“It Couldn’t Just Happen” by Larry Richards

This was the first in series of books that changed me from an evolutionist to a creationist.  This was my first step toward excepting Christ.  I had to believe in Genesis as much as I believed in the Gospels.  There were a few lines in this book that jumped off the page when I first read them.  These lines jolted my brain and forced me to re-evaluate all that I had been taught in my science education.

These quotes are from a section on evolution vs. Evolution.  Small e evolution is the gradually change that happens via natural selection over time to all life.  Big E evolution is the the Theory of Evolution that says that life forms develop into new species via natural selection over time.  Here are the quotes:

“The finches (Darwin’s Galapagos finches) were still finches, and the turtles were still turtles, just as the moths of England remain moths.”

“There have been thousands of generations of this fruit fly, and experiments have produced many different mutation.  Yet scientist Francis Hitching summed up the results.  ‘Fruit flies refuse to become anything but fruit flies under any circumstances yet devised.'”

“Hundreds of thousands of bacteria generations have been studied and their variations examined.  Yet never has bacteria been seen to develop into a multicelled  form.”

There is much more in this book, but these quotes were the beginning of the end of being an evolutionist for me.

“The 5 Love Languages” – Gary Chapman

This book changed the way I see relationships.  This book is a must read for anyone who is in a relationship that would like it to be better.  I’m a much better lover of all, because of this book.  The concept is that we all use these five different love languages, but that there is usually one that we speak and hear best.  The revelation comes with understanding that if you aren’t speaking your loved one’s language they can’t understand you.  We tend to speak our love language fluently, but the others we need to learn to speak better.   The five languages are physical touch, acts of service, gifts, quality time, and words of affirmation.  Here is an example:  Let’s say your wife is acts of service and you are physical touch.  Your natural tendency would be to give hugs, back rubs, etc. to show your love.  She doesn’t speak this language so she doesn’t feel loved.  You have to find acts of service (doing the dishes, folding laundry, running errands, etc.) to do for her.  Then she will feel loved.  The reverse is true as well.  If your daughter’s love language is words of affirmation you can destroy her with criticism.  He uses the concept of a love tank that when filled helps a person become who God created them to be.  God can use you to fill someone’s love tank best by speaking their language.

“This Present Darkness” – by Frank Peretti

This book changed my view of spiritual warfare.  No one knows if it is accurate at all, but it provides an image of what it could look like.  The imagery is amazing!  The story will suck you in and freak you out.  This is a very well written thriller and part of a series.  I don’t read much fiction, but this is tops on my fiction list.

“The Shack” – by Wm. Paul Young

This is a very popular Christian book over the last few years.  I reluctantly read it, as I don’t  read much fiction.  It changed they way I view the Trinity.  It gives a beautiful picture of the relationship that God wants with each of us.  It will rock you.  The character demographics have some in an uproar, but I love that it shakes up our preconceived notions.  It really lets God out of the box religion has put Him in.

“The Total Money Makeover ” – by Dave Ramsey

This will change the way you handle money.  Dave teaches God’s and Grandma’s ways of handling money.  This book goes over his six simple steps to gaining control over your finances.  They are not easy and they will take time.  I describe this book as 20% information and 80% motivation.  It is simply written and it will motivate you to learn more.  Ramsey has several resources to take this information further, but this is where I started and where he hooked me.  I have taught his 13 week class several times and am one of his certified counselors.

Those are my top five at the moment.  I’m consistently reading more and more.  If I find other books to add to the list I will post a book review.

What books have changed the way you think?  Please comment and let me know.  Maybe they will change my thinking all over again!

I just finished reading this book.  He is able to put into words some of my thoughts.  I really enjoyed the read.  I think this is one of those rare books that speaks equally well to both right and left brains.  Here is an excerpt from the book that summarizes it well…

“The premise of this book has been that the Christian imagination must be free to sing a new song before the world can hear our music.  This requires a process of deconstruction and reconstruction.

Deconstructing our commodified view of God, and reconstructing a sense of wonder through silence.

Deconstructing our branded identities, and reconstructing identities rooted in faith through love.

Deconstructing our attempts at transformation through external events, and reconstructing internal transformation through prayer.

Deconstructing our devotion to institutions as God’s vessels, and reconstructing relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Deconstructing our unceasing pursuit of pleasure, and reconstructing the redemptive power of suffering through fasting.

Deconstructing our contentment with segregation, and reconstructing the unity of all people through the cross.

