A New Book! Laughing with Sarah

I'm proud and excited to announce the publication of my latest book, Laughing with Sarah, a book to encourage you to be all God wants you to be.

How do you respond when you face the impossible? Sarah laughed at God and I think God snickered a little at Sarah's reaction. Laughing with Sarah includes many thoughts about the journey with God. It's about putting things off and starting things over. It's about being grateful, enthusiastic, and obedient.

Sometimes in life we have mountaintop experiences and sometimes we find ourselves in a valley. But for most of our lives, we are somewhere in between the valleys and the mountaintops on our journey with God. Laughing with Sarah is about those "in between" times.

Click the button below to purchase it now!

Book Review: Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe

I was asked to participate in a blog tour for Larry Osborne's latest book, Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe. Larry is also the author of the book, A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God, which I HIGHLY recommend. You can see my review of that book here.

Are urban legends and Sunday School myths ruining your faith? Just because "everyone believes it" doesn't make it true. People don't set out to build their faith on myths. But somehow falsehoods keep showing up in the way many Christians think about life and God. These beliefs are assumed by millions to be rock-solid truth - until life proves they're not. The sad result is often a spiritual disaster - confusion, feelings of betrayal, distrust of Scripture, and loss of faith or anger toward both God and the Church.

But it doesn't have to be so. In this personal and practical book, respected pastor and Bible teacher, Larry Osborne confronts ten widely held beliefs that are both dumb and dangerous. Beliefs like:

• Faith can fix anything
• God brings good luck
• Forgiving means forgetting
• Everything happens for a reason
• A godly home guarantees godly kids

Get ready to be shocked, relieved, and inspired by Larry Osborne. Because myths can get you hurt, but the truth will set you free.

Larry Osborne is recognized as one of America's most innovative pastors. He is the pastor of North Coast Church in Vista, California.

Things I Don't Like...

I try to be a positive person, even though I have kind of a cynical, sarcastic sense of humor, I may come across as negative sometimes. Lately I've made note of some things that could be categorized as pet peeves or things I don't like. Please allow me a minute to be negative.

Such as:

• typos. I bought a book the other day. The Foreword section was spelled Foreward. I don't even want to read the book now.
  
• self-service checkouts. If I've got to check myself out, give me a discount! I'm doing what the person at the register next to me is getting PAID to do!
• lawn sprinkler systems. Please can't I just use a hose and a $15 sprinkler from Walmart? EVERY SPRING I spend hours repairing our sprinklers. (Guess what I did today?)
  
• red bugs. They're taking over our yard.
• really bad Christian television. (Which is almost all of it.)
• okay, then, let's just say Christian television.
• my vision is getting worse.
• negative people. :)
  

Jesus People: The Movie Trailer

This is an independent film (a comedy) about a Christian rock band. It's called Jesus People.

The Nashville preview of Jesus People happens on April 21 at 7:30 @ the Belcourt Theater

Survey Says...God Help Us!

The post below is from Dr. Dan Crawford, a former seminary professor of mine.

A recent survey asked more than 800 pastors to name the critical ministries of their churches by listing the top five. Only five percent of participating pastors listed prayer/prayer ministry/prayer groups in the top five. Do they not know that exclusive of the Psalms, which is a prayer-book of its own, the Bible records 650 definite prayers, 450 of which have recorded answers? Do they not know that the most widely used verb in the ministry of Jesus was the verb “to pray?” Do they not know that almost every great spiritual leader in Christianity has listed prayer as utmost important in their life? Do they not know that the countries in the world where Christianity is growing fastest are countries where prayer is paramount in the churches? The answer is that they do not know. Or at least, if they know, they forgot when they took the survey. No wonder the majority of churches in America are either plateaued or dying. No wonder ministerial burn-out is at an all time high. No wonder theological schools are forced to teach conflict management courses while ignoring courses on prayer. Jesus said, “Therefore, pray . . .” (Matthew 9:38). God help us!

Get clean from the inside out with Soul Wow!

