if you blog long enough, especially if you have your own domain, eventually marketing/promotion companies start contacting you to review books.

about a year ago one such company asked me to review an upcoming book.

they sent me the manuscript.

i read it.

i then promptly emailed them saying, ‘yeah…you probably don’t want me to publish my review…’

which they didn’t.

a little while later, another company contacted me about reviewing an already published book titled Castaway Kid by R.B. Mitchell.

they sent me the book

i read it.

i, less than promptly, wrote a review…right now:

Castaway Kid: One Man’s Search For Hope And Home

- rb mitchell -

copyright: 2007 / Focus On The Family
pages: 244
readability: a quick, easy and engaging read
available: buy it here

synopsis: Castaway Kid chronicles the story of rob mitchell, one of the last ‘lifers’ in the american orphanage system. his upbringing was filled with struggle, lonliness, uncertainty and a desire to be accepted by the people around him. through his circumstances he learns of the goodness and grace of God and the sufficiency found in a relationship with Him.

review: mitchell does a wonderful job demonstrating what a life in the american orphanage system entailed and is able to paint a first-person perspective for his readers, who get to enter into the thought process of a young man who simply desires love and acceptance, yet again and again is presented with abandonment.

whether it is the shocking and tumultuous interactions with his mother, his tender relationship with his grandmother, his summers with his wealthy extended family or his efforts to overcome anger and violence, mitchell’s story is intriguing and compelling.

the setting of Castaway Kid brings an additional element of interest to the already fascinating story. when one hears the word ‘orphanage’ in this day and age, most conjure stereotypical images of oliver twist or other such media depictions. Castaway Kid puts a realistic and gritty face on the life inside the walls of the children’s home in illinois.

the book is a great read for an evening or two that will encourage you to think about the circumstances of the people around you, but also will demonstrate the wonderful faithfulness of the God we serve.

rating: 8 out of 10

maranatha

want to be happy?

University Of Maryland has figured out some do’s and don’ts of happiness.

things like:

DO: go to church.

DON’T: watch so much tv.

i feel great.

read the rest here.

happy wednesday.

today i’m headed over to Kings Christian School to share @ their high school chapel, so if you read this before 10:30am and want to give me a quick prayer, it would be much appreciated.

during the final days before the election i broke my news fast to prepare myself and get some information.

now, the news fast is back on, except for wednesday mornings where we share headlines that we think are important or interesting.

i taught this morning, so i thought i’d share my headlines with you:

ACLU bullies small town for allowing Christian bands @ annual festival

Evolutionism vs Intelligent Design: a study in hypocrisy

Vatican says: too many Christian-Muslim dialogues

Palin to seek God’s will on 2010 campaign

US tax dollars to go overseas for abortion aid?

assisted suicide in USA expands

EU moving away from democracy?

at least 500 Christians killed in Orissa, India

Christians on the run in Iraq

protesters march on Saddleback

introducing the National Bible Bee

US evangelists bring hope to prisons of El Salvador

Scripture distribution in 7 high-conflict areas

lots to pray for.

maranatha!

–
kelly and i like reading. the problem is we don’t do very much of it.

so, recently we’ve been trying to block out more time for that activity and, i’m proud to say, that we’ve each finished a couple books in the last month or two (kelly more than me…).

since then i’ve taken notice of the e-readers that are out there. obviously the most well known device is Amazon’s Kindle.

while being a little reminiscent of 1982′s Tron, the kindle was still the first kid to the party, so we’ll give that to them.

but these days the playing field is widening.

and i think you’ll agree that the kindle is in trouble.

which e-reader would you choose:

the amazon kindle
$359

photo by google images

the sony prs-700
$400

photo by engadget

the plastic logic e-reader
$ ?

photo by engadget

what an age to live in.

time to cast your vote!

i witnessed something interesting this morning.

we’re dog-sitting at my parents house for a few days (i guess that means we’re house-sitting too). this morning, as i got ready for my day, i went into the hall bathroom to finish up my hygienic routine.

this particular bathroom is set up like many bathrooms; 1 tub, 1 toilet and a long counter with 2 sinks and 2 mirrors above said sinks.

as i was brushing my teeth (which takes 2 minutes with our sonicare) i noticed a little house-fly who was in quite a predicament.

