Our youth group is starting a 7 week series tonight called “What’s the difference?” We are going to be looking at various world religions and the differences between them and Christianity(hint: it’s Jesus). The goal is not for them to know more about other religions but to know what and why they believe better. Here are two of the main resources I’m using for this study. Fritz Ridenour’s book has some great stories about the various founders. It’s as informative as a text book, but is a fun read because of the style.
| So What’s the Difference? How World Faiths Compare to Christianity, Revised and Expanded
By Fritz Ridenour In easy-to-understand chapters, the author explains the basic beliefs of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, New Age and a dozen other belief systems of the world. It will help you recognize the real differences and make it easier to explain and share your faith with others. Completely revised and updated. |
| Christianity, Cults & Religions: Compare 17 Religions and Cults with Biblical Christianity
Compare the beliefs of 18 world religions and cults at a glance, including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, and more! Learn what each group believes about God, Jesus, salvation, and other basic points of Christianity. Laminated pamphlet measures 5.5″ x 8.5″ and unfolds to 33″—ideal to keep in your Bible or briefcase. From Rose. |
In April and May, we’ll be studying the 10 commandments to continue the process of strengthening their faith foundation. More and more I am finding that many students’ Biblical knowledge is sorely lacking. There are several factors for that but I believe the main culprit is the breakdown of the family unit in our society(more on all that later). The church’s responsibility to make disciples often falls on the local organized body, but I believe that Christ intended for every believer to be and make disciples. I’m not sure when showing up for an hour on Sundays started passing for being a disciple.
Here’s the latest music out this week.
| Beautiful Things CD By Gungor Michael Gungor’s musical creativity and passion for worship are on full display with Beautiful Things, a thirteen-song set of refreshing original compositions. Featuring a guest appearance from Israel Houghton, Gungor breezes through alternative worship styles on tracks like “Dry Bones,” “Please Be My Strength,” “People of God,” and others. |
Saw the preview for this book. Just had a conversation with someone about this very thing.
| Why Is God Ignoring Me?: What To Do When It Feels Like He’s Giving You the Silent Treatment
By Gary R. Habermas * Have you ever cried out to God when you were in trouble and felt like he’d abandoned you? Sharing personal experiences, heartfelt insights, and biblical truth, Habermas asks tough questions, shares wise answers—and reveals where we can find our heavenly Father in the midst of suffering and sorrow. 256 pages, softcover from Tyndale. |
My wife, Karen, and I are speaking at a Valentine’s banquet tonight at a local church. We are sharing our personal story of God’s healing and blessing. It is exciting and humbling to receive an opportunity like this. It will be good to see some old friends there as well. With that in mind, here are some great marriage and relationship resources.
| As Long As We Both Shall Live: Experience the Marriage You’ve Always Wanted By Dr. Gary Smalley & Ted Cunningham Ideal for engaged couples, newlyweds, and long-married partners, this resource provides the tools you’ll need to establish a lasting life together! Relationship expert Smalley and Pastor Cunningham show you how to defuse the ticking bomb of unrealistic expectations and acknowledge your unexpressed assumptions. Learn to understand each other’s needs, express yourself honestly, and increase intimacy. Hardcover. |
| Cupidity: 50 Stupid Things People Do for Love and How to Avoid Them By Hayley & Michael DiMarco Having trouble making sense of your love life? Whether you’re single, dating, or married, the Hayley & Michael DiMarco will help you correct acts of “cupidity” – or “stupid love”! You’ll become a better romantic partner; explore love from a biblical perspective; and avoid heartache and unrealistic expectations. Honest and eye-opening, their guide provides helpful tips from their firsthand experience! Paperback. |
| Happy Spouse . . . Happy House: The Best Game Plan for a Winning Marriage By Pat & Ruth Williams with Dave Wimbish Whether your marriage is on the road to victory, in foul trouble, or just needs a halftime pep talk, you’ll find compassionate and competent coaching in Happy Spouse, Happy House for building a strong, secure, and successful marriage. Using the acronym BEST, Pat and Ruth Williams encourage men to be the best leaders, lovers, and listeners they can be and empower women to be the best partners and players in a winning relationship. B less your spouse |