Deconstructing the individualism pushed by consumerism, and reconstructing our love for strangers through hospitality.”

I really believe that our culture is bleeding over into our church buildings.  Christians don’t appear to be much different than the world.  (common example – divorce rates).  I think that it is time for a change.  We are ripe for the next reformation.  I wonder who the next Martin Luther is?  I predict he is already on the landscape.  I think we will move backward this time.  More to the roots.  God uses “family” descriptors for the Church.  We are all brothers and sisters in Christ!  Four walled institutions are not the Church.  They are part of the Church, but as they grow they tend to become more corporate and less family.  I’m not sure what the reformation will be, but I hope we are heading back toward family!

Check out this book and let me know what you think!

What I did was minimize the first step.  I accepted that Jesus was real and a real part of my life.  I then went to straight to serving others.  I think I forgot to spend time building a relationship with Him.  I have learned a lot about Him.  I can list hundreds of His attributes, but that is not the same as knowing Him.  I bought into the idea that serving others was the way to get to know Him.  I was becoming more like Him.  At least, more like my list of attributes of Him.  God has recently been revealing to me, through the teachings of Wayne Jacobsen, that I have missed something very important.  I missed developing a relationship with God.  I skipped right past it.  Loving others and loving myself came easy.  Loving God was a weird thought.  How can I love my King, my ruler?  My picture of God has always been more of the old testament version of God.  I have just recently began to see that God is my Father.  I’ve heard it all along, but never really understood how important it was to “get” it.  Knowing about someone is far different that knowing someone.  The Christian walk is supposed to gradually make me more Christ-like.  Trying to be like someone and only knowing some of their attributes will produce a distorted picture.  When you really know someone, intimately, you have a much better chance of emulating them.  I’m starting to see that if I don’t get the God/Jesus/Holy Spirit relationship with me right, I can’t love others well.  I need to take a step back and learn to see God’s love for me and learn to love him.  If God asks me to love others as a way to teach me His love for me then I will, but to begin with I plan to spend time with Him, asking Him to show me just how much He loves me.

The next assessment was a Myers-Briggs personality test.  I’m an ISTJ.  I’m a “high functioning” introvert.  I love to be with people, but I get my strength from alone time.  I think I blew sensing, thinking, and judging off the charts.  I’m practical, matter-of-fact, realistic, and dependable.  I’m logical and can work through distractions.

The role we play in this life comes out of the 5-fold ministry questionnaire.  This is from Ephesians 4:1-16.  I tested highest in Teaching and Evangelism.  I see myself more as a teacher, but I tend to teach with an exhorting style.  I sell you on the product!  So maybe I’m an evangelistic teacher.  I have very little shepherd, apostle, and prophet in me.

The next assessment was on spiritual gifts.  I had 5 that were close to the top.  Here they are in order:  exhortation, administration, teaching, giving, prophecy.  I think the prophecy snuck in there because of my analytical and intellectual bent.  I think I’m able to predict based on data not on hearing from God.  Maybe I hear from God in the details.  I would like to think that.  I can definitely see the exhortation.  I once thought that I was a teacher through and through, but I realize now that I teach through exhortation.  Once I’m convinced of something I can sell it and encourage you to understand it well.  I also like to think I’m good at making things easy to understand.

The last assessment was from “Strengths Finder”.  The idea here is that people should work on their strengths.  You can work on a weakness, but it will never be as strong as a strength.  My top five strengths were: Analytical, Activator, Learner, Communication, and Harmony.  Harmony is definitely the outsider here.  I joke that the harmony I pursue is everyone believing like me.

The final piece to the puzzle figuring out my passion.  What has God laid on my heart?  For me it is Biblical stewardship.  I love to teach people God’s ways of handling their time, talent, and treasure.  I see most things through this lens.  For example, finding and using your spiritual gifts is good stewardship of your talents.  I love to teach budgeting and proper handling of your finances, so that you can be generous to those  less fortunate.

I’m amazed at how all 5 pieces of this puzzle fit me so well.  God is amazing.  I’m sure, after looking at these assessments, that God has me where He wants me for now.  The Sacred Pathways piece is what I’m working on now.  I think to move to the next level of abiding in Him, I need to spend time with Him in the special way He created me.

We start forming our mission statement by looking into the values of our family.  This will help us look at who we are individually, as a couple, and as a family.

First we look at experiences that has shaped our values.  List them and what character traits these brought out.

Next look at our spiritual gifts and how these play into our family.

