This is by far, the GREATEST book on giving that I have EVER read. I've read mean books about giving and have heard many sermons about giving, but none of them have never communicated how impactful giving can be as this book has. In addition to talking about the spiritual, emotional, and physical benefits to giving, Brad Formsma includes many stories from people inside and outside of his family. The stories alone are an encouragement to start making giving a regular part of your everyday life.
One of the things that I really like about this book, is that Brad doesn't talk about giving from a 'tithing' standpoint. He transcends the whole 'discussion' about tithing, and gets right at the root of giving being a heart issue. Rather than worrying about meeting a 'regulation' of turning over a certain percentage of income, Brad encourages his readers to move beyond this way of thinking and start looking at the needs of people around us. When we as Christians are able to move from an 'obligatory' mindset to a 'serving' mindset, we'll be in a much better place to be a blessing through giving and experience the blessing of giving ourselves.
I highly recommend this book to any and everyone! If you've read books about giving and have ever felt like they are slightly missing the point, I encourage you to try this book! I'm sure it won't disappoint! The stories alone will encourage and push you to start wanting to look for everyday opportunities to give to others in need.
"Blogging for Books provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review."
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Book Review "The Next Christians"
First, let me start off by saying that I'm really excited to get back into blogging, if for no other reason than to just share with you all some of the books I'm finally able to read now since I finished my master's degree program. Recently, I just finished reading another book the other day called "The Next Christians" by Gabe Lyons. I have to say that this book was able to put into words much of what my desires for the church today are. It's also really helped me develop a a way of analyzing churches and how effective they are at meeting the mission that Christ as given us. What Lyons does in this book is outline why the 'end of Christian America' is actually a good thing, and how the 'Next Christians' are utilizing this change to change how the greater culture views the church as a whole. One of the underlying values of the "Next Christians" is 'restoration.' This is key because EVERYTHING that the "Next Christians" believe, think, and do stems from this value! The basis for this value comes from embracing the 'entirety' of our story than rather just the end as many Christians today have the tendency of doing. What this means, is that the "Next Christians" believe in the importance of 'restoring' here on earth rather than just waiting and relying on Jesus' return and life after this. They believe that Jesus didn't die for us just to be 'saved' and then do nothing, but rather we were saved and then expected to join in God's current mission of restoration in the here and now! Obviously, for anyone who knows me, this really resonates with me! After establishing who the 'Next Christians' are, he spends chapters discussing the qualities/characteristics that they see as important and that differ from the previous generation(s) of the church. These qualities included:
- Provoked, Not Offended
- Creators, Not Critics
- Called, Not Employed
- Grounded, Not Distracted
- In Community, Not Alone
- Countercultural, Not "Relevant"
Lyons ends his book by discussing how throughout history, there has been big 'shifts' in Christianity that have occurred every 500 years. If this trend continues, then the next big "shift" is at the door step, and Lyons argues that the "Next Christians" are the ones who are going to usher it in with excitement and purpose.
I would encourage you all to read this book if you want to read something that deals with the Church and culture. There could be parts of Lyon's personal convictions that I know some people might find difficult or hard to accept, but what's obvious is Lyon's heart for the Church as a whole to reverse the current perception that our culture has of the Church (which is what the book 'Unchristian' deals with), and bring the restoration to the world. Well I guess that's all I have to say about this book for a short review. Until next time! =)
Patrick
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Review of 'Clear Winter Nights'
I must say that I originally looked past this book to read for a review because I didn't really think it was a book that I was interested in reading. However now that I've read it and had time to process the book, I must wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone! I had never heard of Trevin Wax before (I suppose I must have been living under a rock), but the way that he has written this book is in such a way that is easy to read and addresses some modern, pertinent issues in a non-threatening/abrasive way!
The story of Chris is one that many young adults, Christian and non-Christian alike can relate to. Chris is on a journey where he's not quite sure what he believes and this uneasiness leads him to make some drastic decisions in his life. It just takes one winter break, spending time with his retired-pastor of a grandfather to uncover and address the hurt, uncertainty, and anger that was hidden underneath. Since I work with college students in campus ministry, there have been many of times when I've had conversations where I've talked with a student who didn't think he/she could continue in his/her faith because they were uncertain of whether or not they could agree and follow the Biblical position on certain issues, and this book is a narrative journey that helps a person see someone embark on the journey of exploration without feeling threatened themselves.
I certainly recommend this book, as I said before, to everyone. While there are some doctrinal stances that are alluded to that I might not agree with 100% of the time, the mere fact that the main character Chris deals with real-life issues that every young adult is going through this very moment. The conversations Chris has with his grandfather Gil are worth the entire book in and of itself. It's a very quick read and will keep you entertained from the very first page!
