40 Loaves -- Book Review and Giveaway

Do you have sticky questions about your walk with God? Are you afraid to ask those questions because it might make you look like a "bad" Christian? Then I have a little devotional for you! 40 Loaves, Breaking Bread with Our Father Each Day by C.D. Baker is filled with honest, real questions every believer has struggled with at one time or another. And C.D. Baker tackles each question without making you feel "condemned" for asking . . . in fact, his illustrations and real life examples are reassuring and wonderful. It's a great way to open honest discussions between yourself and God! I really enjoyed this book and am tickled to have a free copy to give away. It would be a great stocking stuffer and is available for purchase here: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307444905

GIVE AWAY: To enter the random drawing for 40 Loaves by C.D. Baker, please send your mailing address to seewhykinsman@gmail.com the winner will be chosen on Friday, December 18th.

Here's the summary from the publisher:

Why don’t I have more faith?

Why am I so bored with Jesus?

Why don’t I feel connected at church?

These are the types of questions the religious establishment often makes it uncomfortable, if not impossible, to ask. And by asking them, C. David Baker, author of 40 Loaves: Breaking Bread with Our Father Each Day hopes to start a conversation in people’s hearts, then with others, and ultimately with God. Many circles of Christianity have led us to believe that certainty and confidence are the proof of true spirituality; questions are discouraged.

But Jesus offered his followers an ongoing conversation—a relationship built around a free, open-ended discussion. Questions were encouraged. They were often impertinent, sometimes alarming, and the religious establishment was distinctly uncomfortable with them … just as it is today.

“40 Loaves is something of a collection of the kinds of questions I felt finally free to ask of myself and of my relationship with Christ,” says Baker. “It’s my belief that these questions are shared by many others who long for the freedom to simply ask them out loud. I hope this book becomes a platform that frees others to search their hearts more deeply and be fed with the Bread of life.”

Each “loaf” here is a big question that stimulates discussion, investigation, and contemplation; it will take hours—or days—to digest. Conversational, inviting, disarming, and real, 40 Loaves nourishes self-examination and offers validation for those who feel discouraged, guilty, or even shamed when the realities of their lives don’t match up with the ideals of the Christian establishment.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Book Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Pam of Boulder, Colorado, our winner of John Bevere's new book Extraordinary. Thanks to everyone who entered. Please check back for more reviews and give aways.

Book Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Mary of Raleigh, North Carolina, who won a copy of Hero by Fred and Jasen Stoeker. Make sure you check back on Monday for another book review and giveaway.

Popular Lies told in Church

Years ago I learned one of the most important spiritual lessons of my life. The title of the message was something along the line of “The Biggest Lies Told in the Church”. The debunked lie that stuck with me was, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” LIE! God routinely gives you more than you can handle. In fact, the Bible is replete with stories of God giving men and women more than they can handle. Why?! So they (and you and I) have to rely on God! Duh. The message was so simple, logical and obvious. And yet, I had told that spiritual lie in trying to “encourage” people. Instead of encouraging someone going through something God-sized, in fact, I was belittling them for not handling it and encouraging them to handle it themselves rather than rely on God. After all, if God said it’s not more than you can handle, you should be able to handle it all on your own, right?! Dumb. Lie.

Larry Osborne debunks ten more spiritual myths in his book, Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe. This is an excellent book every believer should read. I guarantee there’s at least one of the ten that you’ve been taught, believed and told others to their detriment. You owe it to your yourself and other believers to get a copy of this book and read it so you can stop the spread of well intentioned spiritual garbage.

You can purchase this book from your favorite bookseller including: www.Amazon.com, www.ChristianBook.com, and www.FamilyChristian.com

I have two copies of Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe to give away. To enter the random drawing, just send your name and mailing address to me at seewhykinsman@gmail.com. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, April 28, 2009.

Also, remember I’m giving away one copy of Gardening Eden by Michael Abbate. The winner for that book will be announced Friday, April 24, 2009. You can enter one or both drawings, just please let me know which drawing(s) you would like to enter.

Good luck!

Below is the publisher's summary for Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe:

Summary:

Just Because “Everyone Believes It” Doesn’t Make It True

People don’t set out to build their faith upon myths and spiritual urban legends. But somehow such falsehoods keep showing up in the way that many Christians think about life and God. These goofy ideas and beliefs are assumed by millions to be rock-solid truth . . . until life proves they’re not. The sad result is often a spiritual disaster—confusion, feelings of betrayal, a distrust of Scripture, loss of faith, anger toward both the church and God.