Be sure to have the kids weigh in.  Ask them some of their favorite memories or experiences.

Combine all this into a mission statement.  Post this in your house.  I would also recommend finding a Bible verse or two that exemplify your mission.

Lastly form some goals and action steps that you, as a family, will do to conform to your mission.

The people there were hard-working and happy.  They worried about the health of their children.  They kept their houses as clean as possible.  They showed us unconditional love.  All of this while tolerating living conditions that would be intolerable to most Americans.  Few had running water, doors, or windows.  They lived in concrete block buildings about 10 ft. square with dirt floors and tin roofs.  They did have electricity, but few had any appliances.

There are a few stories that stood out from our trip that I would like to share.

The first night we were there our team gathered in a circle to discuss the plan for the next few days.  We each took our turn to speak what was on our mind.  Reagan, a 17 year old, who was there with her sister, but not her parents.  Her parents are good friends of ours and we, among others there, had promised to look after the girls.  Reagan talked about how thankful she was the we would agree to look after them.  She teared up talking about not having her Dad there.  It was very moving!  I was very thankful that I got the chance to be there and that Reagan felt safe with us.  I was really touched by a teen-aged daughter who loves her family that much.  Peter and Lisa have done something right.

The next evening we went out to dinner at a local restaurant.  We had a blast hanging out together.  Unfortunately for Paige, she made an comment out load that she was surprised that there were bones in her chicken.  This struck all of us funny and we laughed until we cried.  By the end of the trip she had earned to nickname, McNugget.  She took the teasing amazing well and was probably more mature than the rest of us teasing her about it.

We had a shared negative experience the first hour we were there.  We were on a bus with all our luggage and a rogue horse walked out in front of the bus.  He almost got out of the way.  The bus hit his hind quarters and knocked him down.  The few that could see swore he got up.  We were all stunned.  There was a team from a California church on the same bus that we had just met.  This bonded us for the rest of the trip.

The people from California were from Rolondo’s church.  It was really awesome how quickly we bonded with them.  We quickly saw them as brothers and sisters.  In fact, some of us have adopted there habit of greeting each other as brother and sister.  I’m glad to call each of them hermona and hermono.

Jen Blake felt called before we left to do something for the women there.  She prepared a Bible study for them.  We weren’t sure of the response, because the is foreign territory for Nicaraguan women.  There are treated as second class citizens.  The response was overwhelming.  Over 50 women showed up the first afternoon!  At least two prayed to accept Christ!  The next afternoon was equally amazing.  One of the other women that went with us told her story.  The Nicaraguan women ended up coming around her a praying for her!  We were they to serve them, but they couldn’t help giving back.

The kids were so similar to ours in many ways, but different in others.  You could quickly pick out who the princesses were and the stinkers and we didn’t even speak the language.  The biggest difference was the love they showed for us.  It seemed in an instant they we hugging and hanging all over us.  They loved us not for what we brought to give them, but because we were there to love them.  It was a beautiful example of unconditional love.

Another of my favorite stories was on the very last night.  Trevor had made friends with a little boy there his age.  The didn’t speak the same language, but that didn’t matter.  They played hard and looked forward to seeing each other every day.  On that last day Trevor wanted to give him the tennis shoes he brought.  This was very difficult for Trevor.  With a little encouragement he tearfully gave away his shoes to this boy who had only flip flops that were well worn.  God work on Trevor’s heart and through Trevor in a powerful way in that moment.  God calls us to give sacrificially.  Trevor did something that is incredibly difficult for most of us adults to do.

I’m sure there are many more stories, but these are the ones that stick out in my mind.

I would go back tomorrow!

I have learned to be less angry and more patient.  Don’t get me wrong here, I’m no saint.  I still get angry and at stupid little things.

I better understand my role as a steward of some of God’s resources.  Dad and my grandparents took nothing with them, but left behind a legacy and dizzying number of friendships.  Those friendships are invaluable to us now without him, but even more important I believe that Dad had stored up treasures in heaven through these relationships.  Again, don’t get me wrong here either, I still like stuff and God knows I have plenty.  However I don’t value it the same as I used to.  I hope to value my friends and others more.

I am more thankful for the things and relationships I have.  I can remember a time when I didn’t need anyone, certainly not a God I couldn’t touch, hear, or see.  Now I can’t imagine life without seeing his influence on a daily basis.  He has allowed me to be a part of some cool things.  I can’t thank Him enough.