Just 12 days before the return of the last season of Lost and the internet is already buzzing with excitement. What will happen to our favorite survivors of flight 815? Who will end up with who? Who will shoot who? Did the bomb go off? Are they back in the present time? What about Jacob? So many questions and hopefully in May we will all be a bit wiser in the Lost scheme of things.  I have not been a lost junky from the start (started watching season 4) but have since made up for it (check out the lost category of my blog to see episode summaries, predictions and more). So when I heard that Thomas Nelson was giving away free copies* of “The Gospel According To Lost” I signed up to review it. I have read several books by Chris Seay (the author) and enjoyed them and since I already loved Lost this book was right up my ally.

The first thing I have to say is that I LOVED the paintings in the book. They are truly amazing. (Check out more work by the artist http://transpireproject.wordpress.com/). Each chapter is dedicated to a character and tells a bit about their story and how it fits into the gospel. For me I always saw the show laced with spiritual thoughts and background so some of the conclusions were already made in my mind but there were some that made me ponder.

This is a great book if you are just starting in lost, been on the journey, curious about what it means, or just about anything else. Chris Seay did an awesome job of staying true to the message of Christ and what that looks like in modern story form.

About The book:

An epic journey into the deepest mysteries of our faith.

Lost is NOT just a television show. It has become larger than that—a massive story filled with mystery that has garnered over twenty million participants. Some might call them viewers, but one does not just watch Lost, one participates in it. It demands that you dialogue with the story, seeking theories and comparing yourself to characters. Lost breaks all the formulas for television, and in doing so has drawn together millions of people on a shared journey that explores life, faith, history, science, philosophy, hope, and the basic questions of what it means to be human. It is the seemingly infinite ideas, philosophies, and biblical metaphors that make this story so engaging.

The focus on faith and truth is never more clearly explained than in the words of John Locke as he questions Jack Shepherd asking “Why do you find it so hard to believe?” Jack responds quickly “Why do you find it so easy?” But Locke declares “It’s never been easy.” This tension between Faith and Reason drives every episode and story line. Locke summed this up as he explained to Jack “That’s why you and I don’t see eye-to-eye sometimes, because you’re a man of science…Me, well, I’m a man of faith.”

Chapter Topics

• Faith and Reason – The war within?
• Guilt –The single common denominator that binds everyone on the island
• Fate – Do we choose our path, or does fate happen to us?
• Quantum Spirituality – What if everything and everyone is connected?
• Dharma – Is there any truth to be found in Institutional Religion?
• Island Life – If we are made for the garden is it the consumer world that is killing us?
• Salvation – Will it ever come, and will we recognize it when it does?

About Chris Seay: Pastor of Ecclesia Houston, President of Ecclesia Bible Society/Translator of The Voice ( a beautiful and faithful translation of scriptures), Husband and Dad. Follow him on twitter: http://twitter.com/pastorchrisseay

Buy The Gospel According to Lost

*I only request books that I would have bought so know that even though I got this book  knowing I would have to do a review –I would have done it anyway.

Technorati Tags: Lost, ABC, Chris Seay, Gosepel

Mark Batterson’s new book ‘Primal’ is a quick easy read and mark excels at using stories from his travels to enhance his points. After reading his description of the roman catacombs I felt like I had taken the trip with him. Batterson wonders what Christianity would look like if we all truly loved God with compassion, wonder, curiosity, and power. As you read chapter after chapter, you will begin to see small and not-so-small ways that your life should be transformed by living the Great Commandment by loving God with every aspect of your life.

Description

In Primal Mark Batterson takes us back to the life Jesus intended for His followers to live. Jesus is asked what it takes to be a follower of God, and He answers with this primal phrase, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is primal Christianity.

Mark then leads us through a reawakening of what it really means to love God fully in these four areas —

• Passionate, God-directed and others-focused love.
• Wide-eyed, awe-struck, transcendent wonder.
• A searching, engaged, holy curiosity.
• Energetic, all-encompassing, servant-hearted work.

