'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, by Casting Crowns

Beautiful slideshow set to Casting Crowns' version of the old hymn, which we'll sing tomorrow at Drennon.  Great images of daddies with their kids.Very moving to think of our Heavenly Daddy loving us like this, lifting us up on His shoulders, hugging us, making us laugh--us making HIM laugh.  Wow!  God bless all children!

Tree63 - Blessed Be the Name

We'll sing this song this Sunday at Drennon.  It's always been one of my favorite praise and worship songs, especially after I heard it explained at the Londen Institute for Evangelism.  A musician classmate of mine pointed out that in both the good times and the bad--blessed is His name.

Aaron Shust - My Savior, My God

Here's the song we'll try to sing Sunday at Drennon.  Pray for us!

The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard

After participating in the Man Challenge Bible study/men's group this past spring at Southeast Christian Church Oldham Campus, I jumped at the opportunity to join the summer Bible study that would go through Dallas Willard's book The Divine Conspiracy.  Kurt Sauder and Chris Brown sort of co-led the study, based on which of them was available that particular week.  Both did an outstanding job with the study, and you could sense the passion each of them had for the material as well as its subject matter.

Willard used this book to expound upon Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and articulate how God wants us to live while here on earth.  Willard states that we spend too much time focusing on just saving someone to assure them of heaven, while not focusing on what needs to happen after that with a person during his or her remaining days, whether its just days or several decades.

Willard's writing is dense and very interllectual, but not totally unapproachable.  I would compare it favorably to some of the reading I did as a student with The Londen Institute for Evangelism--difficult but vital.  The Divine Conspiracy was so worthy a read, and I hope to read something else of his some day, especially because I understand that this one was really just one section of a trilogy.

I have written previously about how Southeast Oldham has impacted me, my Christian walk and my ministry at Drennon.  This study, which I took my son JR with me as a sort of "auditor", was the best thing I've experienced there yet.

Weird, by Craig Groeschel

I read Groeschel's other book It a few months ago and really loved it because it spoke to me so much about what we as a church might need to do to capture that indescribable essence that exudes the Holy Spirit. This book, Weird, deals more with a person's one-to-one Christian walk and how it relates to everything we do individually. Again, Groeschel is a very entertaining, personal writer, but this time I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the previous book.  Nothing to knock this book at all, because I still really enjoyed it, but it didn't bowl me over in the same way that It did.

I'd still recommend Weird and hope to read The Christian Athiest and Soul Detox eventually, but this one didn't strike me quite as forcefully.  I'm sure it's where we are as we read each individual book.  I truly admire Groeschel and his work, though, as I have tried to tell as many as I can about his church, LifeChurch.tv, and its efforts to make the Bible available free to any smartphone or tablet owner.

In Weird, he makes the point that living normally by the definition of the world isn't working any more, and isn't a goal that any of us as Christians should pursue.  Groeschel remains one of my favorite Christian writers, and I look forward to reading more of his work...

The Circle Maker, by Mark Batterson

What a great book, by a new author to me.  I kept downloading samples of Mark Batterson's books, unaware that they were all by the same guy.  (Duh.)  When I put two and two together I decided to read one, and I'm glad I began with his new one, just published this year.

I have always struggled so much with prayer, for dozens of reasons.  This book has immensely helped me, though, and has given me a lot of hope.  It has helped me with some current personal crises, and I pray that others read it and gain the same new understanding.

Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC, one of the most innovative churches in the USA.  I just bought Pastor Batterson's first book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, today at Half-Price Books, and can't wait to read it too.

A Simple Idea

A couple of months ago, one of our elders, MB Hardin, Jr., had the idea that a good summer activity for us would be to try to clean up and restore our cemetery a bit. It turns out that the Drennon cemetery is the only untended-to cemetery in Henry County, the only one without a custodian. We quickly got to work Saturday morning, though, and figured out that professionals weren't needed as much as just willing hearts. It felt like a simple little slice of the life in Christ: common-minded folks just gahering for a little needed work...