Guest Post: “We Are All Theologians”

I was out of town this past Tuesday so once again I missed posting a “Tuesdays” reflection, but this week I want to share with you a guest post from a woman whose writing and theological insights I admire:  Carolyn Custis James. Perhaps the essay that follows resonated with me in particular since I chose to spend a week of my summer vacation intensively studying theology this year, but as Carolyn points out, we are all theologians when we  are working out what we believe about God.

She’s absolutely right. When life is tough, we need more than just sweet thoughts about God. We need to know him for ourselves.

[The following is reprinted from http://blog.kyria.com/giftedforleadership/2012/07/we_are_all_theologians.html?utm_source=womenleaders&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=9291812&utm_content=130488684&utm_campaign=2012.]

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“Do you think of yourself as a theologian? When we hear the word theologian, we often we picture some older intellectual man—a professional academic sitting behind a desk piled with thick books in ancient languages. And there certainly are professional theologians who fit this description, busily teaching at seminaries and writing books. But theologian is a label that belongs to all of us because a theologian is simply someone who knows God. Theology is what we believe about God—whether it is true or not. Every Christian—male or female, young or old—is a theologian, and we were each made for that very purpose.

Adults are forever warning children about strangers. The message is not that all strangers are dangerous, but that you can’t trust someone you don’t know. When we don’t take the time to get to really know God in deep ways, we put ourselves in the impossible situation of having to trust a stranger.

When we go through a crisis or a devastating situation in our lives, we lean on our theology—whether it is true or false. Will it be something we’ve constructed ourselves? Or will it be the result of really knowing God? When a storm strikes your life, whatever it is that you believe about God is what your faith will have to grasp. This is where it gets dangerous. What if you’re holding on to wrong ideas about God, like “He doesn’t really love me” or “I don’t matter” or “He isn’t good”? That poor theology will only make your struggle worse.

It’s vital—it’s urgent—for women to go deeper spiritually and theologically. We can’t coast through life on sweet thoughts about God. All of us will face trouble in this life, and when that happens we need to know the truth about God and who we are in him to help us navigate those storms.

Mary of Bethany is one theologian in Scripture who inspires me. When we look at her whole story—not just one little piece—we can see how theology looks in a woman’s life. First, we see Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet– first-century language that describes a rabbinical student. Against cultural pressures for Mary to remain within the “proper” sphere for women, Jesus defended her choice to sit at his feet and learn. And Jesus who had come to “show us the Father” and always talked theology, was teaching the same deep theology to Mary that he taught the men. Her story sends a message to us that making time and effort to know God deeply is every woman’s first priority. This is a striking image of theological training.

But theology moves beyond the classroom and into real life when Jesus doesn’t come in time to save Mary’s brother from dying.  Now, in her grief and disappointment, Mary must grapple with what she’d learned about Jesus and how it meshed with the deep pain of what was happening now. This is where Mary’s understanding of Jesus—her theology—deepens. She discovers Jesus is Lord of life and death and can be trusted, no matter how bad things get. This too is a picture of theology; theology is both learning and wrestling.

Finally, we see her anoint Jesus. This was more than just a radical act of affection and gratitude. Mary’s actions here show us that you don’t just learn theology—you live it. As the cross loomed for Jesus, Mary boldly (and one might add, outrageously) anointed him for his burial. Far from conceding victory to Jesus’ enemies, Mary was affirming Jesus’ mission and standing with him as he faced the battle ahead. Mary was living her theology—believing what Jesus had taught her and trusting him in this dark hour. Her theology made a difference to her and to Jesus who said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.”

Since we are all theologians, how do we become better theologians? Certainly we should avail ourselves of opportunities to learn from scholars and professional theologians through books, classes, or seminary, for they can profoundly enrich the depth of our intellectual and spiritual understanding. But this is no substitute for what we can do on our own.

As we read and study Scripture, the most important question we can as, and one that will yield fresh insights about God, is, “What does this tell me about God?” The Bible is the revelation of God. It is infinite and the depth of the subject matter it deals with is infinite, so we can always dig down, peel back the layers, and go even deeper.

We can’t afford not to become better theologians. As women, we need to pursue a robust theology for ourselves. No matter how good and helpful the theology of others may be—that of husband, pastor, or friend—the theology we turn to when we’re in trouble is our own. [emphasis mine]

So how are you growing as a theologian? When has a solid theology helped you navigate difficult storms in your life? How do you desire to grow in your understanding of the God you know and love?”

Carolyn Custis James is a speaker and author of several books, including When Life and Beliefs Collide: How Knowing God Makes a Difference and Half the Church: Recapturing God’s Global Vision for Women. www.whitbyforum.com.

Amish Hospitality 2.0

All photos were taken with permission of those whose yards and images are featured.

If you want to study biblical principles for “welcoming the stranger” first-hand, there are few better places to do it than among the Amish.

