Monday, June 30, 2008

Melinda Watts Wins Gospel Dream


ATLANTA, GA – June 30, 2008 – Melinda Watts, a 29-year-old leader of two foundations that help support troubled young girls and their families from Fair Oaks, California, was crowned the winner of the American Idol®-inspired talent search series Gospel Dream 2008 last night on the Gospel Music Channel television network.

“Tis So Sweet” is Melinda’s first single and has already been serviced to radio stations across the country. It can be heard at http://www.gospelmusicchannel.com/shows/gospeldream.

The Gospel Dream 2008 series can be seen again Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT beginning July 31.

Gospel Music Channel (http://www.gospelmusicchannel.com) is the nation’s first and only 24/7 television network devoted to the uplifting, inspiring and diverse music that is Gospel/Christian music. Gospel Music Channel is the fastest-growing network in television today and can be seen in nearly 40 million homes on various cable systems around the country and on DIRECTV channel 338.



Friday, June 27, 2008

20 Day Goodies Giveaway


Tip Junkie is 1 year old this week! Can you believe it? To celebrate this special blogiversary and all your support - she's giving back. Tip Junkie is hosting 20 days (Mon - Fri) of incredible giveaways by fellow bloggers and Mom-prenuers.

Click Here are the details! Party starts Monday, June 30, 2008

Contest: A Great Book For Mother's Summer Bible Study

Welcome to my blog tour pit stop for the gift edition of Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World!

The tour will run June 16th through the 27th!
Christian Fiction Blog is one of the last blogs on this tour, so let me tell you a bit about the book before you all miss out on participating in the contest.

Summary: A new outfit can make a girl smile -- especially if it's extra beautiful! After publishing Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life for seven years in paperback, Waterbrook Press is celebrating their tenth anniversary by giving my book a facelift. The new gift edition is in hard cover and has a lovely two-color interior design, and the pages in the back for journaling what God is teaching you.
My Review:

I am a busy mom, too busy and Lord knows I need to intervene on my own behalf, this book was the tool I needed. We want to be the best parent, friend, boss, Child of God we can be, but totally miss Him in the process. This book speaks to women like me in a language I can understand. My Sunday school class used this book for a Mother's Summer Bible Study. I might do that here, since I have moved to a new town.

To celebrate the release, Joanna will be giving away 7 copies of Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World...all you have to do is leave a comment on her blog.

And if you've read the book already -- leave her a comment telling her which chapter was your favorite...and why! She'll choose 7 winners (randomly) to receive a copy of my latest re-release of With This Ring! You can read more about that book here!

Contest goes to June 30th and we'll announce the winners on July 2nd!




Other participants on the tour...

Mellissa at Wonder Mommy
Mary at Home Steeped Hope
Camy at Camy’s Loft
Cara at Cara’s Musings
Jennifer at So Many Books, So Little Time
Katrina at Callapidder Days
Amy at In Pursuit of Proverbs 31
Angie at God Uses Broken Vessels
Deborah at A Cup of Joy
Amy at Amy’s Random Thoughts
Gina at Writer, Interrupted
Heather at Mumblings of A Mommy Monk
Mindy at Ponderings of the Heart
Melody at Kids, Cakes, Dishes, Laundry…in that order
Pam at Without Fear
Laura at Texas Okie
Margaret at The Cappuccino Life
Jamie at Surviving the Chaos
Tabitha at Making It Up As I Go Along
Gretchen at Inspire Me
Leticia at My Daily Trek
Kelly at Love Well
LaShaunda at See Ya on the Net
Melodee at Actual Unretouched Photo
Laura at Lighthouse Academy
Elise at A Path Made Straight
Diane at Diane’s Place
Billie at Hearing the Music Amongst the Noise
Cee Cee at Book Splurge
Joy at The Five J’s
Paula at Reviews By Two
Deena at A Peek At My Bookshelf
Sarah at Real Life
Karla at Looking Towards Heaven
Barb at A Chelsea Morning
Amy at My Friend Amy
Melody at Slurping Life
Audra at Penning Prose
Christy at At Split Ends
Revka at The Porch Light
Susan at His Reading List
Lauren at Baseballs and Bows
Chris at Come To the Table
Brittanie at A Book Lover
Kristy at I Need To Read
Patty at Girlfriends in God
Dee at Christian Fiction
DeeDee at It Coulda’ Been Worse
Trish at Books for Mom

Tavis Talks Guestpost

TJMS

Thursday, June 26, 2008

WRU: Men Reading Clubs, Giveaways & Grants

Wednesday Read-Up Way Late Edition for Week Ending 6/27/08



Book Readings in your Area

South Carolina
Date: July 15, 2008 12:30PM. Join the Friends of the Richland County Public Library for a special midday book discussion and signing with South Carolina author Nicole Seitz and her latest release, Trouble the Water. Refreshments provided.



Book GiveAways

Keeping His Pants On Until He Gets Home

Pastor's wife, Joyce S. Oglesby, felt inspired to write a relationship book out of a heavy heart for couples doomed for divorce without some sort of intervention. Her small town of Corydon, IN is buzzing about the controversial cover and title. Written similarly to the 1970s classic, Total Woman, Keeping His Pants On...Until He Gets Home equips women to affair-proof their marriages. Maintaining a passionate love in marriage has become more urgent than ever before. The demands on today's woman can distract her from fulfilling her husband's sexual needs. Losing focus of this vital responsibility has many women facing the maladies of matrimony. Joyce says, "You're either too tired, too stressed, too fat, too flat-chested, too mad, too sad, too depressed, too dirty, too clean, too selfish, or it's just too much trouble. All this can add up to too little too late!" Her warning is that husbands can soon become distracted, leading to some form of angift basket photo outside physical or emotional affair, pornography, or other avenues of release. The book talks about the dangers of boredom and staleness, and how passionless relationships leave couples unfulfilled, and makes husbands prime targets for temptation.