Bio

Mark Batterson serves as lead pastor ofNational Community Church in Washington, DC. Starting with a core group of 19 people, NCC has morphed into one church with two locations—the movie theaters @ Union Station in Washington, DC and Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, VA. Comprised largely of Capitol Hill staffers, NCC is 80% single and 80% twenty-something. The macro vision of NCC is to meet in movie theaters @ metro stops throughout the DC area.

Mark is the author of ID: The True You; a weekly online evotional; and a daily blog. He also serves as Chief Spiritual Officer ofGodiPod.com, a start-up that preloads iPods with sermons, audio devotionals, and music.

I am posting this review as part of a book tour. I got the book for free, but only doing the review because it was a book that I would have bought and read on my own.

Recently I got a copy of ‘The Liturgical Year’ by Joan Chittister from Thomas Nelson. I had a couple of other books in ‘The Ancient Practices Series’ so I wanted to give this a read.  While I liked this book it read more like a instruction book as to a book that you want to just pick up and read. I had a harder time getting through this book, but in pushing through there were great take-aways from this book.

Joan Chittister who is a nun, a member of the Benedictine sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania. She is also a lecturer and has authored many award winning books.

I main take-away I had from this book came early in the book in chapter 3.

Now we recognize that if Jesus’ life is to have eternal impact in the Christian community and beyond, it will depend on our being part of the mystery ourselves. We must pray our way into it. We  must think our way into it. We must live our way into it.”

For me reading the book was worth it for this on takeaway, but if you are into the history and traditions of the church then this is a must read, if you are not then you could pass on this book. I would recommend it though to anyone wanting to go deeper than they find sitting in church on a Sunday morning.

Tonight Donald Miller did an in-store event in Murfreesboro, TN. It was in conjunction with his latest book “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years”.

When Don arrived a group of kids were singing patriot songs in front of the store and made it hard to hear. There were jokes about throwing books and yelling shut up, but everyone kept commenting on how cute the kids were so they were left alone. Don answered questions while the kids sang and people huddled around close to hear. Once the kids got through with the PA system it was wheeled over and they let Don use it. I guess we all rank lower than cute kids, but I do know parents get nasty when their kids don’t get proper attention…I guess to keep the parents from rioting our group was last on the list.

Once Don got the PA system he read ch.2 and ch.3 from his book. People laughed and it was funny so they had the right. (see below for Don reading ch.3)

With questions and reading it lasted about an hour in all. Afterwards he signed books. I bought a copy of the book even though I had a manuscript. I want to be able to mark up the book and make notes. It is a truly great book that everyone should own. In fact you can buy it from amazon.com

It was a fun way to spend part of a Thursday night. It was interesting to hear insights about reading, writing, Political thoughts,publishing thoughts, and other random topics.

Here are a few pictures from the night:

Video:

Technorati Tags: Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

I was one of the fortunate ones to get a copy of Donald Miller’s new book in manuscript format before it was released. Donald Miller has been one of my favorite authors for a few years. ‘Blue Like Jazz’ had a deep impact on me (along with tons of other people) so I was looking forward to ‘A Million Miles in a Thousand Years’.

When I started reading the book I ended up laughing out loud multiple times. (Another funny quirky thing about this book was the story about my high school in chapter 33.) It defiantly had the sense of humor that readers of Donald Millers have come to love. This book, while funny, carries a heavy message. What kind of story are you writing for yourself? It makes you take a step back and look at your life.

Story has been a reoccurring aspect in my life for the last several years. The concept of writing your story seeps up in the strangest places — when I least expect it. This book defiantly fits in that category. The concept of story seems to follow me. Even Brian McLaren (a few years back) told me that I should look into Biblical Narrative as a way to tell my story when we had a conversation about my future.

From the beauty of exploring what story actually is to the journey of making your story better can sum up this book (in a horrible way that a book should never be summed up). One of my favorite excerpts (really there are too many to list here) is one about God and Story and it goes like this:

“When Steve, Ben, and I wrote our characters into the screenplay, I felt the way I hope God feels as He writes the world, sitting over the planets and placing tiny people in tiny wombs. If I have a hope, it’s that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically, into the story, and put us in with the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say, Enjoy your place in My story. The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create within it even as I have created you.”