When Mike and I were in northern Indiana last June for the afternoon wedding of friends, we stumbled across the “Rentown Garden Walk” – an annual event where Amish families open up their property to guests as a modest fundraiser for their one-room country school. We so enjoyed it last year that we returned this year with Mom Wallem.

My post of a year ago describes what we learned about Amish hospitality, but this year’s walk brought a few surprises as well:

• The Amish have a wonderful sense of humor. Underneath those bonnets and beards are normal folks who love to laugh, enjoy life, and poke fun a bit at our English conceptions of their community.

We didn’t expect to purchase mint packaged in bags from Victoria’s Secret!

Their dresses might be plain, but when it comes to undies, it’s OK to get a little fancy!

Buggies and basketball. After all, they DO live in Indiana!

• The Amish demonstrate the significance of taking time to sit and be still, to read and reflect, to regard dialogue with others to be of more value than entertainment. Every yard we visited had carefully created areas for conversation.

A lovely spot to sit a spell in an Amish yard

• The Amish understand the biblical injunction to welcome the stranger into their midst. Rose shared gardening tips, Wanda gave us lettuce fresh-picked from her plot, and the Yoders prepared a hearty meal for us at the end of our day. We discussed faith and politics, cabinetry and RVs, raising children and lowering expectations of what true “productivity” looks like.

Rose sharing gardening tips with Mike as her twins look on

We loved this playhouse built for the Yoders’ grandchildren.

It’s tempting to idealize these gentle, unassuming people, but to do so would be to exalt them in a way totally antithetical to their faith. Ira Wagler’s best-selling memoir Growing Up Amish is quick to dispel any such notions.

Yet we felt completely at home among the people of Rentown this past Saturday. They gave us their welcome. We gave them a piece of our hearts.

Stories of God at Work: New “Miracles for Jen”!

Yesterday I wrote about my young friend Jennifer Barrick, whose body and brain were battered five years ago when her family’s minivan was hit head-on by a drunk driver. Though legally blind and suffering from chronic pain and cognitive impairment due to TBI, Jen – now 20 – has an extraordinary prayer ministry and is speaking to thousands of people each year about the source of her hope.

Today I want Jen’s mom, Linda,  to share with you some of the ways in which God continues to work in the lives of the Barricks. The following incident took place when Linda and Jen were in Canada to film segments for the TV show “100 Huntley Street”:

With Joni, who write the foreword to "Miracle for Jen."

“We woke up Tuesday morning and filmed 20 ten- minute segments at the TV studio.  Joni Eareckson Tada let them use all of her TV footage which was such a blessing. The TV segments will air during their stewardship telethon, April 16-27 in Canada and in the United States to millions and millions of viewers.

“I hadn’t really stopped to think about how long of a day this would be on Jennifer. We filmed seven hours and changed outfits three times which is hard for anyone without a brain injury. Jennifer did amazing but around segment 15, her brain was completely done. She couldn’t process one more thing or even answer our questions. I was afraid we were not going to be able to finish.

“Then, something miraculous happened….

“The host asked Jennifer to pray over all the viewers. As they continued to film, Jen started praying…then unexpectedly and with great energy, she prayed the most powerful salvation prayer I had ever heard in my life. She gave the complete plan of salvation in simple, powerful words and referenced several things we had discussed during that TV segment, pulling the whole thing together masterfully.

“Tears streamed down my face because I knew it was all God. She has never led anyone in a salvation prayer during an interview. It was amazing because Jen went from being totally depleted one minute to sounding like a Bible scholar. The Lord Himself prayed those words through her.

“ When Jen finished, the host of the show commented, ‘Jen, you have energy again!’  She had no trouble finishing the last few TV segments. The makeup artist had to stop and fix my makeup because I had mascara running down my face from tears

“I believe with all my heart that your prayers have made a difference in the number of salvation decisions (over 110) that have been made for Christ the past month and also the many people God has brought into our path to minister to one- on- one.  We are getting hundreds of emails from people all over the U.S. and Canada….God is speaking to people’s hearts and lives are being changed forever!

“Jennifer reminded me yesterday, ‘Mom, we have a secret weapon…it’s PRAYER!’”

Tomorrow I’ll share a couple of prayer requests from the Barricks. If you left a comment after yesterday’s post, no need to do so again, but if you’d like to win a copy of Linda’s new book Miracle for Jen, we’ll have a random drawing for a winner on Monday, April 2.

Miracle for Jen

  It’s been over a month since I’ve done one of my Tuesday posts. My soul is just beginning to catch up on all the places my body has been in the past 30 days: Nashville for a trade show, New York City to assist with an author interview and then a five-day float on the Western Caribbean with my mom, sister and sister-in-law. I know, tough life, right?

