Amanda Pelser… Ramblings of a Communications Director …

The latest book in the Thomas Nelson Ancient Practices Series tackles the topic of tithing.  Tithing is a subject that many churches and many Christians often shy away from discussing.  Douglas LeBlanc shows, through a series of interviews, why people tithe and what God has done in their lives because of their practice of tithing.

Like many churches and non-profits around the United States, our church has recently been affected by our nation’s economic downturn.  If Christ-followers understood and practiced tithing, churches wouldn’t be short on funds and we’d be able solve many of the world’s poverty related issues.  I believe and practice tithing.  As a church staff, we’re trying to help our church members take that step of faith.  When I saw this book on Thomas Nelson’s BookSneeze site, I thought it might be a great resource for teaching our members more about stewardship.  Although I was not thrilled with all of the interviews and stories, I liked the concept.  I would liked to have seen more discussion relating directly to the scriptural basis for tithing leading into or as a follow up to the testimonies.  Unfortunately, this book is not the resource that I’d hoped it would be.  It isn’t a bad book.  It is not what I was looking for or needed.

*** This book was review for Thomas Nelson’s BookSneeze.  This book was supplied to me for free through this program in exchange for a review of the book.  My review was not influenced by Thomas Nelson or the fact that the book was provided for free. ***

I’ve had a low-grade fever most of the weekend.  Despite having no energy to physically do much of anything, I still accomplished a lot.  Earlier in the week, I had set some goals for February for my reading and writing.  Those goals that I’ve already completed are crossed out.

• Write a review of my pre-release copy of Switch by Chip and Dan Heath.
• Finish reading The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg.
• Write a review of The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg.
• Read Tithing from the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze program. I read this whole book yesterday.
• Write a review of Tithing for BookSneeze. Edited on 2/8 to show completion.
  
• Read Linchpin by Seth Godin. (I did buy this one for my Kindle so I can start soon.)
• Write a review of Linchpin.
• Update the template on my blog. (Take a look if you’re reading this through a feed reader or email.  I’m almost done.  See next item…)
• Add custom header image that Josh is creating for me.

Not bad for having a 100 degree fever.

I was never taught what to say to someone lying on their deathbed. I never learned anything about hiring and firing church staff. Seminary didn’t teach me anything about managing a church budget.

- Geoffrey Janes in his blog post What You Need to Know…

Go read Geoffrey’s full post.  While you’re at it, subscribe to his RSS feed or make it a point to visit his blog regularly.

Like Geoffrey, there are so many things that I didn’t learn in seminary that I deal with on a regular basis.  Now, that’s not to say that seminary wasn’t worth it or didn’t teach me anything.  And even though my Greek and Hebrew are very rusty right now, it was even worth the time spent learning those languages.  But you see, there are some things that even if my profs had tried to teach me that I still wouldn’t have understood until I’d been in ministry in the real world and experienced it for myself.  Nothing like on-the-job training…

But here’s the real point of Geoffrey’s post:

I want you to know that you have a lead pastor who cares deeply about the people in this church. I want you to know that he is a man called by God to lead this church who wants nothing more than to see people’s lives transformed by the power of Jesus Christ.

I’ve been on staff at Southbrook for four and a half years.  I’ve learned a lot in that time and in three different roles.  I’m thankful to work with Pastor Rob and the rest of the team at Southbrook Church.  When we go through trying times like Geoffrey referred to in his post, I’m even more thankful for the solid leadership of our pastor.  I’m thankful for his vision for Southbrook and his desire to see those far from Jesus come to know Jesus and be transformed into growing disciples.  I’m also thankful for his spiritual sensitivity and care for our church.  Pastor Rob has exciting study in the works for Wednesday nights beginning in January.  If you attend Southbrook, clear your schedule for Wednesday nights.  Make it a priority to be here for this series!

