Category: Uncategorized

The BOY who CHANGED the WORLD by Andy Andrews (review)

On By pastorjonathanIn books, Family, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Boy Who Changed the World by Andy Andrews is a large hardback children’s book based on the inspirational gift book The Butterfly Effect. The Boy Who Changed the World is about how every life and every person make a difference in lives of others.  The book is well written and the graphics certainly caught the attention of my four-year-old. The story only takes a few minutes to read and shares an inspiring message of hope.

The actual story of the book follows a chain of events back to a few significant moments in a few individuals lives that eventually lead to the feeding of over 2-billion people.  Its a great story for children to be inspired by and great for parents who are hoping to inspire their kids to attempt great things.  The message is clear and concise… You make a difference.

This is a great book to give the children in your life and read with them over and over.  The retail price is $16.99 (Hardcover), and is available at a discount at Amazon.com for $11.55. I gave it five stars.

Children book reviews

    Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson as part of the BookSneeze program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 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.”

    Mark 6: An uncommon man in common clothes

    On By pastorjonathanIn Uncategorized1 Comment

    Mark 6 begins with the account of Jesus teaching in his home town. The people there recognize him and are amazed at his teaching. They knew that he had no real formal education and chose to reject him. They marveled at his works, but must have assumed that it was some sort of trick. They knew him too well. They knew his family. They knew that Joseph was a carpenter. They thought they had him all figured out, but they didn’t.

    They missed the message, they missed the miracles, but most importantly the missed the Messiah because they were focused on familiar. They couldn’t see the forest for the trees. They threw the baby out with the bathwater. They were indignant because they thought they knew him. They thought he was a common man trying to be uncommon it never entered their minds that he could be the uncommon reaching out to the common.

    Do we miss seeing what He would do in our lives because we have treated Him as common? The culture and sub-culture in which I live is in danger of missing Jesus because he has become common. We treat him like a genie or Santa Clause, we relegate him to the world of mystical cultural phenomenon, but really pay him little attention. Have we forgotten that He is God? have we forgotten that He is the only path to peace with God? Have we forgotten that its His kingdom?

    Review: John (St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary) By R.C. Sproul

    On By pastorjonathanIn books, Uncategorized1 Comment

    John (St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary) by R. C. Sproul is a great commentary on the Scriptural book of John.  For years I have appreciated Dr. Sproul’s ability to communicate difficult truths in easy to understand ways.  I have appreciated his skills as a bible scholar, pastor, and teacher from afar by listening to him on the radio.  I was thrilled when I got a PDF copy of this commentary to review.  Dr. Sproul has applied his keen expositional skills to the book of John and has produced a very readable and reliable guide to this beloved book of Scripture.

    The commentary is divided up into 57 chapters that focus on the various portions of scripture.  The chapters work in order through the book of John.  Each chapter appears as a written sermon complete with illustrations and pertinent background information (similar to the commentaries by James Montgomery Boice in his commentary,  Gospel of John, The (5 Vol. Set), though Sproul covers John in one volume and it takes Boice five).

    This commentary has several practical uses.  I can see it being a great benefit for those who are looking for a devotional guide to the book of John.  It also functions well as a commentary for those who are looking for some basic background information on a passage.  When preparing a message, one of the last things I do is see how other pastors and teachers have approached a text, especially when considering a difficult passage… This volume has been extremely helpful in allowing me to see how a seasoned expositor handles the expression of the text.

    This was a great commentary and I would highly recommend it pastors and laymen alike.  The book is easy to read, follows a predictable pattern and draws a steady point of application. John (St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary) is an excellent resource. The retail price is $27.00 (Hardcover), and is available at a discount at steep discount at  Amazon.com for $17.82. I gave it five stars.

    Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Reformation Trust Publishers as part of their Blog for a Free Book Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 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.”

