Listen

Listen
by Rene Gutteridge

What would happen if conversations you had in the privacy of your home went public? Would your words bring life or death? This is the question explored in this book.

Like it or not, our words have power. The written word as well as the spoken word have the power to cripple or uplift. How we use our words is so important. We can use our words to harm others or to encourage them.

The small town in this book is turned upside down when private conversations begin to show up on a website for all to see. Who is behind this and what are they trying to get at? In the mean time allegations and judgements are passed as everyone tries to decipher who said what about who.

An interesting experiment and in some regards what keeps us glued to reality tv. (the drama) What we say comes from who we are. Granted we all say things in anger or frustration, but we still need to be careful what we say, which means we need to be careful what we think, which is why God says to take every thought captive.

After this read I will definitely pause to think about what I am saying and if it is something edifying or not.

"Commercial"ism at its worst

I recently saw a commercial for the Toyota Highlander and I have to say I think that my perception of Toyota just went down quite a few notches. I was really disheartened by the message it was sending to kids and adults.

Not only was the message that you are a “lame” parent if you don’t buy an expensive car with all the bells and whistles, but you are also “lame” if you enjoy life and your family time. You also need to be plugged in all the time because, well, that’s just cooler.

We never had entertainment systems in our cars. We never had the nicest cars. I know we thought our parents were crazy at times, but so what? Doesn’t every kid think that at some point? But I’ve never met a kid that wasn’t thankful for quality time with family. I never look back on times we spent in the car and think, boy I wish I could have just plugged myself in and had no interaction with anyone.

As I mentioned I am appalled that the commercial doesn’t even insinuate but point blank says that because the parents enjoying life in their “small” car don’t have the Highlander they are “lame.” What message does that send to our kids and parents? You have to have the best to be cool! I don’t think we need any more messages like that out there! It’s bad enough our kids get it from movies and tv and magazines and school, now commercials too and commercials for things beyond them? And this kid wasn’t even a teenager. He was probably middle school age.

Argggh…I hate the commercialism of our world and the lack of family values that 99% of media instills. People can swear up and down that it’s just a commercial and doesn’t have any effect but I tell you what, if that’s you, you are wrong. If advertising did not work it would not be on the air so much. It’s a lucrative industry all about the benjamins and I’ve personally had enough. I have to sit through and rip up commercials left and right these days and this one was too much!

If you are a parent I’d encourage you to practice dissecting commercials as well. Sit down with your kids, watch a commercial, even on YouTube and ask them what the message is that the commercial is sending? And discuss what God says and what the Truth of the matter is. Discuss why the commercial is selling lies and why their message does not provide what it claims to.

I did a google search on the commercial just to see what I could find and I found that many feel like me. I am glad I am not the only one! I found this article which I think sums up my feelings nicely and also shows the commercial so you can see for yourself. I also agree with his thoughts on the Windows phone commercial too.

http://blogs.trb.com/features/family/parenting/blog/2010/11/2011_highlanders_antifamily_co.html

Life Discipler

I recently received a new product to review called Life Discipler. It really is unlike anything I’ve seen before and kinda cool. It’s a little electronic gadget, about the size of a pedometer, which has more than 1500 verses stored on it arranged on 44 subjects. You can search for subjects and scrolls through the verses or pick a subject and have the alarm sound to remind you to look at another verse.

I thought that it sounded kind of neat when I first got it. Any tool to help me learn God’s word and be constantly immersed in it throughout my day is a good thing. I thought the subjects offered were definitely applicable to life, though not every verse seemed to fit with the subject it was under. I tried it out for about a week, mostly at work. I set the alarm for 1 hour the first day just to get used to it, but I found myself wanting more. So the rest of the week I set it to go off every ½ hour.

This worked great for most of the day. I was loving the reminders from God’s word. It was very encouraging. I loved that you could set a verse that came up as a favorite or as one you want to memorize as well. This will be great when I am waiting in line somewhere and I can just pull out God’s word and work on memorizing or reviewing it. However, sometime during the afternoon the alarm would just stop going off. I checked the battery but it was fine. If I turned it off and on again then it was fine. So that is a quirk that might become annoying if you are expecting it to work for long periods of time. But I guess that’s a small inconvenience.

I don’t know if it’s something I would use everyday, but it did do a great job of keeping God’s truth fresh in my mind. The MSRP is $29.99 and you can find this gadget at lifediscipler.com and Family Christian Stores. Could be a good gift if you know someone into gadgets.

They are offering a 20% discount now at lifediscipler.com if you use the coupon code GROW20. It’s good through Dec 30, 2010.

The 7 Minute Difference

The Seven Minute Difference & The 7 Minute Life Daily Planner

by Allyson Lewis

                                       

I signed up with Buzz Blogger to try out items and review them which seemed like a fun idea. My first assignment was this book and workbook which were sent to me. How can you go wrong with a free book? I am under no obligation to give a glorious review but to just share my honest opinion. So let’s get on to it already.

When I first received the book and looked it over I had two thoughts run through my mind. The first was, “Maybe this can really help me figure out how to do something with my passions in life.” The second was, “Oh boy, another self help book.” Now the workbook struck my fancy a little more because I am a very list orientated person.

I decided to stay open minded as I ventured in, and the first few chapters of the book were great thought provokers. Though I did not sit down and define my goals and passions yet I mean to go back through and do just that. I think it is a great starting point for those of us trying to figure out what we should be doing with our lives. And honestly, isn’t that most of us?

After the first few chapters, though, it felt like it was much more orientated to those in the business world who are trying to further their career. It was hard to relate everything to normal life outside that setting. If you are in the business boat, please read this book because it is totally geared towards helping you make small decisions to make you better at what you do. But if you are like me and not at all there then I wouldn’t really recommend this book.