The story of Chris is one that many young adults, Christian and non-Christian alike can relate to. Chris is on a journey where he's not quite sure what he believes and this uneasiness leads him to make some drastic decisions in his life. It just takes one winter break, spending time with his retired-pastor of a grandfather to uncover and address the hurt, uncertainty, and anger that was hidden underneath. Since I work with college students in campus ministry, there have been many of times when I've had conversations where I've talked with a student who didn't think he/she could continue in his/her faith because they were uncertain of whether or not they could agree and follow the Biblical position on certain issues, and this book is a narrative journey that helps a person see someone embark on the journey of exploration without feeling threatened themselves.
I certainly recommend this book, as I said before, to everyone. While there are some doctrinal stances that are alluded to that I might not agree with 100% of the time, the mere fact that the main character Chris deals with real-life issues that every young adult is going through this very moment. The conversations Chris has with his grandfather Gil are worth the entire book in and of itself. It's a very quick read and will keep you entertained from the very first page!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
The New Year
Hey guys! I just wanted to take some time and try to update you all on what's happening here in Lock Have, PA! As of right now, we're in/almost through our 4th week of classes, leaving us with about 10 1/2 weeks of classes and 1 week of finals. Things are flying by at a really fast pace, which is proving to be both good and not so good, haha. I can speak for both Emily and I and say though, that this semester is by far the toughest semester we've had here at Lock Haven. It seems like at every turn, there is some major obstacle that we have to overcome. This past summer, we were praying intensely for this school year and really excited for it, so maybe that's why so much is going on, however it's a little discouraging when the most opposition that we are facing is coming from members of our own leadership team. The biggest issue thus far is a mindset that CSF is a club and not a ministry. I even had a conversation with one of the team members about two weeks ago now (which got rather heated) about his opinion of how the ministry should be run (which was very club -based and focused). It was also revealed to me in this conversation that there, in the past two years, has been some behind-the-back grumbling and gossip amongst our leadership team regarding Emily and I which, needless to say, hurt but frustrated me beyond words can describe. Needless to say, there is a overwhelming amount of spiritual immaturity among some of leadership team members, even some from whom we expected more from. However despite these major frustrations and difficulties, there are some major bright spots in our ministry thus far. Just last weekend, we took a day trip up to the finger lakes in New York to baptize one of our students. It was a really cool time and I'm super excited for the things God is going to do through this kid! In regards to CSF Wednesday nights, we seem to be growing a little once more. Just last night I counted at least 35 people, with at least 3-5 people that I would consider regular attenders not able to make it.
This semester we are doing a series called 'Listen Up.' In this series we're going through Scripture and taking a look at various times when God paid a visit to people to deliver a message about something His people were doing well, doing poorly, or both. The very first week, we took a look at what God was saying to us as CSF right now, sort of a prep and stage-setting night for the semester. The message was essentially, "Listen Up: This is NOT a club!" The idea that I felt God was trying to get across was simple, CSF is a ministry and NOT a club! I used Paul as an illustration to explain what this means. Just as Paul used his tent-making business as a means to 1) earn a living to support his ministry/live off of and 2) reach potential customers with the gospel. His 'business' was a 'storefront' which he used to further his real purpose, being an ambassador for Christ! Likewise, CSF is a ministry that is merely using it's 'club' status as a 'storefront' to reach the people we're desire to impact and witness to for Christ, college students! I opened that night reading the passage from 1 Corinthians 4.20, "For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by Go's power." (NLT) The idea there is that if we are merely just a club, then meeting on Wednesdays is 'good-enough.' But if we are going to listen to God and see CSF as more than a club and as a ministry, then just 'doing' Wednesdays is just a lot of talk, and that's not what the Kingdom of God is all about. (In my conversation with that student he also felt like mentioning how they thought it was a bad message and should have been done differently, something I believe is a direct result of that individual being so obsessed with viewing CSF as a club and not a ministry.... once again, a lack of spiritual maturity.) The next week we took a trip to the OT book of Haggai, and we looked at the message of Haggai 2.1-9. The message there was "Listen Up: Be Encouraged to Do What's Right." Last week we moved next door to the Book of Zechariah and the message there was "Listen Up: It's Time For a Heart Check!" The idea for this one was examining our actions and discerning whether we are actually obeying God or rather just trying to appease Him. For that message we started at Zechariah 7.3-6, and saw how these people's actions were just done in order to appease God for the mistakes they had made in the past, rather than obeying Him, thus avoiding the mistakes in the first place. Last night we began a 7-week stint in the book of Revelation, where we are looking at the 7 letters to the 7 churches. Our first stop was the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2.1-7, and almost a continuation of last week's message from Zechariah. Last night's message was "Listen Up: Don't Forget About Your First Love!" We talked about how it's possible to be so focused on the action part of things, that we neglect the personal relationship side of things, and the challenge there was that they examine their lives to see how much they are in prayer (relationship), in the Word (relationship), and allowing themselves to be put into or even putting themselves into situations where their faith is going to be tested and stretched (actions).
