BitterSweetLife Comments Live

All I can say, is Amen to the above comment!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:40:31 +0000

All I can say, is Amen to the above comment!

Good one on leadership and it helps a lot. Thanks...

noreply@blogger.com (karim) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:04:29 +0000

Good one on leadership and it helps a lot.

Thanks,
Karim - Mind Power

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I'm really not into this Western stuff, but I love...

noreply@blogger.com (booksandbakes) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:45:19 +0000

I'm really not into this Western stuff, but I loved Peace Like A River (and bought it for my brother too!). I've been thinking about getting So Brave, Young And Handsome - thanks for the review.

Rosie

Why do you constantly review books on the religiou...

noreply@blogger.com (Will Robison) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:15:11 +0000

Why do you constantly review books on the religious walk JUST when I happen to be coming to the exact same conclusions myself? Now I have to go out and buy another book and read it.

P.S. Where do you find the time to read with so much stuff going on in your life? ;)

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noreply@blogger.com (Bains) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:47:12 +0000

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I'm currently reading his "Contemplative Pastor" a...

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:25:16 +0000

I'm currently reading his "Contemplative Pastor" and am hooked on his subtle-yet-jugular-grip style (that's a great description of it). So I totally will be picking this one up, thanks for the recommendation.

I am currently reading the book and though I agree...

noreply@blogger.com (Denise Charles) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:59:29 +0000

I am currently reading the book and though I agree with some aspects of it I think that there are a few anomalies and I too have a problem with its purist tone. While the author makes several relevant points re Pastoral dominance, congregational passivity, erroneous teaching on tithing and the Greeco/Roman influences on traditional Church worship among others, there are several areas where to my mind he falls down (too numerous to mention in this forum). The author does not do a good job of describing what the church really is. His impression of church (even while he cries down the institutional church) seems to suggest that church is somewhat limited and held captive by the tone and structure of its Sunday gathering. He is still limiting his discussion to organisational church. What churches do on Sunday is merely but one expression of the Church and has nothing to do with the true organism of the church, the body of believers, who on the basis of an INDIVIDUAL experience with Christ, become a part of this organic body. I think Viola misses the point by thinking that the organic church is merely a way of "doing church" that is "non-institutional" etc. The Church in its organic expression to my mind, crosses time lines, ethnicities, races, nationalities, and denominations. This is the Church of which Jesus spoke when He said that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. If this Church was truly held captive by the Church's institutionalism over the centuries, then the gates of hell would have prevailed and we wouldn't be having this conversation; the Church would have died. Viola's tone also seems to imply that God's hands has been virtually tied because churches which exist today may not be exact replicas of the New Testament paradigm of church. We are actually still the New Testament church which will continue to evolve till Jesus returns; this is one of the vagaries of being human and living in a fallen world among fallen, imperfect people and systems. If the New Testament church was all that Frank suggests it was cracked up to be, there would have been no need to write epistles. Paul in fact wrote epistles/letters because he was attempting to deal with the many challenges and imperfections which the church faced then; just like today. And by the way I am a part of an informal, simple gathering (similar to House church)but am a bit disappointed that the book is coming across as a case for the existence of house churches; nothing wrong with House churches but because I start my home business in my basement does not mean that it has to remain there to preserve the spirit or ethos of my values as a businessman. We must be careful not to adopt an attitude of following practices as a rigid "letter of the law" as opposed to understanding the principle/spirit of the thing. The global church today is much larger than what would have existed in the NT so chances are that we will evolve different modes of functioning. It seems trite to be suggesting that because there are no worship leaders/worship teams in the NT that it is therefore un-biblical to have them now. There were also no new testaments to read in the NT church; yet we read them now. A good book to stimulate discussion but academically flawed in its failure to understand the role of history in shaping and emerging God's eternal plan. Remember "Jesus Christ Lamb of God slain before the foundations of the world"? God is always several steps ahead of us flawed human beings, even when we do have a knowledge of and experience with Him. Be assured this conversation will continue.

I am reading this book and completing the study bo...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:00:41 +0000

I am reading this book and completing the study book on my own based on the recommendation of several Christian friends. I was unaware of the controversy surrounding this book and Wild at Heart until I started searching online for the Wild at Heart book, which I was hoping to purchase to gain some relational insight on my husband.

