Birds of Feather or Otherwise

I have two dear friends, Margaret and Debby, who are book lovers like myself. Now that doesn't mean that we always like the same books, but it so fun to share our thoughts on each book. Both of my friends are now reading Three Cups of Tea. I am excited to hear their opinion on the book.



My stepmom raved and raved about a book titled, The Patron Saint of Liars. I read it, but I haven't called her yet to tell her that I didn't care for it at all. Now, I am not sure why I didn't like it, maybe the story of mothers given their children up for adoption, hit too close to home for me. (When I was forty-five I found out I had a full-fledged brother who was only 11 months older than I am. He was given up for adoption by my parents--it was a well kept secret for 45 years. ) Maybe I just didn't like the story line--it didn't come to any crisis point. I kept thinking to myself "And so . . ." Or perhaps I just didn't understand the author's intent. Anyway, I need to call my stepmom and let her know. No go--on The Patron Saint of Liars.



I tried to read Crime and Clutter a Christian mystery. I couldn't make it to the second chapter. It didn't grab me, and for me not to finish a bood is very unsual. But I just can't couldn't make myself read it.



Right now, I am between books. Let me know if you know another great summer read. I am going to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with five of my birds of feather friends and would love to have a excellent book to tote to the beach.

Books, Theology, etc.

Wow! Lots of comments on some of my past blogs. Amy asked about being responsible to our call and our to biblical accuracy in writing.


Absolutely! As I write and speak the verse from James 3:1, " Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly" comes to mind. YIKES!

I always work to be doctrinally sound and within the context of the Scripture of the verses I am using. However, I think our own personalities will show throughout the writing. I think of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John they all wrote through their own experiences and personalities guided by the Holy Spirit.

I am currently working through a revision for one of my books. The editor was out-sourced from the publishing house. (Meaning she's not on staff, but contracted to edit). As I read through her comments, the one thing I find is that we "view" our Lord God very differently. Does that make either one us of right or wrong? No, but our life experiences, our churches, and our personalities tend to influence our writing. Does Andy Stanley write like Charles Spurgeon? Does Beth Moore speak like Nancy Leigh DeMoss? No. However, they all try to the best of their abilities to stay scripturally accurate.

All that to say no matter what we do for Jesus, let's make sure we are doing our best for Him.

Comments?

Home Again--Jiggedy Jig

I am back! I was only home for four days in June! I traveled from to Minnesota to North Carolina to Phoenix to Rome to Phoenix and finally arrived home late on July 3rd.

I spent time with my “Chick-a-dee Peeps in Minnesota. We celebrated Briana’s first birthday and taught Emily to ride a tricycle.











Then I was off to She Speaks! in North Carolina. What a wonderful experience being with my more than five hundred and fifty sisters in Christ. I am always amazed at multitudes of stories that are revealed during three short days. My heart breaks for the pain, yet my spirit rejoices in knowing that God is at work for eternal purposes. He never wastes a sorrow.

You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. (Psalm 30:11-12)


After She Speaks! I was off on a cruise my husband achieved through his work. We flew to Rome and went on a cruise. I had the privilege of standing on the island of Malta—where the Apostle Paul shipwrecked and bitten by a viper. Thankfully, I wasn’t shipwrecked, nor did I spy any snakes.

Anyway, I am home. It’s July! I am ready to celebrate summer in my own backyard!

Not My Cup of Tea

I finally finished Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Although this book is a New York Times Bestseller, I found it tedious. I didn't come away as inspired as I anticipated.

This true story is about Greg Mortenson dream to bring education and a school to Pakistan. I admired his grit, determination, and sacrifice. However, I found written story moved slowly. It was a challenge finish reading this book and toward the end I sped read.

No pun intended, but this book just wasn't my cup of tea.

The Shack--Revisited

The USA Today featured a story on The Shack a book that I previously wrote about on this blog. The Shack is fast becoming a book phenomenon. . It is a self-published book, which has over 1,000,000 copies in print, much controversy, and New York publishers scrambling to get their hands on it.

However, there is now a strong backlash against it. Below are two quotes that were printed in the USA Today (5/28/08).

Albert Mohler, a leading theologian of the Southern Baptist Convention, which takes the Bible literally, trashes The Shack in his weekly radio show, calling it "deeply subversive," "scripturally incorrect" and downright "dangerous."

Says Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle: "If you haven't read The Shack, don't!"

Here’s my take on the controversy. Make your own opinion. Read it yourself, because it is hot topic in our culture. How can you discuss it with friends if you haven’t even read it? It is a water cooler discussion and a blog topic—be informed! A couple a years ago, I attended Jerry Jenkin’s “Write for the Soul Writers’ Conference”. I sat in a workshop with 75-100 other Christian writers. The instructor asked, “How many of you have read The DaVinci Code? No one raised a hand. (Of course, maybe they didn’t want to admit it.) The instructor scowled and said, “Shame on all of you! How can you write with relevance on the Christian world view, if you are not aware of what people are reading and discussing around the water cooler.”

Hmmm . . . I believe he is right.

Personally, I liked The Shack. As I stated in my previous blog, it is a fiction book. It is not a theological treatise. Did I agree with everything written within the pages? No. Do I think the book has value? Yes. It has value because the book has gone mainstream. It speaks of God’s love and our worth. To me that is great starting point in any conversation where we might share our faith in Jesus.

Read it yourself! I would love to hear your opinion.

The Stinkiest

I could never finish reading C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity. I found it boring--a real snoozer. However, a friend recommended that I listen to it on my I-pod. I did and enjoyed it immensely. In fact, I plan on listening to it again. I liked the narrator's tone and British accent. It made feel as if I was sitting in the "Eagle and the Child" chatting with C.S. Lewis, eating fish and chips, and discussing the truth of faith in Jesus Christ.

It's a small book, but packed with information.

Mere Christianity once refreshed my memory on much of basic Christian theology. It teaches on God's love and human sin--especially pride. Pride is at the root of all sin. It's the stinkiest. It all began in the garden of Eden and still plagues every human being. Pride creeps in quietly. It justifies itself. It feels good.

For myself, I find it starts in my thoughts and progresses into actions. It stinks. My friend, Micca Campbell, once said, "You are never more like Satan than when you are seeking your own glory." C.S. Lewis agrees.

Here's my take away from listening to the audio book of Mere Christianity. Christianity is easy. Jesus made it easy. However, resisting our own pride is difficult. I recommend Mere Chrisianity as a reminder and a excellent resource on how to battle the stinkiest sin of pride.

Thought Provoking

Over this long weekend I read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. He is the author of The Kite Runner, also. Both books are excellent. I doubted I would like A Thousand Splendid Suns as well as the The Kite Runner. However, to my surprise and delight—I liked it even better. Both books are set in Afghanistan and are very thought provoking. Although fictional these books give insight into a world that is foreign to us.

I could not put A Thousand Splendid Suns down. One night I stayed up to 2:00 AM, so that I could finish it. I highly recommend this book. It will spark compassion to pray for women who are locked into any type of repressive culture.

After finishing A Thousand Splendid Suns, I started reading Three Cups of Tea. It is a true story of a man whose goal in life is to bring education to girls who live in the Middle East that have little or no education. Again, I wasn’t sure if I would care for this book. However, I am finding it fascinating. I will let you know after I finish it, whether it is a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

But if you want a thought provoking read, run to the library and check out A Thousand Splendid Suns, it will only take a three or four suns to read it.