I keep wondering how many ways God can tell this to me before it sinks in. All that matters is writing a good story and a good story has many elements that we make. This book from start to finish gives the reader glimpses of Donald Miller’s life as he struggles with his own story and then it turns and allows the reader to realize that the story is also their own. It brings laughter, tears and hope.

I know Donald Miller will always be known as the guy who wrote ‘Blue Like Jazz’, but this book has replaced ‘Blue Like Jazz’ as my favorite Donald Miller book. It has much more depth.

Do yourself a favor and by this book. Soak in it and then take the journey to write a better story and don’t forget to jump in the water fully clothed.

Buy it from amazon.com

Technorati Tags: Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Blue Like Jazz, Odessa, Permian, Panthers, Write Your Story, Story

*This post has a sarcasm alert (for the humorless)*

Today as I was heading home I got a tweet to my phone that the locations had been announced for Donald Miller’s new book locations. After being 30 seconds to late to find the first one I was not sure I would make it on time. Especially with directions from Google (see inset photo).

Despite the fact that Google told me I was 2 hours and 20 minutes away…I thought I would go for the book anyway — seriously screw Google. About 10 minutes later I was walking into the Thomas Nelson office and running desperately up to the poor woman at the counter and screaming at her to see if anyone had found the book.

I think I scared her…she told me the book had been found and I went crazy screaming and asking to speak to someone in charge, she went and got another copy and told me never to set foot in Nashville again (a small sacrifice to pay for such a worthy book). After I ninja jumped my way out of the building and into the rain I headed home to bask in the glory — okay more like rub it in the nose of everyone on the internet — but really who cares I have it and they don’t.

So tonight me and this book are going to have a good time. I will bask in the glory of a new Donald Miller book and think of all the poor saps who have to wait another week to get the book. And after I finish I will give Don a call and have a little chat about this book (yes his cell phone # was in the book — see below).

My prize...yes all mine

Seriously….you thought I would give you the number. In your dreams…sucker. But I will post my review as soon as I finish the book.

So if you are reading this and you don’t know who Donald Miller is (then shame on you) read more about Don on my Blog:

• The time he called me
• Finding out about the movie
• When Donald Prayed
• When I first met Donald at a Blood Water Mission Event

Find out more About Donald Miller from:

• His Website
• Buying A book or two or three
• His twitter

I am off to do more ninja kicks then settle in and enjoy what I am sure will be my favorite book of 2009.

Technorati Tags: Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, @Donmileris, Blue Like Jazz

I am always interested in study bible’s and when I got this copy in the mail I was anxious to flip through this and see what made it so differnt. The first thing that stood out was the word study in the text instead of in the footnotes. For normal reading this made the text hard to get through but for study purposes this is a great tool!

I have other Bibles with footnotes that give some of this information, but often I forget there are notes. This book puts the notes and alternate words right into the relevant text so you don’t miss them and you know exactly what word or verse they refer to. The [new expanded words] are clearly marked so you know if the given information is commentary, a literal translation, other possible meanings for the word, the traditional wording, etc.

If you aren’t familiar with the New Testament, I’d suggest using a regular version of the Bible for your daily readings. When you’re ready to dig deeper or you’re starting to get so familiar with the Bible that you feel bored, this is a great New Testament to get.

I’d highly recommend “The Expanded Bible: New Testament” to people who want to dig  into the full meanings of the verses they’re reading.

Buy this book from amazon.com

This is a book that I had high hopes for and like most carnival rides they leave you dizzy and wondering why you got on the ride. The style of N.D. Wilson seems a hodge-podgy of one bad big top trip where the clowns jump out at your from random corners. But do not get me wrong there are nuggets of brilliance in the madness, but they are hidden and buried and turned upside down.

My biggest complaint about the book is the lack of any linear though process. The jumps have no transitions and seem almost contrived.

