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My Review of What Difference Do it Make?

Yes, that is the correct title. If you read the first book, Same Kind of Different as Me, then it makes sense. The saying goes. "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read." (attributed to Charles Jones) Same Kind of Different as Me was one of those books in my life. This book is a follow-up where Ron and Denver share in more detail their story together as well as how their book has influenced others to examine their hearts and their view of homelessness. It contains amazing recounts of people who after reading their first book, evaluated the role they could play in serving others, mainly those that are not in their circle. This book doesn't make sense unless you have read the first one and I highly recommend that you read BOTH in the order they were written. I was one of those people who thought that my kindness to those "less fortunate" at the holidays was a good thing...and it is in a way. But Denver's account as a homeless man of his thoughts when "nice white people" help out during the holidays was a wake-up call. He asked, "Do they think we don't need their help the other 11 months out of the year?" That honest statement has helped me to play a part in our church's response to a specific people group at Woodhaven Apartments year round here on the Island. We are are there every week and we have no intention of leaving. From restoring their community center, to helping kids with homework after school, to feeding them every week, to being there at the holidays...it is awesome to be a part of a ministry that thinks about the other 11 months more than just Christmas. In this second book, Denver encourages us to just give when we see the need. Don't worry about where it is going. Don't judge someone just because of their appearance. Do what you can with what you have and allow God to do the rest. There is such freedom in that way of living, don't you think?

My Review of "Fearless" by Max Lucado

The timing of this book could not be more perfect.  In a way that only Max Lucado can, he carefully weaves Scriptural truths into the most current of situations that we are all facing right now.  Fearless goes to the heart of an issue that is paralyzing our culture and the church today...we are afraid. We fear not making our mark in life, having enough money, our children being safe...Lucado shows us how Scripture gives us confidence and in living out those truths, we can become fearless when it comes to the day-to-day living of our lives.  I was convicted about how much I really do not trust God on certain things in my life because I choose to worry rather than pray and trust God to work it out. This book contains a great discussion guide that we are considering using for a Small Group this fall at our church. This book is a MUST read for everyone but very timely for anyone you know that is struggling with fear and anxiety in their lives. We all need to be reminded of who we are in Christ and the abundant life that He has for us...living fearless and without worry.

My Review of Between Wyomings by Ken Mansfield

What better way to tell the story of your life than on a road trip? That is what Ken does with such beautiful language - weaving personal stories into the physical landscape that is our beautiful nation. As he and his wife Connie leave their home in Bodega Bay in a they call "MOSES", they take a physical as well as mental journey to some of the most memorable places in their lives and recount for us the struggles, victories, and just plain interesting stories of their lives.  Having produced a few records myself on a MUCH smaller scale than Mr. Mansfield, I was drawn in with great interest to his recounts of working with major artists at Capital Records and the "intimate" stories of their interaction that could only be trusted to be true because HE was there to witness them.  At times, Ken rambles with his thoughts and I appreciate that he was allowed to do that in this book because as an artist, I SO connected with the way he eloquently expressed the feelings, emotions, confusion, and struggle of understanding the spiritual realm and how it interacts with the physical day-to-day life. I highly recommend this book to artists and creatives. It was an easy read and will encourage your faith journey as an artist.

Wasbi Gospel Book Bomb - TODAY!

I love the way Shawn Wood communicates. He is one of those rare people who I believe is an excellent verbal communicator as well as an author. Reading his books are like hearing him speak and I like that. TODAY is the Book Bomb at Amazon.com....CLICK HERE to buy the book and I am telling you, YOU NEED to get this book!  It is difficult growing up in church, being around church, and working at a church my entire adult life to not become callous and "Yeah, I've heard that before..." The 1st couple of chapters of this book absolutely gave me the smack in my face that I needed right now in my life.  I like books that cut through the facade and say it. This is one of my favorite quotes from Sean in the book..." I like butter statements. I like the teachings of Jesus being churned down into an easy-to-swallow action step that I can add to the top of my already fat life as a spiritual topping. I guess sometimes I don't like getting slapped with the truth of what Jesus is really saying..." Wasabi Gospel  (pg.6) This is true for me. I don't want to deal with forgiveness, anger, bitterness...just give me a quick 3 points and an illustration so I can feel better...I hate to admit, but Sean is right. This is what we do as Christians - at least I do. I've been chewing on this "forgiveness" thing a lot. Last week's message at church was on this subject and then I have been reading this book.  This is what I need right now and Sean's book has just complemented what God has already been doing in my life. Need some water in your face? Get this book.

