistic, while others seemed to be more mature than would seem to go with the comments.

I liked the concept, but somehow the layout seemed dated to me. The illustrations are the same style that I remember from my childhood, and when I asked my college-aged son what time frame the illustrations were drawn in, he suggested that they were probably from the 60’s or 70’s.  The Carols that she chose fit the scriptures, but for younger children I think it might have been better to focus on one hymn each week rather than skip back and forth.

I’m hard put to decide what age group this works for. The comments seem to be for one age group and the discussion questions for another. Like in “Why Easter?”, there is nothing to really dislike, but for me the pieces don’t fit together well enough that I can offer a rave review.

7/10

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Cross Focused Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

my thoughts on Barbara Reaoch's "WHY EASTER?"

         “Why Easter?” by Barbara Reaoch and illustrated by Carol MCCarty  (Shepherd Press, 2012) should have been just the book I was looking for to recommend as a family devotional. The 4 week plan has a Scripture reading for each day, followed by a devotion, and what the author calls the Truth, as short pithy statement that encapsulates the Scripture passage. She also includes some discussion questions for each day, and for each week there is a scripture passage to memorize. Each day’s lesson closes with a hymn that the family can sing together.

     The scripture passages that Reaoch has chosen tell the story, starting with the story of Jesus calling Lazarus from the grave, through the events of the Passion Week and the Resurrection and concludes with some of the post resurrection appearances and commissioning statements.  The passages are the appropriate ones needed to tell the story, and theologically her devotional comments are sound, and written at an age appropriate level. Some of the discussion questions seemed overly simplistic, while others seemed to be more mature than I would expect for young children. Perhaps ages of the grandchildren she was writing for covered a longer range than I imagined.

      I liked the concept, but somehow the layout seemed dated to me. The illustrations are the same style that I remember from my childhood, and when I asked my college-aged son what time frame the illustrations were drawn in, he suggested that they were probably from the 60’s or 70’s.  The hymns also seemed a bit mature for young children.  (I pastor a church where we sing some of these hymns, but the kids in Sunday school aren’t learning them.)

     I’m hard put to decide what age group this works for. The comments seem to be for one age group, the discussion questions for another, and the hymns for still another. There is nothing to really dislike, but for me the pieces don’t fit together well enough that I can offer a rave review.

      7/10

     Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Cross Focused Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

World Water Day Is Coming Soon (Mar 22)

              This Sunday, the 22^nd of March, the world unites in recognition of World Water Day. And no, it's not just another  excuse for the card companies to get rich. It's to draw the attention to a large percentage of the world that there is still a large part of the world that has to deal with the consequences of not having access to clean water.  We can choose to ignore it, to not talk about it, but that doesn't make the problem go away.  So on behalf of those who are suffering, it's time for the rest of us to stop playing ostrich!

            I recently got an email from Gospel for Asia with some startling facts (they provide sources, if you want to see them, contact me, and I'll forward the email). And if you're wondering why GFA is concerned about water rather than the gospel, there's a simple explanation: Of the 750 million people (about 2 ½ times the population of the US) without access to clean water, about half live in  South Asia. And they make a connection with this comment that someone posted on their FB page  “Clean water is to the body what Jesus is to the spirit… LIFE."  Gospel for Asia is concerned because the people who are suffering the most live in Asia.   And think of the scriptural connection: Jesus is the "Living Water'

           Consider these statistics (and every one of those 'statistics' is a real person, not just a number) concerning the lack of clean water.

·  Moms have little choice but to give their children dirty water to drink.

·  Every minute, a child dies from a water-related disease.

·  Globally, women spend 200 million hours collecting water for their families.

·  Open defecation and the lack of sanitation only worsen the water crisis. About 65% of people living in rural India do not have access to a toilet.

·  More than 840,000 people (more than the population of San Francisco) die each year (2,300 each day) from water related diseases.

