You Can Know God

Friday Five: Books

I like to read all different kinds of books. Here's five recent reads that I'd recommend.

1. The Year of Living Biblically. A.J. Jacobs is the editor of Esquire and an agnostic, but he tries to follow every rule in the Bible for a year. It's insightful and very funny. Just like his previous book, where he read the whole encyclopedia.

2. Quiet Strength. Tony Dungy is the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and a Christian.

3. UnChristian. This book looks at what young adults think of Christianity. It's filled with stats and analysis and it's a great look into culture.

4. Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World. We have three kids and I want to be a good dad. I read quite a few books like this, and I do recommend this one if you're a parent.

5. Words to Live By. This is a little CS Lewis compilation. It's full of great nuggets and super quotes. CS Lewis really makes me think.

And even though today is Black Friday, and people are shopping before the sun comes up, you could order these books from Amazon in the comforts of your own home at any hour of the day.

Holding Out False Hope

Last month, our entire staff read Good to Great. I've read it about 4 times, and every time, it's worth it. It's one of the best business and leadership books out there, and no matter what your profession, it will help you.

I thought quite a bit about the section of the book where it talked about holding out a false hope for people. False hope isn't a positive thing. We have to be willing to confront the brutal facts and deal with what's before us with honestly.

It's best to be clear. When people ask why we don't have a choir, it's false hope to tell them we don't have one because we do church in a movie theater and it's not practical right now. When people ask if we can do Limelight every week instead of once a month, it's a false hope to hint that the current schedule might change any time soon. I'm tempted to answer questions with information that people want to hear, rather than the truth. Sometimes, we can give so many disclaimers to our statement, that the truth is watered down to nothingness.

The Love of Story

People love stories. It's what drives more than 8 million people to purchase a 750 page book about a teenage wizard. And then turn around and read it in three days. J.K. Rowling has sold more than 350 Million books in the Harry Potter series, partly because people love reading, watching, and hearing good stories. People love stories in written form, and they love watching a good story on the big screen.

We have something so much more interesting and life-changing available to us in God's Word. Some of the most duplicated stories in literature originate right there. You've got amazing foreshadowing. You've got wild plots. You have intimate love stories and manly war stories.

I wonder what the Bible story would be rated if it got made into a movie. We love the story of Noah and the animals and the rainbow, but in that story, everybody drowned. There's a lot of violence in the Bible. God tells people to go take over and kill everything. There's incest, rape, murder, the crazy story of Onan, people eating locusts, and rivers turning to blood. For those that complain about violence on TV, think about that.

The climax of the story is the life of Jesus. God becomes man. He steps out of heaven and enters the realm of humanity, not to rule us, but to save us. What an amazing story. Harry Potter might be an entertaining and fulfilling story to read, but the story of God could change your life.

Harry Potter Book Seven

I've read every one of the Harry Potter Books. And I've actually listened to all the books on CD (Jim Dale reads the books word for word, and it's the absolute best way to experience the story). As you may know, the seventh and final book comes out this weekend. I will personally buy the book at Midnight and have most if it read before church on Sunday.

I don't have a problem with Harry Potter the way some do. I think the lady in Gwinett County suing the schools is absolutely nuts. The stories are not demonic, rather they are classic stories of good and evil. If you have a problem with the magic in these books, you should have problem with the power that makes Superman fly, The Lord of the Rings, and CS Lewis (where there was a white witch). C.S. Lewis writes much of the same kind of things in his 7 book collection on Narnia. J.K. Rowling, in fact, claims to be a Christian and I see lots of similarities with Harry Potter and Christianity. Here's a good article from Crosswalk about the whole thing.

Update:  I read the whole book yesterday.  800 pages in one day.  Very good, the best one of the series with some nice surprises and a fantastic ending.

Final Four!

My buddy John and I just used the royalty money we've made from Everyday Jesus to buy Final Four tickets.  I already had John booked to speak @ Oak Leaf that weekend, and the Final Four just happens to be in Atlanta at the same time. We're going to all three games.  This won't quite make up for not getting to go to the Super Bowl a couple years ago when I had a free ticket, but maybe it will be close.

So, if you've purchased your copy of Everyday Jesus...thanks!  If you haven't gotten the book, which is a 30-day devotional guide, you can order a copy at Amazon.  I think it's a good book.

Everyday Jesus Update

Everyday Jesus may have fallen to 187,000 on the Amazon.com best seller list, but I'm proud to report that it's got a five-star rating.  And I don't even know the people who are leaving the reviews. :)

Everyday Jesus Update

Yesterday, I ordered a copy of Everyday Jesus for myself and now I see that we have been propelled all the way up to 17,898 on the best seller list at Amazon.com.  We've now sold a total of 361 copies and my fat royalty check of about $40 could be on the way.  Of course, I will split it with John.  So with the remaining $20, maybe Jennie and I will go see a movie.  Who says you can't make a living being an author?

For those of you who attend The Leaf, we'll have a few copies available at the Information Table soon.

Everyday Jesus

My friend John Evans and I wrote a book called Everyday Jesus which is now available at amazon.com.  It's a 30 day devotional.  Each chapter begins with a strange story, moves to a Scripture verse and finishes up with some thoughts.  There's also additional Scripture references for further reading.  I think it's a great resource to put in peoples hands to jump start their walk with God or get them started on a quiet time. 

The back cover says this:

"Ever been shot in the leg by fish sticks?  Would you be willing to give mouth to mouth resuscitation to a dog?  If your brother was in the hospital hundreds of miles away and you didn't own a car, can you imagine driving your lawnmower to see him?  These stories are all true and each one serves as a springboard for devotional thought.  God is awesome and He is at work all around us at all times.  he is both a timeless Savior and He is an everyday Jesus.  His ways are sometimes funny.  His ways are oftentimes mysterious.  After all, how many people do you know who have swallowed a cell phone."

Head on over to Amazon and pick up your copy.  They make great stocking stuffers.  You can also visit the companion blog found at EverydayJesus.com and share your crazy stories.

Ten Lies Amazon Update

My first book, Ten Lies of Student Ministry has climbed like 300,000 places at Amazon.com in the past couple of weeks!  But it's still ranked at 80,000.  Oh well.  If you want to purchase your copy, just go here.  I'd really appreciate it and if you work with students, I think it will help.  For what it's worth, I'm working on a new book called "Ten Lies of Christianity."

In a Blog with a Lion on a Monday

I love the fact that Mark is generating buzz about his book by allowing people like me to review it on my blog.  But now, every single blog update on Bloglines is about Mark's new book.  :)