Mudhouse Sabbath

My friend Troy recommended this book to me while we were traveling in Israel together. "Mudhouse Sabbath" by Lauren Winner is worth the few hours it will take you to read it. Lauren converted from Judaism to being a follower of Jesus a few years back. She draws on the depth of her experiences from her Jewish upbringing to enhance her current spirituality. Because Christianity is rooted in Judaica Lauren's experiences help deepen our own spiritual journey as well.

"Mudhouse" delves into how we celebrate sabbath, the foods we eat, how we show hospitality, view our bodies and candle-lighting--amidst other topics.

Pick this one up for some insights and ideas that will help you experience and celebrate your Christian faith in some new and unique ways.

Recommended movies

We've been watching a few movies on break. All of these are available on DVD.

*Confessions Of A Shopaholic

Okay, I was very hesitant to watch this one. However, I was looking for a movie that I would be able to watch with my daughter, sooo . . .

Much to my surprise this comedy/drama taught HUGE value lessons about how we handle money and specifically credit cards. At the end I asked my daughter, "So what did you learn from this movie?" And she replied, "That you shouldn't use credit cards!"

Watch this one with your family.

*Gran Torino

I personally think this may be Clint Eastwood's best performance. It is not for the faint of heart. Rated R and fulfilling that rating with foul language and extreme racial slurs make this for adults only.

The movie's redeeming factor is its redemption story (which is almost always missing from Eastwood's projects). In "Torino" Eastwood ends up being nothing short of a type of Christ and should encourage us all to ask ourselves how we can be more like Jesus with our neighbors.

*New In Town

I had low expectations for this movie. However, about 1/3 of the way into the plot I realized that once again, I was seeing the importance of how the Jesus life is lived out. Eventually, the lead character (played by Renee Zellweger) has her life transformed by the transformative power of those living around her.

Watch this one and ask the question, "How is Jesus well represented and how is He poorly presented?"

Watched any movies lately that you can recommend?

Deliberate Simplicity

"Deliberate Simplicity" by Dave Browning is a must read for anyone involved in church leadership. My hunch is that it would be beneficial for business leaders as well.

Some excerpts from Browning's book . . .

"There is no growth without change, no change without loss, and no loss without pain."

"Instead of focusing on outreach, the church spends excessive energy focussing on the money it feels it requires to do outreach."

"The paradox of simplicity has been called Meyer's Law: It is a simple task to make things complex, but a complex task to make them simple."

"If becoming a part of a church places people in an environment that encourages them to live more frenetic lives than they were before, then we are going about doing church the wrong way."

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world . . . Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

"We don't think bigger is necessarily better. We think more is better."

Pick this one up!!!

Summer break

Julie, Tabs, ElJ (short for Elijah John) and I are on a two week break. Time to refresh the soul, mind and body . . .

On break we sleep more (it's amazing how flat out tired we get in our normal everday schedules). We exercise more (start off each day with a two mile brisk walk, 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups). We read prolifically (I've already read books as diverse as "Mudhouse Sabbath" and "Salem's Lot"). We spend lots of time together as a family (conversations that never get the chance to take place seem to take place when we're on break). We spend lots of time with God (at least more than we normally do).

Gotta go . . . I have a date in the swimming pool with my daughter Tabs.

How to endear yourself to your mother-in-law

My mother-in-law, Linda, came home from the hospital yesterday. Only 1 in 10 people survive the ordeal she experienced. I won quite a few points with "Mom Rex" throughout this adventure. Here's how to endear yourself to your mother-in-law during a hospital stay . . .

Mom Rex was in an induced coma for 24 hours. The rest of the family left me alone to sit with her in ICU while they got some coffee. What could happen? After about a half hour of sitting with Linda she began to awaken from her sleep. She was restrained (so that she couldn't rip out her breathing tube, etc.) Her eyes opened in a bit of a panic and eventually landed on me. She tried to focus and mouthed the words "what happened?" I took both of her hands in mine and said, "I'm getting rid of you." (Straight out of a Stephen King novel.)

Four days later, Linda had a defibrillator implanted. Once again I was with her when she came out of her twilight state (what's wrong with this family?). I explained to her that I paid extra for an upgraded defib unit. "What does that mean?" she groggily asked. "I have a button that can fire the electric shock in your chest as I think it's needed." She quickly returned to her happy twilight place.

Just before being released Linda said to me, "Greg, you're a Pastor. When this first happened I saw a bright light. What was that?" (Linda had actually experienced sudden death.) My answer was easy . . . "Fire."

Okay, so maybe I didn't say all of those things . . . but they did cross my mind.

Life happens

This past Friday I and my family drove eleven hours to Hilton Head to begin our summer vacation/study break. Shortly after arriving we received an urgent call explaining that Julie's mom, Linda, had experienced a lethal arrhythmia that afternoon. Actually, the correct medical term is ventricular defibrillation--her heart rhythms malfunctioned and brought the blood pumping organ to a complete halt. Fortunately, the EMTs responded to her husband's 911 call within three minutes and she was resuscitated.

And so, at nine that night we finished repacking our things and drove the eleven hours home. I had the first Red Bull of my life at 4 A.M.!

After several days of touch and go waiting, watching Linda come out of an induced coma, unbelievable stress . . . it appears as if Mom Rex is going to be fine.

The crazy thing is that Linda is only 64 years old, in good health . . . recently passed a stress test with flying colors. Life happens. The doctors are yet to pinpoint why this incident occurred. And so today the testing begins.

Friday, Linda never dreamed she would awake three days later with paddle burns on her chest wondering what in the world happened to her. Friday, Dominique (her husband) never dreamed he would enter into a 36 hour nightmare. Friday, Julie and I never imagined our vacation would come to a screaming halt (actually without beginning). Life happens.

"God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble."--Psalm 46:1

Life happens.

10+ favorite books

My friend, Sarah Sumner, just e-mailed me asking: "What are your 10 favorite books? I'm developing a 'Read before you die' list for myself."

Sooo, here's my best attempt (in random order) . . .

*Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

*Everything by C. S. Lewis

*The Bridge To Terabithia by Katharine Patterson

*To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

*Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

*The Bridge Across Forever by Richard Bach

*The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck

*The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

*Watership Down by Richard Adams

*The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien

*Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

*The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

*The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

*Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

Okay, a few more than 10 and done very quickly.

Now, what are the best books you've ever read?