The Sacred Journey: Book Review

This is a Book Review on the book "The Sacred Journey" by Charles Foster. I liked it, I liked it very much!

Never had I considered that we were perhaps created to wander.

As I began to read, I realized there is example after example of wandering people favored by God over those who built large empires or business. It is so easy as an American to assume bigger means better. I came to realize that is not necessarily true.

"The accounts of Jesus' life are geographically very explicit. He had said, "Follow me." I just had never taken this as literally as the book challenged me to.

Charles wrote the following, "The penalty for wanting to be a settler is that you become one." How profound! We settle - in so many ways.

It was ironic that I read this book right before going to Cambodia where I will have the privilege of serving orphans, I have never been out of the country except on a cruise ship. Shame on me. My son recently said to me, "prepare to have your American bubble broken"... This book was the first step in that process.

I would recommend this book to anyone willing to consider that the 'American Dream' is the very thing keeping all of us from really making the impact on our world that God desires from us.

what I learned today

I asked you to pray last week when I visited the detention center and God moved my heart, I continue to feel He's asking for me to help care for the forgotten people in our community. As I was preparing to leave home yesterday I frantically looked for the book I wanted to finish and couldn't find it. So I grabbed "The Hole in our Gospel" written by the president of World Vision. I can tell I will once again be challenged.

I began the book and I ran across these words, "How could the great tragedy of orphans get drowned out by choruses of praise music in hundreds of thousands of churches across our country?..sitting in a hut I remember thinking, How have we missed it so tragically, when even rock stars and Hollywood actors seem to understand"?

A haunting question indeed!

I will keep you posted on this book , I know some of you have already read it, God Bless!

Imagine That

I was recently asked to review the Moody Publishers Book Imagine That by Manuel Luz. I enjoyed it immensely and recommend it very highly!

Crossroads' Creative Arts Small Group began reading it last night. It is very exciting to have a resource of this quality! Thanks Manuel!

Imagine That - Book Review

July 29, 2009

The book “Imagine That” by Manuel Luz, declares that “we are all born artists, but in the art of living, the artist in many of us dies.”

We all drew, painted, or sang at the top of our lungs and participated in all kinds of artistic endeavors when we were young. We continued creating until someone told us we were not good enough. This was just one of many thought provoking truths discussed in the book.

Manuel masterfully explores all the many reasons the Christian artist is so needed and so valued by God. His conclusions give encouragement for each of us to continue following our God calling toward wholeness.

Manuel talks in detail about Bezalel being the first person mentioned in the Bible to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This brilliant, talented artist was chosen to design the Ark of the Covenant, trusted with all the details. This unique distinction does not fall on a leader or a prophet or a king, but upon an artist.

Manuel goes on to say Worship is described as “one of our most basic responsibilities”. He says that rather than worship being an event that happens on Sunday, it is actually an eternal interaction between the Triune God and His creation. It does not begin with something we do, but with something God has already done.

My day was richly blessed when I attended a workshop at the Saddleback Worship Conference not even knowing Manuel Luz would be there. Now I will be taking every artist that God has placed under my leadership through this amazing book to be affected for eternity! I encourage you to do the same, you will not be sorry!

Manuel is the Creative Arts Pastor at Oak Hills Church in Folsom, CA. He is a working musician, with almost fifty albums to his credit. He holds a BS in aeronautical engineering and an MBA in management.

one new thing: I am not alone

I love to read! If this is the case then why don't I read more? I have been reading occassionally taking forever to finish even the most valuable and best of books. Now I am on a mission!

The following is the list of books I am completing:

1. New Testament - I am reading through the New Testament and am currently in Romans. I read a chapter each day and then go back and sumarize in writing what I've read each day.
2. The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian (this is a re-read for me)
3. Leadership from the Inside Out by Kevin Harney

This book comes from a pastor's heart, not a corporate leader. He says, "Learning to live an authentic and examined life demands daily choices that are consistent with God's desires for us." He suggests using the following five tools.

1. Self-Examination Suggestions: develop patterns and disciplines that lead to health and help you avoid pitfalls in ministry.
2. I've Got Your Back: because we can't see every part of our lives clearly, we need people who will cover our backs. We need to invite other to warn us when we're in harm's way, when our actions are dangerous.
3. Doctor's Insights: Wise people get regular medical checkups to catch health problems before they become critical. We need to practice spiritual self examinations.
4. Network Building: We can't lead in isolation. We are wise to build a network of people who will help us lead in ways that honor God and bless others.
5. Help From My friends: Harney invited other leaders to share how they create lines of accountability and build networks that strengthen them as they serve Christ and his church.

As I began this book I was astonished at how many of the experiences Harney lists that are identical to periods of my own ministry experience. One of the key ways the enemy discourages us is by convincing us that we are alone, that issues are isolated to our ministry or personal life only. That we can not trust anyone. This is such a deception!

Listen to this heart felt quote from Leadership From the Inside Out.

There are days, weeks, even months that my heartbeat is weak, almost too faint to be heard even by God's spiritual stethoscope. If the truth were known, if people could see inside of me, they would be shocked... I hope that no one will notice I'm one heartbeat from spiritual cardiac arrest.

I am sad there are such unrealistic expectations on our pastor's and staff to be perfect, to never be weary and to sacrifice all their personal time for the ministry. I am excited to learn from this pastor how he has surrounded himself with Godly people. I will write a summary of this book when I finish.

Last week I said I wanted to learn one new thing each Tuesday. I was reading a book technical in nature trying to learn something new, but nothing jumped out at me. I think instead God chose to teach me today that I am NOT alone. I need to embrace and bury this truth deep within my soul to battle the enemies lies!