Those rare gems that could come from this book are just buried and much like a bad circus game the prize is much less than the effort you put into it.

About this Book:

A visual, poetic exploration of the narrative nature of the world and the personality of the Poet behind it all.

When Nate Wilson looks at the world around him, he asks “What is this place? Why is this place? Who approved it? Am I supposed to take it seriously?” What could such an outlandish, fantastical world say about its Creator?

In these sparkling chapters, Wilson gives an aesthetic examination of the ways in which humanity has tried to make sense of this overwhelming carnival ride of a world. He takes a whimsical, thought-provoking look at everything from the “magic” of quantum physics, to nature’s absurdities, to the problem of evil, evolution and hell. These frequently humorous, and uniquely beautiful portraits express reality unknown to many Christians-the reality of God’s story unfolding around and among us. As the author says, “Welcome to His poem. His play. His novel. His comedy. Let the pages flick your thumbs.”

About the author:

N. D. Wilson is the author of Leepike Ridge, a children’s adventure story, and 100 Cupboards, the first installment in a multi-world fantasy series. He enjoys high winds, milk, and night-time. He received his Masters degree from Saint John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, is the managing editor of Credenda/Agenda magazine and is also a Fellow of Literature at New Saint Andrews College. His writing has appeared in Books & Culture, The Chattahoochee Review, and Esquire

Authors site: http://ndwilson.com/

Find out more or buy a copy from amazon.com

A little about the book: What happens when Jesus interrupts the average life? Interrupted encourages believers to ask if their lives bring integrity to the gospel. Follow the faith journey of author and fellow disciplemaker Jen Hatmaker and rediscover Jesus among the least of us.

My thoughts on the book: From the introduction this book had me. Imagine a book opening that tells the story of renting a house to a murdered and how your neighborhood would react. Well that is how this book opens. Jen has quirky stories woven through this book, but is not lacking in a substantial story to fill up the book with meaning.

This book tells a story of a person who left comfort and everything they knew in search of a bigger God. The god left behind was the one we want to box up and put beside our bed and pull out in times of trouble and what was found was the true God. The true God who cares for the poor and broken. Jen lays out the story of her journey (along with her husband) to this unsafe God that rattled her world. Join her on the journey and take the first steps toward being interrupted. (and maybe read a few funny stories along the way…my favorite was about a banana)

Who this book would be good for: church planters, people who like to laugh and want to see God in a different way, church workers, people who attend a church plant

More about the author: Jen Hatmaker is the author of A Modern Girl’s Guide to Bible Study: A Refreshingly Unique Way to Look at God’s Word and A Modern Girl’s Bible Study Series. With a heart for the women of her generation, she speaks at retreats and conferences around the country. Jen resides in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Brandon, and their three children. Brand and Jen are pastors of Austin New Church

Additional Resources:

• http://jenhatmaker.com/
• http://www.austinnewchurch.com/

Technorati Tags: Jen Hatmaker, Church Planting, Austin New Church, Interrupted

Refractions A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture by Makoto Fujimura

Tag:
Explore how the arts and faith live together and how you can bring healing to a hurting world through your own creation.

Description:
A collection of essays, thoughts, and prayers from award-winning artist Makoto Fujimura, Refractions brings people of all backgrounds together in conversation and meditation on culture, art, and humanity.

Review:
The first thing that grabbed my attention was that cover and the tag line. My all time favorite book (Walking On Water by Madeline L’Engle) is also a book about the arts and faith. I was drawn in. This book is laid out in a series of essays and art thrown in for impact and illustration.

“The Creator God has given us creativity and the arts so that we may “name” experiences, just as God commissioned Adam to name the animals in the Garden” (page 39).

This quote kind of brings the books central message into focus and helps guide the path through this book. This book is not one you just read or go through, but it is one that breathes and walks with you through your own journey of discovering your God given creative talent.

If you are on a journey and looking for a well to draw from then read this book to help you understand what faith and art look like interwoven in life.

Buy this book at amazon.com

Technorati Tags: Refractions, Faith, Art, Culture, Makoto Fujimura