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Read Into This

old-books-436498_1920New Reading List – Must Reads:

*1. The Emotionally Healthy Church by Peter Scazzero (This is the my favorite book of the year! It’s created a new and deep reality with Jesus. Truly, every friend in leadership must read this! This is a book that reveals our need for Jesus and delivers new ways to see lasting growth! Chapter 7: and chapter 10 are part of my weekly devotional plan! Life changer!)
2. The Prophet: Amos (Sons of Encouragement Series #4) by Francine Rivers (Maybe the greatest thing -other than the actual book of Amos -that I’ve studied about the Old Testament prophet. In the midst of inductive deep study of this book, THIS brought color and reminded of the humanity of Amos.).
*3. The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller (This book constantly reorients my “ Older Brother versus Younger Brother” thinking. A great challenge and invitation to grow! I LOVED reading parts of this to my family!)
*4. God Loves You: He Always Has, He Always Will by David Jeremiah (A constant of truth! A great book to remind us of what’s God thinks of His people!)
5. Switch on Your Brain by Dr. Caroline Leaf ( I read parts of this book to Brian. We liked the way she describes the difference between the brain and the mind. Encouraged by the authority God’s give us over our lives! Part 2 has real ways to apply this!)
*6. Dreams and Visions : Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World? by Tom Doyle (This was a road trip book-created HUGE discussion!)
7. Sundar Singh : Footprints Over the Mountains by Janet & Geoff Benge (Brian and I reread this story. He is a favorite-unknown yet known to the One. Character-building!)
8. The Greatest Among You: A Student’s Guide to Servant Leadership by Randy Sims (My son loved this-deep truths here by a great example!)
9. Ten Girls Who Changed the World by Irene Howard (I love this and love sharing with my daughter!)
10. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer (I have to read this a little at a time to really learn.)
*11. Finding Calcutta by Mary Poplin (A once a year read for me! My favorite book on Mother Theresa & her humble ministry.)
12. Girl in the Song: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Lost Her Way -and the Miracle That Led Her Home by Chrissy Cymbala (A powerful story that inspired me to pray !)
13. Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence by Ruth Haley Barton (I like the pace of this book-refreshing , serene, and focused.)
14. The Twelfth Imam by Joel C. Rosenberg ( Jaw-dropper, couldn’t put it down, astounding current and future news. Truly, I learned more about Islamic Eschatology through this book than anything else.)

Not a huge reader? Not a ton of time? The book titles with astericks would be my “must reads”! ENJOY!

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Top 4 Religious Myths-you might be surprised!

myth-v-truthTop 4 Religious Myths
1. “I guess God gave me this because He knew I could handle it.” The fact is, we CAN’T handle it. Every trial and challenge is allowed for us to experience moment-by-moment communion with God. He knows who can effectively “handle it”-Jesus. We don’t understand the power of God until He’s all we have. We can know He’s after so much more here. He wants us to come to the end of ourselves and lean on Him. Then, He can move on our behalf.
2. “God helps those who help themselves”. This is one saying that is actually utterly OPPOSITE. We can’t help ourselves because we cannot save ourselves. Jesus never need die if we could, in fact, help ourselves. If anything, we are helpless. God delights in that moment when we cry out, “God, I can’t do this anymore! I need you to help me!” Then, the Father can activate His power.
3. “God doesn’t listen to my prayers.” Typically, we say this because He’s either saying “No” to something we want or we have given up praying to a God that seems to ignore us. The fact is, He is overwhelmingly aware of us. He loves us, likes us, & wants to direct us. It startles us to think how much better God knows us than we know ourselves. He knew before He invented time that we would be so loved that He would give His only begotten Son. He listens constantly to us and reacts out of love.
4.”God couldn’t use me because I do so much wrong.” Tell yourself the biblical truth-He wants to use you. Because we naturally weigh our sins , we tell ourselves if the sin quota is reached, God’s done with us. Again, this flies in the face of the previous points . God knew that His Son would come to remove sin and transform the broken human to the victorious human. When He made us, He knew He would have to create an utterly new creation out of death. God wants us to embrace our true identity-not based on merit or mistakes-but on the effective blood of Christ. He makes us acceptable to our holy God and then gives us a calling to tell our story to others. When we doubt, we can ask ourselves, “Did Jesus take care of that sin? Is what He did enough to deal with my mess? Is my sin higher than the power of Christ?” No-it’s so much more-you are not only forgiven but commissioned as His representative on earth. May we speak this truth to ourselves, “God only uses the broken.” Like Paul.

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How to get over yourself

It’s a huge thing when we face the fact that we are (by nature) self-centered. This delightful malady has infected every person who’s ever existed-except perfect Jesus Christ. (Colossians 1:15-20) When we accept this as our reality, we understand ourselves better. In every relationship, our flesh instinctively asks, “What’s in this for me?” When a human is faced with hardship, the human asks “How can I get out of this pain?” An embarrassing revelation of this condition always seems to show itself through photography and our response to pictures. Who do we look for first? Ugh.
Many of us are tired-very tired of being self-absorbed. Self-absorption always promises happiness and delivers nothing. We spend hours on ourselves feeding the flesh and still have no peace. How can we be freed from this? Is it possible?
There is one way-we go to Jesus and say, “I cannot make myself different, but you can!” We give Him our inability and He gives us His ability. Only He can give us a new heart. (Ezekiel 36:26) We all want to be absorbed by things that deliver joy-serving God and serving people. We can be free to love, free to initiate, free to focus on other people, free to experience true peace. Because He is the great Exchanger, Jesus can give us His eyes that look out at others rather than in at ourselves.