Emily and I also had the opportunity to lead worship for Penn State's CSF group for the past 4 weeks until they had students trained up and willing to take over the worship leading role(s). It was an absolute blast and quickly reminded me how much I miss planning for and leading a body of believers in a time of praise and worship, Scripture reading, and prayer during services. This past Tuesday was our last week, because they now have a core group of students ready and eager to take over and lead. It is a bitter sweet feeling, because as I said, I really enjoy and have missed doing that, but additionally, it's really awesome see students develop in their spiritual walk(s) and be eager to take on this role and responsibility. Another positive out of this, is the fact that Emily and I now have at least one more night free, which is nice, because prior to this week the only night that we had free was Friday nights. We had something going on every other night of the week, which is something that I know is not the very best, haha.
Well I suppose that's the biggest things happening right now in our neck of the woods. If you guys wouldn't mind, I want to ask that you pray for CSF here at LHU, specifically the spiritual maturity of everyone who is a part of this ministry. I also ask that you would pray that God would break the hearts of our leadership team, and piece them back together in a way that makes them much more sensitive to what He's leading us to! Finally I would ask for prayer for both Emily and I, for this is the most we've ever been discouraged here in campus ministry and with these students. Thanks for reading, thanks for supporting us, and thanks for praying! =)
Pat
This semester we are doing a series called 'Listen Up.' In this series we're going through Scripture and taking a look at various times when God paid a visit to people to deliver a message about something His people were doing well, doing poorly, or both. The very first week, we took a look at what God was saying to us as CSF right now, sort of a prep and stage-setting night for the semester. The message was essentially, "Listen Up: This is NOT a club!" The idea that I felt God was trying to get across was simple, CSF is a ministry and NOT a club! I used Paul as an illustration to explain what this means. Just as Paul used his tent-making business as a means to 1) earn a living to support his ministry/live off of and 2) reach potential customers with the gospel. His 'business' was a 'storefront' which he used to further his real purpose, being an ambassador for Christ! Likewise, CSF is a ministry that is merely using it's 'club' status as a 'storefront' to reach the people we're desire to impact and witness to for Christ, college students! I opened that night reading the passage from 1 Corinthians 4.20, "For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by Go's power." (NLT) The idea there is that if we are merely just a club, then meeting on Wednesdays is 'good-enough.' But if we are going to listen to God and see CSF as more than a club and as a ministry, then just 'doing' Wednesdays is just a lot of talk, and that's not what the Kingdom of God is all about. (In my conversation with that student he also felt like mentioning how they thought it was a bad message and should have been done differently, something I believe is a direct result of that individual being so obsessed with viewing CSF as a club and not a ministry.... once again, a lack of spiritual maturity.) The next week we took a trip to the OT book of Haggai, and we looked at the message of Haggai 2.1-9. The message there was "Listen Up: Be Encouraged to Do What's Right." Last week we moved next door to the Book of Zechariah and the message there was "Listen Up: It's Time For a Heart Check!" The idea for this one was examining our actions and discerning whether we are actually obeying God or rather just trying to appease Him. For that message we started at Zechariah 7.3-6, and saw how these people's actions were just done in order to appease God for the mistakes they had made in the past, rather than obeying Him, thus avoiding the mistakes in the first place. Last night we began a 7-week stint in the book of Revelation, where we are looking at the 7 letters to the 7 churches. Our first stop was the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2.1-7, and almost a continuation of last week's message from Zechariah. Last night's message was "Listen Up: Don't Forget About Your First Love!" We talked about how it's possible to be so focused on the action part of things, that we neglect the personal relationship side of things, and the challenge there was that they examine their lives to see how much they are in prayer (relationship), in the Word (relationship), and allowing themselves to be put into or even putting themselves into situations where their faith is going to be tested and stretched (actions).