But it doesn’t have to be so. In this delightfully personal and practical book, respected Bible teacher Larry Osborne confronts ten widely held beliefs that are both dumb and dangerous. Beliefs like these:

• Faith can fix anything

• Christians shouldn’t judge

• Forgiving means forgetting

• Everything happens for a reason

• A godly home guarantees good kids

…and more.

Got Gas?

Yesterday I read a statistic that really freaked me out.

Each year, Americans use 800 million gallons of gas to mow their lawns -- and we spill more fuel while filling lawn equipment each year than the Exxon Valdez spilled in '89.

The solution? Electric mowers which cost approximately $5 a year to run.
This statistic came from idealbite.com. You can sign up to have daily eco tips delivered to your e-mail inbox.

I'm getting rather used to being really freaked out these days. Why? I'm reading Thomas L. Friedman's new book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How It Can Renew America. I'm not even a quarter of the way through it and I want to run, screaming for my mommy, and hide under the covers until we humans, supposedly the "wisest" creatures, get a CLUE! I strongly recommend this book -- it is, quite possibly, the most important book of the century. Seriously. When I finish the book and get myself glued back together, I'll share some information from it. In the meantime, I can't stress this enough . . . GO GET THE BOOK -- READ IT -- TAKE ACTION!

REMINDER: I have one copy of The Treasure Principle to give away. To enter the random drawing, please send your name and mailing address to seewhykinsman@gmail.com. The winner will be announced tomorrow, April 10, 2009. Good luck.

Book Reviews and Giveaway

Experiencing the Spirit by Henry and Melvin Blackaby is a wonderful book which will teach you how to experience the power of Pentecost every day. Believers are supposed to have the same power as Yeshua (Jesus) as a result of the Holy Spirit coming to Earth to empower us. First century belivers had such power, but modern day Believers don't . . . at least most of them don't. The Blackabys explain why not and what to do to change that.

One quote I loved from the book:

Christians are "theological belivers, but practical athiests."

HOW TRUE! Painfully, sadly true. The key to change is by focusing on your relationship with the Holy Spirit, not the gifts of the Spirit. Gifts only come from relationship -- and only if your motives are correct. God's spiritual gifts are not for your benefit, but for His benefit -- so He can accomplish His will on earth. Finally, you need to realize that although we have certain gifts and talents, a lot of times God will use your weaknesses -- He will use you in areas where you DON'T seem gifted -- in order to grow you and to show His glory. This is an excellent book and is available from RandomHouse.com by accessing the below link or from your favorite booksellers:

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781590529119&ref=externallink_mlt_experiencingthespirit_aeb_0309_01

Below is the summary from the publisher:

Summary Experiencing the Spirit:

Serve God as never before

The first Christians “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) shaking the gates of hell even in the face of severe persecution. The result: People all around “were filled with wonder and amazement” (Acts 3:10).What can give Christians today the same impact?

God’s Holy Spirit is ready to answer that for us in an awesome way, as Henry Blackaby and his son Mel Blackaby make clear in Experiencing the Spirit. You’ll see how the proof of the Spirit’s presence is our awareness of God’s personal assignments for us, plus our supernatural enablement to carry out those assignments. You’ll find essential clarification on the difference between natural talents and spiritual gifts. You’ll explore the dynamics of being filled with the Spirit through intimate relationship with Him, committed obedience, and radical departure from sin.

Instead of considering what you can do for God with your abilities and talents, you’ll be encouraged here to seek what God wants to do through you supernaturally by His Spirit, empowering you beyond your personal competence and capacities. Release the Holy Spirit’s work at the very core of your experience of the Christian life.

The Lord loves a cheerful giver. But how can we be cheerful when we’re white knuckling it every month to pay the bills?! Randy Alcorn teaches us with 6 easy to apply principles in his book, The Treasure Principle. Randy relates that although 1/3 of Christians say they tithe, the accounting books show closer to 1/8 actually do. Yet Randy tells of numerous individuals and families that give away 50%, 75% or 90% of their incomes. The Treasure Principle explains what the Bible says about giving – why we are supposed to give, how we are supposed to give, and what we can expect from God in return. This is a valuable book if you want to be a good steward of God’s resources.

