Yesterday was not just another day, well at least not for me. I suppose you could say that it started out that way. I mean I got up and turned on the stove, prepped the beans and got the french press ready for deployment. Turned on some music opened my bible and dove in. Got to church and had a great time getting things ready and praying with the staff. Church was good and so was life. So I suppose one could say things were pretty normal. And then it happened and I left absolutely wrecked. Pastor Dan gave the altar call and so I came up with the prayer team to pray for those responding. I found myself standing in front of a man with his son holding tightly to his dad’s side.  I prayed for them, I earnestly prayed for this man and his son. I looked around to see who else was still waiting to receive prayer when I felt the need to ask them a question. I looked at this man and his obviously distraught son and asked if there was anything specific I could pray for. He informed me that his whole world had fallen apart. He told me that his wife who was about 10 feet behind him had just been diagnosed with cancer and they didn’t know what they were going to do. They didn’t know how they were gonna pay for treatment. Then he said holding his son and teenage daughter “How am I gonna do this…” as to refer to life without her. I was stunned all the wind had now left my sail. Here I stood with a beautiful healthy family living a dream with a good home and great friends. While in front of me lies a family who’s life seems to be in ruins. I grabbed as many as I could to pray for this family. Not that other people didn’t need prayer or have needs but for me something was happening on the inside, something that I just couldn’t shake. I believe with all my heart that God can heal this woman. I believe with all my heart that God can give this family peace and we prayed for these things. But I found myself wanting nothing more than to try to give this family a little hope. Even if all that meant was knowing for a few minutes they were not alone. Don’t get me wrong we presented Christ, we explained healing, we offered the hope of knowing who He is. The results, who knows. We’ll continue to follow with this family and be there as much as we can.

You see lately I’ve found myself really stirred by this passage in Romans:

Romans 15 (AMP)

¹³May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.

I keep reading this passage and desperately want to see this transpire in my own life. I love how the amplified translation says that through the experience of our faith our God will fill us with all joy and that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may abound and be overflowing or bubbling over with hope. I read this and dream of a life that literally overflows and bubbles over with hope. Where hope just leaks out of our pores. I looked up the definition of hope and was blown away by one in particular:

Hope
a person or thing in which expectations are centered:

Think about it like this, we can overflow with hope (the person in which all expectations are centered). In fact we’re called to. What would it look like if we all lived with Jesus our hope, bubbling out of our lives. What would the lives of those that we come into contact with look like if  He literally spilled out of us on to the hopeless. So like I said I’ve been wrecked…

Honestly A Million Miles In A Thousand Years was one of the most entertaining & captivating books I’ve ever read. Normally, being a married father of two in full time ministry I’m a guy that consumes a book in about 2-3 weeks. A Million Miles was a 3 setting book, I just couldn’t put it down. Donald Miller has a way of keeping an intriguing story line brewing with his disjointed style of writing. You as the reader find yourselves getting lost in not only the story written, but also in the idea of making sure you’re writing a good story with your own life. As Donald Miller himself puts it:

“…The book is really about a couple of guys who introduce themselves to me. They were film makers and they wanted to make a movie about a book I’d written called “Blue Like Jazz” which is a memoir. But in the process of creating that screenplay, they had to edit and change so much of my actual life, basically they had to make a bunch of stuff up to make my life more meaningful and exciting for the screen. So i studied the principles of stories that screenwriters use to make a story more meaningful and i began to apply those actual principles to my real life to make my real life more meaningful… I talk about those principles, i talk about the adventures i went on as i began to apply them to my life and what it takes to make a story beautiful when the credits roll at the end of it you feel fulfilled. And that can happen in our lives to not just in movies…”

For me once again one of the best parts of this book is the author’s ability to keep you as the reader completely captivated in the story. Tugging on all of your emotions from laughing to holding back tears as you join him in his pursuit of living a meaningful life. You then find yourself wondering what your life will look like as the curtains close and the credits roll.

“…the stories we often tell ourselves are very different than the stories we tell the world…”

“…The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won’t make a story meaningful, it won’t make a life meaningful either.” – Donald Miller, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years

I actually was kind of sad when I closed the book. I was so caught up in the pursuit that I didn’t want it to be over. And then I realized now I get to better write my own.

If you had the chance to change your life for the better, would you? All it takes is a decision.

Trapped by harmful habits, behaviors, and attitudes, we struggle to become the person God has created and called us to be. Saddleback Church teaching pastor Doug Fields says it’s never too late to get a fresh start. With personal stories and youthful writing, Doug challenges readers to recognize that they may say they want God in their lives, but they really don’t want to change. They are stuck. He says, “It’s not about trying harder, it’s about plugging into God’s transforming power and submitting your entire life to Christ. Age doesn’t matter; fresh starts are for everyone.” Topics include:

• Dealing with pride
• Defining success
• Living with guilt
• Struggling with conflicts
• Finding true friendships
• Overcoming discouragement
• Facing rejection
• Attacking Anger

Unlike Doug Fields other works, I did find “Fresh Start” a little difficult to dive into. Although the book provides some pretty good content, I found myself wanting to skip ahead to different areas of the book that might prove to be more beneficial. I do believe this book would be beneficial for newer believers while also working as a great group guide for these people. The author has a way of just scratching the surface of some of very difficult issues that  people find themselves dealing with but would definitely lead to some healthier discussions and conversations in a group setting.

(This book was provided for free by Thomas Nelson)

Our generation needs a reformation.
But a single person won’t lead it.
A single event won’t define it.
Our reformation will be a movement of reformers living creatively, compassionately, courageously for the cause of Christ.

This reformation will not be born of a new discovery.  It will be the rediscovery of something old, something ancient.

Something primal.

What would your Christianity look like if it was stripped down to the simplest, rawest, purest faith possible? You would have more, not less. You would have the beginning of a new reformation—in your generation, your church, your own soul. You would have primal Christianity.

This book is an invitation to become part of a reformation movement. It is an invitation to rediscover the compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy that turned the world upside down two thousand years ago. It is an invitation to be astonished again.

—Mark Batterson, Primal

Already being a fan of Mark Batterson’s previous Books In a pit with a lion on a snowy day & Wild Goose Chase, I was excited to receive an advanced copy of Primal – A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity to review. That excitement only continued with each page as I was led back to a primal place in my own life. Just as Mark described in the opening pages with his journey down the catacombs of an ancient church building in Rome, you to are taken back to the ancient places of loving God in your own heart. Although not completely lost, I found myself accepting his invitation to find again that primal faith and love that once had me.

Broken down into four sections “The Heart of Christianity”, “The Sould of Christianity”, “The Mind of Christianity” and “The Strength of Christianity” you as the reader find yourself not just flipping pages, but digging deeper into your own heart and life with God by experiencing something that a lot of books fail to bring. This book isn’t just full of information and an author’s opinion but rather instruction and a challenge to resurrect what was intended from the beginning, to live fully for the great commandment.

In concluding the book, Batterson poses an invitation. An invitation to “…Be apart of something that is bigger than you, more important than you, and longer lasting than you.”. Go get the book and accept the invitation, I did!