Sunday, February 23, 2014

Confident Faith


According to Mittelberg, there are six different paths that have led you to believe what you currently believe: Relativistic, Traditional, Authoritarian, Intuitive, Mystical or Evidential. You take a quiz in chapter two to find out the pathway that relates most your experience. He seems to believe that no matter your faith path, the last one needs to be included in your journey. He mentions it after each of the five pathways that you can strengthen your current path by embracing the evidential path.

"Are we willing to step back and examine our inherited beliefs and make sure that we've thoughtfully and intentionally adopted a faith worth following" (50)?

I was an Alpha leader last fall, so this book has been a great read coming off that small group experience. I come from a mixture of the Traditional/Authoritarian pathway background. It was just really good to read an overview of those as well as how others experience spiritual issues differently.

"I'm convinced there's nothing more important than figuring our what we believe about God and his will for our lives" (147).

"[W]hen you add the complexity of multiple writers, from multiple countries, in multiple languages over multiple centuries, dealing with multiple problems and situations, the Bible's incredible cohesion and unified message are nothing short of miraculous" (183).

There's an online option for a discussion guide provided by Tyndale.

This is a great resource in helping understand others' experiences as well as solidifying why you believe what you do.

I received a free copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for a review.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Ciao, Bella


I think this was a free book on Amazon that I just found on my Kindle one day when I was looking for a story to read. Sometimes I just want some good fiction. Doesn't happen very often, but this was an overall good book. Not something amazing, but it was a fun read.

Don't be misled -- this has very little to do with Italy.
Still if you're looking for something good, try it.

Love Does!


What can I say about this book other than I LOVE IT!
This is my second time through the book, which means it was worth the time to reread.
It was assigned reading for my protege program, but I definitely don't mind.

Bob Goff is just as great as a speaker as he is with writing this book. I saw him speak in October at Catalyst.

Donald Miller mentions in the forward that Bob "will wreck your American dream and help you find your actual dream" (x). This book has challenged me to not take life so seriously, dream bigger dreams, and put love into action.

"I get the invitation every morning when I wake up to actually live a life of complete engagement, a life of whimsy; a life where love does. It doesn't come in an envelope. It's ushered in by a sunrise, the sound of a bird, or the smell of coffee drifting lazily from the kitchen. It's the invitation to actually live, to fully participate in this amazing life for one more day. Nobody turns down an invitation to the White House, but I've seen plenty of people turn down an invitation to fully live." (80)

Get this book and read it ASAP!