Book Review: Roaring Lambs by Bob Briner

I've been trying to gather my thoughts on this book for well over a week. I think I have a love hate relationship with it. I totally get what the author is saying yet at the same time I totally disagree. So, I'll try to share my thoughts....

The overall premise of the book is that we as followers of Christ, born again Bible believing Christians, we need to go into all the world and preach the Good News, be a light, and make a difference. I totally agree.

The premise that we are all salt is solid. The pastor is no more salty than the gardener. The teacher no more salty than the mechanic. The Elder no more salty than the garbage collector. As Christians we are all salt. I totally agree.

The premise that Christians are missing from the scene of voicing their opinion and beliefs in todays society I agree with also. So often we don't speak up for truth when it isn't in our comfort zone.

Okay, that takes me through the beginning of the book. This is where I start to struggle. The author continues to go through the areas of society where there is no salt; movies, tv, literature, and art. Briner practically blames the current state of media & the arts on Christians for removing themselves from these arenas. He also states that Hollywood does not have an anti-Christian/liberal agenda. And this my friends is where I wholeheartedly disagree.

Briner says we need to encourage our children to be christian movie writers, authors, artists, ect. I would agree that Christian movies, literature, and art would be wonderful. As a mom, I could not in all wisdom direct my daughter to Hollywood to act or write. Briner says there is no hidden agenda so our children aren't in harms way in Hollywood but again I disagree. I see a liberal agenda, I see drugs, alcohol, sex, and ungodliness.

Because I believe that there is an agenda, I believe that a few Christians in Hollywood will not restore morality and purity that God so desires for His people. I also believe that as people living in a time closer to the return of Jesus, we are going to continue to see these arenas grow darker.

Briner also talks about the negative effect boycotting has. Now, those who know me know I am an activist at heart. I don't shop at Ambercrombie and the like due to immodesty, Old Navy & Home Depot due to supporting homosexuality...my list can go on. I do not give the money God has entrusted to me to places that actively oppose Him. I believe in fleeing from evil and standing for what is morally pure and right. I believe in voicing truth through boycotting, letters, petitions, ect so clearly Briner and I disagree here.

Lastly, I feel Briner many times offers up options to water down our stances. To compromise. Briner talks about writing books that secular audiences would publish and read and the need to be well rounded and read secular books so our children see us balanced. Personally, I don't want to be balanced. I want to be like Jesus.

Love it and hate it all at once. I won't compromise. I won't fill my mind with the secular ideas and agendas of this world. I won't steer my children into an environment that is without doubt anti-Christian.

Those are my thoughts on Roaring Lambs ...I am a roaring lamb just not as Bob Briner would ask me to be.

Book Review: Confident Parenting by Jim Burns

The summer days have allowed for some of my favorite activity...curling up in the hammock with a good book. The peace and quiet and beauty of nature just relax me every time. I'm finishing books faster than I can blog them so maybe I'll catch up today.

I picked up Confident Parenting by Jim Burns at Ollies...oh, how I love cheap books at Ollies! My overall opinion of the book was that it was good. A lot of what was said I have heard before but some if it is always worth a repeat.

Before I get into the nuggets I liked I have to make the point that I disagree with the author on his take of generational sin. I do not believe in generational sin. I do however agree with inheriting sin-tendencies. If you come from a family of alcoholics there is a risk associated with that family legacy. I do not believe in punishment for the previous generations sin. I believe Christ died for our sin and cleared the slate of previous sin from previous generations.

That said, here are my nuggets:

• Parenting takes perseverance, endurance, and intentionality.
• Caring for your family is your highest calling on earth. This is huge for someone like me who struggles with pleasing the demands of everyone around me. I have been called to a season of raising kids for God, of schooling them and being home. This means I can't be "in ministry" and running all over. The reminder that this is my high calling was needed.
• Implement a Sabbath: a lot spoke to me here...again...because I didn't do it the first time I learned it!
• The lesson of the Sabbath is to ruthlessly find a rhythm in your life to rest and restore your soul, and the soul of your family.
• Have the courage to go against the grain of the culture and find time for replenishment.
• We tend to neglect our own need for solitude and replenishing relationships, then we wonder why we are so burnt out.
• When couples are overcommitted, they become unconnected.
• When it comes to the climate of our homes, we set the emotional thermostat. (hmmmm, two books in a row with that message??)
• Our goal as parents is to create a grace-filled home where love and grace reign but discipline is unswerving.
• Begin with the end in mind. This was huge for Drew & I when we had Abby. Setting character goals up front has helped us make decisions along the way.

