Nice as an idol

We teach our kids to be nice, we try to be nice to people, we really with that people would be nice to us.  I’m not even sure why I requested a copy of this book, it sounded like it might just be a little too shmaltzy for my taste. But there was something about the subtitle that caught my attention, and so I signed up for Sharon Hodde Miller’s book Nice: Why We Love to Be Liked and How God Calls Us to More (Baker Books, 2019).

So, the question we are invited to ask is a simple one: is nice really such a good thing? And according to Miller, maybe not. In fact, instead of the ‘fruits of the Spirit” which are a good thing, the ‘fruits of nice” can arguably be called idols.

Under the guise of nicety, we tend to be a lot of things that God never intended. In the first part of the book, we read about how we may come across as nice, but in reality, we are fake, rotten, bland, bitter, hard, and even processed (think mawkish sentimentality). But there is hope. The fault of bad fruit, is not the fruit, but the tree from which it comes. The solution is to cultivate a better tree. Pruning, and caring for the tree often help, and sometimes we just need to cut down the tree and start over.

After discussing the bad fruit, Miller moves on to the signs of a healthy tree: Embracing the design, rooting the soul, pruning the produce, and learning to flourish in the wilderness.

And suddenly we have fruit that lasts.

I enjoy reading about idols and idolatry, mainly because I, along with probably everyone I know suffers from this deadly disease.

As a member of the publisher’s bloggers’ program I received a copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review.

4/5

be bold, pray bold

I have learned a lot about prayer over the years from the books I read. For example, God is not offended by big prayers—He would much rather we reach out in faith than have us doubt His abilities by only praying the smallest of prayers. Or things like ‘unprayed prayers’ don’t get answered. So when I saw the opportunity to read Pray Big Things: The Surprising Life God Has for You When You’re BOLD ENOUGH TO ASK (Julia Jeffress Sadler, Baker Books, 2019) I jumped at the chance.

Let me start by saying that I don’t disagree with any of Sadler’s claims or assertions about prayer, and she does have some pretty compelling stories of how God answered her prayers (after several miscarriages with that associated heartbreak, she and her husband prayed specifically for 1) biological children, 2) multiples and 3) both genders—the result was healthy triplets).

But as far as reading the book, it was hard for me to stay engaged. I blame it more on my preference for writing style than anything else, but still, this is not a book that grabbed my attention and refused to let go. There were no earth-shattering moments, no new ideas, nothing that caught my attention and caused me to wonder why I hadn’t considered that before.

And coming from a preacher, it seemed that there were almost too many scripture references. They all fit, but I often got the idea that some of the quotes from scripture were there because the chapter needed a few more words.  Reading this book for me was like listening to a new preacher: they have a point to make, or want to get a particular message across, so they look for verses, sometimes out of context, that seem to support their point of view. And when you only have 15 minutes worth of words for your 20 minute message, how better to fill the time than to quote Jesus.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher as a member of their bloggers’ program. I was not required to write a positive review.

3/5

How bad is not good enough?

Several weeks ago, I was at the gym, and because I get bored easily while on treadmill or stair stepper, I usually listen to a play list off my phone. That day for some reason, I decided to listen to a podcast. The one I stumbled on had as a guest that day Mike Lyon, author of I’m not Hitler: A Real Conversation about Entry to Heaven (Artistic Lyon, LLC, 2019). The podcast seemed to be faith-based, but the conversation with Mike had quite a different tone to it than I am used to. Nothing negative implied there, frankly I found it refreshing. He was admitting to being human, that is, not perfect, but despite the fact that his language might be a little salty at times, he still loves Jesus, and believes, trusts, has faith that Jesus loves him.  Since I enjoyed listening to the podcast, and found the title of the book rather intriguing, when I finished with the machines, it was time to visit Amazon and buy the book.  Definitely not disappointed.

                There are 23 short chapters, and each one concludes with a couple of questions that really make one think. Mike addresses a number of issues that are often stumbling blocks pre-believers, but as he talks about his own experiences, doubts, and fears, he quickly puts those concerns to rest.

Two of the issues that quickly jump out are the questions of how good do you have to be to get to heaven, (and why, if you’re a good person, can’t you get to heaven without Jesus)? And what do we do with all those other religions, all of whom claim exclusive rights to heaven. The point he makes so clearly is that contradictory statements can’t all be true—either they are all wrong, or one is right, and the rest are wrong. And then he lays out his thought process for believing that Jesus is the way to heaven.

