HARMLESS THOUGHTS

I freely admit that I don't normally have the endurance for listening to audio books that take more than 5 or 6 hours to listen to.  It isn't that I don't like to listen, but my audio book listening times are usually limited to my commute to and from work. Listening to a lengthy audio book in 15 minute segments tends to feel wearisome, but I found with J. I. Packer: An Evangelical Life  by Leland Ryken that I was creating times to continue listening. About 1/3 of the way through the book, I found that I didn't want it to stop. I genuinely felt like I was getting to know J. I. Packer, so I wanted to know more of his story. I wouldn't relate listening to this book like watching a movie. The first part of the book did tell his story, but it wasn't action-packed suspense. What kept me going was the character of this man. In many ways I began to relate to his decisions and understand why he might be doing what he was doing. I especially appreciated Leland Ryken...

Despite the fall in overall church attendance, only one in six regular churchgoers thinks the church he or she attends is declining in numbers. Two-fifths think their church is growing. Perhaps some people are in denial about falling church numbers. But it may also be that many churches are growing but mainly through transfer growth. A declining number of Christians are consolidating into growing churches. It is still possible to grow a church by offering a better church experience than other churches. Whatever the merit of this, it is vital for us to realize that this is not evangelistic growth. It is possible to plant a church and see it grow without doing mission. "People can be attracted to a church by what it offers," says Jim Peterson, "but ... increase of this sort isn't church growth at all. It's just a reshuffling of the same fifty two cards." ~Everyday Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis

I am part of an after school program called Project Success. I participate on Tuesday and Thursday each week at the school where I teach. One of the activities that I am introducing to the kids in the program is called Zentangle . I discovered Zentangle about a year ago, and have grown to love it. I guess you could call it a hobby, but it is more of an outlet. I am not into the whole "zen" thing, but I do find this art form to be very relaxing. One of the Project Success leaders has seen some of my Tangles, and decided to get some Zentangle supplies for the program. I was really pumped about the prospect, but sort of worried at the same time. Teens in after school programs aren't always the most calm and relaxing group to be around. And when you want to share something that, by nature, is calm and relaxing with a group of people that are the opposite of calm and relaxing, there is a certain level of anxiety that begins to arise. Well, two days ago I had my first Zen...

One of my students kept asking me to draw them a picture of Horton. I have put her off for almost a year... oops... but last week was her birthday, so I finally complied and sketched her a picture of Horton and The Who...

Thanks to Christian Audio's Reviewers Program, I was able to just finish listening to The Wonder-Working God: Seeing the Glory of Jesus in His Miracles by Jared Wilson. This book was also read by the author, which I always prefer. In The Wonder Working God, Jared Wilson has gathered together descriptions and expositions of the miracles of Jesus. At first, I believed that the miracles were grouped according to their similarity of the miraculous occurrence. But just now, as I am typing this review, I have realized that the grouping goal was according to how the miracle revealed the Miraculous Jesus. Obviously there are similarities to the types of miracles that are grouped together in the chapters, but the author has done an amazing job at pulling back the details of the miracle and the comments and conversations around the miracle to show that each of these miracles was not simply about showing that Jesus could do stuff, but showing how Jesus is truly glorious in every way. ...