Confronting Christianity – A Book Review

Rebecca McLaughlin has written a book that tackles 12 hard-hitting questions that most Christians should be able to answer but shy away from, whether from an inability to answer or afraid of the answer, remains to be seen.

The chapters are divided into topics such as slavery, the denigration of women, homosexuality, and God allowing suffering are just a few.  Each chapter gives detailed Biblical reference to the position stated and additional references from noted theologians.

The book is so detailed in the response to the questions that I would argue it is more than a one time read. It is an armchair reference manual to be studied regularly and absorbed. I feel more comfortable in explaining several of the questions asked but will take more time to read and digest them all. I applaud the author for this undertaking and feel that she has done a tremendous job of equipping Christians to answer those hard-hitting questions.

I give this book a stellar 5 stars. This review is based on the thorough, detailed explanation and thought that went into the compilation.

You may purchase this book at the link below:

https://www.crossway.org/books/confronting-christianity-hcj/

I have received a free copy of this book in return for an honest and fair review – Disclaimer pursuant to FTC 16 CFR Part 255

It’s ELEMENTary

Today I took my five-year-old granddaughter to see Frozen II. It was my first time seeing the movie, but it was her third – she is really a Frozen fan!

The storyline involved the four elements: earth, water, wind and fire. They were represented in the movie by four spirit beings. Now, I’m not saying that the movie in any way had a Christian message – it didn’t. But I did start thinking later about the Holy Spirit in connection to those same four elements.

The Spirit came on Pentecost in wind and fire. We are baptized by water and the Spirit. But where did earth come into the picture? Then I realized that, as all humans come from the earth (“dust you are, and to dust you shall return”), the earth of the elements is Jesus, because he became human. And the earth that is Christ becomes a part of each of us when we receive it in the Eucharist.

What does that mean for us? We should stay grounded in God’s Word; we should be walking wet, remembering that our baptism makes us children of God, we should breathe in the breath of God, knowing that the Holy Spirit lives in us; and we should be on fire for Christ!

A blessed Epiphany season to all of our readers!

Do You Think God Can’t Use You?

I’ve had this list up next to my desk as a reminder that God can use anybody to do his work.  When I feel depressed or insignificant all I have to do is read over this list and I feel better.  So now I’m going to share it with you.

If you ever feel that you can’t be used by God just think of these persons from the Bible:

Noah was a drunk,
Abraham was old,
Isaac was a daydreamer,
Jacob was a liar,
Leah was ugly,
Joseph was abused,
Moses couldn’t talk,
Rahab was a prostitute,
Gideon was afraid,
Samson was a womanizer,
Naomi was a widow,
Job went bankrupt,
David was an adulterer,
Elijah was suicidal,
Isaiah preached naked,
Jeremiah was too young,
Jonah ran from God,
John the Baptist ate bugs,
Mary Magdalene had demons,
Martha worried too much,
Zaccheus was too small,
James and John were self-promoting,
Peter denied Christ,
Thomas had doubts,
Paul was too religious,
Timothy had an ulcer,

And Lazarus was Dead!!

I’m A Nobody

Have you ever felt like you don’t count in this world.  Think that people should look at you and say “Just who do you think you are?”  Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve felt that way tons of times.

But Jesus changes that.  We are all somebody.  We all have worth.

Take a minute to listen to Casting Crowns (with Matthew West) sing about being nobody.  Lately I’ve been trying to live so the world can see nobody but Jesus.  I put the lyrics here so you can follow (or sing!) along.

Why You ever chose me
Has always been a mystery
All my life, I’ve been told I belong
At the end of a line
With all the other Not-Quites
With all the Never-Get-It-Rights
But it turns out they are the ones You were looking for
All this time

‘Cause I’m just a nobody trying to tell everybody
All about Somebody who saved my soul
Ever since You rescued me, You gave my heart a song to sing
I’m living for the world to see nobody but Jesus
I’m living for the world to see nobody but Jesus

Moses had stage fright
And David brought a rock to a sword fight
You picked twelve outsiders nobody would’ve chosen
And You changed the world
Well, the moral of the story is
Everybody’s got a purpose
So when I hear that devil start talking to me, saying
“Who do you think you are?” I say

I’m just a nobody trying to tell everybody
All about Somebody who saved my soul
Ever since You rescued me, You gave my heart a song to sing
I’m living for the world to see nobody but Jesus
I’m living for the world to see nobody but Jesus

So let me go down, down, down in history
As another blood-bought faithful member of the family
And if they all forget my name, well, that’s fine with me
I’m living for the world to see nobody but Jesus
So let me go down, down, down in history (Go down in history)
As another blood-bought faithful member of the family (It’s all I ever wanna be)
And if they all forget my name, well, that’s fine with me
I’m living for the world to see nobody but Jesus, yeah!