And then the past several weeks I’ve been totally distracted by the phenomenal, precedent-busting weather we’ve experienced in northern Illinois – 14 plus days of sun and temps in the 70s and 80s. “Chicago is the new Phoenix!” Mike commented as he pulled out the lawn mower last week. When have we EVER mowed in March?!

Not that I’m complaining.

And speaking of which, we’re now nearly three full months into YOLU – the Year of Living Uncomplainingly. At least one friend is YOLU’ing along with me. Despite a husband with a cancer diagnosis and a personal workload that doubled after a colleague left suddenly for urgent medical reasons, my friend in Kenya is determined to grab joy by the fistful and plunge her nose into its fragrance.

Some people are great at just being grateful while others…just grate. If spring comes early, they gloomily predict snow by month’s end. If they’ve enjoyed a few days away, they heave a sigh when it’s time to return to work. If an acquaintance comments on the good in their life, they’re quick to point out the bad.

It’s easy to be positive when spring comes early and your fatigue is caused by the good fortune of being gainfully employed.  It’s hard not to be happy when, like the cowboy in Oklahoma, you’ve got “a wonderful feeling that everything’s going your way.”

The Barricks' van after the collision: Nov. 2006

But how do you respond when what’s coming your way, in your very lane in fact, is a drunk driver doing 80 mph? How do you react when your teenage daughter slowly begins to emerge from a five-week coma and she doesn’t know that your family’s minivan was crushed in a head- on collision, or what her brother’s name is, or how to add 2+2? How do you possibly find the good in an accident that damaged every part of your precious girl’s brain?

The answers to these questions lie in an extraordinary hardcover book Tyndale House released this month called Miracle for Jen, written by my friend and Jen’s mom, Linda Barrick.

In her memoir, Linda describes the crisp November evening just over five years ago when their family was on their way home from church in Lynchburg, VA where Jen had been singing in a youth choir. Just one mile from home, a drunk driver with no headlights slammed head-on into their van. Linda, her husband Andy, and their children Jennifer and Josh had to be extricated from their van and rushed to four different hospitals. Jen suffered the most life-threatening injuries and it was feared she would not survive the night.

But thanks to thousands of prayers and the miraculous healing hand of God, Jen survived, as did the entire Barrick family. Yet the road to recovery has been long and grueling.

With severe traumatic brain injury and multiple skull fractures, Jen remained in a coma for five weeks. Yet little-by-little she began to recover, and miracle-after-miracle began to unfold.

As Linda relates the story, “Even though she couldn’t remember that 2 + 2 = 4, Jen could remember every Bible verse she had ever memorized and the words of every worship song she had ever sung. Jen would talk to God out loud and praise Him continually as if she could see Him standing right beside her in the hospital room. Everyone – even the doctors – knew that God was at work. There was no other explanation. God was whispering ‘HOPE’ in Jen’s ear.”

With Jen at lunch in Times Square: Feb. 2012

I had the privilege of assisting Linda and Jen with a TV interview in New York City late last month. (You can watch the 4 minute feature here.)  Like the hosts and producers at Fox News, NBC’s Today Show and others, I felt humbled just to be in this young woman’s presence.

Although Jen is legally blind and suffers from chronic pain and fatigue, there is a radiance about her very being that causes people to notice and be drawn to her. I believe it’s because Jen Barrick reminds others of Someone they have heard of but have never actually met. The spirit of the presence of Christ around her is so powerful that people by the thousands have asked Jen to pray for them – not because of any special power in her but because she is so clearly close to the One who not only restored her life but has given her a powerful new purpose.

Linda tells me that God is continuing to produce miracles in their situation. Tomorrow I’ll post a few of those.

The Blogpost I Was Scared to Write

It’s the start of a new year, right? Time for inspiration, revelation or at least a resolution or two.

Dieting? Already doing that – doctor’s orders. Mike and I are both using a tracking tool called myfitnesspal.com, and he’s more self-controlled than I am. I’ve lost about 5 in the past two months and have 20 to go to reach the goal my doctor recommends.  Yikes. Like discipleship, it’s gonna be a long obedience in the same direction.  (And since my primary care physician is a female my age, I can’t even play the my-metabolism-is-slowing-down card.)

Fitness? Yep, working on it. I have watched Mike head out to swim laps at 6 am for decades, and I’m finally getting myself moving consistently as well. Elliptical trainer at the gym; workout DVDs at home.

Reading through the Bible in a year? Mike has done this for years because nothing is more important to him than hearing from God. I cannot substitute the reading I do for my classes or the prep for retreats for time alone in the Word.

You’d think my husband’s attention to physical and spiritual disciplines would have rubbed off on me after 35 years together, but you don’t catch them by contact. Instead you have to emulate them by example.

So here is my major resolution for 2012. I resolve to live uncomplainingly. 

When Mike is vexed by a problem, he takes it straight to the top, to the only One who can truly do anything about it. Solutions for him are nearly always Spirit-directed. I admire this in him, because it makes him among other things a superb listener. He has little need to complain to others when he already has the ear of the Holy One.