Christ, our Passover Lamb

I was reminded of something yesterday in my daily reading through the One Year Chronological Bible. I'm in the book of 1 Samuel. The events in this book took place around 1050 BC. Over and over again, Israel is reminded of God's great rescue from Egypt which occurred hundreds of years before (somewhere between 1446 BC to 1280 BC). The Passover story, the exodus, and the parting of the Red Sea are constantly brought up by Israel's leaders when they are trying to rally their troops or turn the people back to God. The Exodus story is a central focal point of Israel's faith as they make their way to and conquer the Promised Land. Even today, the Passover observance is one of the most sacred holidays for the Jewish people.

While Christians certainly marvel at the Exodus story, our passover story is the cross. Last weekend, we were reminded again of the central tenet of our faith, i.e., the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the crucifixion, we are lost and dead in our sins. Without the resurrection, we have no life. The cross of Jesus is our passover. God "passes over" our sin because Jesus himself made himself who had no sin to be sin for us. (See 2 Corinthians 5:21.)

Let us not forget the events of the past. Let us not forget the Good Friday story. Let us not forget the Easter story. We are to be reminded again and again and again of the incredible grace given to us through Christ. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed (1 Corinthians 5:7).

No Clever Answer

Successful 33 year-old professional golfers don’t think about dying often, but the reality of death faced Paul Azinger in 1993 when he was diagnosed with cancer. After a biopsy on Azinger’s shoulder, his doctor reluctantly reported to the defending PGA champion that he had lymphoma. Additional time would tell how severe the cancer was. The answer didn’t come to the champion for three days.

“I did a lot of thinking about a lot of things those three days,” Azinger said. “It was the first time in my life that I really understood that I wasn’t bulletproof. When you’re thirty-three and you feel like you’re at the peak of your career and you’ve got a great family and more money than you ever dreamed of making, you don’t think about dying. I still think of myself as a kid, just a big kid. Now someone was telling me that I might die. There’s no clever answer when someone tells you that.”

Azinger beat lymphoma and became a regular on the tour again. In fact, he was selected to be the Ryder Cup Captain for the 2008 U.S. Team.

Listening to Authority

Steve Melnyk tells of the time he arrived at Augusta a few days early to play some practice rounds prior to the Masters Tournament. On the Saturday afternoon before the tournament, Melnyk received a call from the secretary of Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Clifford Roberts. Like John Arthur Brown, Clifford Roberts was a man that was accustomed to being listened to and obeyed. The secretary asked Melnyk if he would like to join Mrs. Dwight Eisenhower, Jack Nicklaus, and Mr. Roberts for dinner. Melnyk replied that he could not attend due to other plans he’d previously made. Two minutes later, Melnyk’s phone rang again. It was Clifford Roberts. Roberts said to Melnyk, “I’ll meet you in the Trophy Room at 7:00 PM sharp.” Melnyk enjoyed his dinner with three VIP’s that night.

Jesus was a man of authority with a message of authority. The Bible tells us that those around him were amazed because his teaching had authority. But Jesus did not abuse the power that his authority gave him. He often used his authority to deliver hard truths to the religious leaders of his day because they were so far off the mark. But among common people, Jesus communicated his authoritative message with grace and love. His authority came not in the office he held or any position that men may have given him. His authority came from above and he used it to point people to the Father. We should do the same.

Book Review: Clutter-Free Christianity

When did the Christian life become so complicated?

Your greatest desire is to please God, but with each passing week, your spiritual to-do list grows longer. As you strive to fulfill a never-ending inventory of requirements for being a godly parent, spouse, voter, employee, and more, you feel increasingly disconnected from the God you’re trying to serve.

It’s time to cut through the clutter and get to the heart of what it means to please God. In this liberating look at the core principles of faith, Dr. Robert Jeffress reveals the truth about what God really wants from you–and what He wants to do for you.

Through solid biblical teaching and practical insights, Dr. Jeffress points you toward a revitalized faith centered on becoming more like Jesus in action, attitude, and affection. You’ll learn how to partner with God in the process of spiritual transformation as you choose to follow Christ in forgiveness, obedience, trust, contentment, service, and prayer.

Through a renewed focus on experiencing the kingdom of God right now, you’ll find your to-do list shrinking and your spiritual life deepening. It all comes with embracing Clutter-Free Christianity.
Includes a Bible study guide for personal growth and group discussion.

I have a free copy to give away. Leave a comment to enter a drawing. Winner will be announced next Friday, April 10.