you see, he (she? it?) was flying back and forth from one mirror to the other in a continual loop. but he wasn’t landing on the mirrors…he was flying into them.

bzzzzBAM!

bzzzzzzBAM!

bzzzzBAM!

bzzzzzzBAM!

his little fly body would just bounce right off the mirror’s face. then he’d right himself and start back on the semi-circular path to the next mirror.

i literally watched him do this at least 20 times. over and over. putting tiny dents in his gloriously durable exoskeleton (do flies have exoskeletons? i refuse to look it up).

i’m sure there’s some lesson for me in this, but i haven’t discovered what it is yet.

i know it’ll make a great sermon illustration someday.

and now it’s catalogued on this blog for when i forget it.

happy wednesdaBAM!

–
last wednesday i did a short segment at our ignite service. i did a word study on the word “family” from the old and new testaments.

here’s the audio (7 minutes) and transcript

read it

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

as of August 2008, here’s who’s in my google reader by category:

family

mrs. p
my dad
my mom
my sister

friends

andrew feil
bryan feil
carson belmont
casey belmont
densie feil
jason munoz
katie wiebe
luke mundy
mike fast
patrick mundy
paul davison
rachel mundy
eric riley
sarah mundy
sean munoz
the obwalds
the rileys
the whitmores
tiffany aicklen

miscellaneous*

engadget
lifehacker
the apple blog
wpcandy
wp lover

*these folks are not christians, so i can’t vouch for their content whatsoever

ministry

britt merrick
francis chan
going to 11
greg laurie
heal your church website
ken ham
live to worship
reflections on the ministry
roll over menno**
simple life in Christ
skip heitzig

**roll over menno has recently quit updating, but will remain archived

music

brody harper
life in HD
phil wickham
worship trench

trying it out

billy chia
bittbox
good-tutorials.com photography tutorials
good-tutorials.com photoshop tutorials

who do you think i’m missing and should add?

–
i know, i know, most of you reading this aren’t really into political posts, but i thought this article had some remarkably interesting thoughts.

(don’t worry, there’s no spoilers)

enjoy.

WHAT BUSH AND BATMAN HAVE IN COMMON

By ANDREW KLAVAN
July 25, 2008; Page A15

A cry for help goes out from a city beleaguered by violence and fear: A beam of light flashed into the night sky, the dark symbol of a bat projected onto the surface of the racing clouds . . .

Oh, wait a minute. That’s not a bat, actually. In fact, when you trace the outline with your finger, it looks kind of like . . . a “W.”

There seems to me no question that the Batman film “The Dark Knight,” currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.

And like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society — in which people sometimes make the wrong choices — and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell.

“The Dark Knight,” then, is a conservative movie about the war on terror. And like another such film, last year’s “300,” “The Dark Knight” is making a fortune depicting the values and necessities that the Bush administration cannot seem to articulate for beans.

Conversely, time after time, left-wing films about the war on terror — films like “In The Valley of Elah,” “Rendition” and “Redacted” — which preach moral equivalence and advocate surrender, that disrespect the military and their mission, that seem unable to distinguish the difference between America and Islamo-fascism, have bombed more spectacularly than Operation Shock and Awe.

Why is it then that left-wingers feel free to make their films direct and realistic, whereas Hollywood conservatives have to put on a mask in order to speak what they know to be the truth? Why is it, indeed, that the conservative values that power our defense — values like morality, faith, self-sacrifice and the nobility of fighting for the right — only appear in fantasy or comic-inspired films like “300,” “Lord of the Rings,” “Narnia,” “Spiderman 3″ and now “The Dark Knight”?

The moment filmmakers take on the problem of Islamic terrorism in realistic films, suddenly those values vanish. The good guys become indistinguishable from the bad guys, and we end up denigrating the very heroes who defend us. Why should this be?

The answers to these questions seem to me to be embedded in the story of “The Dark Knight” itself: Doing what’s right is hard, and speaking the truth is dangerous. Many have been abhorred for it, some killed, one crucified.

Leftists frequently complain that right-wing morality is simplistic. Morality is relative, they say; nuanced, complex. They’re wrong, of course, even on their own terms.

Left and right, all Americans know that freedom is better than slavery, that love is better than hate, kindness better than cruelty, tolerance better than bigotry. We don’t always know how we know these things, and yet mysteriously we know them nonetheless.