Yours truly, on the other hand, is a verbal processor. When I am vexed, worried, bothered or bewildered I voice my fears aloud, and to my ears, at least, it’s come to sound like complaining. I’ve been thinking a lot about the Apostle Paul’s charge to the church at Philippi to “do everything without complaining and arguing,” (Phil 2:14) and it occurs to me that maybe, just maybe, good old Paul actually meant it.

So I am dubbing 2012 The Year of Living Uncomplainingly.

See why I am scared to write this post? What if someone (say you, for example) is actually reading this and lovingly holds me accountable? Sheesh. Do you know how hard it is to get through even one day without being verbally grouchy, grumpy, crabby or cranky? (THERE. See what I mean?! I can’t even write a post about complaining without whining about it.)

Seriously, this YOLU-stuff is harder than it sounds. If you resolve not to be a whiner, how do you avoid the everything-in-my-life-is-so-perfect Pollyanna Syndrome?

In her book Grumble Hallelujah, Caryn Dahlstrand Rivadeneira makes a terrific case for honesty.

“I’m no Pollyanna,” she writes. “I don’t wake up with a song in my heart or one coming from the little baby bluebirds chirping outside my window. In sharp contrast to a friend of mine who once told me the first thing in her head every morning when she woke up is, I love being a mom. I have a great life! the first thing in my head every morning is, Morning already? You’ve got to be kidding! or its cousin, Can’t these kids sleep?!”

So if Living Uncomplainingly is not Pollyanna Pretense, what does it look like? What happens when you have legitimate reasons to protest or a need to offer constructive criticism?

I’m trying to figure this out in the year ahead, and you’re invited along on the journey. And if you catch me fussing about something, you have my permission to post a comment that simply says “Whine Alert” (or Waa!).

Living Uncomplainingly, after all, may just have something to do with remembering what we have rather than what we lack.  Focusing on being thankful more than being fretful. Putting others’ needs before our own.

Love U!

Freebie Friday: The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven

Congratulations to last week’s winner of Run to Overcome: Lisa Hansen of NYC!

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Many of you reading this post are parents. How would you feel if you were driving your car with your six-year-old child in the backseat and you made a left turn – just as you have a thousand times before -but this time an optical illusion in the road concealed the approach of an oncoming car?

In a split-second that  changes the rest of your life, you are thrown from the vehicle and your son suffers traumatic brain injury as well as an internal decapitation with his skull almost completely detached from his spinal column. First responders consider calling a coroner.

But your son survives, and when he miraculously returns to you following a two-month coma, he has incredible things to say about where he has been. He tells you of events at the accident scene verified by eyewitnesses, of unearthly music that sounded just terrible to a six-year-old, of angels who took him through the gates of heaven, and most amazing of all – of speaking with Jesus.

This is the story contained in the New York Times best selling book The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven, by Kevin and Alex Malarkey.

I have to admit that I was skeptical when I began reading the Malarkey family’s story. I have no doubt that heaven exists, and I look forward to seeing it myself one day. But to read a description of heaven on this side of eternity as related by a child who insists he’s been there?

I rarely finish most books. I get what I need  from them and then move on to the next one. But I couldn’t put down The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven. Were it not for the news accounts, photographs from the scene and the hospital and testimony from paramedics and medical personnel, I would find it impossible to believe.

But listen to the words of Dr. Raymond Onders, Christopher Reeve’s and Alex Malarkey’s doctor: “The vertebrae were completely detached. The tendon sheath around the spinal column was severed near the base of his brain. The injury was so severe and so high on the spinal column, it is simply incredible that Alex survived.”

If medical miracles take place, why not spiritual ones? Could God allow a child to have an extraordinary journey into the world to come and then survive to tell us about it?  Jesus himself prayed: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clear, and for revealing them to the childlike. ” (Matthew 11:25)

Alex Malarkey, age 12

 Everything I read in The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven is consistent with biblical truth. Whether you choose to believe Alex’s story or not is up to you, but his descriptions of Heaven, angels, and hearing the voice of God just may change your life.

To win a copy of this hardcover book, please leave a comment after this post.

Freebie Friday: RUN TO OVERCOME by NYC Marathon Champ Meb Keflezighi

So what do Eritrean-born Meb Keflezighi and Winfield, IL residents Dick and Marge Foster have in common?

A love for running, and the will to overcome.

Meb is one of the most respected athletes of his generation and winner of the 2009 New York City Marathon. He will be defending his title in just two days, in fact, during the 40th running of the storied event. But what many don’t realize about the  35-year-old long-distance runner is that he came to America with his parents and 10 siblings with virtually nothing but the clothes on their backs and the will to survive. Meb spoke no English and had never raced a mile. Yet he became an A student and a champion.