I agree with the original review on this book and find that overall, especially for Christian women coming from a broken past who try very hard to meet the Proverbs 31 expectations, this book has a postive message to which I could relate and I found that message driving me back to Him and to His Word.

I do not agree with every viewpoint of the author, but I think the overall message of our beauty as reflecting Christ and taking refuge in Him, rather than other broken wordly comforts, is refreshing. We can't all be the Proverbs 31 woman, but God still loves us and He knows our heart. We may not all be married to wonderful, romantic, man who is captivated by our beauty and interested in our thoughts, but we have a Father God that loves us and is intensely interested in a very personal relationship with each one of us. We may not have an adventure with our husband, but we can have an adventure with Christ as we further His kingdom for His glory.

The bottom line for women who are hurting because they feel unlovable or unworthy of love is that God loves us as we are (imperfect, broken) and we need to stop hiding our hurts in everything else (drugs, men, alcohol, work, fill in the blank) and run to Him for true acceptance, love, and healing.

Sadly, most of the books geared toward Christian women do seem to send the "try harder" message, which leads to guilt for many of us who never see ourselves as beautiful enough or "together" enough according to the Proverbs 31 standard. I would love to read more books with a similar message of hope to women as touched upon in Capitvating from perhaps a more Biblcally grounded standpoint. I agree with the busy mom that wrote this review and would recommend this to my friends with similar hurts in their past.

Lindsay, I really appreciate the fact that this r...

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:45:59 +0000

Lindsay,

I really appreciate the fact that this review is honest and unbiased. Why do so many Christians feel the need to take an either/or position, making personal attacks on the nature of the Eldredges' faith when discussing the more controversial aspects of the book? I do not ingest the full contents of this book whole-heartedly and without testing it against scripture, but isn't part of loving one another also fleshing this stuff out together, in a nonjudgemental way? I guess I am suprised at the number of Christians who have seemingly not been able to admit that Captivating, with all its flaws, does have something to offer women in western society. (I do not necessarily mind the fact that the book speaks conspicuously to western society, perhaps because to dismiss these things which are so obviously central to the way we, as westerners, think and behave seems foolish). Any thoughts??

Ah, the obligatory "naked kid in the bath" photo, ...

noreply@blogger.com (R. Sherman) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:02:42 +0000

Ah, the obligatory "naked kid in the bath" photo, a cousin to the "naked kid eating birthday cake" photo. I trust you learned in the "Parental Handbook" the correct time to pulls these out, i.e. high school graduation, wedding rehearsal, etc.

Cheers.

I hope they don't try to get extravagant. Trying t...

noreply@blogger.com (ChuckJoshua) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:47:10 +0000

I hope they don't try to get extravagant. Trying to compete with the Bond movies isn't necessary. Bond is more of a cartoon, where he just happens to show up in the right place at the right time with a straight flush. The Bourne movies have the element of realism that makes them much more exciting--we see how Bourne figures things out, and he doesn't constantly pose for GQ. I'm thrilled they're doing another one.

thanks for the coffeegeep tip! nice blog by the wa...

noreply@blogger.com (Kjetil) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:21:46 +0000

thanks for the coffeegeep tip! nice blog by the way!

Is this really Ward Cleaver's son in real life?! ...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:55:43 +0000

Is this really Ward Cleaver's son in real life?! Fascinating! Does anyone say "Leave it to Pastor?"

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Dec. 6 huh? UCLA can't wait. :)

noreply@blogger.com (Will Hicks) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:33:57 +0000

Dec. 6 huh?

UCLA can't wait. :)

I thought I was the only one who did that. I have...