     

        So we have it pretty good here. For many of us in Utah a big 'dirty water' problem is remembering to rinse off with culinary water, the vegetables that get watered with the unclean 'secondary water.  But imagine if that's all we had to drink? What would it be like to do dishes with the irrigation water. How would you like to shower in unclean water, or wash your hair with it? Most of us would be a bit squeamish. We don't even like to swim in dirty smelly water, no way would we drink it or bathe in it. But Utah, and the western part of the US is under drought conditions. What happens when water is rationed, or if clean water is just not available?

        

            If you're like me, you don't think a lot about the problems facing people who don't have access to clean water because, well,  those problems just don't affect me. 

          

          Jesus might not see it that way though; When He talked about the sheep and the goats (see Matthew 25) when of the things he mentioned was giving 'the least of these' something to drink. "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" Jesus was referring to any group as "less than" he was saying they needed more.

         If you've been blessed with clean water, try to find it in your heart to donate to those who aren't quite so fortunate.  I'm helping Living Water International this year (click for info), but Gospel for Asia  also offers several opportunities to help provide clean water throughout South Asia click here for more info. 

         

       Whew, that made me thirsty,  think I'll have a nice glass of cold clean water. Oh wait... 

Enough posing, it's time to get real

Are you a Christian Poser? Jarrid Wilson asks that question in his new book “Jesus Swagger: Break Free from Poser Christianity” (Thomas Nelson 2015). Of course the answer for most of us is a resounding “NO!” that is, until we think about it a little more deeply.

Swagger, like so many other words has different meaning depending on how you use it. And Jesus Swagger is no different. Some of the swagger leads to posing. We all know people who do the apparent right things: they’re in church every Sunday, they memorize bible verse, they try to stay out of trouble, they wear the crosses and the tee shirts, and they have the bumper stickers. To the casual observer they must be a hardcore core Christian. But are they really following Christ, or are they just posing?

This book is a battle call to Christianity. Loving God AND loving your neighbors. It’s a reminder that Jesus was all about equality, about healing the sick, about caring for the hungry, and commitment.  We might say we want to do it, but…. My heart broke as I read the example (pg 70-72) of a visit to a church that was talking about growth, reaching people, loving people and working with the homeless. There was even reserved seating for special people. The marginalized group that the pastor wanted to work with were ‘invited’ to sit off to the side, away from the rest of the congregation.  Probably an extreme example, but how often do we, perhaps unintentionally, do similar things?

            

            The 5^th chapter reminds us that “Jesus is hiring part-time disciples”. He wants us to commit, to be on mission wherever we are, whatever we’re doing. Not everyone is called to fulltime professional ministry, but wherever we are, at school or in the workplace, at work or at play, at the grocery store or the laundromat we are called to live out and display our faith and our belief in the salvific power of the gospel. This is a call to be the change that the world needs, and a reminder that to love Jesus is to follow Jesus.

            Along the way there are some fun things to ponder. Lists like “8 differences between a believer and a follower” (p 9), “5 ways to get closer to God” (p36) and “6 ways to have a lukewarm relationship with God” (p 38).

       

           I have to admit that for me the book started slowly; but it rapidly picked up the pace. It’s a fun read, and has lots of good reminders of what it is that we signed up for. But be prepared, you’ll be challenged to evaluate your relationship with the Christ, and you might even realize that you’ve been posing long enough and that it’s time to get serious!

               I received this book from the published in exchange for my review.

4/5

A simple prayer to help open your heart to God's presence

            We live in a time when many people are getting farther and farther away from God.  Many consider themselves "spiritual but not religious" they fall into the new category of religious affiliation called "the nones" and there's a problem with that. They're learning about God on their own rather than in community, and when they do that they often end up misinformed.  Luckily God doesn't give up so easily and many of those who turn from God because they can't grasp His true nature, find themselves being drawn back into His loving arms.