In his new hardcover book Run to Overcome, Meb tells the story of his birth in a small African country ravaged by a brutal war where food was so scarce that he ate dirt to survive, earning the nickname “the kid with the bloated stomach.”

Now an American citizen, Meb stands at exactly my height- 5’5″ – but weighs 20 pounds less than I do despite consuming 4,000 to 5,000 calories a day. I was fascinated reading about his training regimen and his diet, which includes himbasha, a traditional Eritrean bread that provides the carbs Meb needs to excell as a runner.

Dick and Marge Foster

My friends Dick and Marge Foster started running later in life, at ages 69 and 71. They are now 72 and 74, and as Marge recently told me, “We are not ready to give up!” This Saturday they will be competing at Cantigny in their 17th 5 K.

  The Fosters didn’t come from a background of poverty but they share something else in common with Meb: a deep faith in God and a desire to give back to others. Meb has a foundation that addresses critical needs facing young people (www.marathonmeb.com).

The Fosters are leaders in their church and active in small group ministry, women’s Bible study, OASIS (Older Adults Still in Service), and hospitality to countless college students and dinner guests.

As a non-runner, I marvel at those of you who are. There seems to be a connection between having the discipline to complete a 5 K or a marathon and the drive to help others.  I loved reading Meb’s book, and it’s an equal privilege to cheer the Fosters on as they write this new chapter in their lives.

Meb Keflezighi

If you’d like to win a copy of Run to Overcome, you have several options:

1) Leave a comment after this post

2) Visit the website www.runtoovercome.com for details of the amazing contest sponsored by Meb’s publishing house, Tyndale. One signed book will be given away EACH DAY from Nov. 1, 2010 to Mar. 31, 2011. Monthly grand prize winners  will receive not only a signed copy of the book but also other free Tyndale titles as well as Sony and PowerBar products.

New Freebie Friday Giveaway: The Narnia Code by Michael Ward

The Narnia Code releases November 1

I first became acquainted with C.S.Lewis’s classic Chronicles of Narnia as a college student when I took a modern mythology class with Dr. Clyde Kilby. Dr. Kilby was a friend of both Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien, and his collection of the writings of the Inklings, as Lewis and his colleagues were called, was the beginning of what is now the world-renowned Wade Collection at my alma mater, Wheaton College.

Since they were first published in the 1950s, the books in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series have been translated into more than thirty different languages, made into major motion pictures, and established as classics of English literature. Despite their wide popularity, readers and literary scholars alike have been mystified by unanswered questions about the symbolism purported to be behind the series.

 In The Narnia Code: C. S. Lewis and the Secret of the Seven Heavens, Lewis scholar and lecturer Dr. Michael Ward reveals the organizing key behind the seven books. Hailed by the London Times Literary Supplement as “the foremost living Lewis scholar,” Ward has devoted years of study to reevaluating Lewis’s literary and theological outlook. His academic work Planet Narnia was the subject of a BBC documentary watched by millions of people that will be released here in the U.S. this fall.

I have to admit that I was skeptical when I started reading the book. A secret code that Lewis never divulged to anyone? C’mon…

 Dr. Alan Jacobs, professor of English at Wheaton College, was also skeptical when he first heard of Michael Ward’s claim to have discovered a “secret imaginative key” to the Narnia books. But he later said, “My own castle of skepticism was gradually but utterly demolished as I read [Planet Narnia.]”

“The Narnia books are mysterious on three levels,” comments Ward. “The basic story with its incongruities, the biblical parallels, and then a third level of meaning that ties together all the puzzling elements. That’s the mystery I wanted to uncover: the Narnia ‘code’ waiting to be cracked.”

But I still wondered, why wouldn’t Lewis have told anyone if such a code actually existed?

Dr. Ward has an intriguing explanation: “Assuming that Lewis did have a plan behind the series, is it really possible that he could have kept the plan to himself and told no one about it? Did he have the sort of personality capable of sitting on a big secret of this kind?

“The most striking example of his secretiveness was when he got married and kept it secret for the best part of a year. And his autobiography Surprised by Joy avoided mentioning so many important things that one of his friends joked a better title would have been Suppressed by Jack! The more I found out about his personality, the more I suspected there was a hidden meaning to Narnia.”

I’m not going to be a spoiler and give away the code, but if you’re a Narnia fan as I am, this is one book you’ll want to add to your collection.

Leave a comment after this post to win a free copy.

New Freebie Friday giveaway: 30 Ways to Embrace Life

30 Ways to Embrace Life just released this month

Don’t you love this cover? The dresses the women are wearing might be vintage 1950′s, but the book’s contents are for those of us wrestling with life in the 21st century.

30 Ways to Embrace Life: Wise Women Share Their Secrets  by Lucinda Secrest McDowell & Friends has just been released this month, and I’ve already purchased personal copies to share with family members at Christmas. Cindy has recruited some of my favorite Christian writers to contribute stories of tragedy and triumph, faith and fun, possibilities and perseverance.