| L.O.V.E.: Uncover Your Personal Love Style By Drs. Les & Leslie Parrott L.O.V.E.: Uncovering Your Personal Love Style by Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott show couples how to revolutionize their marriages by uncovering their unique love styles – how they as individuals are hard-wired for love. Once they uncover this vital information, they learn how their combined personalities approach marital issues. Using scientifically proven online assessment methods, your two personalities come together to create your unique “love style” as a couple. The acronym uses the primary characteristics of Leader, Optimist, Validator, and Evaluator. L.O.V.E. is accompanied by a set of his/her workbooks expressly designed for couples to drill down into the content of each chapter. These are also ideal for group study. |
| Love & War: Finding The Marriage You’ve Dreamed Of By John & Stasi Eldredge John and Stasi’s new book, Love and War: Finding the Marriage You’ve Dreamed Of does for couples what Captivating did for women and Wild at Heart did for men. In it couples are encouraged to fight for one another and not with each other. The Eldredge’s liken marriage to a love story occurring within the context of a war. As couples fight the forces at work against their marriage, they need to remember that they are in this together. Alternating chapters show the male and female perspectives and as they share their personal experiences, they let you know that it is in the context of marriage that God chooses to heal and transform you into His image. Hardcover. |
| Loving the Love of Your Life By Mark Gilroy Looking to add a little spice to your love life? In one affordable flip book you’ll find 60 ways to show how much you care and add a fresh spark to your marriage. With the fun of a game, the book contains a series of activities, surprises, and suggestions; taking turns, the couple passes the book back and forth adding romance, humor, and good memories to the process. In a busy world where Christian couples are giving, working, studying, and serving, here is a collection of ways to connect with the one you love best, and build into your marriage in a fantastic way. Nurture your love and watch it grow! Husbands: Wives: hereare 60 ways to get started- 30 for each of you. Get started today and take your marriage over the top! Paperback. |
| More Than a Match: The Five Keys to Compatibility for Life By Michael & Amy Smalley with Mike Yorkey More Than a Match provides you with the tools you need to find the love you want and turn your romance into a lifelong love affair. In this book the authors explore the “compatibility factor,” teaching you how to apply the specifics of good compatibility to a prospective date or mate, as well as how to break things off when you find yourself in the wrong relationship. And.since finding and keeping the love of your life is about much more than finding a match, you’ll also learn how to deal with conflict, develop a healthy sex life, and recover when you inevitably hurt one another. Paperback. |
| The Five Love Languages, Singles Edition By Gary Chapman Whether you’re widowed, divorced, separated, or never married, your deepest emotional need is to feel loved—and your greatest successes will be obtained by loving others. Chapman shows you how to do both effectively in situations unique to single adults—dating; roommates, classmates, and co-workers; family connections; and single parenting. Includes new discussion questions. |
| The Love Dare Day by Day: A Year of Devotions for Couples By Stephen Kendrick & Alex Kendrick Love is a choice. A daily choice. The Love Dare Day by Day is a daily reminder of how it’s done . . . and done well, taking the original experience to the next level. With 52 weekly dares, this one-year devotional invites you to go deeper into the scriptural principles of The Love Dare, and is meant to enrich your relationship with God and your spouse through a daily time of reading, prayer, and action. Make this more than a year of your life. Make it your bold, next step to a lifetime of love. Features of this book include:
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If you’re going to grow as a person and a leader then reading great books should be an essential part of your growth. I have recently started reading with a new method that I wanted to share with you. There were 2 things I wanted to accomplish with this method.
1. Read faster
2. Take notes that are easy to scan through
There are 4 things in a book that make this process work: Chapter Headings, sub-headings, lists, and quotes. First, let me say that this method will not work with every type of book. This won’t work with a novel. I’ve found that most business, leadership, and growth books have all of the above.