We are pleased to announce a special contest created for your blog guests. On July 5, 2008 we will have a grand prize drawing for a special gift basket which will include: Keeping His Pants On Until He Gets Hom, a bottle of sparkling apple-cranberry, 1 Beanpod Candles melter, Beach Walk wax soy beads, Bird of Paradise wax soy beads, and 9 tea lights.


Men Reading Clubs


I knew it would happen when I saw Male knitting clubs and Male Wine Tastings sprout up all over the place, so when I read the AJC's spotlight on the Brothers Well Read Men Book Club I didn't get excited. I was overjoyed! For you, my male subscribers you can become a member of this club, which is now online. Click the link to learn more, and if you join, please let me know. I have some books I would love to give to a well-deserving male book club.








Romantic Time Magazine's First Annual Ann Peach RT Convention Grant.
















This grant covers the cost of the pre-convention "Beginner Writer" program registration and the general RT COnvention registration($650 value) is open to all Beginner aspiring writers who are passionate about the craft of writing and are determined to becoming published.

To enter write in 250 words or less for each questio:
  1. Tell us why you want to become a writer?
  2. Why do you feel you would be the most deserving of the grant
Also in 250 words or less, submit a short descripion of the book you want to write.

Send entries to: Ann Peach Grant, c/o Corrie Peach, PO Box 797, Marion, TX 78124 or via email at Corrie.Peach at hotmail dot com.

Deadline for entries is Wednesday, October 15,2008. Winner will be announced and availale on newstands in January 2009 in the March issue of RT Bookreviews. To subscribe to RT, click here. It is a great magazine, I am an inspirational and contempo reviewer for it, and have coordinated the Christian workshop panels for the convention.

Off Topic Thursday: X-Files I Want to Believe



I am a big X-Files fan, call it a guilty pleasure. I'm sure someone will question my faith or send me some theological criticism on the subject, but I loved the series and own the first movie. For those of you who share my fascination here is the trailer as well as a clip from the movie, "Through Dirty Glass." Enjoy.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Gospel Dream Make 3



Photo, from left to right: John McKoy, Melinda Watts, Host Matthew West and Kymm Lowery


THREE FINALISTS, ONLY ONE WILL LIVE THEIR GOSPEL DREAM

KYMM LOWERY (Ill.), JOHN MCKOY (N.C.) AND MELINDA WATTS (Calif.) ARE THE FINAL 3 IN AMERICAN IDOL® GOSPEL/CHRISTIAN STYLE TV SERIES GOSPEL DREAM 2008 ON GOSPEL MUSIC CHANNEL

GOSPEL DREAM 2008 SEASON FINALE AIRS SUNDAY NIGHT, JUNE 29 AT 9:00 P.M. ET

ATLANTA, GA. – June 25, 2008 – The dream of a musical career is closer than ever for three aspiring Gospel/Christian music singers who have made it to the finals of the Gospel Music Channel television network’s American Idol®-inspired talent search series Gospel Dream 2008.

After months of passionate music performances and intense competition, the destiny of Kymm Lowery of Beach Park, Ill., John McKoy Jr. of Monroe, N.C. and Melinda Watts of Fair Oaks, Calif. will be decided this Sunday, June 29th when Gospel Music Channel crowns the winner of the third season of Gospel Dream 2008 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT).

To make it to the finals, Lowery, McKoy and Watts were chosen from among thousands of hopefuls from all Gospel/Christian styles, including traditional, soul, rock, blues and country, who competed at auditions in Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Miami and Atlanta; and then outlasted the 16 singers who were invited to Nashville to perform in four rounds of televised competitions.

The new Gospel Dream winner will be chosen by Gospel/Christian music’s version of Simon, Paula and Randy: GRAMMY award-winning record producer/songwriter Big Jim Wright, Dove and Stellar award-winning cross-cultural worship music artist/songwriter Martha Munizzi and one of Gospel music’s most prolific talents and part of one of music’s hottest production companies (PJAM) J Moss, who have been offering their honest criticism and praise in narrowing the competition to the final three. Fans and viewers can vote for their favorites online to see if their choice aligns with the judges at http://www.gospelmusicchannel.com/shows/gospeldream.

Lowery, who sang Donald Lawrence’s classic “Say a Prayer” to make the finals, auditioned in Chicago, just outside her hometown of Beach Park, Ill. J Moss calls her an “amazing talent with star potential.” This is 25-year-old Lowery’s second shot at her Gospel Dream. She made the top 10 during the first season of the GMC series and recorded Munizzi’s “Glorious” for the Gospel Dream 2006 season soundtrack.

“My Gospel Dream 2008 experience has been a phenomenal experience – life-changing and at the same time – refreshing. During the competition, I was very focused and I believe I went to a new dimension vocally because of the experience alone,” said Lowery.

McKoy impressed judge Munizzi with his performance of Smokie Norful’s version of “Run to You,” because “he comes from a place of sincerity and we can feel your heart,” she told the 34-year-old who auditioned in Atlanta.

“I’ve always had dreams of singing to millions of people across the world and have never participated in anything as big as Gospel Dream before,” McKoy says. “Gospel Dream has resurrected dreams that were deep inside me from childhood and has made me realize that those dreams were not dead and that God surely has a purpose and a plan for my life.”

Producer Wright told 29-year-old Watts after her performance of contemporary worship song “In Christ Alone” that “you look like you are supposed to be an artist that people are running to arenas to see.” The mother of six-month old daughter Lyric, Watts traveled from their home in the Sacramento area of Northern Calif. to begin her Gospel Dream 2008 journey at the auditions in Los Angeles.

Says Watts: “God’s grace brought me here to Gospel Dream! A lot of faith in God and remembering that it’s okay to dream even when you feel you can’t.”