Little Leaders

I'm listening to Louie Giglio's book "I Am Not but I know I AM"  from a few years back on my ipod during my workout. I was so struck today by this chapter describing John the Baptist. He gets the ball rolling for God's Son, he baptizes the Son of God, then Jesus takes a good bit of his followers. How would we feel about that? Louie describes John the Baptist as a "Little Leader" because John saw his role to decrease and prepare the way for the Son of God....that was his goal. I really thought about that.  Is it my goal to decrease and let the Son of God increase even if that means I have to take a back seat?  When John's followers "brought it to his attention" that he was losing followers to Jesus, John's reply was, "He must increase, but I must decrease. " (John 3:30) Are we comfortable when others succeed? As church leaders, are we "a tad bit jealous" when another church hits a home run? How much of my time is spent on "positioning" myself  instead of seeing how much I can take myself out of the equation so that Christ is honored and not me? We all need encouragement and it's nice to get kudos, but, if we are living for that....just think about it.

Do you want to be a "Little Leader?"

What are you reading?

I'm a book junkie with ADD...the problem is I do not have the time to read everything that is sitting on my nightstand and that I see in B & N. So, I'm trying to make steady progress through the stack I've started that I haven't finished. I read fast, but I skim which means sometimes, I don't get it the 1st time!

I'm focusing on these right now...

1. The Multi-Site Revolution  - this is a re-read(remember, I skim) since I'm attending the conference at Seacoast in September.

2. Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands - Lessons in Non-Linear Leadership - Nancy Ortberg is one of my heroes and a gifted speaker and writer. She gets artists so I like her!

3. When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box  - This is our small group study for the fall. John Orberg shoots straight (oh yeah, he's married to Nancy - can we say "Power couple?")

What's on your nightstand?

"A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking." -Jerry Seinfeld

Fancy Nancy

Sydney got this book from one of her friends, Julia, for her birthday and we have read it EVERY night this week!  If you have a little girl who is VERY much into being a princess, make-up, her clothes(mommy, they have to match!), this is fabulous book!   Written by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser,it teaches a lot of big words in a fun way and it is illustrated beautifully.  Go get it!

Patches of Godlight

One of the most enjoyble "pick-me ups" that I do as much as I can is to wander around Barnes and Noble. I search my favorite authors just to see if possibly I have missed a new book they have written and every now and then I stumble across a gem. This happened recently and I have to share this book with you. I am a huge Jan Karon fan and for those of you that have read her Mitford series, you are familiar with Father Tim Kavanagh (they are not girl books, guys!). Throughout these books, Father Tim referes to his personal journal and his thoughts as he records them. Jan took these thoughts from the entire series and put them in one book entitled Patches of Godlight - quotes from C.S. Lewis, Lord Byron, Aristotle, Thoreau, The Bible, and so many more. This collection has been such a wonderful refreshment for me. Whether you have read Jan Karon's work or not , you will enjoy this collection of great quotes and thoughts. Check it out...

Book Review:Choosing the Right Path to Your Creative Summit

I read Randy Elrod's new book this morning...It's about 18 pages of energy!  The challenge for every creative is to stay fresh and to be challenged to break outside of what you have always done and reach for something that honestly may be out of your reach.  This book will be a mainstay for me in my personal reading because I need to be reminded of the beauty and the exhilaration that being creative holds for me everyday. Being a wife, mother of 2, worship leader, and THE creative team leader at my church requires that I stay current, energized, and ready for challenges.  That scares me just to type that!  Get this book - you need it...

Click here to buy it...

A Good Man is Hard to Find

We have been discussing Flannery O'Connor's short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" the last 2 weeks at our Artist Breakfast Fellowship.  This was my first experience with this story. I have attached it for you so that you can get the essence of what we are discussing.  Our Christian worldview begins with us believing that people are by nature sinful.  It is only by God's grace and Him working through us that any good can result from our actions.  But those without a Christian world view would feel very differently about good and bad.  How do those without this world view explain why some people are good and some are bad?  We talked about common grace and the ability for beauty and good things to happen in our world without people having the knowledge of God or a relationship with Christ.  One interesting thought was why do so many good things happen at all in this world if we truly recognize our own depravity?  That is the real question, someone said.  These questions are never resolved in an hour over a muffin, but the discussion brought to me a sense of really feeling humbled about how big our God truly is.  Left to myself, I don't think I would add up to much good.  You may think that I am being self-deprecating, but honestly, if there is not a Divine One and a Creator of all, why doesn't this world just spin out of control?  Why don't more people murder, steal, abuse others?  I don't think our justice system is scary enough to ward off all the evil...

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