    How to Fail by Success (ecclesiastes 6)

    On By pastorjonathanIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

    In the first few verses solomon writes about a man who has success, but can’t really enjoy it, because he doesn’t know the God that gave him the success. (Ecclesiastes 6:1-2)

    Near the end of the chapter Solomon warns us of roving appetites. I’m going to have to keep making trips to the grocery store because we keep getting hungry at my house. My hunger is only satisfied temporarily. We are tempted to wander in our appetites. We may have a cabinent full of food, but none of it satisfy the initial hunger we have because we have set our appetite on food that isn’t available. Solomon warns that it is better to be satisfied with today than to put all of our stock in being full tomorrow. (Ecclesiastes 6:7-9)

    Application: enjoy today! Spend time with friends and family. Thank God for the blessings you do have. When you leave work, leave it behind. Enjoy living today.

    Sound Doctrine Produces Godly Living (Titus 2)

    On By pastorjonathanIn Devotional, Ministry, spiritual disciplines, UncategorizedLeave a comment

    I’m trying something new.  My pastor posts a daily devotional thoughts most every day on the passages of scripture he is reading.  I follow along by reading the same passage in the morning and some time later catching up with his thoughts.  Today is the second day in Titus. I don’t know what aspects of the passage he is going to flesh out.  Hopefully this will be complimentary to his blog post.

    Sound Doctrine Produces Godly Living

    Truth about God is called doctrine.  Sound doctrine is having true truth about God.  False doctrine is when some one says, “This is true about God” and it isn’t.  Like when some people in Crete said you had to be circumcised in order to be a follower of Jesus (Titus 1:10).  That was a lie and it didn’t lead people closer to God, it actually separated them from God (Titus 1:16). Sound doctrine however causes us to grow in godliness.

    So how do you apply sound doctrine to your life?

    Submit to authority (Titus 2:2,15; 3:1) – I know it sounds weird to submit.  Saying the very word submit brings back memories of playing “mercy” (you may have called it “uncle”) and watching wrestling on TV. Submission, however, is really less about being defeated by someone and more about accepting authority.  Submission to godly authority actually protects us from error and helps us to grow in our relationship with Christ.  Being under authority is actually a gift from God and we need to be thankful for our pastors and teachers.

    As an adult it is easy to see why children really need to submit to their parents.  When I discipline my daughter I remind her that God has given her great parents to protect her and guide her as she grows up.  The authorities that God has placed in our life have come to bless us and help us grow in godliness.

    Learn from those who have gone before (Titus 1:4-5). Older women are to teach the younger women.  There is great value in learning from someone who has been where you are and walked with God through it.  We don’t have to blaze the trail anew each time we come to a junction in life where we have never tread.  It is great to get godly advice and leadership from people who walk close to the Lord and have tread the path before us.

    The Grace of God (Titus 1:11-14).  God’s grace has a way of transforming us.  The power to overcome sin and temptation in our lives flows from the overwhelming nature of God to secure our salvation and draw us near to Himself.  We have been considered righteous because of what Christ has done, not a work of our hands.  Yet, now what motivates us to give ourselves wholly to Him is that he has given so much for us.  We give our all now, not because we could even begin to repay him by our deeds, but because He satisfies.  What we have in Christ is so much better than the short-lived pleasures that this world has to offer.  We desire for others to know Him and celebrate His goodness.

    Application: Sound Doctrine Produces Godly Living… What are you doing to actively live out Truth about God in your life?  Who do you submit yourself too? Who are you learning from?  How has the grace of God transformed how you live?

    What is the hardest part about submitting to others?

    What were your thoughts on Titus 2?

    If you liked this post, you may like these as well:

    When Church People Do Bad Things

    When Church hurts

    7 Steps of a Unified Group

    God Cannot Lie, but People Can (Titus 1)

    Powerful SeatBelt Ad

    On By pastorjonathanIn Uncategorized, Video2 Comments

    Generally I dislike commercials.  This one is powerful, moving and thought provoking.  I am glad that I had a chance to watch it today and thought I would pass it along to you.