I have one copy of The Treasure Principle to give away. To enter the random drawing, please send your name and mailing address to seewhykinsman@gmail.com. The winner will be announced April 10, 2009. Good luck.

Below is the summary from the publisher. The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn can be purchased from various booksellers and from RandomHouse.com here

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781590525081&ref=externallink_mlt_treasureprinciple_aeb_0309_01

Summary The Treasure Principle

Flip-Flop Your Concept of Giving!

Bestselling author Randy Alcorn introduced readers to a revolution in material freedom and radical generosity with the release of the original The Treasure Principle in 2001. Now the revision to the compact, perennial bestseller includes a provocative new concluding chapter depicting God asking a believer questions about his stewardship over material resources. Readers are moved from the realms of thoughtful Bible exposition into the highly personal arena of everyday life. Because when Jesus told His followers to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” He intended that they discover an astounding secret: how joyful giving brings God maximum glory and His children maximum pleasure. Discover a joy more precious than gold!

Eat S.L.O.W.ly

What do you think of when you imagine "dinner in France" or "lunch in Italy"? Do you think of cafes populated with diners lingering over coffee and dessert? Do you think of meals that extend three hours as the patrons talk and laugh and savor their food? Now what comes to mind when you picture lunch time in America? People scarfing down fast food in their cars?

Your mother told you to eat slowly and now there's even more reason to do so. Slow Food is a movement which began in Italy in 1989 to "counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world." Slow Food employs a handy acronym to help you focus on your food choices:

S - Seasonal
L - Local
O - Organic
W - Whole

The Slow Food website is chock full of great information. Visit it here: http://slowfood.com/

Reminder: To enter the giveaway for a free copy of A Day with a Perfect Stranger, by David Gregory, please e-mail me at seewhykinsman@gmail.com. Winners will be drawn Sunday, March 8th.

Can You Hear That Little Voice Inside?

The Echo Within: Finding Your True Calling by Robert Benson is an easy, sweet, poetic little book about how to listen to the voice within you, God's voice, directing you down the path for which you were created. Specifically, it is about how to find a career best suited to your natural gifts, calls, talents and personality, a profession which will fulfill you. Robert Benson draws on his own life experience and makes you feel good if you wander down several wrong paths before finding the right one, and explains a circuitous journey is sometimes required. The Echo Within is funny, entertaining and guaranteed to make you think about your authentic self without judgments. We are all wonderfully made, but sometimes we try to cram ourselves into a "should" profession rather than one that comes naturally -- the one for which we were ideally created.

Below is the summary from the publisher and information about the author. I have two copies of The Echo Within by Robert Benson to give away. To enter the random drawing, please send an e-mail to seewhykinsman@gmail.com. Winners will be drawn on Friday, February 27, 2009. Good luck!

Summary:

The Echo Within is a profoundly affecting, honest look at the myriad ways we are drawn into our life’s best work.

Written out of his own lifelong search for and response to the calling voice of God, Robert Benson recounts his discovery of the meaning of vocation, work, and purpose through the ups and downs inherent in family life, professional choice, and spiritual experience. With clarity and insight, and in the elegant prose for which he is known, he gently invites and encourages readers to find such deep truths for their lives as well. In particular, he illuminates the way for readers to explore:

· ways to sense the Holy in our pursuits, both in the pursuits themselves and within ourselves.
· how to fall into our vocation and chart a course toward it at the same time.
· how to love the work we do, and the process of doing it.

For anyone beginning a new career or sensing a needed change in their life or wrestling with a transition suddenly thrust upon them, Robert Benson delivers wisdom, humor, and heart in what he’s learned about listening for The Echo Within—and how it can help us discover our calling.

Author Bio:

Robert Benson has written more than a dozen books about the discovery of the sacred in the midst of our ordinary lives, including Between the Dreaming and the Coming True, Home By Another Way, and Digging In. His work has been critically acclaimed in a wide range of publications from The New York Times and USA Today to Spirituality & Health and The Benedictine Review. He is an alumnus of The Upper Room’s Academy for Spiritual Formation and was recently named a Living Spiritual Teacher by SpiritualityandPractice.com. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

You can purchase this book from www.amazon.com or other booksellers.