Book # 7: I Capture the Castle

Book: I Capture the Castle
Author: Dodie Smith
Acquired: A Christmas present from my sweet Grandmother :)

I was hoping for a quick read so that I could feel like I was really moving along on this whole 42 book thing....I may have chosen the wrong book.

I did learn an interesting phrase, though. Can someone, without looking it up, explain what an "Auto da fe" is? A hint: Think Spanish Inquisition.

Book # 6: A little behind schedule...

Soooo.....that whole 42 book thing....it is still happening, but just at a slightly slower rate than I had anticipated. I got stuck in Richard Pratt's book Designed for Dignity. Some books just cannot be read in a hurry. They must simmer. Slow cooker vs. fast food.

The next book will probably be more of the fast food variety, just to feel better about my overall progress.

Here is a question from Mr. Pratt: WHY do you do what you do? What is your purpose?

"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." Proverbs 29:18 KJV

SLCA Peru Teacher Trip 2009

Book # 6: Designed for Dignity

Book: Designed for Dignity- What God has made it possible for you to be
Author: Richard Pratt, Jr.
Acquired: Pilfered from Josh Stockment's library while helping him organize his books....he had like three copies. Don't feel bad for him :)

ATM: Arm Twisting Machine

Dear Wachovia ATM creators,

We would like to make you aware that not all of your clients drive SUVs. The height of your ATMs have required us to use awkward card retrieval techniques which result in back pain, neck injury, fingernail breakage, and bad emotions. If this issue is not resolved at once, we may have to file a lawsuit for vehicle discrimination.

Thank you for your time,
Compact Car Drivers of America

Book # 5: Is That Really You, God?

Book: Is That Really You, God?
Author: Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM
Acquired: Bought at an ASCI teacher's conference, recommended by my friend Laura Bookout Matias who is a missionary with her husband Felipe to children in the favelas of Recife, Brazil.

Book # 4: Crazy Love.Relief

Whew! Just when I was feeling the lowest of the low, he finally uttered the words I was waiting for... I was nervous he wouldn't say them...just command me to will to love Jesus more so I feel guilty that I can't.

"The answer lies in letting HIM change you. Remmeber His counsel to the lukewarm church in Laodicea? 'Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If a anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me' (Revelation 3:20). His counsel wasn't to 'try harder,' but rather to LET HIM IN." Crazy Love, 103.

"The fact is, I need God to help me love God." Crazy Love, 104.

Friends, we cannot do this alone. We cannot make ourselves love God. We can't psyche ourselves up, we can't sing enough songs, we can't do enough things to change out own hearts. IT IS GOD who changes hearts. His grace comes in and changes us to the core.'

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

I love this prayer at the end of chapter 6:

" Jesus, I need to give myself up. I am not strong enough to love You and walk with You on my own. I can't do it, and I need You. I need You deeply and desperately. I believe you are orth it, that You are better than anything else I could have in this life or the next. I want you. And whne I don't, I want to want You. Be all in me. Take all of me. Have Your way with me." Crazy Love, 111.

Book # 4: Crazy Love.First Impressions

Book #4: Crazy Love
Author: Francis Chan
Acquired: My friend Brenda, who is working at PACA, a Christian School in Brazil sent it to me :) 'brigada, Brenda!

I have read about 100 pages of Crazy Love. Here are some first impressions.

Like: Francis Chan is calling the church to a deeper walk with Christ.

Don't like: The way he does this. The book, instead of inspiring me to a grace walk with Christ, has left me feeling guilty and fearful and insecure in my relationship with the Lord (vs. another book I read recently about Adoption in Christ that moves me to deeper relationship with Christ and to action because of the way grace is presented)

. This morning I spent a few minutes talking with my friend Jessica Dean about the way the book uses guilt (different from conviction), rather than grace, to motivate its readers, and she suggested look at some reviews of the book to see if anyone else was saying something similar.

Sometimes I have a hard time putting into words what I am thinking , but here is what some others have said and they seem to capture what I want to say (these are from Amazon.com book reviews):

1. "My favorite explanation of the... concept of "Law and Gospel" is "Disturbing the Comfortable and Comforting the Disturbed"... Francis succeeds in disturbing the comfortable, but not in comforting the disturbed and giving the empowerment to do that which God has set before us. To me, that means that the job is only half-done."

2. "While I am sure that many "older" Christians might be able take this book as a genuine challenge to live their faith more boldly, I find very little in the way of encouragement in this book. I think that this book is downright dangerous to newer Christians. I at least thought I had been growing in my faith over the last several months, but this book put a nice big question mark over all of that. Frankly, by the time I was finished reading this book, I didn't feel in any way inspired to be a better Christian... I felt like I had been torn into little pieces, I felt destroyed."

3. "Well I was expecting this book to be all about God's love for us, But I found the book to be more about my love for God."

4. "Yet, noticeably lacking from this treatment of Christianity is Jesus - at least Jesus presented as a Redeemer and Savior. Little time is spent on the "crazy love" that God has shown us in the cross, and that....well....it's just crazy."

Note: I am not finished reading the book. I know there are also some really good things about this book (I will post those later). But, until then, does anyone else have thoughts on the book?

PS: This is not meant to be a place of argument, I am just looking for other feedback because of the above mentioned thoughts.