          

            Finding Your Way back to God: 5 Awakenings to Your New Life, (Dave Ferguson and Jon Ferguson, Multnomah, 2015) is, in a way, a reframing of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-31) and reminds us that within each of our souls, there exists a  little of the Prodigal.  And like the son in the parable who was eagerly and warmly welcomed home by his father, our Heavenly Father has that joyous reunion prepared for those of us who stray. But we have to be willing and ready to return.

            

         The title worries me because it sounds like a self help book, a book that will tell us how we get back to God, as if it's all up to us, instead of being an act of God. The book, like the parable doesn't necessarily go there, but still… And in all fairness, the authors do point out that God wants to be found more than we want to find Him, so if we seek with an open mind and heart, He will make himself known.  

            

          Having said that, I enjoyed the book. The premise is simple, when people hurt, they are more likely to turn to God than when they seem to have it all together. And when they hurt, they don't need long involved theological discussions on the nature of God - they need simple tools to help them experience His presence in their lives. That simple tool in this case is a prayer, a simple prayer with various adaptations according to the situation. It goes like this: "God, if you are real, make yourself real to me."

          

           The authors invite the reader to explore 5 awakenings, that is recognize some things that we are searching for, and to apply this prayer in those areas. At the end of the book, there is a 30 day "wager" or prayer challenge (prayer the 'if you're real' prayer for 6 days over each of those areas, in combination with reflection and journaling. This is the process  

            -  Awake to longing: there's got to be more

            -  Awake to regret: I wish I could start over

            -  Awake to help: I can't do this on my own

            - Awake to love: God loves me deeply after all

            - Awake to Life: now this is living.

         So if you are believe that there is a God, but don't know him yet, this book may just be the thing that you need to get started on the path to abundant life that Jesus came to offer. A life that God desires for each of you.

         Worth the read 4/5

            For more information about the book or the authors click here or here.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Dare to share your pew with a stranger

               I'm reading a book, which I'll review later, and was brought up short by an interesting account of how not to be the church. It doesn't happen quite that way in any churches where I have ever fellowshipped, but often the end result is the same.  A young man who was visiting a church for the first time and who already felt out of place in the congregation because of his age and body art, noticed some people sitting apart from the group. He asked one of them to join him, but the man refused. Later he found out that there was a section of the church reserved for the undesirables that showed up on Sunday morning. They were allowed to attend the service, as long as they stayed in their place.  As soon as church was over they were invited to get their things and leave.

      

       The scary part of that story is not just that the church being mentioned has a corner where the marginalized are invited to sit, (away from 'decent' people),  but that in far too many churches the invisible walls that go up when  a stranger walks in make the stranger feel like he is in an isolation ward.

        

         Jesus was so in touch with the needs of, gasp, can I say the word, sinners. He ate with sinners and let the unclean(sinners)  touch his clothing. He even touched a leper (sinner)- before healing him. He talked with the Samaritan woman (sinner), and was friends with prostitutes (sinners) and even with a tax collector (sinner).  And then he calls us (sinners) to follow him; after all isn't Christian the name given to Christ followers? Are we willing to eat with sinners, will we go out of our way to love the unlovable?

           

           Week after week we make it a point at 11:00 am on Sunday morning  to be in our 'assigned' pew.  After all, we're good Christians, and that’s what Christians do. And then the unthinkable happens. We walk in and one of those people is sitting in our pew. How dare they?  Or Worse, we're already seated and they come in and without even asking, sit down next to us.  And they aren't dressed right, they may not have showered, the men have long hair, the women have short hair. Didn't anybody  ever tell them what's appropriate grooming for church?

           

            We don't know them, and we don't want to. We want to be safe in our little Christian cocoon that we call a church. But here's the thing. We're sinners too. We're all in this sin thing together. Sure our sins are different -  in our eyes;  but in God's eyes a sin is a sin. Yes some of 'those people' don't dress like we do, they might not have had a chance to take a shower, and some of their body art is questionable at best, or maybe the result of poor choices, or maybe it belongs to a time in their lives that God has already put behind them (and so should we).