Emily and I also had the opportunity to lead worship for Penn State's CSF group for the past 4 weeks until they had students trained up and willing to take over the worship leading role(s). It was an absolute blast and quickly reminded me how much I miss planning for and leading a body of believers in a time of praise and worship, Scripture reading, and prayer during services. This past Tuesday was our last week, because they now have a core group of students ready and eager to take over and lead. It is a bitter sweet feeling, because as I said, I really enjoy and have missed doing that, but additionally, it's really awesome see students develop in their spiritual walk(s) and be eager to take on this role and responsibility. Another positive out of this, is the fact that Emily and I now have at least one more night free, which is nice, because prior to this week the only night that we had free was Friday nights. We had something going on every other night of the week, which is something that I know is not the very best, haha.
Well I suppose that's the biggest things happening right now in our neck of the woods. If you guys wouldn't mind, I want to ask that you pray for CSF here at LHU, specifically the spiritual maturity of everyone who is a part of this ministry. I also ask that you would pray that God would break the hearts of our leadership team, and piece them back together in a way that makes them much more sensitive to what He's leading us to! Finally I would ask for prayer for both Emily and I, for this is the most we've ever been discouraged here in campus ministry and with these students. Thanks for reading, thanks for supporting us, and thanks for praying! =)
Pat
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Good Old Kentucky
Hello all! Currently, I'm sitting in a nice little McDonald's in Kentucky typing out this blog for you guys. Why you ask? Why not? Haha, just kidding! This week I'm down at KCU for my last 'on-campus' Master's Class of this degree! WOO HOOOOO!!! I'm sitting at the McDonald's because for some reason or another, my computer has rejected nearly every wi-fi network I've attempted to connect to, EXCEPT MCDONALDS! I find that fairly ironic, but hey, at least I'm able to get on SOMEWHERE!
Anyway, I just wanted to update you all on some of the happenings in the life of the Willis Family. Emily's currently in Lexington, KY with her best friend/roommate from college, Leah Amerine, visiting another good friend who just had a baby last week. If you ask me, this might be baby overload... jk! ;) But Emily's doing well, or at least as well I suppose that one can be when pregnant! She's had a few concerning pains here and there, and of course that vile sciatic nerve has ALREADY began to give her problems, but the doctors been able to help you accommodate these things and get through them. Currently, I'm doing an online Bible-Study/Devotional series with the college students. Something I challenged them with before we broke for the summer was to stay active in the Word and to spend time with God daily. With the exception of a week at camp with no internet and a few days here and there because of traveling or my own forgetfulness, I've been able to get on and write up a post about a particular passage. We've already gone through the book of Ephesians and right now we're going through the book of Job, set to go over chapter 29 tomorrow. I'm not doing anything TOO in-depth because of the limitations of the online format and time, but it's proven to be a pretty good experience. I've been held accountable to stay in the Word more frequently because of this too, so it's certainly been a plus for me! I've gotten messages and texts from students saying that they are really enjoying this, or that they've been without internet for the past couple of days and they're really excited to be back and get caught up. These messages have certainly been a source of encouragement!
In other news, Emily and I were able to purchase a new car! Well, not NEW new, but new for us! The worship leader at our church is neighbors with a mechanic who fixes up cars on the side, once he comes from work. He was told about our situation and wanted to help us out, so he fixed up a car for us and sold it to us for $1,000. Not only that, but he also paid for our state inspection and is letting us pay off the car in payments each month of however much we can afford! We were praying for something like this because of the need of having an alternate mode of transportation in case Emily needed to go to the doctor and I wasn't able to go get her, and God provided this opportunity and moved this guy to really bless us with this car. It's just amazing to think about! =) So anyways, Emily and I are now proud owners of a 1995 Buick Park Avenue. WOO HOO! God is good! =)
Well, that's the big highlights for what's been going on here with Emily and I. I hope you've enjoyed reading this, and feel free to comment below or email me! =) God bless!!!
Pat
Anyway, I just wanted to update you all on some of the happenings in the life of the Willis Family. Emily's currently in Lexington, KY with her best friend/roommate from college, Leah Amerine, visiting another good friend who just had a baby last week. If you ask me, this might be baby overload... jk! ;) But Emily's doing well, or at least as well I suppose that one can be when pregnant! She's had a few concerning pains here and there, and of course that vile sciatic nerve has ALREADY began to give her problems, but the doctors been able to help you accommodate these things and get through them. Currently, I'm doing an online Bible-Study/Devotional series with the college students. Something I challenged them with before we broke for the summer was to stay active in the Word and to spend time with God daily. With the exception of a week at camp with no internet and a few days here and there because of traveling or my own forgetfulness, I've been able to get on and write up a post about a particular passage. We've already gone through the book of Ephesians and right now we're going through the book of Job, set to go over chapter 29 tomorrow. I'm not doing anything TOO in-depth because of the limitations of the online format and time, but it's proven to be a pretty good experience. I've been held accountable to stay in the Word more frequently because of this too, so it's certainly been a plus for me! I've gotten messages and texts from students saying that they are really enjoying this, or that they've been without internet for the past couple of days and they're really excited to be back and get caught up. These messages have certainly been a source of encouragement!