When heroes arise who take those difficult duties on themselves, it is tempting for the rest of us to turn our backs on them, to vilify them in order to protect our own appearance of righteousness.

[ read the rest of the article here ]

any thoughts?

–
from this wednesday’s study on the olivet discourse.

3 devils were coming to the earth to finish their apprenticeship. they presented to Satan their plans to tempt and ruin men.

the first said, “i will tell men that there is no God.”

Satan said, “that will not delude many, for they know there is a God.”

the second said, “i will tell men that there is no hell.”

Satan answered, “you will deceive few that way; men know that there is a hell for sin.”

the third said, “i will tell me that there is no hurry.”

“Go,” said Satan, “and you will ruin men by the thousands.”

have you felt it yet?

if you work at a church in this state, i’m guessing you have. emails, calls, mailers, volunteers and others, all pressuring the evangelical community to get out and vote against the gay-marriage amendment to California’s constitution.

and, it’s only the beginning.

just this week we were visited, and then called the next day, by an organization that suggests you take a portion of a sunday morning service and ‘encourage’ people to register as permanent absentee and to vote against the recent ruling from the state’s supreme court (i say ‘encourage’ because having everyone take a form and a pen and having ushers walk around asking people to finish said form seems less like encouragement and more like coercion to me…).

now, as most of you know, i am a conservative. politically, economically, international relationally, spiritually (in the literal-inspiration-of-God’s-word sense)…and my beliefs are important to me. i loved arguing about them while i was studying political science in college (not so much anymore). i love having a reason for the things i believe.

so let’s talk about some things i believe:

- i believe that God defines marriage as 1 man and 1 woman and that He did so all the way back in the garden of eden, making marriage the first institution God established.
- i believe that Christians should vote. we live in the greatest country in the world with the greatest freedoms in the world. we should not take for granted the blessings we enjoy in america.
- i believe that some Christians should get involved (more than voting) in politics. i say ‘some’ because i believe that God will guide some to political activism and He will guide others not to political activism. God will call some to be like daniel and others to be like abraham.

interestingly, i also believe:

- we have a short amount of time to do the things God asks each of us to do.
- winning a soul for Christ is more effective than writing legislation.
- preaching redemption and grace from the pulpit is better than preaching political or social activism.

i mean, people are up in arms. to many this seems to be the end-all-be-all fight of the eon. much more-so than other issues…like when we were threatened with losing the right to spank our kids.

i guess i’m just thinking about it this way; what if, on the sunday that we decided to spend a bunch of time haranguing the gay-marriage amendment from the pulpit, someone had brought a homosexual family member to hear about Jesus?

what if someone in my congregation is struggling with the sin of homosexuality?

should the message they receive on sunday morning be about absentee ballots and why it’s ‘us versus them,’ or should they hear that Jesus Christ is mercy, is grace, is sufficient to free mankind from the bondage of sin?

what if, instead of name-calling and categorizing, we talked about God’s plan for salvation and His desire to change lives? what if, instead of soundbytes, we talked about how God’s grace is enough to forgive any sin.

any sin. even the ones that we somehow convince ourselves are ‘worse’ than the rest.

because, yes, God says homosexuality is sin, just like drunkenness, anger, strife, groundless divorce and the rest.

God also said that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. and now our Maker and Savior extend to us loving-kindness. God wields all of time and space as a backdrop for the drama of redemption, His effort to reveal His love to you and to me.

it’s important to act on what we believe. Christians should exercise their freedom and vote against things that conflict with our values. i mean, we should love who God loves (everyone) and we should avoid what God wants us to avoid. we should be teaching each other the whole of God’s word, because when we do then He works out our behavior, our values, our convictions, our stances. and that affords us the opportunity to be known for Who we’re for, NOT what we’re against.

as we close, i was thinking about a simple illustration:

if you walk up to me and apply pressure by pushing me then i have 2 options; to either fall over or to push back. but, if you walk up to me and embrace me then i won’t fall and i won’t need to fight.

this isn’t about writing off sinfulness. it’s not about letting society deteriorate. it’s about living the Christian life in a way that demonstrates the life-changing power of God’s salvation that is freely available to every man, woman and child on this planet. that is what will changes lives, not a law.

the God of the universe is madly in love with us.

blessings and maranatha