          

                Your church probably doesn't have a separate room for people who haven't yet proved that they fit in; mine doesn't either. But it's a sin that sometimes, without even realizing it, we make people feel that way. They walk in looking for something, and instead of showing them the love that we have found, instead of sharing with them our hope, we leave them on the sidelines to figure it out for themselves.  The gospels would read quite differently if Jesus had the same attitude towards outsiders as many self-professed Christians do.

          

            Churches want to grow, but they don't always do really well at making a visitor feel welcome; and then they wonder why people visit once but don't return.  The only requirement for membership in a 12- step group is a desire to drinking/using/smoking/overeating/whatever. Why does the church insist on making it so much more difficult for someone to join a fellowship of believers?

           

              I love it when people in the church are able to put aside their initial reactions to someone new, and  go to the visitor, the stranger, and they introduce themselves, and find a place for them to sit…not in a corner, but next to them.  "This is my pew, please sit here with me", rather than "this is my pew - you'll have to find someplace else to sit".  After all, that's what Jesus would do, and we're supposed to be following Him.

            

                My prayer is that each of us would get up the courage to share a smile, a kind word, hey maybe even dare to share your pew with the stranger that walks into your church next week.  After all, a stranger is just a friend you haven't met, and as it's written in Hebrew (13:2)  " Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." (NIV)

Saving lives by drinking water

Want to help save lives? Pick a week. Drink only tap water. Count up what you would have spent on other beverages, then click here and donate what you would have spent. the money goes to provide clean drinking water in India. (Or keep track of  what it cost you to drink other than tap water, and match that amount.) Either way it serves a good cause.

Easter is Early this year

   Starting to get excited about our Easter services. 

    On Good Friday (Apr 3) we'll have Prayers around the Cross. The thief on the cross next to Jesus turned to the Christ on the Cross and prayed "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" Shouldn't we be doing the same thing. Join us at 7 pm.

    Two services on Resurrection Sunday (Apr 5). Outdoors (the park) at 8:00 am, as we lift our voices in singing praises to the King. Our Regular worship service will be at 10:00 am (note time change) and we'll celebrate the Light of Christ with light, song, and a living cross. 

    Mark your calendar now so you don't forget

I met Jesus again thanks to these 5 special women

                If you've been in church very long, you've  heard sermons on 5 special women: the woman caught in adultery, a woman with a past, the woman at the well, the woman with the bleeding issue, and Mary the sister of Lazarus. Over the years I've heard several such sermons, and even preached a few of them. But they were never anything like this.

                In "The Day I Met Jesus: The Revealing Diaries of Five Women from the Gospels" ( Baker Books, 2015) Frank Viola and Mary DeMuth have taken the stories of these 5 women and personalized them in such a way that they truly come alive for us.  Each chapter is broken into several sections. First is the 'diary': a fleshing out of the story, full of details about the culture of the time and some extra-biblical facts woven into a compelling narrative that grips the reader's attention.  The diary is followed by the 'Sacred Text" the actual Biblical account from one or more of the Gospels; that is followed by "walking it out" - the exegesis and application to our times and our lives.

                The discussion questions at the end of the book make this an ideal resource for a small group or a bible study.

                And there is a common theme: We love, because he first loved us. Jesus loved these women for who they were and the called them to be transformed;  even though from a cultural standpoint he had no business even talking to them. An adulterous woman, a woman with a 'past', a Samaritan woman, a woman who was ceremonially unclean, and yes, even Mary the sister of Lazarus had a bit of a history, and she bares her doubts about the Messiah.

                Jesus loved the unlovable of his day, and he continues to love the unlovable (us) today. I think it's pretty near impossible to read this book with an open mind and not finish it full of hope.

                I received a copy of this book from Baker Books in exchange for the review. 