It’s ok and has some great principles about pursuing passions and perserverance to finish the race but I just didn’t see that it was a book that was going to change my life. Maybe I’m just a skeptic though. You could check it out and see if her ideas work for you and let me know.

The workbook I really like though. Even though I still think it is very geared towards business tasks it does have some very practical items to check off, such as how much water you’ve drunk and what you’ve eaten for meals and snacks. You can never have too many daily planners as far as I am concerned.

If you’d like to find out more about this book and workbook or purchase a copy please visit http://www.the7minutelifesystem.com/

Muslims, Christians, and Jesus

Muslims, Christians, and Jesus
by Carl Medearis


In light of events in our country and around the world in the last decade I was curious to learn more about Islam, what it teaches and how to reach out to those in our country who are Muslim. I do not agree with the idea that they are our or even Israel's enemies, not as a whole. This book is a great tool for any Christian. I was challenged not just in my thinking about Muslims but also in how I approach evangelism in general.


First of all I learned many things about Islam that I did not know. I had no idea there were so many similarities between what the Qur'an says and what the Bible says. Obviously there are some major differences but Medaris focuses on the similarities seldom mentioned. It's a great starting point for conversation to start on common ground. The most common ground we actually share with Muslims is our faith in God and love for Jesus. He stresses again and again about bringing it always back to Jesus. He is highly respected by Muslims and most, according to Medearis, are open to talking and learning more about His life. It's a great reminder that we are not the converters. God draws people to Himself. God does the heart changing and saving, not us. 


I think the biggest challenge for me personally is the fact that I am not called to save people or even teach people the bible per say. I am called to love God and love others. I do want to share Jesus with people because I want them to have the hope I have and I want them to go to heaven because hell is going to be no fun. However, I should not go into relationships with the hope that they one day will become a Christian. If they do, great, if not, that is not my choice. If I love God with everything and love others with all Christ gives me and let His love flow through me it will make a difference. Of course that would mean sharing Jesus when the opportunity arises, but not forcing it. I think sometimes I put too much pressure on myself to share, to share to share. But really I just need to love, to love, to love. 


Whether it's Muslims, or co-workers, or neighbors or family or whoever. We are called to love those around us. I know it's such a simple concept. You'd think it would be easy to grasp. But as Christians and churches I think we put too much emphasis on "saving" people and not enough emphasis on actually proactively loving people. I probably heard this from someone else so I can't take credit but it was something to the effect of "Nobody cares about what you have to say until they know you care about them." 


So getting back to the book...It's a great read for tips on conversing with Muslims as well as sharing Jesus in general. My challenge to myself and to you is to love people better. There is no way you can ever love too much! "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." -Galatians 5: 22-23 

The Lost World

The Lost World

by Michael Crichton

More dinosaurs and more carnage. Although I will say that this book did not start out quite as grotesque as Jurassic Park. This book discussed the scientific theories for the extinction of dinosaurs. Of course no definitive answer was given since that is still unknown to us.

The “chase” if you will did not really ensue until halfway or more through the book. But then I was hanging on for another wild ride. It did hold my attention and keep me turning the pages but I don’t think much more inventive can be done with dinosaur and human encounters. Bad idea. I got it. 

Overall, it kept my attention but I would say it was rather redundant in many capacities. It was definitely an extension of the first book and did shed some light on issues from that book. Take it or leave it.

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger
by Ronald J. Sider


This topic is one that I have personally been struggling with for a while now. I know it's ok to enjoy God's blessings, but when do we start enjoying too much and not giving enough? How do you determine the balance? How can I enjoy a meal out when I know that the price it cost me for one meal could have fed a child for a month or longer? These are just some of the questions I have been asking myself.

This book explored some of those topics but more dealt with specifics of why the author believes so many hungry and poor exist, what wealthy countries should be doing about it, economic policies that need to be changed and what we as individuals should be doing to help. It read more like a text book and was actually a challenge for me to get through because of that. The beginning kept my attention, the middle was the biggest struggle and the last chapter was very practical.

For starters, we in the west are affluent. This is not news to me. Comparatively we are as rich as Bill Gates to most of the world's population. And our culture is a culture of materialism and hoarding. I just think of the tv shows and news articles that have been circulating recently about the people who hoard and how much damage it does. Most of us are not like that but nonetheless we fall prey to the enticing world around us. "You need this. You deserve this. Don't wait. You can buy it now." Commercials and advertising drive me crazy. Maybe that's my communications degree but I tend to analyze them as I watch, sometimes even going so far as to yell at the tv. "That is so not true!"

Moving on from the knowledge I already had, the author did bring up some great things I never thought about in regards to the way God would have us deal with wealth distribution as a society. He spoke of the year of Jubilee mentioned in Leviticus when land would be returned to the original owners every 50 years. It's definitely a cool thought. God knew what he was doing when he made the rules. It's a shame we don't follow them. God allowed for consequences and mistakes, but there was always grace. Everyone had a chance to make a living.

Of course he addressed the main issue I have been struggling with and that is enjoying the blessings of God. Basically it comes down to a generous spirit. We should most definitely enjoy what God has given to us and be thankful to Him for His good gifts. At the same time we need to recognize that the gifts are not God Himself. We should be willing and ready to give them all back to God should He ask us to. Also we should do what we can with what we've been given (time, talents gifts) to give what we can to aid the poor and needy.

It's not always easy to "give up" the things we deem necessary for comfortable living in order to be generous. However, God did not call us to be comfortable. He did call us to take care of widows and orphans and the poor. How can we show the world God's love if can't get past ourselves? With Jesus as our model we need to follow. He gave His time, His talents and His life to show His love. We should do the same.