The winner of Gospel Dream 2008 will receive a record & music video deal and a Royal Caribbean Cruise. Gospel Dream 2008 is hosted by popular artist/songwriter Matthew West with backstage reporting by GMC Insider’s Kelly Sutton. Celebrity musical mentors who coached the contestants throughout the series include PAJAM, Myron Butler, Bernie Herms, Lesley Moore and Darlene McCoy. The Gospel Dream series was created by Executive Producer Elvin Ross who is also the series’ executive producer and musical director.

Gospel Music Channel (http://www.gospelmusicchannel.com) is the nation's first and only 24/7 television network devoted to the uplifting, inspiring and diverse music that is Gospel/Christian music. Gospel Music Channel is the fastest-growing network in television today and can be seen in nearly 40 million homes on various cable systems around the country and on DIRECTV channel 338.

A Good Reads Recommendation to Me: Rachel Hauck

Cover Image
Love Starts with Elle
by Rachel Hauck

Rachel says, "Love Start With Elle, 4.5 Stars and Top Pick from Romantic Times Book Club Reviews. "Hauck is quickly making a name for herself as an insightful and thoughtful author..." A heartwarming, lowcountry love story. Check it out!"


Find me on Good Reads here.

Why Fiction Matters: Global Food Crisis Day


Online Videos by Veoh.com

I am still under the weather, but would like to share and ask that you pray for me and fast with me today, not for my health, but for hunger throughout the world and our country. I was in Kroger's yesterday, searching for soup to soothe my achy tummy and gasped at the cost of Campbells. I thank God that He has blessed me with a little more money than He did last year, but I don't believe the extra cash is just to stay atop of rising gas, lettuce, eggs, back to school clothes and soup costs. This extra blessing has to be more and then He brought me to John Legend's Show Me Campaign, Compassion Bloggers and then to the Global Food Crisis website.



The global food crisis is forcing millions to go hungry. Please join us on June 25, 2008, for a day of prayer and fasting for those suffering.

What is the global food crisis?

The World Food Programme calls the global food crisis a phenomenon, a "silent tsunami," that is affecting families in every nation on every continent. Food prices for popular menu items like rice, wheat and beans have doubled in the last year. Though increases in food prices have hit all budgets, it's the poor who bear the brunt of price inflation. The higher prices are forcing people who survive on just $1 a day to spend upwards of 80 percent of their budgets just on food. As a result, many people, including millions of children, are going hungry. The longer food prices rise, the more people will be plunged into hunger and poverty.

Why is the global food crisis happening?

Food shortages have affected developing countries for generations. It's a cyclical problem. But this global food crisis is more rapid, urgent and devastating. Since 2005, food prices have risen a whopping 80 percent. Why?

  • rising fuel costs
  • rising food demand from populous nations like India and China
  • natural disasters destroying crop yields all over the world, including the United States
  • growth of biofuels

How has the global food crisis affected Compassion families?

The global food crisis is forcing poor families to spend more of their household budgets on food, leaving little for anything else. In Bangladesh more than 90 percent of the 12,179 children we serve in 82 Compassion-assisted centers are affected. Many children are eating only at the church-based center. Compassion Haiti estimates it will need at least $2 million and up to $6 million to feed the 60,000 registered children and their families over the next few months.

What can I do to help fight the global food crisis?

Join Compassion's Day of Prayer and Fasting on June 25, 2008. This is the day we will honor the victims of the global food crisis and pray for them.

Give to Compassion's Global Food Crisis Fund. Your gift will help provide:

  • food vouchers to children and families needing immediate relief.
  • seeds and agricultural tools so that families can grow their own food as well as earn extra income.
  • supplemental nutrition services offered at Compassion-assisted centers around the world.
What to Do next? Subscribe or Join The Christian Fiction Network. You can have CFB arrive to your email, check the sidebar to the right.

Related Links:

Wildcard: Along Came a Cowboy



It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!





Today's Wild Card author is:


and his/her book:


Along Came a Cowboy

Barbour Publishing, Inc. (May 1, 2008)


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Award-winning author and past president of American Christian Romance Writers, CHRISTINE LYNXWILER has numerous novels and novellas published with Barbour, including Arkansas, Promise Me Always, and Forever Christmas. She and her husband, Kevin, along with their two daughters, four horses, and two dogs live in the foothills of the beautiful Ozark Mountains in their home state of Arkansas.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $9.97
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc. (May 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1597898961
ISBN-13: 978-1597898966

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


Chapter One

Babies complicate life, but the human race can't survive without them. Maybe I should write that on the dry erase board out in the waiting room—Dr. Rachel Donovan's Profound Thought for the Day.

Ever notice how some months are all about weddings? When you turn on the TV or pick up a magazine, everything is white tulle and old lace. Then there are what I think of as baby months. Unlike June and December for weddings, baby months can pop up anytime.

And here in Shady Grove, Arkansas—just in time for summer, when the irises are pushing up from the ground, the new leaves are green on the trees, and the crepe myrtles are starting to bloom—we're smack dab in the middle of a baby month.

I finger the latest birth announcement on my desk. One of my patients just had her fifth child. You'd think, at this point, she'd be sending out SOS messages instead of announcements, but the pink card proudly proclaims the arrival of her newest bundle of joy.

The front door chime signals the arrival of our first patient, so I send up a silent prayer for the baby. Then my eyes fall on the family picture on my desk.

Lord, please be with Tammy, too, in her pregnancy.

My thirty-eight-year-old sister was so thrilled when she called a couple of months ago to tell me she was pregnant and so scared yesterday when the doctor put her on temporary bed rest.

While I'm on the baby thread, I mention my friend Lark who is desperate to adopt. I say amen, steadfastly ignoring my own out-of-whack biological clock.

My receptionist, Norma, sidles into my office like a spy in an old movie, softly shuts the door and turns to face me, her brown eyes wide. "Whoever warned mamas not to let their babies grow up to be cowboys," she whispers, "never saw the man in our waiting room."