“Share Hope from Brokenness” by Carol Kent reminds me that it’s the difficult things we navigate in life that make us more useful to others. Few can identify with our successes, but God uses our struggles and heartaches  to comfort and mentor others.

Gail MacDonald’s “Comfort One Another” is a chapter I turned to immediately. On our women’s retreat last weekend, I was struck by the fact that ministry most often happens not from the “top down” but as women come alongside each other. I met with a women’s leader once from a Dallas church who started a ComfortHer ministry in their area. What wonderful imagery of women listening to the voice of the true Comforter while reaching out to one another.

Virelle Kidder is yet another superb writer whose insights are captured in 30 Ways. In her chapter “Make a Fresh Start”, Virelle confesses her struggle with adjusting her attitude after her husband Steve asked her to fulfill a lifelong dream of his to move south.”Why stop trusting now?” Virelle writes. “Learning to lean harder on Him through the uncertainties of change will be good for me, even if I am a little scared. It’s another way He is growing me up.”

But my favorite stories of all are the ones Cindy McDowell tells herself. Her story “Follow God, Trusting His Plan” is worth the price of the book alone. How would you feel if you discovered that you were the answer to a dying woman’s prayer, and that woman was your husband’s first wife?

We all have stories to tell, and perhaps some of yours will appear in a book like Cindy’s some day. If you’d like to win a copy of 30 Ways to Embrace Life, just leave a comment after this post.

And the Winner is…

…Sarah Shrauger of South Yarmouth, Massachusetts! Sarah has won a copy of last week’s Freebie Friday giveaway: LOL with God: Devotional Messages of Hope & Humor for Women by Pam Farrel and Dawn Wilson. 

But I have good news for everyone else, too: you have another chance to win this great devo. Missy Frye is featuring LOL with God as the giveaway prize in her Blog Carnival this week, so leave a comment after her post at this link: http://www.incurablediseaseofwriting.com/?p=4479. The deadline to enter is Wednesday, October 27.

Stay tuned for a brand-new Freebie Friday announcement later today.

Brand-New Freebie Friday Giveaway: LOL with God~ Devotional Messages of Hope & Humor for Women

Congratulations to last week’s winner of A Pastor Prays for His People:

 Theresa Cann of New Hampshire!

Just released last month: LOL with God

Living life at blender-speed as many of us do, it’s hard to find time to feed our souls. That’s what’s so welcome and relevant about Pam Farrel and Dawn Wilson’s new book LOL with GOD. It’s a collection of spiritually based devotions that direct women caught in the pace of life back to God’s Word.

I love the practical format. Each devo provides a page of encouragement for the day along with a prayer you can “text” up to God, text helps, and space to write your own message back to God about your life, what you read, or a request on your heart.

Some of my favorite devos are “IM Illiterate”, “Lemon Vision,” and “Conquering the Control Freak.” And as someone for whom tears seem to come more readily than laughter, I really appreciate the humor throughout the book. Life doesn’t always have to be heavy.

I have reluctantly embraced texting just this past year in order to communicate with my grown kids who live thousands of miles away. But you don’t have to be a “texter” in order to appreciate this devotional resource.

Co-authors Dawn & Pam LOL'ing with a friend

“We are avowed texters,” admit Pam and Dawn. “We send text messages to our husbands whenever we’re on ministry trips in the U.S. and around the world. We appreciate the ‘instant’ quality of text messaging; it’s one way we keep in touch with those we love. Text-messaging with God – receiving His communications to us through His Word and sending our messages to Him in prayer – is more challenging. It involves more time, thought, and study.” 

If you need a little more joy and a heap more hope in your day, leave a comment after this post. You just might be the winner of LOL with God!

Brand New Freebie Friday Giveaway: A Pastor Prays for His People

Congratulations to last week’s winner of the trio of historical novels by Jennifer Valent:

Glenda Alexander Chilton of Superior, AZ!

Just released this month – a beautiful collection of prayers

Today we’re returning to nonfiction as I’m excited about a brand new book  published last week  in time for Clergy Appreciation Month: A Pastor Prays for His People by Dr. Wendell C. Hawley.

Just released this month

This collection of wise and loving prayers has a lot of uses: deepening your own personal prayer life, gifting your pastor as an encouragement to his or her ministry, or even congregational worship.

I had the privilege of assisting with leading worship during the first service at my home church this past Sunday. We were focusing on the God of grace, and I found the perfect resource in A Pastor Prays for His People to project on the screen for our  congregation to pray in unison.

Church leader and former Christian publishing executive Wendell Hawley used to share the widespread conviction of many fellow evangelicals that spontaneous prayers are somehow more spiritual than written prayers, but he now believes that the body of Christ can benefit greatly from the use of prayers articulated by others, much as the Psalms themselves were Jesus’ prayer-book.