In other news, Emily and I were able to purchase a new car! Well, not NEW new, but new for us! The worship leader at our church is neighbors with a mechanic who fixes up cars on the side, once he comes from work. He was told about our situation and wanted to help us out, so he fixed up a car for us and sold it to us for $1,000. Not only that, but he also paid for our state inspection and is letting us pay off the car in payments each month of however much we can afford! We were praying for something like this because of the need of having an alternate mode of transportation in case Emily needed to go to the doctor and I wasn't able to go get her, and God provided this opportunity and moved this guy to really bless us with this car. It's just amazing to think about! =) So anyways, Emily and I are now proud owners of a 1995 Buick Park Avenue. WOO HOO! God is good! =)
Well, that's the big highlights for what's been going on here with Emily and I. I hope you've enjoyed reading this, and feel free to comment below or email me! =) God bless!!!
Pat
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
"God Distorted"
I can honestly say, I am SO glad that I chose this book to read and review. My wife and I are currently expecting our first child this December, so when I saw this book I thought to myself that it might be a good one to read to understand what kind of influence (positive and negative)I can have on my child/children and how that will affect how they view God. John Bishop did a magnificent job with this book. Not only does he take the time to outline and explain various 'types' of fathers, but he then takes time to help the reader establish a Biblicaly based view of God, overthrowing any type of misconception that they might have because of their earthly father.
This is easily one of the top books that I have read in the past year. I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone, but especially anyone who might have had a troubled family history, especially with his/her father. There were many times in this book when I would be reading, and then all of a sudden I thought about a person who I know and realized that this might very well be describing them! I never knew that even the best of fathers can influence our perspective of God in a way that can become distorted. From reading this book, I feel better prepared, and I hope that I am, to lead my family and be the father to my children and my wife that God wants me to be.
"I receievd this book free from Water Brook/Multnomah Publishers to review."
This is easily one of the top books that I have read in the past year. I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone, but especially anyone who might have had a troubled family history, especially with his/her father. There were many times in this book when I would be reading, and then all of a sudden I thought about a person who I know and realized that this might very well be describing them! I never knew that even the best of fathers can influence our perspective of God in a way that can become distorted. From reading this book, I feel better prepared, and I hope that I am, to lead my family and be the father to my children and my wife that God wants me to be.
"I receievd this book free from Water Brook/Multnomah Publishers to review."
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Exciting News
So, for those of you who haven't heard yet, Emily and I have some exciting news....
WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!! =D
I'm SUPER pumped and so is Emily! We're expecting our little bundle of joy come this December! I figured what better way to start the whole summer updates with this exciting news. =) This being said, I'm currently trying to start a new phase of fundraising. My goal is to find more supporters/ministry partners who will help me reach my goal of raising an extra $500/month. Emily's currently making about $400-$450/month, so I'm hoping that I can raise about $500 so that by the time December rolls around, she'll be able to stay home, recuperate, and take care of our son/daughter. Depending on how much more funding we are able to get, the ideal goal would be for Emily to be a stay-at-home mom and do campus ministry with me. I'd appreciate any prayers that you guys could provide and offer up for us! If you have anyone come to mind who might be looking to support someone (tax-deductible goodness.. ;)....), feel free to send them this way or tell them about us! Thanks you guys! Love you all!
Pat
WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!! =D
I'm SUPER pumped and so is Emily! We're expecting our little bundle of joy come this December! I figured what better way to start the whole summer updates with this exciting news. =) This being said, I'm currently trying to start a new phase of fundraising. My goal is to find more supporters/ministry partners who will help me reach my goal of raising an extra $500/month. Emily's currently making about $400-$450/month, so I'm hoping that I can raise about $500 so that by the time December rolls around, she'll be able to stay home, recuperate, and take care of our son/daughter. Depending on how much more funding we are able to get, the ideal goal would be for Emily to be a stay-at-home mom and do campus ministry with me. I'd appreciate any prayers that you guys could provide and offer up for us! If you have anyone come to mind who might be looking to support someone (tax-deductible goodness.. ;)....), feel free to send them this way or tell them about us! Thanks you guys! Love you all!
Pat
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