Have you tried "living your truth", putting yourself first, believing you're enough, rejecting any form of judgment and still find yourself empty, unfulfilled, and directionless? Is it because you aren't trying enough? Or is it that those concepts guarantee that emptiness and scatteredness?
Alisa Childers - former Zoe Girl, daughter of Jesus Music pioneer Chuck Girard, and author of the excellent book Another Gospel? looks at several cliches like the ones I've mentioned in her book Live Your Truth And Other Lies: Exposing Popular Deceptions That Make Us Anxious, Exhausted, and Self-Obsessed.
In reading this, there is a common thread between the cliches she deals with: they all focus on ourselves. But what we're designed to be more fulfilled when we focus on God and those around us rather than ourselves?
I enjoyed Childers accounting of the movie "Armageddon", and asked how the movie - and our reaction to it - would differ if instead of sacrificing himself to save the world, the character put himself first? It's interesting that we naturally respect those who put others first, but we want to hear that we should look out for number 1.
Two blessings in this book: One was where she mentioned her Zoe Girl bandmates confronted her on self-destructive behavior, and she states that she is thankful for their "judging her" and getting her on the right track. The other was when she mentioned a couple of dreams she gave up. I can relate, because I had dreams of becoming a musician (probably not a singer with my voice, but definitely as a song-writer), a novelist, and a Pastor. Thus far (I'm now 63), those dreams are all unfulfilled. But that doesn't mean I have any reason to be unfulfilled as a result.
As in Another Gospel?, Childers uses humor effectively to make reading a book on serious matters enjoyable. I highly recommend this book.
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| Courtesy of Enclave Publishing |
Yesterday, I shared my favorite fiction books of this year. Today, I'm dealing with non-fiction. I mentioned I had a goal of reading 12 such books, and came just short of doubling that target.
Since a lot of the fiction authors I read are friends on Facebook, and I don't want any to think I like another author better than them, I put the lists in alphabetic order by author. I usually don't have that situation with non-fiction writers, I am quicker to put them in order from my favorite and down. This year, I did some debating. Partly because I do know one of the authors on my list personally and that my wife has met another. And while there might be books I want to promote and have everybody read it, this year I'm hoping you will consider getting (or at least checking out and reading) all ten of these.
I mentioned earlier this week that I reread three non-fiction books. I debated considering them in my top ten list, and if i did, all three would be in the top ten. All three of them, by the way, made my list the first time I read them. So I decided to leave them off the list. But which books are they? I'll gladly tell you. They're, in alphabetic order by title:
So here is my list of non-fiction for this year:
You'll notice that unlike my fiction list, all I gave on this list is the title, author, and if applicable the series it's in. That's because in the case of nine of them, you can tell what the book is about with just the title and subtitle. The exception is #6, The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ, which has no subtitle. The book is written by attorney and pastor Randy Singer, and looks at key confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees.
If you want to know the order I placed them, yell, and I'll let you know. And if you've been a faithful follower of this blog and have been reading all the entries for at least the past four days, you'll know which one was number one.
Which books have you read and been blessed by? Which of these have you read? Which ones will be on the top of your reading list? And which one of these is written by an author that has shown up frequently on my favorite fiction lists?
How would you respond if your faith is challenged by those you trust to help you defend it? Alisa Childers had that experience, which she describes in her book Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity. In this, she points out the differences between Progressive Christianity and what she terms as Historic Christianity.
What would you consider essentials in the Christian faith? The sacrificial death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ? The inerrancy and authoritativeness of Scripture? Eternal blessing of those who obey God and eternal condemnation of those who reject His salvation? Childers tells how each of these "non-negotiables" are up for debate in Progressive Christianity. She mentions how phrases such as "the inspiration of the Bible" are redefined.
Why should a person continue in the faith of the last 2000 years instead of being open to new ideas? What evidence is there for traditional Christianity? Childers gives details of her research and how the beliefs she had from youth were confirmed, allowing her to be stronger in the faith.
Have you had your faith challenged? Where would you turn to for the purpose of strengthening your faith?