The book is set up with questions at the end of each chapter to help you analyze and implement what you learned. One of the action steps I really liked is that the author and his wife get together every 6 months to discuss each child and where they are at and what they need to work on to reach their goals. Our best friends do this yearly and I think it is so wise and intentional.

So, my goals are:

1. A more consistent Sabbath rest

2. Make more time for replenishing relationships/activities to avoid burn out. Especially during the long months of a homeschooling winter!

3. Make time with Drew to analyze were the girls are at, what we need to work on, and see how far they have come.

And you?

Book Review: A Woman After God's Own Heart

I've never read anything by Elizabeth George before. I grabbed this book at a garage sale too. I struggled getting into it but maybe it was just because in the end, I realize how far I have to go in the wife and mother departments. Granted, I've come along way but God's ways are so much higher than ours. If I truly want to be a Woman after His heart, I have to follow His ways as a wife and mother.

Here are some nuggets and reminders that penetrated my heart as I read this book. I'm being real as I share the struggles of real life and if we are all honest we all struggle with some of this stuff. So, here it is:

• Biblical Order: God, Hubby, Kiddos. Oh how often I scramble these up. The kiddos are always right there and so easy to give your first fruits to but this is not biblical. I have nothing to give my kids if God has not been my first priority.
• As a wife I need to meet my husbands needs. She mentions: Committing to being a helper, submit, respect, respond positively, pray daily, kind actions, physical intimacy, prepare for his arrival home. I always try to straighten up and freshen up and have the kids ready for Daddy to come home. I always ask how I can help and do believe it is my job (biblically) to lighten his load. However, I don't pray consistently enough for my husband, I don't always show respect or respond positively. I let the stress of the day change my mood. I'm working on this. I also think the kind deeds, you know, sweet notes in the lunch kinda stuff gets crowded out by motherhood....again backwards.
• Our role as mother is to teach our children God's word. Memorize, read, model, pray, provide. With homeschooling this has become so much easier. As long as I keep my eyes on the goal this area isn't a huge issue. I have also improved in this area over the last month as I have begun to pray literally a million times a day when I felt the frustration rising in me. God has graciously given me grace for my kids so I can be a better mom.
• We are the thermostat of our homes. We control the mood by our mood and responses. Ok, so this one got me. This past year my mood has been less than steady. With struggling with anxiety and depression you never know what you'd get from me. As I am doing better, I am trying so hard to improve in this area. I really do let my husband get the short end, the tired mom at the end of the day. Other nuggets in this area were to remember to be home, plan ahead, and don't waste time. Planning is not an issue for me and with homeschooling we are home and make it a point to be home for the evening family time.

So, those are some nuggets from this book that struck me. Would love to hear by email or leaving a comment what ONE thing you are going to work on. We can all improve at something. Sharing makes you more accountable to do it.

Thanks to my girlfriends who hold me accountable and lead by example...keep loving God, loving your hubbies, and loving those babies...in that order!

Book Review: The Air I Breathe

I just finished a quick little read by Louie Giglio called The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life. Here are some points from the book:

• We all worship something. Where your time, attention, and money are spent there you find the object of your worship.
• We exchange worship of our Creator for worship of created things.
• Whatever you worship, you imitate; whatever you imitate, you become.
• Worship is something you enter into with all your might. Worship is a participation activity in a spectator culture.
• True worship is simply catching sight of the greatness, majesty, splendor, glory, and grace of an infinite God.
• Church is a lot better when our meetings are filled with people who have been pursuing God for six days before they get there.
• Corporate worship works best when we arrive with something to offer God, as opposed to coming only to get something for us.
• Think about the words you sing and who you are singing them to. Sometimes we would be better off saying nothing rather than standing there lying to the face of God. Our worship would honor Him more if we stopped singing and realigned our hearts with His.

There is truth in all these points. So often we walk into corporate church feeling the weight of the week pulling on us instead of a having a heart ready to praise our Creator and King. At least I know I have walked in that way. For me, the trials of my life have allowed me to see the greatness of God despite my circumstances and that is what has caused my worship to go deeper than before.

This past week I stopped the person who had led corporate worship and told her how I loved it....not because of a good song or specific instruments but because as she sung, I saw her heart. I saw her love for Jesus and her passion to worship Him. it was a beautiful thing see and really, it was something I experienced. I could feel that overflow of love from her. When I told her this, her response was so humble and again reflective of her heart....she said, "I just want people to see Jesus."

I pray each of us is living a worshipful life that glorifies our King so that people can see Jesus.

Book Review:Spiritual Warfare

I've decided when I finish a good book to highlight it on here. It's a good way to document the points that stuck with me and give others food for thought.