I’m just a nobody (Nobody)
Trying to tell everybody
All about Somebody
Who saved my soul (Oh, saved my, saved my soul)
Ever since You rescued me
You gave my heart a song to sing (You gave me a song to sing)
I’m living for the world to see
Nobody but Jesus (Nobody but You, Lord)
I’m living for the world to see nobody but Jesus

You Say

Have you ever fought those feelings that make you feel like God is distant?  You can’t get close to the Lord?  You wonder if he’s even out there or if he even cares?  Maybe you’re going through a rough time right now and just can’t connect with God?

Even though it may be one of the hardest things to do you must believe that God’s in control.  He knows you better than you know yourself.  Our job is to get to know God through His Word.  This is so hard when you are going through a bad time.  I know, because I’ve been there.  There were days when I wondered if God even heard my pleas.  Then I would take a deep breath, close my eyes and just let peace be what I ask for.

The song “You Say” by Lauren Daigle says all this very well.  I believe….

 

 

More Grace

I receive morning devotionals every morning from several sources.  One is from a pastor that I’ve known for years and he is the one that married my husband and I, and baptized both of our children.  I enjoy hearing from him every day.

The thought for today included this:

There is an infinite depth in our Lord that can never be exhausted. The excitement continues as the Lord draws us closer to Himself. Continue to read, think, and pray. There is always more grace, truth, and real excitement in walking day by day with Jesus Christ.

Wow, just wow.  This really hit me.  We cannot run out of His Grace, we can always receive more.  There is no “getting there”, we are always moving closer to our Lord.

As usual with me, when I think of things like this, a song came to mind.  Enjoy.

But What If Chaos Reigns?

Joan has been blogging about the upheaval in their lives, the mess, the inconvenience.  I feel badly that this has happened to Joan, but a part of me smiles when she describes what she’s going through.  My life is always chaos and I’ve learned to live in it.

Starting with losing our home in 1992 and having to move; we were almost truly homeless, but for the Grace of God.  My husbands terminal diagnoses in 1999, my son losing his job around 2008 and he and his family moving in with us.  My husband’s death in 2015 and just this year my house was hit by a car!

I don’t live a quiet, peaceful life.  There is always something happening that seems to demand my attention.  How have I learned to live like this?  Trusting that God’s got this and He will see me through.  When I was growing up and throughout my young adult life I thought that my life would settle down, husband, kids, living a good quiet life.  This did not happen…  Oh, the husband and kids happened, but quiet?  No.  It’s always been one thing after another.

To help keep my environment on a somewhat even keel I would take steps to keep my eyes on Jesus.  An hour of quiet, just me time away from my house.  Listening to the local christian radio station for uplifting music and some bible teaching on my drive to and from work.  Going to church regularly.  These are some of the things I put into my life to keep my spirits up and my eyes on the Lord.  These actions are intentional.  I’m working to put more intentional things in my life like regular bible study and prayer time.

If your life sounds like mine, you have to be intentional to keep your environment on a sane level.  It’s hard to put in place but keep at it.  These things will eventually become habitual.  Then when chaos reigns, you can continue to smile and say “God’s got this!”

 

My Own Little World

I know that I’m guilty of living in my own world.  Something is going on in my life and I pull all the sensors in, so to speak.  I don’t look out into the world and see the pain and suffering that is out there.  If I don’t see it, I can’t do anything about it.  Not even pray.  I’m centered on MY pain and suffering.

When this song came out in 2010 I was starting to look out of my own little world.  Starting to pray for others and ask how they were doing.  Asking about that medical problem that’s worrying the family.  Their problems that I knew about.  I would start a prayer list and I would pray for them.  It’s too easy to say that you’ll keep them in prayer and then forget.

One thing that needs remedied in my own little world is shown in this video.  I don’t DO something.  Sometimes the only thing that you can do is pray but many times you can actually do something.

Listen to this song by Matthew West.  It reminds us that there is a larger world out there.

Do Something

This song captured me a few years ago.  Do Something by Matthew West has a message to all Christians.  We don’t need to just sit and say “Oh, those poor people…..”  It’s time to do something.

This video explains how the song came about.  He heard about this girl that went to Uganda and then stayed there and opened up an orphanage on her own.  She’s still there, she’s still doing something.

I hope this video opens up your heart.

God of All My Days

This song has been getting a lot of air play recently for good reason.  Casting Crowns has this song that points to piety or living your whole live toward Christ.  Just listen.  I’m sure it will touch your heart.