"What?" I absently flip through the small pile of files on my desk. Not long ago I remodeled my entire clinic—repainted the walls with calming blues and browns, added new chiropractic tables and new waiting room chairs, and even got solid oak office furniture with nifty little cubbies. For about a week I could find things.

And did she just say the word babies? What did I tell you? It's one of those months. "Do you know where Mrs. Faulkner's file is? I thought it was here, but I can't find it."

Norma raises her eyebrows. "You saw her after hours Tuesday night, didn't you? I think it's on my desk waiting for charges."

Now I remember. "No charge," I say automatically.

She puts her hands on her hips. "C'mon, Doc, you can't fall for every sob story you hear."

I grin. "We make it, don't we? If I can't help out a sixty-two-year-old woman who lifts and bathes and cares for her grown son around the clock, then I'd just as soon not be in practice."

She shrugs. "You're the one who has to worry about paying your bills. I get my paycheck regardless." Her round face lights up and she motions to me. "Now come look."

Norma's always slightly out of sync with reality, but today is shaping up to be odd even for her.

"At the man in the waiting room," she clarifies, as if I'm a little slow. "You have to see him."

"I usually do see everyone who's in the waiting room, don't I? Eventually?"

She blows out her breath and folds her arms. "It'll only take a second."

"Who is it?"

She shakes her head, her short brunette curls springing with the movement. "I'm not telling. You'll have to see for yourself."

I sigh. I know I'm the boss, but once Norma has something in her head, it's easier just to go along with her. She turns to lead the way out to her desk where a large window overlooks the main waiting room. I promise she's tiptoeing.

"Hey, Nancy Drew," I say quietly.

She jumps and spins around. "What?" she hisses.

I grin. "Let's try not to be so obvious."

She presses her back against the wall and motions for me to go ahead of her. I saunter to her desk. Right on top is the file I was looking for. At least this wasn't a wasted trip. I retrieve it while I give the waiting room a cursory glance. The cowboy chooses that moment to look up, of course. A slow grin spreads across his face.

I fumble with the file and almost drop it.

Jack Westwood.

I don't believe it. Alma Westwood could give the-little-engine-that-could lessons in persistence. I return his grin with a quick professional smile and—holding the file high enough that he can see I had a valid reason for being there—walk back to my office.

Norma is right on my heels. She closes the door. "So? What did I tell you? That's Alma Westwood's son. The rodeo star."

"I know who he is." I toss the file on my desk and plop down in my chair to look at it.

"You know him?"

I shake my head. "We were friends when we were kids, but I don't know him really. I've just seen his picture in the paper like everyone else." And since he moved back a few months ago, I've seen him around town enough to know that women fall all over themselves when he walks by. Definitely not my type. Which is one reason I've avoided him.

"Oh yeah. His hat was shading his face in that picture." Her brows draw together. "Which is a cryin' shame."

I look up at her cherub face. "Hey, remember old What's His Name? The handsome guy you're happily married to?" I grin.

She shrugs. "Doesn't mean I'm blind. Besides, you aren't married."

Thanks for the reminder.

"So when Alma signed in, she said she brought her son to see her new X-rays."

"How nice." Not that I'm falling for her flimsy excuse. Alma is just one in a long line of Mama Matchmakers. My patients with unmarried sons seem to take my singlehood as a personal affront. Ever since Rodeo Jack moved back to run his family ranch next door to my parents, Alma has upped her efforts
to make me her daughter-in-law, or at least reintroduce me
to him.

Don't ask me why Jack needs his mama to fix him up with someone in the first place. Norma is not exaggerating. He was passably cute back when we were kids, and he's one of those men who gets better-looking with age. If he's lost any teeth or broken his nose riding in the rodeo, he's covered it well. Not only is he a real cowboy, but he could play one on TV. Last week at the diner, I was two tables away from him when he smiled at the waitress. For a moment I was jealous that the smile wasn't for me. But only for a moment.

Then common sense kicked in. Me and Jack Westwood? Not likely. Which is just as well, because on a less personal note. . .a chiropractor and a rodeo star? What a combination. I'd spend the rest of my life trying to fix the mess he makes of his body. Besides, I can't imagine myself with someone whose belt buckle is bigger than his IQ. And even though he seemed smart when we were in school, as far as I'm concerned, anyone who'll willingly climb on a bucking bull over and over is a few calves short of a herd.

Still, it's my job to educate patients and their families about their health. I turn back to Norma. "After you put them in a room, pull Alma's X-rays for me, okay?"

Norma starts to leave then smacks her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Oh, I almost forgot. Lark Murray is on line one."

I glance at the phone. Sure enough, line one is blinking. "Thanks."

Never mind that we let Lark sit and wait while we sneaked a peek at Alma's cowboy son. Norma marches to her own drummer, and I run along behind her trying to stay in step.

I reach toward the phone, and for a split second, I consider having Norma take a message. Lark is one of my three closest friends. I'm a few years younger than the rest and came late to the Pinky Promise Sisterhood group they formed in childhood. But ever since the night they found me crying in the bowling alley bathroom, the Pinkies have been family to me. We share our deepest secrets and craziest dreams and—now that we all live in Shady Grove, Arkansas, again—regular face-to-face gabfests.

And any other day of the year, I'm happy to hear from any of them. But this particular anniversary day is always filled with awkward conversations. They never know what to say, and neither do I.

I snatch the handset up before I give in to my cowardice. I'll just make it short and sweet. "Hey, girl."

"Rach, I'm so glad I caught you. I was afraid you'd already started with patients."

"No. Sorry you had to wait." Here it comes. The gentle "You okay today?" Or the "Just called to say hi and wish you a good day for no particular reason."

"I can't take this anymore." Her voice is trembling.

Okay, I wasn't expecting that. "What?"

"The waiting. Why do they make us go through an in-spection worthy of a Spanish Inquisition if they're not going to give us a baby?"

