Another One Down

As of tonight, I will have finished my second book of 2008. It was a book I hadn't heard of, prior to getting it in a box from relevant leader. Glory Revealed by David Nasser, had a greater effect on me than almost any book I've ever read. The book is broken down into small 3-5 page chapters that you read one per day, or in my case, on a couple chapters, read one over and over for a week or so, and really chew on it. It's not the way I'm used to reading a book, but it was really effective for impacting me. He shares all kinds of ways that God, as the title says, reveals His glory. Some of which are obvious, but shared in a fresh way, and others that I never thought of before. If you look back at my post Coincidence, I think not, you'll see the thoughts I took from one chapter. I highly suggest this book, and I suggest reading it w/a partner.

My rating: A++++++++

Disconnected

We canceled our internet last week, and I'm already feeling disconnected. We figured that not having internet would cause us to be more focused on getting finished with a couple projects at home, plus we're saving a few bucks, so it sounded like a good idea. When we finish our basement, we're switching from cable to dish and DSL, I'm already working faster, so I can get that internet back. Until then, I probably won't be posting much, as blogger appears to be blocked almost everywhere I spend my time. I look forward to picking up the conversation again in a month or so.

Change to my sidebar

I've updated my sidebar to books I've read in '08. I just so happened to finish Holy Discontent this morning, so I'm taking credit for it this year. I've gotten a bunch of books for my birthday and Christmas, so hopefully that list will be growing fast.

I'm still here

Sorry for the long absence. Things have been really busy around here lately, with remodeling projects, birthdays, Christmas, and a host of other things, so I haven't had much time to even read what anybody else has going on. I'll probably be posting very sporadically over the next few weeks, because it doesn't look like things will be slowing down any time soon. Hope you didn't miss me too much.

Time to pick up the pace

I haven't been much of a reader during football season. Now, I have some new reasons to start getting back into the flow.

Some birthday presents:
Jim & Casper Go to Church: Based on the real story of a pastor who rented an atheist's soul on eBay, to take him around, to critique churches. Sounds interesting to me.










Hidden in Plain Sight: The Secret of More










Mavericks at Work: This is one that really interests me. It's about doing things differently. While I love the idea of change, and trying new things, I'm not great at actually stepping out and doing them. I think looking at some success stories will really encourage me.







Deadly Viper - Character Assassins: I've read so many great things about this book over the last month or so, that this is another one I can't wait to dig into. Plus, it is by far the coolest looking book I own.








And my freebie, that all I had to do was ask for.

Unchristian: This goes into the way Christians are perceived in the world. And in case you didn't know, the outlook isn't that great. As a group, we're not really a great representative for Christ in the world.









Looks like I better go get to reading.

My Little Gamer

I got an XBox 360 for Christmas last year, and haven't really had a lot of time to enjoy it, with the busyness of our life over the last year. I'm home with Hannah and Olivia tonight, while Kim is at a Bible study. We just discovered a game called Hexic, where you have to match colored hexagons. I think Hannah is hooked. It's a pretty fun little game for her.

Could you help a guy out?

I learned about this from a youth pastor/blogger friend, and it really works. He just got his xbox 360 in the mail a few days ago. It's really simple, and would cost you very little. You just need to follow this link, and sign up for one of the advertisers' offers. If you follow my referral, I get a credit. I signed up for Gamefly, but I saw Netflix, Blockbuster online, and bunch of other stuff there. You just need to try it. You can cancel w/in a month if you don't like the offer. I'd really appreciate your help in getting an iPod Touch for free. Just go here, and try one of the offers out.

Lost Holiday

A friend of mine, Ben Shafer, just released his new Christmas album "Lost Holiday". You can hear the title track on his MySpace page, and you can order it here, and have it delivered to your door for only $7. If you like what you hear, you can purchase most of the rest of his music right there.

Ben is a worship pastor in Omaha, and helped us out, as our worship leader at Real Youth for a few months back when he lived in GI. For those few months, we had the best worship team in the state of Nebraska. He is an unbelievable musician, and even better worship leader. Go check out his music, I'm sure you'll love it. If you do, you could even try to book him for a concert in your area.

This took some skills

It makes me want to learn some flash.

John 13

Read: John 13
My Verse: John 13:8 - "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."
My Reflections: Sometimes it's difficult to accept that we can't do it on our own. I know, I'm not very good at it. I often feel like it's my responsibility to take care of things, even if it's not something I should have any control over. This is one place I better learn to accept that I don't have control, I need God to wash me clean. Think about that. It's a pretty humbling thought.
My Prayer: Make me humble enough, to always know that I need you.

Psalm 42:6

The Message puts it this way: When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of you. My soul isn't in the dumps right now, in fact I'm feeling pretty good. However, I do know that when I'm feeling like everything is going against me, it's pretty tough to do that. For those of you that don't know the context of this verse, David has fallen to about his lowest point. I just imagine him thinking back to all of the great things God had done in his past.

In your life, when things aren't going your way, instead of whining about it, try praising God, and declaring all that He is. I think I'm going to give it a shot. I know He's great, I know He's God, so why not remember Him for who He is.

Another look from the New Living Translation: my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you—

I'd love to play this at RYM

Simply Hilarious