Book Review

I just finished reading The Shack by William P. Young. Have you heard of it? This book is a work of fiction, but is a recommended reading for every christian, seeking the true heart of God. Now that I've stated that, I will tell you, there is a lot of controversy regarding this book, but again, please note, this is a work of fiction. This book challenged my thinking in regard to God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity and how they relate to each other and to me, love, submission, independence, responsibility, and many other things.

To give you an example, when I think of what God looks like, I see an older white man with white hair and a white beard and mustache - much like the modern day Santa Claus, but not as round or jovial. In this book, God is portrayed as a black woman called 'Papa'. Strange...yes. But, that alone caused me to think outside my box. I don't know what God looks like and to presume he is my version is just one of the ways I put Him and my version of Christianity in a box and limit my trust in Him.

I want to share one passage that really struck a chord with me. This passage reminds me of what I read in my Bible in John 1:1
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood^[a] it.

It's a conversation Mack, the main character of the book, is having with the Holy Spirit about independence:

"Mackenzie, evil is a word we use to describe the absence of Good, just as we use the word darkness to describe the absence of Light or death to describe the absence of Life. Both evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to Light and Good; they do not have any actual existence. I am Light and I am Good. I am Love and there is no darkness in me. Light and Good actually exist. So, removing yourself from me will plunge you into darkness. Declaring independence will result in evil because apart from me, you can only draw upon yourself. That is death because you have separated yourself from me: Life." (p.136)

If you have a chance, check your local library or Amazon.com for this book. Then let me know what you think!

An Excerpt

I'm slowly making my way through Blue Like Jazz. I keep backing up and re-reading whole sections and putting it aside to think on it and really absorb the concepts. It's amazing how this author captures such 'simple' things as Grace, Faith, and Redemption. I've been a Christian since I was a child. I went to Bible College. These are not new concepts to me, yet, somehow, it seems as I read about God's Grace my eyes are being opened anew.

For instance:
Rick says that I will love God because he first loved me. I will obey God because I love God. But if I cannot accept God's love, I cannot love Him in return, and I cannot obey Him. Self-discipline will never make us feel righteous or clean; accepting God's love will. The ability to accept God's unconditional grace and ferocious love is all the fuel we need to obey Him in return. Accepting God's kindness and free love is something the devil does not want us to do. If we hear, in our inner ear, a voice saying we are failures, we are losers, we will never amount to anything, this is the voice of Satan trying to convince the bride that the groom does not love her. This is not the voice of God. God woos us with kindness, He changes our character with the passion of His love.

I know all of this, but the part that really gets to me is the part about accepting God's love. The build up to this paragraph is a story that truly opens one's eyes to what accepting God's grace is. I've not heard grace explained in this way before and it's really helped me to understand myself a little better. If accepting God's grace, love or forgiveness is something you struggle with, you definitely need to read this book.

Book Review

Since the last book review I've finished the second book in the Liz Curtis Higgs, Lowlands of Scotlands series, 'Fair is the Rose'


and third book, 'Whence came a Prince'.


After the first book in this series, I was truly hooked. I'm such a romantic at heart and I love how this series is giving me a different perspective on an old, old story. I've read the Bible story about Jacob, Leah and Rachel so many times and each time I'm always rooting for Rachel. In this series, I found myself looking at things through Leana's (Leah's) eyes and rooting for her.

I'm so excited because I thought there were only three books in the series, but while creating this post, I discovered there is a fourth book, 'Grace in Thine Eyes' already published. I really hope the church or city library already has it! =)

In the meantime, I'm already on to reading 'Blue Like Jazz'.

I'm just about finished with chapter 2 -- so far so good.

Thought for the day:
'The devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man's mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God.' Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz

Book Review

I just finished reading Thorn in my Heart by Liz Curtis Higgs. I walked by this book several times at Sam's Club when it came out and then the next book came out and I kept walking by it and then it was featured at the church library. Then a fellow blogger put up a review of them and I knew I had a to read them... Thanks Rebecca! I really like Liz in person & have liked her non-fiction books so thought I'd give this a try.

I ended up really liking this book, although I will say it took me about one-third of the book to really get into it. This book is set in about 1789 Scotland and is meant to sort of parallel the Bible story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel....although there is much poetic license. Now that I've read the first book, I can hardly wait to read the second one.

I also just purchase Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. This book has been around a while, I just haven't taken the time to read it. I'm excited to dig in to this one too. Kabe started swimming lessons today so I have a lot of time sitting on the side of the pool and I'm hoping to spend some of that time with a few quality books. Any thoughts on either of these books or have another one I should add to my list?

Closest book at hand ..... page 25

I was tagged by Mrs. D. at Woodland Country Life to write down a couple sentences from the current book I'm reading and then explain what those sentences mean to me. I've never been tagged before -- Thanks Mrs. D!
Well, I happen to have the devotional book, 'Hope: Abounding Hope' by Mary G. Peeples sitting right here and it's got some good stuff in it.

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The second destructive natural tendency is our dependency on people, places, things and events for emotional stability. Jesus Christ is the only one who is able to meet our need for love, joy, comfort and peace.
We look to people to meet our need for love, places to give us comfort, things to bring joy into our lives and circumstances to give us peace. (Galatians 5:22-23)
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Have you ever heard of a 'God-Spot'? I think this excerpt is sort of talking about the same thing. You know, that special place God created inside all of us that's reserved just for him. We yearn for Him to come and fill it up and until we allow Him to reside there wholly, then we'll continue to make bad choices, trying to fill up that area with other destructive tendencies, vices, peoples, whatever the case may be.
This all sounds so simple, just let go and fill-up with God. So why is it so hard?


Now who to tag....how about Kelly or Emmy. You're it!