                At first the title didn’t make much sense, until I stopped to think about his main premise, that just being good isn’t good enough. But I imagine that there are still people who think they can be good enough, and anyway, even if they fall short in some areas, they’re not as bad as Hitler (or Genghis Khan or Saddam Hussein, or any of the evil doers of our day).

                I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The author’s candor made it come alive for me as he made his various points. 

                This would be a great book for a small group to study, and it can be quite a valuable tool for helping pre- or new-believers better understand the Christian faith.

                5/5

Double Blessings by Mark Batterson

What do you think of when you hear about blessings? I’m sure that there are probably as many ideas of what the word means as there are people considering the question. Apart from the obvious ‘Bless you!’ when someone sneezes, there are a lot of ways to understand the word.

                When Isaac was about to die, he gave a blessing to what he thought was his oldest son. There were certain elements to that type of patriarchal blessing, that often are often included still today in some cultures. Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, and that was a blessing. Often today when we receive an unexpected gift, we remark that it was such a blessing—especially if it comes at a time when we have an emergency or some type of crisis that we don’t know how we can pay for.

                But Mark Batterson points out that there are 2 parts to blessings: receiving and giving. And his book Double Blessing: How to Get It. How to Give It¸(Multnomah, 2019) gives lots of examples of both.

                If you’ve read any of Mark’s other books, you know that he is a gifted scholar and writer. He has the advanced knowledge needed to write about the deepest of topics, and the gift of putting advanced concepts into terms that the ordinary reader can understand. With a combination of scripture and personal experiences, he brings his subject matter to life.

                Many people grew up hearing it’s better to give than receive, and as a result we find it hard to accept the blessings that come our way. So, it makes sense that Mark starts out by writing about how to get blessings, and then how to give.  I love his concept of double blessings, for example if someone blesses him with a gift card, he might regift it, or he might get a gift card that he knows someone else could use, or would like. The point is, he’s not locked into blessing the person that blessed him, but rather into passing the blessing on to someone else.

                And he uses these blessing moments as teaching moments, discipleship at its finest, leaving a legacy of people who have learned the blessing of being able to bless others.  Wondering if that’s biblical?  Go look up Genesis 12: 1-3 and read what God told Abraham about how being blessed is supposed to work.

                One negative comment, on an otherwise excellent book---Mark, as do many multi-book authors, often repeats anecdotal material. If this is the first of his books that  you’ve read you’ll appreciate the stories, but after reading several books, I look for something a little different.  

                As a part of the launch team for this book I received a copy of the uncorrected proof. I was asked to read the entire book and post a review. There was no requirement to post a positive review.

 Once again Mark Batterson has written a book that deserves a 5 star rating.

thoughts on "Radiant: His Light, Your Life

Most people have trouble understanding who we really are, especially who we are in Christ, who we are in God’s eyes.  Instead we tend to listen to everyone else and blindly accept the labels that the world pins on us.  Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone would study the book of Ephesians and learn about their true identity?

 Recently a new faith-based movie, Overcomer, directed by Alex Kendrick and produced by Stephen Kendrick released in theaters.  Several books ‘inspired by the movie’ and geared toward different groups have been published. I’ve reviewed three of them, and now it’s time to write about the 4^th one in the group. Radiant: His Light, your life (B&H publishing, 2019) is written by Priscilla Shirer, who stars in the movie. This book is written especially for teen girls and young women.  

Ms Shirer writes from personal experience about finding her identity. She discusses issues that she has dealt with as she learned to shake off labels imposed on her by someone else, in favor of looking in the mirror and seeing the beautiful woman that she is, a child of God, created in His image.

Of course there is a journey involved, and she is careful document that journey, leading from a place of darkness to a realization that God had a plan for her, and then leaning what she needed to do to fulfill that plan.

There are 4 parts to this book each with several chapters. Each part begins with scriptures to read, affirmations to recite, along with an example of God’s eternal truth which women should believe.  At the end of each section there are things to think about and ‘takeaways’.

Many of the chapters include lists—list of the names that women should be called by, names that define who they are in God’s sight.

In today’s society, almost every women could benefit from the message that Priscilla offers. I think this book would work well as a women’s study guide, although reading it ‘solo’ would certainly be beneficial.

I received a copy  of this book from the publisher as part of their blogger’s program.

4/5