                5/5

Is your prayer life everything you want it to be

Jared Brock has showed us all how to revive our prayer lives in this delightful and informational book on how and why people pray. The title, “A Year of Living Prayerfully: How a Curious Traveler Met the Pope, Walked on Coals, Danced with Rabbis, and Revived His Prayer Life” (Tyndale, 2015), sounds intriguing, and maybe a little facetious – which is probably why I asked for a review copy- but this book turns out to be one of the most engaging books on prayer that I have ever read. Watch the trailer here

          

      This is an account of a personal journey, and a personal journey is what our prayer lives should be. Granted everyone isn't ready to journey to some of the places that Jared did, but we can live, and learn, vicariously through his adventures.

           

     Interwoven in the accounts of his frustrating, exciting and dangerous adventures in several different places (I’m not sure I would want to be in North Korea and defy a decree from the Supreme Leader; getting thrown into the Lion’s Den (metaphorically speaking) doesn't really appeal to me) are historical accounts of how greater pray-ers prayed and pray.

          

      Throughout his travels Jared asked people a simple question: what is prayer? And the responses were strikingly similar: to get closer to God.  Regardless of how people pray, or when, or where, or if they pray alone or with others, they are praying in the way that they feel will allow them to draw nearer to God. People use different prayer models, there are different types of prayer for different times of day or different seasons of the year. We pray to glorify God, to intercede for others, and in an attempt to grow the kingdom. And Jared does a wonderful job of showing us that prayer should be an essential part of our lives.

                Think you don’t know how to pray? Reading this book will give you some great ideas of how to get started. Think prayer’s a waste of time? There are some powerful examples of how effective prayer really is. Don’t have time to pray? Think again!

                A fun read, that will give you any number of ideas on how to strengthen your prayer life. And you don’t have to go to North Korea to learn how.

                If you would like to know more about Jared and his adventures, (and read a couple of chapters of the book) head to his website  . You can also follow on FaceBook

                Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a copy of the book in exchange for my review.       

                A definite A+

Finding Jesus: still questions but Easter is coming.

       Sunday evening at 7, (Utah time) on CNN we watched the Segment of "Finding Jesus"  concerning the Shroud of Turin. (If you missed it, you can watch it HERE) and the 6 part series is set to conclude on Easter Sunday. Today I finished the  book "Finding Jesus: Faith . Fact. Forgery.: Six Holy Objects that Tell the Remarkable Story of the Gospels", by David Gibson and Michael McKinley (St Martin's Press, 2015).

    

   The book covers  6 of the mysteries that have plagued the church for many centuries. They're things that are important to believers: either that they are true, or that they aren't true. Thus the FAITH. Although they are alluded to, or have some basis in scripture, they're things that are very difficult to prove, mainly because there is no chain of custody, no provenance to prove that they really do date from almost 2000 years. And in the case of the gospels of Judas and Mary, which seem to date from a couple of centuries after the time of Christ, where is the supporting evidence that they were based on fact?

                   The authors have done extensive research into the research that has been done concerning the Shroud of Turin, a piece of the True Cross, the Ossuary of James, brother of Jesus, relics (bones) of John the Baptist, and the two extra-biblical gospels, considered to be Gnostic writings. They address tradition from over a millennium ago, and findings from as recent as a couple of years ago.

If you enjoy The History Channel , or Discovery, this book ( and the CNN series) will appeal to you. If you're a Christian, you will appreciate the work  that has gone into trying to clarify the questions that so many of us have about how new archeological finds are vetted and determined to be authentic or a forgery, and if you are questioning the Christian Faith, you will be glad to find that theology and doctrine  are derived from more than personal opinion which can't be verified.

            I am more impressed with the fact that the authors acknowledge that there is still no scientific way of proving or disproving  many of the questions that the church has been dealing with for years.  What remains is the Bible and what it does or doesn't say, plus the various discoveries that have been found or invented over the years.

        This is thought provoking, and believers or questioners should find it interesting.

       Watch one or more of the episodes and leave a comment (here or on FaceBook)  The week after Easter I'll randomly select one person to receive a copy of the book, compliments of Grace Hill Media and AmbassadorInExile

I received a copy of this book from Grace Hill Media in exchange for the review.