I just finished A Parent's Guide to Spiritual Warfare by Leslie Montgomery. I picked it up at CBD on clearance for $3. I am new to this author and while I did not agree with her theology on generational sin, the rest of the book was very good. Here are some highlights that struck me....

• If your children see that life's challenges are overcoming you, rather than your overcoming them, they will gravitate toward the world's way of coping.
• What our world truly needs is for couples to choose God's way instead of the world's way.
• Satan attacks believers and it normally includes confusion, accusations, feelings of rejection, condemnation, discouragement and hopelessness.
• God's testing is different from an attack as there is no confusion but rather clarity. We may not see clearly the choice to make but we walk by faith.
• When our kids respond or act in a repetitive, negative pattern there is a negative core belief behind that area that needs to be replaced with truth.
• We'd never dream of withholding food from a developing child, and yet that is exactly what we do spiritually if we don't give them the Word of God.
• Training our children in spiritual warfare focuses not on the Devil and his methods but on the genuine power and promises of Christ. Only after knowing the truth can our children spot from afar the Devil's counterfeit.

There was a great section in the book that really went through Ephesians 6 and explained the armor of God.

Overall, anytime God's kingdom is moving forward, Satan attacks. Every time a child enters a Christian home, as parents we must be equipped for battle because an attack will come. As a parent, I need to pray more for the covering over my husband, children, and home.

You are My Shepherd

To my bestest girlfriends....

lifting you up this morning and praying this is continually the prayer of your heart.

I could not have asked for better friends than those God has planted in my life and in my heart. I Love you girls!

Blessings

I have been listening to this song for weeks now and it just speaks loudly to my spirit. Today I listened to the reason Laura wrote the song and her realness about struggles of this life was inspiring. Sometimes, God does not answer us the way we wish. She has prayed for healing for her husband and God has not answered that prayer. I have prayed for healing from depression and anxiety and God has not completely answered that prayer. Friends have prayed for employment opportunities. Many have something in this life that is a struggle.

However, it's an amazing place to get to when you can say sometimes, not getting the answer we want allows for a greater blessing both for ourselves and others.

Just thought I'd share.....

This is the Stuff.....

I just love the lyrics to this song. As someone who seems to always be frustrated and impatient, I love the ending chorus. It's also a great reminder of how our messes are so little and we are so blessed when we really focus on the big picture.

Semantics?

Lately I seem to be a person who picks apart words. I've always loved words. I love song lyrics. I love poetry. I love a good book. Words have meaning. So what we say and how we say it says a lot and implies a lot.

I had bought some Christian books at Ollie's a few weeks back and I started a mom's devotional book by a familiar author. I struggled with some of what she said but day 6 was the pivotal point. The author said, and I quote, "Jesus partied with sinners." Now, I get what she was trying to say however, Jesus definitely did not party with sinners. He loved them, spent time with them, ministered to them and saved them but partied? The author, who was appealing to the world in her choice of words, implied Jesus joined in with the sinners. Where is the reverence and holiness? Where is the honor? Where is the truth of what scripture says?

Today I heard in reference to Matthew 6 that Jesus was "picking on" the Pharisees. Again, the implication here is outside the nature and character of God. Jesus may have corrected, rebuked, and disciplined, but never did he pick on anyone.

Some say this is splitting hairs. Others say it is just semantics or choices of words. So, do the words we choose matter? Does saying Jesus partied with sinners or picked on Pharisees paint an accurate picture?

It has really been frustrating to me lately to see the irreverent way we as the big "C" church use modern lingo to paint a picture at the risk of being scripturally inaccurate. So, what do you think...hair splitting, semantics, or a scriptural issue to address?

The Council of Superintendents released a statement to teachers yesterday about a new video game being released. Below is the write up on the game from the makers website, Checkerboarded Studios.

SCHOOL SHOOTER: NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2012

In School Shooter: North American Tour 2012, you play as a disgruntled

student fed up with something or other (We're not exactly sure), who after researching

multiple school shooting martyrs, decides to become the best school shooter ever.

You must arm yourself with the same weapons as a previous school shooter,

including Eric Harris' TEC-9, Dylan Klebold's sawn-off shotgun, Seung-Hui Cho's

akimbo pistols, and Nevada-Tan's... Box cutter? The possibilities are endless!

You are free to do whatever you want (So long as it involves shooting people in

a school).

And your telling me video games do not impact our children's behavior?

The fact that the makers of this game use tragic events from real life as the model

is disturbing. Once I have contact information I will include it so that you can send

a letter, email, or make a call and have your opinion heard.