I release a breath I didn't know I was holding and sink back onto my chair. Lark is focused on one thing and one thing only these days, so thankfully this call isn't about me. "They're go-ing to give you a baby. They'd be crazy not to. These things just take time."

"You sound like the caseworker." She sighs. "I called her last night even though Craig didn't think I should."

"Lark, honey, I know it's hard to wait now that you've finally decided to adopt. But you're going to have to. God has—" My throat constricts, but I push the words out. "God has the perfect baby for you."

"It doesn't feel like it." She must be upset, because that's definitely a bit of a whine, something she never does.

"Has He ever let you down?"

"No. But maybe I was right before. Maybe it's just not His will for me to be a mom."

I thought we'd settled all that a few months ago when she showed up on my doorstep late one night with a suitcase because her husband wanted to adopt. Still, I can totally relate to old insecurities sneaking back in when you least expect them. "You're going to have to think about something else for a while, Lark. Are you helping Allie today?"

"I'm supposed to. I was thinking about seeing if she can make it without me though."

"How are y'all coming along?" Our Pinky friend Allie Richards recently won the Shady Grove Pre-Centennial Beautiful Town Landscaping Contest and consequently landed the town landscaping maintenance contract for the year. She has some real employees now, but during the contest her crew consisted of Allie's brother, Adam, Lark, me, and our other Pinky, Victoria Worthington. So we all have a vested emotional interest in TLC Landscaping.

Lark sighs. "We're swamped trying to get everything in perfect shape before the centennial celebration really gets going. I guess I really should work today. I know Allie needs me."

Good girl. "You know what your granny always said—a busy mind doesn't have time to worry."

"You're right. I'm going to have to trust God to handle this and go get ready for work. Thanks for talking me down off the ledge."

"Anytime."

"See you tonight, Rach."

"I'll be there." When the connection is broken, I close my eyes.

Lord, please give me strength to face today.

I open my eyes and push to my feet. Time to cowgirl up.

v


As soon as I walk into the adjusting room, Alma stands. "Dr. Donovan, I'm sure you remember my son, Jack."

Jack holds his cowboy hat in his left hand and offers me the right. I promise I expect him to say, "Ma'am," and duck his head. "Dr. Donovan," he drawls, and from the boy who used to pull my braids, the title sounds a little mocking. "Nice to see you again." As we shake hands, he flashes that heartbeat-accelerating smile again.

"You, too." His hands are nice. Slightly calloused. Working hands, but not so tough that they're like leather.

I look up into his puzzled brown eyes and then back down at his hand, which I'm still holding. Behind him, his mother beams as if she has personally discovered the cure for every terminal illness known to humankind. I jerk my hand away. Should I tell him that I always notice hands, since my own hands are what I use most in my profession? Or would he think that was a pickup line? I'm sure he's heard some doozies.

Better to ignore it. I slap the X-rays up on the view box then focus my attention on Alma as I point out the key spots we're working on.

When I finish, Jack crosses the room in two steps and points to the X-ray. "This increased whiteness is arthritis, right?"

My eyebrows draw together. "You've had experience with X-rays?"

He shrugs and gives me a rueful grin. "Occupational hazard."

Of course. "In any case, you're right. It is arthritis, but no more than normal for someone your mother's age."

"Thankfully, Dr. Donovan keeps me going. Otherwise I'd be like the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz," Alma pipes up from her chair in the corner.

"To hear Mom tell it, you're the Wizard of Oz," Jack mutters, still standing beside me. He turns to Alma. "Your X-rays are normal?"

Her eyes open wide. "Yes."

"Totally normal?"

She blinks at him. "Isn't that wonderful?"

"Yes, but—"

"I thought you'd be pleased to know your old mom was going to be getting around without a walker for a few more years." Alma's voice is soft and sweet.

He frowns. "You know I am. But since Dr. Donovan has apparently already explained these X-rays to you, you could have told me that on the ph—" He stops, apparently realizing that I'm like a reluctant spectator at a tennis game, watching their verbal volleying.

"But this way you can see for yourself," Alma says with a satisfied smile.

He opens his mouth then closes it and nods.

Game, set, match to Alma.

I turn back to her. "Any questions?"

She smiles. "Not a one. Thank you so much for taking the time to go over this with us."

"I'm always glad to help you understand your health better."

"I'm going to go freshen up before we head home," Alma says. And just like that, she's gone, leaving me with her son. No doubt the whole point.

"Jack," I say in what I hope is a coolly professional voice, "thank you for coming by."

He nods. "I'm sorry we wasted your time. I don't know why I'm surprised this was a setup. Our mothers have been singing your praises ever since I got back in town."

"Our mothers?" My mother and I barely speak, and I'm certain she's never sung my praises a day in my life. At least not since I was a teenager.

"They make you sound like Mother Teresa and the Alberts all rolled into one."

I raise a brow. "The Alberts?"

"Einstein and Schweitzer."

I can't keep from laughing. "Now that's an appealing combination. And don't forget the Wizard of Oz."

"They're probably not far off, actually. It's just that—" He runs his hands around the brim of the hat he's still holding. "Thanks for being a good sport." He grins. "And at least now when we see each other at the diner, we can say hello."

A hot blush spreads across my face. The curse of being a redhead. I blush easily and at the oddest times. It's not like he knows I was admiring him the other day while I was waiting for my food. At least, I sure hope not. "True." I open the door and step back for him to go through.

"I guess I'd better go. I'll just wait for Mom out here," he says dryly and saunters down the hall.

"Not a moment too soon," I mutter under my breath and retreat to my office for a few minutes. The last thing I need is a blast from the past. Especially in the form of a rugged, sweet-smiling cowboy.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Be Last



It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!