“I grew up in a church that only believed in extemporaneous prayers; indeed, spontaneity was considered more spiritual than carefully prepared prayers,” writes Hawley.  “But as I matured in my faith and studied the prayers preserved throughout Christian history, I discovered the richness and depth of prayer that teaches and elevates the hearers. I gravitated to the words of Puritan pastors who combined the teaching of God’s Word with presenting the needs of their people to God.”

As Pastor Hawley visited his parishioners month after month, it became clear that many were privately struggling with life’s common issues: unemployment, deteriorating health, financial crisis, family disruption, wrenching loss, seemingly unanswered prayer.

“The list included every kind of human frailty,” he comments. “The hearts of our people cried out to me and to God. When I sat down to write my pastoral prayer each week, I tried to express their feelings, voice their concerns, and ask their questions. The prayers in this book are the result.”

If you’d like to win a copy of A Pastor Prays for His People for your own use or as a gift for your pastor, simply leave a comment after this post.

And if you don’t win this time, you can easily order a copy online: http://www.amazon.com/Pastor-Prays-His-People-Collection/dp/1414339089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286555210&sr=1-1

 

Freebie Friday: 3 novels by Jennifer Valent

Congratulations to last week’s winner of Whisper on the Wind:

Peggy Reu of Carol Stream, IL!

Brand new novel by Jen Valent - #3 in the series

What’s significant about 10.1.10? 

Today is the official release of Catching Moondrops, the third work of historical fiction by award-winning novelist Jennifer Valent of Richmond, Virginia. It’s also the first time I am offering not one but THREE books for a Freebie Friday giveaway. Why? Read on…

 In 2007, Jennifer Valent won the coveted Christian Writers Guild “Operation First Novel” contest for her debut work Fireflies in December, which is set in Depression-era Virginia. Fireflies  traces the story of a young girl, Jessilyn Lassiter, whose world is turned upside down in the summer of 1932 when she turns 13. When Jessilyn’s best friend  Gemma Teague loses her parents, Jessilyn’s father vows to care for Gemma as one of his own despite the fact that Gemma is black and prejudice is prevalent in their southern Virginia town. Violence springs up as a ragtag band of Ku Klux Klan members unite and decide to take matters into their own hands.

 From the moment I picked up Fireflies and began to read, I understood why this novel won the Christian Writers Guild contest as well as the 2010 Christy award for First Novel.

As a writer, Valent has an unusually good ear for dialogue and authentic character development. She is not afraid to tackle difficult subjects including strong themes of inequality and racial injustice within a religious community.

Winner of CWG contest and Christy award for First Novel

Jessilyn’s faith is shaken when she stumbles upon a “prayer meeting” led by members of the KKK, and she pours out questions after taking refuge at the home of the Lassiter’s neighbor, Luke Talley.

            “But what were they doin’? Why were they out there?”

            “Ain’t no knowin’ why they do what they do. They were holdin’ a meetin’ of some sort, I guess.”

            “They were prayin’. To God. But what my daddy said those people do ain’t God-fearin’.”

            Luke leaned back in his chair and sighed. “They ain’t prayin’ to the God they think they’re prayin’ to. They don’t even know who God is.”

My daughter Amber, age 26, is an avid reader with an editor’s eye for good literature who generally prefers the classics. I shared Fireflies with her when it came out and Amber loved it. She literally couldn’t wait to read the sequel, Cottonwood Whispers, which builds on the growing romance between a maturing Jessilyn and Luke. And for months now Amber has been asking me when the third book in the trilogy will be available. As outstanding as the first two novels are, I personally think Catching Moondrops is even better. I won’t spoil the plot for you, but I can tell you it kept me up way too late when I couldn’t stop reading.

Valent’s novels have also been acclaimed in the secular press. Fireflies won a coveted starred review in Publisher’s Weekly, which wrote: “Valent’s debut is both heartwarming and hand-writing…and the cast of characters is rich.”  

Each novel – Fireflies in December and the sequels Cottonwood Whispers and Catching Moondrops – stands alone and is a satisfying work in its entirety. But I’m warning you, like my daughter Amber, once you’ve read one, you’ll want to read all three.

#2 in the "Fireflies" series

Leave a comment after this post and the entire set might be yours. Valent’s novels would also make the perfect gift for a young adult in your life who loves great fiction that reflects the grit and grace of real life.

Freebie Friday: Focus on Fiction

Congratulations to last week’s giveaway winner: Charlene Dennen of Cotuit, MA!

Ever wondered how these covers are produced? I watched the photo shoot.

Now that fall has officially arrived, it’s a great time to curl up on that rare evening home with a good novel. This week I am giving away a historical novel that just released this month: Whisper on the Wind by award-winning author Maureen Lang. Maureen is a favorite writer of mine. Her intensive research gives her historical novels depth that transcends the genre.