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:06:41 +0000

I thought I was the only one who did that. I have a folder filled with quotations that I've collected through the years from books I've read, songs I've heard, and the odd word, phrase, and quotation I've come across. My most recent noted one was this:

"There is a curious thing that happens with the passage of time: a calcification of character. See, if the light hits Brian’s face the right way, I can still see the pale blue hue of his eyes that has always made me think of an island ocean I had yet to swim in. Beneath the fine lines of his smile, there is the cleft of his chin–-the first feature I looked for in the faces of my newborn children. There is his resolve, his quiet will, and a steady peace with himself that I have always wished would rub off on me. These are the base elements that made me fall in love with my husband; if there are times I do not recognize him now, maybe this isn’t a drawback. Change isn’t always for the worst; the shell that forms around a piece of sand looks to some people like an irritation, and to others, like a pearl." My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

I collected many quotes from that book. It's an excellent read. And I noticed that they recently made a movie of it. For some reason, I fear the movie won't be as good as the book, but then again it rarely is.

Thanks for recommending this band. Just listened ...

noreply@blogger.com (lauridsenl) — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:16:12 +0000

Thanks for recommending this band. Just listened to their free release, Live from the Church of the Redeemer. Very nice.

Been reading your blog for awhile. Blessings! (And, yes, Go Jayhawks!)

Lee Lauridsen
Lawrence, KS
lauridsenl@gmail.com

Surprisingly, I haven't read anything by P.D. Jame...

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:34:37 +0000

Surprisingly, I haven't read anything by P.D. James. I've never been a fan of the Sherlock Holmes. I'm just not into the whole Scotland Yard type of stuff. I had planned on reading Children of Men, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I love apocalypse novels. I'm hoping since I already saw the movie, it won't ruin the book. The authors I regularly read are Jeffery Deaver, Lisa Gardner, James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Harlan Coben, Karin Slaughter and Alex Kava.

I'm afraid I'm not going to win any points in the NCAA category either as I don't necessarily have a favorite team. I was a big MSU fan (still am), but I like to support the local teams--IU, Notre Dame, Purdue, Butler--when they make the playoffs. Love when bracket time comes around!

Anyway, thanks for adding me on GoodReads. I didn't realize you were on it.

Hey Sherry, I'll try and send a list your way. At ...

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel) — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:37:00 +0000

Hey Sherry, I'll try and send a list your way. At the very least my top 5.

Angie, thanks for the note! I added you on my GoodReads account, which doesn't get a ton of use, I have to admit. Are you a P.D. James fan? My favorite living mystery writer, second to none.

So who is your NCAA hoops team? If the answer is KU, you have just entered the stratosphere of cool.

Hi! I’ve subscribed to your blog ever since your ...

noreply@blogger.com (Angie) — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:22:01 +0000

Hi! I’ve subscribed to your blog ever since your NCAA tournament posts last year. I enter a bracket in an office pool every year and I came in third this year. It's interesting reading your picks, even though I go with my own choices.

Anyway, thanks for the book recommendation! I’m a big murder mystery buff and I added the above to my books-to-read list. I also noticed you’re on LibraryThing. I’m on GoodReads, which I like a lot better than LT. You should check it out. If you decide to join, feel free to add me
here.

Ariel and friends, I'm doing a Hymn Project this ...

noreply@blogger.com (Sherry) — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:24:29 +0000

Ariel and friends,

I'm doing a Hymn Project this summer ---just because I want to. You can read more about it at this address on my blog: http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=5145

But basically, I'm asking you to send me a list of your ten favorite hymns. List these hymns in your order of preference. So your #1 hymn would be the one you feel is the best, and so on. I will be giving your first choice 10 points, your second choice 9 points, and so on. Submit your list to me at sherryDOTearlyATgmailDOTcom. Write “Hymn Survey” in the subject line.

If you like, you can submit a justification for each hymn. Or you can send me a link to an audio or video version online. Include the name of the hymn’s author or lyricist and the composer of the melody you prefer if at all possible, especially if you think I might be unfamiliar with your particular hymn. At the beginning of June I will tally up the totals, and I will pull from the submitted pieces why one reader or another liked a particular hymn (naming the reader, of course). That way we’ll be able to hear from a whole bunch of people why they love one hymn or another. I will then count down from 100 to 1 on my blog over the course of the summer the top choices of what folks feel the best hymns of all time are.

PLEASE SEND YOUR LIST RIGHT AWAY IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE. The deadline is Sunday, May 31st.

Great Article! Really helpful! By the way, take a ...

noreply@blogger.com (Justin) — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:37:19 +0000

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