Summer Reading/Listening

 

That’s the bookshelf immediately overhead in the hutch above my desk.  This is where I perpetually have a couple different Bibles, a couple devotionals, and a few books I’m reading. (There’s always a couple more of each on my bedside table too!)

I love peeking at people’s bookshelves and seeing what they read.

Currently there’s Bibles here that range from the NKJ to the CEV to the GWT. There’s one secular title. Three Bible promise books. My Utmost for His Highest. A novel by one of my dearest friends from graduate school. A spiral bound journal. A 1955 copy of A Gift from the Sea.  And more.

If you look closely you’ll notice A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God.  It’s a classic I’ve been reading through this month.  If you follow me on Twitter (see button to the right), you know I’ve tweeted several terrific Tozer quotes recently. This one warmed me today:

“He meant us to see Him and live with Him and draw our life from His smile.” (pg 32)

The other day I got an email notice that said, "A.W. Tozer is now following you on Twitter.” That gave me pause. Not because I don’t always tweet stuff  that would be worthy of  Mr. Tozer’s time, but because I was pretty sure A.W.’s time – all of it on earth – was up  few decades ago!

Because it’s a been around awhile, you can usually find used copies of this title cheaply. But if you’d like to experience the short but meaty book for free, head over to ChristianAudio.com and download the audio book of it at no cost this month. Just use the code JUL2010.  Tozer’s other titles are also on sale there.

What’s on your shelf?  Post a photo and give us the link, or just tell in the comments below.

Thankful for pastors who write.

What You See

Instead of leaving town on a vacation this month, we decided to staycation.  In fact, we're creating our own vacation spot in the back yard. We have a patio area in the lower, larger part of the yard but I found I wasn't using it much because I really prefer smaller, more intimate areas.  I like the courtyard feel.  So Rick is putting in a new patio for me in the smallest section of the yard.   Here it is in progress:

Once it's done I can't wait to furnish it, fill some pots with flowers and herbs, and then fix an ice coffee and do my Bible study out here in the mornings. What should I put out here? An outdoor sofa?  A table and chairs?  A fire pit?  Tikki torches??  I need creative input.

We also joined Netflixs for the summer so we've been grilling most nights and then watching some movies.  Last night I finally saw The Blind Side.  Have you seen it?  Tremendous story.  Yesterday I talked with a friend who told me the story of a friend of hers.  This woman, here in Wilmington, had learned of a homeless teen attending a local high school.  The girls' attendance, however, was dropping off as she got more involved with life on the street.  So this woman - who lives in one of the nicest sections of town - took the girl in.  It was a very Blind Side sort of thing. 

However, the girl wound up running away- choosing to go back to the streets and back to her gang.  It was as if she just couldn't handle the drastic transition. Very sad.

As I watched The Blind Side I noticed that Michael managed to keep his heart pure despite his terrible past. One scene towards the end revealed how.  He tells his adoptive mother that whenever he was confronted with violence, sex or drug use as a child, he would simply close his eyes and not watch.

He refused to look at it.  That seems overly simple. And maybe it is.  But just this Sunday I heard my pastor say, "What you see determines the direction you will go."  Hum. Do you agree?

If that is true, I feel it is important to start my days by seeing and savoring Christ.  That way I'll be more inclined to follow Him. I'll let Him determine the direction I should go.

Praying for that local girl back on the streets.

Priceless

Did you read yesterday's P31 devotion?  The one about the Russian girl?

Be honest, did you really read it or did you skip/skim past it once you saw that subject matter? If so, I want to challenge you to go back and read it. Then follow the link from it to the She Read's site and read the first chapter of the novel Priceless.  And if you enjoy it at all, get the book and finish it.

I'm not challenging you to do this to promote Proverbs 31's devotions, or our She Reads site, or author Tom Davis' novel.  I'm challenging you to do this because I want you to have more than just a heart for God.  I want you to have God's heart. 

And as unpleasant as it seems to us to think about, His heart sees young women trapped in the sex trade as priceless.

Once you reach the She Read's site you can comment to enter to win several giveaways this week including gourmet chocolate, micro-roasted coffee, and copies of Tom's novel. How's that for motivation?

Thankful for people who care for the downtrodden.

Where Science-Fiction meets Spiritual Reality

I recently saw the movie The Time Traveler’s Wife. In it a man has the unusual experience of being supernaturally plucked from where he is and, in a mere nanosecond, transported back in time to another location. After a short duration in the past, he is again miraculously transported back to the present. He never quite knows when he will go, or where he will land. The film, like the novel it’s based on, is a love story with a science-fiction twist.

This morning as I was reading in the book of Acts I read a similar story – a love story with a supernatural twist.

In Acts chapter 8 I find a man named Phillip ...