Book Review

For the past month or so, I have really been feeling the desire to find a spiritual mentor in my life. I realized that I really haven’t found that person since moving to Nashville almost twelve years ago.

The challenge that I am finding with this is: Where do I begin? How do you find that person to be your spiritual mentor? I don’t feel like I can just walk up to someone on Sunday morning and say, “Will you disciple me?” Another issue I am running into is that my church is fairly young and I am actually older than many of those people. Not that a spiritual mentor necessarily has to be older than me but I have the misconception in my head that I will need to overcome.

What’s funny to me is that ever since I have begun praying about this, I have been running into it almost on a weekly basis. One of the bloggers I read daily took a break from her normal posts of meal planning and grocery deals to talk about three of her mentors and a couple of people in my small group from have been taking about maybe starting up a discipleship group.

So, while I don’t yet really have any answers, I would be interested in hearing from anyone out there who has been or currently is in a discipleship group, has mentored or has been mentored. I would appreciate any insights that people are willing to share.

With tomorrow being Easter and a celebration of all that Jesus gave up for me, I thought I would share my testimony today. I used a line from one of my favorite songs to start the post (I’ll put the full song at the end).

Sometimes I wish I had a more dramatic testimony but then, more often than not, I realize how blessed I am to have had Christ with me for most of my life.

When I was growing up, my dad was a pastor so I have been in the church since I was very little. My parents moved to New Mexico to pastor their first church when I was five or six. I accepted Christ into my life when I was at a kids church camp when I was in the third grade.

I never really knew what it was like to not know that there was a God. Now, most people who know PKs (preacher’s kids) also know that when they leave home, they sometimes tend to go off the deep end. That was NOT me. I went to a Christian college for a year and then moved up to a state college after that. I took a break from church but that only lasted a few months before I was drawn back in.

God really revealed himself to me that first year in college. I was away from home and everything I knew. I was learning who I was and making friendships that will last my whole life. The school was very small and even if we didn’t know names, we recognized people. During that year, four people from school were coming back during a snow storm and were hit. Three of them died instantly and the fourth girl, one I knew from the dorm we lived in, was in critical condition and they did not expect her to come out of the coma she was in.

With the whole school praying for her recovery, God became very real and very present to me. He worked a miracle on Wendi’s life and revealed Himself to me in a way I had not yet seen Him.

That was almost 20 years ago and today, I am thankful for a God who lives with me every day. I know there are times when I struggle with whether or not I am fulfilling His plan completely for my life but I always know He is with me.

As promised, here are the lyrics to “Wonderful, Merciful Savior.” It is a beautiful song. If you have not heard it (or have not heard it in a while), I recommend looking it up and giving it a listen.

Wonderful, Merciful Savior. Precious Redeemer and Friend, who would have thought that a lamb could rescue the souls of men. Oh, you rescue the souls of men.

Counselor, Comforter, Keeper. Spirit we long to embrace. You offer hope when our hearts have hopelessly lost the way. Oh, we hopelessly lost the way.

You are the One that we praise. You are the One we adore. You give the healing and grace our hearts always hunger for. Oh, our hearts always hunger for.

Almighty Infinite Father, Faithfully loving your own. Here in our weakness you find us falling before your throne. Oh, we’re falling before your throne.

(written by Dawn Rogers and Eric Wyse)

About a month ago, ESPN radio commentator Tony Kornhiser was talking about the integration of bike lanes in Washington DC but the conversation soon took a turn for the worst when he said, “And they all, my God, with their water bottles in the back, and their stupid hats, and their shiny shorts, they’re the same kind of disgusting posers that in a snowstorm come out with cross-country skis on your block. Run them down.”

He later modified that comment to, “So you tap them. I’m not saying kill them.”

So, I’m thinking about this and the attitude so many drivers have about cyclists as I am about to take my bike out for the first time this season. I am excited about getting out there. Biking is one of my favorite activities and when you haven’t  been able to get out there for several months, that first time is a great thrill.

Please don’t take the attitude of Tony Kornhiser. Share the road. Know that most cyclists obey the rules of the road. Be aware of us and leave us a little room. When you see us driving up alongside a row of parked cars, keep in mind, we don’t only have to look out for the cars driving by, we also have to keep our eyes open for anyone getting in or out of cars.

If you are a cyclist, the most important thing to remember is WEAR A HELMET!!! But also, follow the traffic laws, try and stick to places that either have bike lanes or that have plenty of bike traffic so drivers are looking out for you.

I say good for Washington DC for adding bike lanes. They not only keep the community less populated, they keep the people in better health. Nashville is a pretty friendly cycle town. There have only been a couple of places I have biked over the past couple of years and I have learned that if you don’t feel comfortable, you just don’t go back there.

Be safe everyone.

C – ya tomorrow!!!

Ok, so one of the ladies in my small group (Carmen) told me about this April challenge. Let me lay it out for you:

“Can you post every day except Sundays during this month?  And to up the bar, can you blog thematically from A to Z?  If you subtract Sundays from April, you then have 26 days–one day for each letter of the alphabet.  Using this premise, you would start this Thursday April First with a topic themed on something with the letter A, then Friday the second a topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until you finish on Friday April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z.  It doesn’t even have to be a word–it can be a proper noun, the letter used as a symbol, or the letter itself.  The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day.”

By the way, if you want to get involved, check out http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/2010/03/blog-boggled-blogging-from-to-z-april.html.

I figured I’d give this challenge a go for a couple of reasons. Number one, I don’t blog enough. I really only use the blog for my book reviews but thought I’d like to write about some new things.

Number two, I love to write and not only write but also process what I’m writing and coming up with new ideas will be good for me.

So, here we are, day one of the April challenge and I am about to post my “A” blog for the month. It’s a great start.

See you tomorrow 🙂

After the first chapter of “Imaginary Jesus” written by Matt Mikalatos, I was hooked. The often humorous, always poignant story of Matt’s quest to find the real Jesus amongst all of those imaginary Jesuses in the SSIJ (Secret Society of Imaginary Jesuses) is truly engaging. Some of the imaginary Jesuses are laugh out loud funny—King James Jesus, Testosterone Jesus and Meticulous Jesus.

The book encourages the reader to look into their own life and see the Jesus they have created in their lives that makes them comfortable and dares you to search for who the real Jesus is.

The book begins with the author sitting in a café with his imaginary Jesus when a man walks in and punches Jesus in the face. Jesus, in turn, runs away. What follows is a fast-paced, rollercoaster ride through the authors imagination.

As Mikalatos narrates the story, you learn about some of the personal experiences and struggles he and his family have endured through their lives which gives the book a personal touch that many will be able to relate to. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is struggling to understand who Jesus is and what that means in their life.

As a member of the Tyndale blog network, I was provided this book free of charge by the publisher.