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Things are Going Capitally

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Dangerous Books

What makes a book dangerous is when it throws out our cool calculations of how God works and who he uses.   A dangerous book incites dangerous faith-filled living.  Therefore, the test to see if a book is dangerous is by whether it meddles with your heart and head and ultimately your actions.

 

 

 

Personal encounters with Jesus are always beautifully dangerous.  This book was no exception.   After reading this, I almost wish to have been born in the land of veils.   With danger comes some exhilarating escapes and tales of Jesus' abiding presence.  Veiled women that meet Christ must especially treasure that the heavy veil of works was torn in two by Jesus dying on the cross (Matthew 27:51, Hebrews 10:19-22).   I too was once a veiled woman and Jesus has thrown off my false notions of himself.  He still reveals himself to the senseless, the unlikely, the hardened sinners who don't even know their need until they see his sacrificial offering.

 

Loved that this book goes against the opinion that with more money more kingdom business can be done.  God, who owns all the storehouses of heaven, is not thwarted by the small change in ones empty pockets.  God uses a penniless ministry to change men and women caught in the addiction of drugs in Hong Kong.  Jesus is truly enough.  It is not about more workers and resources, it is about preaching the unadulterated gospel.  Jesus loves the down in out, the drug lord and the prostitute and he came to bring not short lived pleasure, but eternal heart-pulsing security.  My obsessive compulsive nature knows that ultimate joy is found in an addict that can't get enough of God.

 

This book was also a raw reminder of our precious son's unknown background and potential future. 

May Jesus do what he can only do and redeem yet another dragon chasing son.

Well, any book written by a man named Surprise is bound to be surprising.

If you rarely read, read this book and not the others.  This is an excellent account of the Sovereignty of God and it will encourage you to still your heart to hear God's voice.

The child of two witch doctors is woken in the night in an African hut.  Just as in the book above Dreams and Visions, God is calling people to himself in the most astonishing ways and he is bringing them in contact with other believers and the Word of God to mature.  I was sorry to have finished this gripping book.

What the Plumber Left Behind

There are some days that the weight of the world settles on your shoulders and what you really need is a plumber to come to your house and leave behind something.  Let's just say... a pen.

It was no ordinary pen.  True, it couldn't write sonnets by itself or compose poems, but in laying on my counter it held a mighty message. 

As I looked closely, I couldn't believe what it said.  No, the pen didn't audibly speak, but it might have well had.  For in capital letters down the shaft of the pen, it said, "TRUST IN GOD."  It was like a super sonic suction pulled all the weight off my shoulders and put it back on God's.

It could be said I learned that the pen is mightier than the plumber's wrench that day. 

But I would rather you know that God delights in using that which the plumber forgets to remind us of Truth that shouldn't be forgotten.  God is in control and He is trustworthy.  

The Inner Book Worm

 

Follow a young man's impulsive short-term humanitarian trip to Nepal and how it changes his life.

This book is informative and saddening as children are stolen and even given to child traffickers.  Nepal's poverty and lack of education makes it a very complex cycle that feeds off of the vulnerable as a means to financial gain.  The title and the cover were enough to induce me to read it and I'm glad I did.

 

Heard so much about this book.  It is a super easy, light read, except when it comes to the application which is a lifetime commitment to the God who captures our heart.  God's love truly is transforming. We can let it  reshape our passions into the things that matter to Him.  We can live crazy Spirit-led lives or get mighty comfortable in the status-quo. 

 

A historical fiction account of John Calvin.  The early Reformers suffered persecutions and physical burning because they knew who they believed.  They stood fearless in the faith because they glimpsed what could not be lost or won.  How encouraging that in the 16th century men were irresistibly pulled to the same Crazy Love God, Francis Chan speaks about in the 21st.  Truly Jesus can reform the hardest of hearts.  

 

God's sovereign hand is evident in Fu's infiltration and escape from Communist China.  I love that he chronicles past miracles of God and still plays an active part in the underground movement for freedom. You better believe he has some present miracles he is not at liberty to discuss.  This book will awake the accepting western world to the atrocious crimes a government still commits against its people. 

 

A lovely read aloud for the kids' school.  Love that the these stories are well-written about World War 2 and how God moved ordinary Dutch families to do remarkable risky things.   Great vocabulary for younger readers and wise lessons for the older ones.  It is a series of five books which we are enjoying.  Found on Veritas Press.