Today's Wild Card author is:




and his book:


Be Last

Tyndale House Publishers (Jun 15 2008)



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Touching the hearts of more than 65,000 people a year, Jeremy Kingsley is passionate about seeing the lost come to Christ and the saved walk more intimately with Him. Jeremy, the founder and president of Onelife Ministries, is a highly respected teacher and one of the most sought-after speakers today. He has interacted with hundreds of thousands of people in the United States and has also been involved in ministry in Africa, Mongolia, India, and Central America. His servant spirit, transparent heart, and deep love for Jesus challenge listeners to live authentic lives dedicated to Christ. Jeremy and his wife, Dawn, live in Columbia, South Carolina, with their sons, Jaden and Dylan.

Visit him at his website.

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


1

How Do I Become Great?

“Being Last” by Living a Life of Service

What tops your list of things that you’re good at? Is it writing or cooking or dancing or accounting or music? Are you an accomplished engineer or the chairman of a board or a decorated athlete? Maybe you’re the guy who can fix any computer problem or the woman who can parallel park on any street in the city. The options for showing off what you do well are nearly endless.

But being good at something and being great at it are not the same. There is a difference between having strong skills and being great with those skills. The same is true for our Christian experience. Maybe you’re known as “pretty good,” a Christian who can teach well or sing well or lead well or memorize well or serve well. Have you ever wanted your Christian experience to become great? Maybe you’re not even very good at following Jesus right now but you still want to become great. That kind of hunger usually resides in those who have met Jesus and have seen how amazing he is.

When you think about your Christian experience, would you call it “great”? Would you say that you have achieved “greatness” or at least are headed in that direction? The question may be a bit too hard to ponder, but the quest for greatness is a topic worth pursuing. Of course, there is no way to determine the “greatness” of one’s life with Christ until we define the word itself. And that can be a difficult task because our presumed definitions are often skewed by the surrounding culture’s values.

When it comes to business, music, or sports, greatness is easier to define. For example, the statement that Michael Jordan was a great basketball player is hardly contestable. His six championships, Olympic gold medal, MVP awards, appearances on All-Star teams, scoring records, and game-winning shots prove it. His actions and awards place him above all his competitors. Boxer Muhammad Ali, football receiver Jerry Rice, and golfer Tiger Woods have accomplished similar feats in their own sports, feats that demonstrate greatness. But how do we define greatness in the Christian life? Can checking stat sheets and lists of awards provide a clear standard for evaluating the greatness of a Christian? How do I become great?

Is it worth expending the energy required to experience God’s great life for us? Well, if I’m defining greatness, I don’t know whether it’s worth pursuing. And if you’re defining greatness, I’m not sure you’ll want to chase an arbitrary idea that you made up for yourself. But if the greatest One of all defines greatness for us, we would be wise to learn what he says—and the greatest One who has ever lived has spoken about greatness. The King of kings and Lord of lords has told us how we should approach the journey toward greatness. So just like golfers who pay thousands of dollars for instruction from Tiger or computer software engineers who listen intently to Michael Dell, we should drop everything and tune into Jesus’ approach to greatness.

God’s Cheering Section

The John 12:41 the writer explains that the prophet Isaiah saw and described the glory of Jesus in Isaiah 6. So if we want to get a taste of how great Jesus was before he came to earth as a human being, we should check out what Isaiah saw in his vision of the Messiah’s glory hundreds of years before Christ came. It may take a little time for us twenty-first-century Americans to understand how profoundly Isaiah’s vision depicts Jesus’ greatness, but stick with me, and I’ll try to explain. First, let’s see what Isaiah 6:1-4 says:

It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

Words certainly do not do justice to what this experience would have been like for Isaiah. One moment he is praying, and the next moment he is swept into a vision of the Lord himself. He sees the inside of God’s heavenly home—a temple different from the one Solomon built on Mount Zion because of the giant throne in it—and he encounters a sanctuary full of creatures bringing down the house with their alternating chants focused on Jesus.

In this vision Isaiah sees a room filled with seraphim. Now these are not the type of angels who look human or your classic “two wingers.” These are special beings that have three pairs of wings. Each pair of wings has a specific purpose. When these beings are in the presence of Jesus, they use one pair of wings to cover their faces out of humility. With the second pair they cover their feet out of respect. They use the third pair to maintain flight. Apparently it takes specially designed body parts to give Jesus the honor he deserves when you’re in a room filled with his magnificence.

The job of the seraphim is simpler to describe than their unique physique. The seraphim have only one reason to exist: to tell God all the time how awesome he is. All they do is shout back and forth, “Holy! Holy! Holy!” and let their chants about his global glory blow up the decibel meter. They were created to be his constant cheering section, like a “divine dawg pound”! What a life! Imagine constantly getting to cheer for your favorite sports team in its home stadium and knowing that your team is the eternally undisputed world champion.

Do you understand what all this hoopla means? These heavenly beings have been created for the single purpose of chanting and cheering about Jesus’ glory. That’s all they do. Think about it. You’ve got to be indescribably great if angels have been created just to shout about you forever. Suppose you went up to one of these angels and asked, “Excuse me, Angel 3058, what is it that you do?”

Angel 3058 would reply, “I yell about how amazing Jesus is.”

If you asked him, “What do you do after work?” he’d say, “There is no ‘after.’ I just keep calling out how great Jesus is.”

If you begged him to come help you with something, he’d have to respond, “I can’t stop telling Jesus how amazing he is. We’re about to start the MVP chant, and there’s just no way we can have one less voice publicizing God’s fame. I’ve got to go!”

That gives Jesus the right to define greatness for us if he desires.

When Does Jesus Teach Us How to Become Great?

If Jesus is so great, then he knows that we need him to show us how to become great. A few times in his life would have seemed prime opportunities for him to do that. Maybe his birth would have been a great time? If he was going to teach us how to be great, he should probably have started off his time on earth with a grand entrance. Christmas morning should have been more like the Fourth of July, with fireworks coming out of heaven to light up the whole earth. Jesus should have flown in like a comet whose blazing light dwarfed the radiance of the sun so that every human being would have been awakened by his arrival and overwhelmed by the warmth of his presence. Then he could have ordered his seraphim posse to start up a universal chant and shake the atmosphere with their shouts of his holiness. The ensuing light, heat, and earthquake would certainly have moved all the people on the planet to cover their eyes, tremble in awe, and acknowledge that someone greater than all others had descended on their world.

