Royal Wedding

Videotaped the ceremony.  Didn't want to wake the kids up.  I'm sure glad the ceremony went a little better than this.  Very funny.

Book Review: Max on Life by Max Lucado

Readers have questions and Max has answers.  Max on Life is a collection of questions that Lucado has fielded as a pastor, a husband, a father, and an author.  The book files questions under categories of Hope, Hurt, Help, Him/Her, Home, Haves/Have-Nots, and Hereafter.

More specifically Max Lucado tackles 172 questions that involve prayer life, discerning God’s calling, dating, disagreements, sex, money, heaven and more.  I’ll admit to thumbing through the book looking for answers to the “big questions” and Max does address some, but the book is aimed more at practical advice for Christians, not the theological puzzles that won’t be answered this side of heaven.

Sample questions:
#14: How can I get free of the fear that God might not forgive me?
#64: I’ve asked God to heal me from cancer. He healed my friend from cancer, but so far he hasn’t helped me. My friend says I should pray with more faith. Is she right?
#144: I was born to worry. What advice do you have for us fretters?
#170: ...”How could a loving God send people to Hell?”...Can you help me answer my friend’s question?

Max on Life is a collection of gleanings from Lucado’s years in the ministry and some of his books. Lucado’s answers are brief and pithy, supported by Scripture, and salted with experience.  I’d recommend this book to Lucado’s fans, seminarians, pastors, counselors, or anyone involved in a church ministry.  Somehow, somewhere, many of these questions are going to crop up.

Max may not have all the answers, but he knows the One who does.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255  : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Half the Church by Carolyn Custis James: Book Review

Carolyn Custis James is concerned about women.  While God intends women to “thrive, mature, gain wisdom, hone their gifts, and contribute to his vast purposes in our world” (p. 76),  other voices relegate women to, at best, a soft ghetto of second class status, or worse, outright dismissal and horrific abuse.

James has become the voice of a generation of women who desire authentic Christian living that moves beyond platitudes into meaningful action,  in which women (and men) live up to their role as God’s image bearers.  Half the Church for women to roll up their sleeves and get to work on behalf of the Kingdom.

Have Western interpretations made the gospel message relevant only to white, middle class, married women with children?  Or do Jesus’ words and actions have meaning for every woman: the unmarried woman, the widow, the childless, the woman forced into sex trafficking, the Third World child-bride?  James’s answer in Half the Church is a resounding yes--and she has both the Scripture and the skills to back it up.

Half the Church will challenge, inspire, possibly provoke, but it will not leave you feeling unmoved.  Discussion questions follow each chapter.  Note and citations at the end of the book.

I will definitely be passing this one around to friends.

Half the Church: Recapturing God's Global Vision for Women
Carolyn Custis James
Zondervan
2010

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book free from Amazon.com as part of the Amazon Vine program.