Get the book you’re reading and a notebook. On a fresh page, write the Title and Author. Next, find chapter 1 and wirte it down along with it’s heading. All you’re going to do is scan the pages looking for key words that catch your eye(these depend on what and why you’re reading), subheadings, quotes, and lists. I typically write down all subheadings and lists. I write down quotes only if they’re truly memorable and something I could use in a sermon or a post. So, your page would look something like this(but hopefully with better handwriting):

Your amount of notes will depend on the format of the book and the length of the book. For example, I have 3 pages of notes from Crush It, and 12 pages of notes from The 4 Hour Work Week. I liked the books equally, but one of them had more lists and sub headings so I took more notes.
The most important thing to remember is to enjoy the book. If you get a chapter in and it’s not doing much for you then put it down and move on to something else. Also, don’t feel like you have to finish every book you read. Are you getting out of the book what you were hoping?
For me, this was born out of a desire to learn and grow without feeling overwhelmed. I also am trying to live by a set schedule. So far, the schedule has helped me get things done, but I’ve also been able to be flexible with it when necessary.
Finally, there have been two tremendous benefits so far with the creation of this site. One, is connecting and reconnecting with people all across the country through Twitter and Facebook. The other is immersing myself in the flow of great resources that are at our fingertips to help us become the people we were created to be. There are countless great books, blogs, conferences, music, and videos to help us discover our purpose, passion, and possibilities that many of us are unaware of. My reading list is full of great books I didn’t know existed before I started Chasing My Lion. Sadly, I know two many people who aren’t plugged into any of these things. They seem content to live life without pushing themselves to grow as Christians and leaders. Sadly, many of them are good friends in ministry.
So, what about you? What are you reading? What are you chasing?
Currently Reading:
| Why So Many Gods? By Tim Baker What do Madonna’s henna tattoos really mean? Is The Matrix more than just an action flick? Probing the meanings behind pop culture symbols, this hip guide to over 100 religions, cults, and worldviews will get your teens thinking about what they hear, see, and read—and help them choose God’s truth over the media’s mixed messages. 240 pages, softcover from Nelson. |
Currently Watching:
Newspring church at
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Last week I posted some Action Steps I was taking to be a better man and do everything with excellence. As I have been taking a good hard look at my life I realized that most of the issues of stress and ineffectiveness I face stem from my failure to faithfully observe the Sabbath. In his DVD, “Everything is Spiritual”, Rob Bell talks about the rhythm of creation and the significance of God taking a break from that rhythm and pattern on the 7th day. Here’s what it says in Exodus:
Exodus 20:9-11 (New International Version)
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
It’s one of the 10 commandments, and I fear it’s the one I break most often as a pastor. I am on this journey to discover everything I can about the Sabbath and balance that with what Jesus said in Mark:
Mark 2:23-28 (New International Version)
23One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
25He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
27Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
This is not a debate or discussion about whether or not to take a Sabbath or if failing to do so consistently has been harmful to my health, marriage, and spirit. What I would like to see happen is for a discussion to take place about how you’re making this happen? How are you unplugging for a day? What boundaries have you placed in your life to help you celebrate this holy time? What day is your Sabbath? Is there a day of the week when your church offices are closed so everyone can have a Sabbath? As for me, here’s where I am starting:
1. Commit to one day a week where I am totally unplugged technologically.
2. Make sure that I don’t follow my daily routine other than have my son at school by 7:55 am on that day.
3. Discover and rediscover hobbies that God can use to restore my soul.
4. Do everything I can to insure that my wife is able to have a Sabbath as well.
5. Study the roots, beginnings, and traditions of the Sabbath to see how God has used this holy day to renew and restore his people throughout history.
What about you? What steps are you taking or are you already having an effective Sabbath day? More to come later.
In case you missed it, here’s a look at All-Star United’s lastest album.
I’m also excited about picking up these books. If you’re struggling to figure out what your passion is then I strongly suggest picking up The Passion Plan by Richard Chang and Ready, Set, Grow! by Dondi Scumaci.
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And here’s some more great music in case you missed it.
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Or if you prefer you can Shop on iTunes
And here’s some more great music in case you missed it.
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Finally, here’s you can pre-order John Ortberg’s new book and check out the Love Dare paperback and devotional book for couples.
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