He could have been born in a palace to a great king and queen. Lived in the most luxurious “crib” ever built. Had silk diapers, cashmere blankets, the purest baby food, gold teething rings—the whole nine yards. But nothing of the sort happened. Jesus took an entirely different approach.

Instead, he came out of Mary’s womb to an audience of animals in a small Judean town called Bethlehem. His parents were from Nazareth, a town in the Galilean backwoods with a reputation for producing nothing good (see John 1:46). His adoptive dad was a blue-collar worker struggling to make an honest shekel, and his mom got pregnant with him before she was married. That had to have had people talking—a pregnant girl “showing” before the wedding. That was not a great situation. To all appearances, Jesus came on the scene like just one more illegitimate child, born into a poor backwoods family, with little hope of doing anything great in his life. Remember, there was no room for him in the inn. But suppose there had been room in the inn. What if you had been born in a Motel 6? Would that be embarrassing to you, or humiliating? Well, Jesus didn’t even get that. When he was born, his mother laid him in a manger, a feeding trough for farm animals. Why would Jesus—the One with angels created to tell him how great he is—come to earth that way, birthed around smelly farm animals and dung droppings? Now God did supply angels to make a special announcement to a group of local shepherds, but otherwise the world went on essentially undisturbed. Only some rich guys from the Far East saw any other sign that the glorious One had come to earth. Few people even knew he had come. That just doesn’t seem to communicate greatness.

If Jesus’ greatness was not revealed in a big way at his birth, then maybe that revelation came during his adult life? The closest we do come to an event where Jesus reveals his glory on earth is the Transfiguration. As Mark 9 records, Jesus took three of his disciples and went up on a mountain, where he was transformed into a figure shining with glorious light. The disciples who were with him fell down in awe and could only stumble for words. They were getting a view of Jesus’ true glory and didn’t know how to react. At one point Peter even asked if they could build shelters for Jesus and his two glorious companions, Moses and Elijah, to inhabit.

For the three disciples, this experience would have been a lot like Isaiah’s experience. Is that what Isaiah saw? They got to see God’s glory glowing around Jesus and hear the thunderous voice of the Father say, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him” (Mark 9:7).

And we should. But seeing a bit of Jesus’ glory for a few moments was different from having him teach the disciples how to be great. All of his miracles—healing the blind, bringing people back to life, walking on water, and casting out demons—showed his greatness, but then Jesus was fully God and fully human. What about giving us humans a chance to be great? Where was the recipe for greatness?

The friends Jesus made and the people he touched showed no signs of having achieved greatness through meeting the right people in places of power and influence. Jesus himself was actually known as a friend of low-life Jews who collected taxes for the oppressive Roman government. He spent time with drunks and prostitutes in his effort to call Israel back to holiness. He did not wine and dine at fancy Roman parties or get chummy with the priests who controlled the Temple and ran the Jewish law courts. His compatriots were anything but great, and he did more to make the famous and powerful leaders of Roman Palestine angry at him than he did to win their respect and honor. So he certainly did not teach us how to be great by working his way up the ancient corporate food chain into a place of authority and prominence.

So if not at his birth and not throughout his life, maybe he would teach us greatness during his final entrance into Jerusalem at the beginning of Passover, just a few days before he died? That would have been a great time to show us. He could have slowly gathered a mass of followers who would all rise up and crown him king when he entered the city. He could have taken a patient and covert approach that waited until enough people recognized his greatness before he called on them to declare it publicly in word and deed. In this approach, the disciples could have organized music and choirs. There could have been a Jewish army of 500,000 soldiers and an angelic army of one million, with other followers dressed in fancy robes and carrying banners. All of these could have descended on the city in full battle array with a thousand chariots and great stallions leading the charge. Now that would have been great!

But no such rise to greatness occurred during the Triumphal Entry. Instead of a parade of chariots and stallions leading an army marked by banners proclaiming Jesus’ kingship, Jesus came waddling down the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem on a young donkey. Instead of a band with music echoing through the valley, a crowd of ordinary people came out, shouting his praise and throwing branches and clothes on the ground in front of him. Those with power and influence in Jerusalem gave him no respect, and a few Pharisees even told Jesus to make his little followers stop shouting. Although his small band of followers showed their support, Jesus did not show us how to unleash greatness and ascend to status and prestige at just the right time in one’s career. He came to a city where influential people plotted his death.

In our search to find out where Jesus teaches us how to become great, we seem to be running out of time. He didn’t seem to show us how to do it when he came on the earthly scene or while growing up here, and he didn’t seem to show us how to do it when he arrived at Jerusalem for his final days. Or did he? He certainly had a ministry full of great acts, but he spent most of his time with the poor and rejected elements of the Jewish population instead of working his way up to the top. But now, with only days left before his death, there’s another chance. Do you remember? He broke up a conversation among his disciples about who was the greatest, and he dropped a huge bombshell: The last will be first. The humble person is the greatest. Jesus had actually been showing us the whole time, from his birth all the way to this point. But he had been saving a special final lesson for the night before his death. And now for everyone who had missed it being displayed his whole life, he would show us very plainly how to become great.

Getting Down and Dirty

In John 13 we find Jesus around a table with his disciples for the Last Supper. They have all just come in from a day of ministry in the dusty streets of Jerusalem. Their feet are dirty, and there is no servant to wash the filth from them. So Jesus picks up a towel, gets some water, and decides to be the humble servant among his disciples.