    Waiting on the Lord

    On By pastorjonathanIn Uncategorized1 Comment

    I won’t be posting here on the blog for a while. At least not with the pace that I’m used to. Over the last few days I have been wrestling with a few issues and need the time I normally devote to blogging to pursue deeper issues.

    Many of you are faithful to pray for me and I encourage you to pray for me on the following 3 ways.

    1. For Christ to be exalted in my life above all. I long for a genuine humbleness in my life that makes much of Christ.

    2. For patience to actively wait on the Lord. Some things only God can do and we must wait so that we do not steal the glory.

    3. For strength and endurance. When God moves in a persons life the enemy is not silent.

    Sorry if I’m a little cryptic or confusing. Just know that God is dealing with me in a really good way and I can use your prayer.

    50 Reasons: To Give Eternal Life To All Who Believe on Him

    On By pastorjonathanIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

    A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I would be reading Piper’s book “50 Reasons why Jesus Came to Die” between Easter and Pentecost. You can get the scoop here. 

    I apolagize for not posting much of last week and early this week.  Most of my computer time was spent writing and researching a few papers due for my Masters degree and a few other side projects that had more immediate deadlines.

    To Give Eternal Life to All Who Believe on Him

    Piper does a great job bringing out the beauty of eternal life in this quote, “It is the supreme and ever increasing happiness where all sin and all sadness will be gone.  All that is evil and harmful in this fallen creation will be removed.  All that is good – all that will bring true and lasting happiness- will be preserved, purified and intensified” (57).  Imagine ever increasing delight without an end.  That’s the point of eternal life.  Not an endless choir session of boring music.  If that is the future for all who believe on Christ… How should that inform the way we live now?

    Communicating With Children: 5 Ways to BLESS your kids

    On By pastorjonathanIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

    Be Available

    This means removing distractions, like the phone, television, computer, etc.  This isn’t always face to face interaction.  Sometimes it can be enjoying a hobby or meal together.  It may involve a late night session of learning how to play Rock Band.  The point is to be available.

    Level appropriate

    When choosing how to interact with your child remember to keep it on their level.  I made the mistake of trying to teach my daughter tennis at the tender age of four and expecting her to be responsive to my techniques.  She quickly taught me that I needed to be on here level, so we reduced tennis to some basic motor skills and hand eye coordination with a racket and made a really fun game of it (we didn’t even worry about the net… which is where I started).

    Her dance instructors are amazingly sharp at getting on her level.  In a few short lessons she knows more about dance than I would have ever hoped to learn.

    Empathetic

    Try to imaging the world from the eyes of your child (especially if they are younger).  We made the mistake of letting our daughter watch Scooby Doo.  Everything seemed fine during the day, but at night she was seeing “creepy” monsters and ghosts all over the place.  Not so much because scooby do is Evil (they do reveal the real culprit at the end of each show), but because she has an active imagination.  Things that seem harmless to us can be scary to our children.  Things that seem clear to us can be confusing to our children.  Its important that we try to remember or understand what life is like on their level.

    Straight forward

    Somewhere many of us have adopted the idea that it would be a good idea to persuade our kids what they should do instead of telling them what to do.  You may catch yourself dropping hints instead of giving actual commands.  We’ve found that stating the obvious really goes along way towards moving your child to be productive.  If you want something done like having the trash taken out, a room cleaned, home work done, etc.  Be direct.

    Simple

    Sometimes we forget that what is clear to us, may not be clear to our kids.  Not only is it important to be direct, but be simple.  Sometimes what appears as disobedience our kids part is really a lack of clarity on our part.  Here are a few basic tips for clarity.

    1. use simple language (make sure your kids know what you are saying)

    2. Provide direction.  ” You can’t be in your brother’s room right now. You can play outside or in your toy room, which one would you like to do?”

    3. Give options, but not to many. Notice there were only two options above.  This gives your child room to make a decision about playtime.  We intentionally limit the options.  Too many options stifle the decision making process.