The ABC series “Lost” has become a phenomenon watched in many homes.  We’re drawn into the epic story of a group of castaways whose plane crashed on a mysterious island. What is it about this cast of misfits that captivates us so much?  They are messed up and seemingly unlovable, but in the end we find that they are just like us.  We identify with them and find spiritual truths in their lives and their redemption on the island.

In the Gospel According to Lost, Chris Seay takes us on a journey through the first five seasons of “Lost” focusing mostly on the main characters but also touching upon some of the main themes and mysteries of the island.  Seay’s purpose is not to give theories and explanations of the island.  He instead highlights the historical, scientific, theological, and biblical references woven into the story.

I’ve been a fan of “Lost” since the airing of the very first episode.  My husband and I were both hooked from the beginning.  Our church even did a short series a few years ago using “Lost” as the theme.  As a die-hard “Lostie”, I found myself wanting more and feeling like Seay never really brought this book home.  I didn’t care for his writing style and felt like he rushed through his treatment of each character.  Maybe Seay should have waited until the conclusion of the series to release this book.

– This book was reviewed for the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers Program –

“I couldn’t help but wonder if we have accepted a form of Christianity that is more educated but less powerful, more civilized but less compassionate, more acceptable but less authentic than that which our spiritual ancestors practiced. …  What is the primal essence of Christianity?”
Mark Batterson in Primal

I received a free pre-release copy of Mark Batterson’s new book Primal (available 12/22) from Waterbrook Multnomah.  (Thank you to Liz Johnson and team!)  In exchange for the book, I was asked to write a review of it and if I liked the book to ask if you’d consider making Primal the first book that you read in 2010.  While I didn’t care much for Mark’s In A Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, his next book Wild Goose Chase was an excellent and thought provoking book on the Holy Spirit.  I read Mark’s blog and follow him on Twitter so I’ve been hearing about Primal for a while now and was excited to read it.  It kept me great company on my way to my friend’s wedding and back (including a short mechanical delay on my flight home).  I read the last page as the plane was touching down in Charlotte.

Primal refers to the thing of first importance.  So what is the most important thing in Christianity?  Mark strips Christianity down to this: “We’ve got to be great at the Great Commandment.”  In this, God calls us to love Him in 4 ways: heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Mark describes these 4 ways like this:

• Heart = Compassion
• Soul = Wonder
• Mind = Curiosity
• Strength = Energy

Mark asserts that we have a spiritual love language in the same way that we have a preferred love language with our spouse, family, and friends.  We tend to gravitate to one of these four dimensions of love when acting out our love of God.  We should all love in each of the four ways, but one is likely to rise to the top as our primary spiritual love language.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes and thoughts:

• “But minds often remain closed to truth until hearts have been opened by compassion.”
• “I want to work with people who don’t just care about the work but who care about the people they work with.”
• “Don’t let what you cannot do keep you from doing what you can do.”
• …”most of us become so tangled up in our own self-consciousness that we have a hard time experiencing the joy of just being ourselves.”
• Scripture is kaleidoscopic – it speaks to you in a difference way each time you read it.
• “The goal of knowing the Bible is knowing God.”
• There’s no distinction in Jewish thought between knowing and doing.
• We’re losing a love for learning; our educational system is more about cramming info in rather that drawing conclusions out.  This is force feeding rather than unleashing curiosity.
• “Holy curiosity isn’t satisfied by easy answers.”
• “God is always speaking.  The real question is whether we are listening.”
• Strength = servanthood, sacrifices, hard work.
• Our love for God is our reflection of His love for us.
• The reformation for our generation is “Amo Dei” (Love God); a return to the Great Commandment.

I believe that my spiritual love language is mind or curiosity.  Fits with my top strength of learner.

This is, in my opinion, Mark’s best written book so far.  I’m enjoying him as an author more and more with each book.  Primal is also challenging.  It is a reminder that we serve a multi-faceted God who wants us to love him in many ways.  At the same time, that God has created me with a certain bent and shape that I need to cultivate and nurture.

What is your spiritual love language?  How can you be great at the Great Commandment?  Find out!  Get this book and make it the first book that you read in 2010!