Set in Belgium in 1916-17, Whisper on the Wind follows the story of Isabelle Lassone, a Belgian-American socialite whose parents whisked her to safety at the start of the war. Yet at great personal risk, Isa sneaks back into the country to rescue those dearest to her: Edward and his mother. But Edward refuses to go, and soon Isa is drawn into his secret life working on the newspaper – and into his heart.

I’ve had the privilege of working with Maureen on several of her previous novels. When I asked her what inspired her to write Whisper on the Wind, she enthusiastically told me about the real-life origins of the Belgian newspaper La Libre Belgique, which began as an underground news sheet published during the German occupation of Belgium in the First World War.

Author Maureen Lang

  “The Germans ordered every legitimate Belgian newspaper to submit to censorship—and so sprang up the secret press La Libre Belgique,” Maureen told me.  “It was one of the few voices of opposition to the propaganda the Germans circulated. Their goal was to bring hope to a suppressed nation, and in so doing many people lost everything from their freedom to their fortunes, and some even their lives. With so much material, it was easy to create a romantic tale of adventure and intrigue!”

 

If you’d like to win a copy of Whisper on the Wind, just leave a comment after this post. The winning post # will be chosen on Thursday, September 30.

This Week’s Giveaway: The Devil in Pew Number Seven

The winner of last week’s “Freebie Friday” giveaway copy of Beth Moore’s So Long, Insecurity is Kristi Stoughton of Hudson, MA. Congrats Kristi! The winning post # was generated by Random.com (Yes, there really is an internet site for just about anything.)

This week I am giving away a copy of another non-fiction book: The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo. Becky’s book, written with Bob DeMoss, reads like fiction but every word is true, and it’s one of the most gripping stories I’ve ever read. It just released last month and is already going into its fourth printing.

Becky never felt safe as a child. In 1969, her father, Robert Nichols, moved with his family to Sellerstown, North Carolina, to serve as a pastor. There he found a small community eager to welcome him…with one exception. Glaring at him from pew number seven was a man obsessed with controlling the church and determined to get rid of anyone who stood in his way.

The first time the Nichols family received a harassing phone call, they dismissed it. The same went for the anonymous letter that threatened they’d leave “crawling or walking…dead or alive.” But what they couldn’t ignore was the strategy of terror their tormentor unleashed, more devastating and violent than they could have ever imagined. Refusing to be driven away, Becky’s father stood his ground until one night when an armed man walked into the family’s kitchen…and her life was shattered.

Rebecca Nichols Alonzo

Why do I find The Devil in Pew Number Seven so compelling? It’s not just because it makes every painful thing my husband and I have been through in ministry seem like a Sunday School picnic. It’s simply this: that if anyone had reason to harbor hatred and seek personal revenge, it would be Becky. But instead her story is not just one of deadly betrayal, but more importantly of divine forgiveness. You really need to read this book to believe it.

If you’d like to win a copy of Becky’s story, leave a comment below.

Freebie Friday: So Long, Insecurity by Beth Moore

Introducing something new…Freebie Friday! What’s the fun of working in publishing if I can’t tell you about the books that have most impacted my own life plus give you the chance to win one?

This week it’s So Long, Insecurity by Beth Moore. To enter the contest, leave a comment right here on the blog about why you want to win a copy. The winner will be chosen at random and announced on the next Freebie Friday.

Some of you know I had the pleasure this past February of traveling with Beth when the book released. Here’s the link to a little video greeting we did for the women of my home church who were doing one of her Bible studies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aamw8R0HbOQ

But knowing and highly esteeming Beth doesn’t explain why I have read her newest book three times, or why I chose to lead a group of college women through a discussion of So Long, Insecurity this past winter and spring.

I have wrestled with people-pleasing my entire life, and frankly, my dear (apologies to Rhett Butler), I am sick to death of it. I am 57 years old, for goodness sake – it’s time to get over it. Many years ago the Lord spoke straight to my heart when he told me there is  a huge difference between being eager to serve and being eager to please. The first is biblical; the second is idol-worship.

When I was speaking to our Tuesday Morning Tapestry leaders this past week I had them read a verse from the book of Jonah that has pierced my heart of late: “Those who cling to worthless idols  forfeit the grace that could be theirs” (Jonah 2:8). When we think we can meet everyone else’s expectations, and our own sense of self-worth is determined by their approval (or lack of it), that is idol-worship, brothers and sisters!

Beth was speaking straight to me when she writes: “You and I are going to have to come to a place where we stop handing people the kind of power only God should wield over us. Change will not come easy. Old habits die hard. But we can make the radical decision to rewire our security systems.”

I’ve put dozens of my favorite quotes from So Long, Insecurity on the Facebook page for the book; if you’re interested you can find them there. And if you haven’t read this New York Times bestselling hardcover yet and want a chance to win a copy, leave a comment below.

God is installing a new security system in my heart; how about yours?