Now the other men in that room knew how inappropriate it would be for any of them to touch one another’s feet, much less the One who had angels created to praise him! The job of foot washing was saved for the lowest of the low, the servants of the servants. Only the least important, most underprivileged people—in other words, those who had been born poor, among a bunch of farm animals—got stuck with that duty. In fact, rabbinic documents show that rabbis and Pharisees in the time after Christ would force their disciples to serve them in every way that slaves would serve their masters except for one thing: They were never, ever to touch anyone’s feet. That was simply too demeaning for any “respectable” human being to endure.

So the statement Jesus made by washing his disciples’ feet would have been profound. He had said before that greatness came from humbling oneself. He had said, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first” (see Matthew 19:30), but now he was showing it. He was getting down and dirty. Most kings get served. His greatness would not be achieved by working his way up through the political or religious ranks. He did not try to schmooze powerful people or gather an armed crowd that could rise up against the establishment and make him king. His greatness was being worked out as he went out of his way to serve those around him. In a move that ran counter to his culture, he descended to greatness.

Do I Know How to Serve?

When I was twenty-two, I spent a couple of years as an intern under Adrian Despres, an itinerant evangelist with Kingdom Building Ministries and the current chaplain for Steve Spurrier and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks football team. I was under the impression that the internship was designed to help me improve as a speaker. I traveled with Adrian to different speaking events all over the world to see what he could teach me about effective communication.

To my chagrin, I found myself attending a bunch of events for my “speaking internship” but never speaking. Adrian would invite me along, tell me where to sit, and then have me listen to him. Eventually he let me start introducing him before I took my seat, but still I didn’t get a chance to speak. I constantly wondered whether I had misunderstood the point of the internship. Did Adrian not know that he was supposed to help me become a better communicator, a professional speaker, and not a better audience member? He did finally carve out a one-minute opening spot where I could share a story before sitting down, but that hardly gave me a chance to warm up before taking my seat.

As I kept tagging along to different events, I became more and more bewildered about how I could learn to improve my communication skills. Instead of speaking and getting his feedback, I got to participate in his strange “rituals” before and after his presentations on stage—offstage actions that I thought had nothing to do with speaking. Sometimes we would arrive early at a camp or a church, and he’d have me set up tables and chairs, maybe even vacuum or volunteer in the kitchen. Adrian was the kind of guy who picked up trash and put away shopping carts that other patrons had left scattered around the parking lot. I tried to remind him that “people get paid to do those jobs,” but he didn’t much care. He would say, “I know. I just want to help ’em out!” Those “rituals” were part of his approach to life and ministry. Maybe somehow these things were linked to Adrian’s speaking ministry.

One day, about a year into my internship, Adrian asked if I thought my internship was going okay. On the inside I was thinking, Not really! How in the world can I get better at speaking if I don’t speak? Doesn’t practice make perfect or something like that? Of course, I didn’t come out and say those things. I just answered his inquiry with an affirmative and waited for an explanation. That’s when he said something that I’ll never forget: “Before we started this whole thing, I knew you could speak. I didn’t know if you could serve.”

Adrian’s comments changed my life. I wanted to be a great speaker. Adrian wanted me to be great spiritually.

Let those words ring in your head for a while, and fill in the blank with whatever you are good at. I know you can organize; I just don’t know if you can serve. I know you can set up a network in a day; I just don’t know if you can serve. I know you can lead a Bible study and pray in public; I just don’t know if you can serve. I know you are good at any number of things; I just don’t know if you can serve.

You see, Adrian knew that humility + service = greatness. Prideful people usually don’t serve unless they do it out of wrong motives. Do you know how to be last? Let that question sink into your conscience. Let it measure your true greatness. And ask yourself, If someone tested you for the next year on whether or not you were a humble servant, what would that person find? Would you show yourself to be great? Would you imitate Jesus and descend to greatness? Or do you have trouble taking a backseat and being last?

I Came to Serve

Jesus’ ultimate act of humility is described in a poetic formula that Paul likely borrowed from a first-century hymn. The song tells the story of Jesus in his glory making the tough choice to get down and dirty on earth as a human servant. Paul writes, “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). What “divine privileges” did he give up? Jesus did not give up his deity. But he did give up his rights to full glory, complete majesty, a sinless environment, and continuous praise. The Greatest gave all that up to be last.

When you think about it, Jesus gave up majesty for a mud hole. He came from a trophy room to a cold, smelly manger and a sickly world. Hollywood’s Cribs has nothing on the mansion and glory Jesus left behind. He gave up a throne room of perfect peace for a place of conflict, where abuse, criticism, suffering, ridicule, and indescribable pain would follow him for thirty-three years and ultimately take his life.

Paul’s words in Philippians 2:6-8 make it clear that Jesus’ painful and humble service was no accident. He didn’t come expecting to receive glory and the accolades of the world. He knew all along that true greatness lives in the form of lowly service. He knew that the path to success in God’s economy required a descent to greatness—an unusual twist in our expectations.

Our culture presumes that being first, richest, hippest, happiest, and most liked is the key to finding joy and contentment, the key to being great. The good life is marked by convenience and freebies. Even the church, in some instances, mistakes a blessed life with an easy and unchallenged life. But Jesus calls us to give up our pretensions of greatness defined by fame, carefree living, or accomplishment. Contrary to popular opinion, greatness is defined by the humble and often hidden actions of a person who has given up on coming out on top. It’s consistently putting Jesus and others first. Living a life of greatness is actually walking a difficult path of self-sacrifice and inconvenience, driven by a greater concern for others. A truly great person does not need to be served but is bent on serving others. Jesus said it himself: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” (Matthew 28:20).

So now, let us begin the journey of being last and descending to greatness.

Trailer Park Tuesday: Video Reviewing The Shack

The New York Times has written a good article about William P. Young's novel, The Shack and how word-of-mouth marketing coupled with Hatchette Book's new business relationship to continue to publish the book. If you don't know about this book, yet, or haven't been reading the Christian Fiction News editions this summer, then you've missed out on the controversy this book has obtained from Christians. Today on Trailer Park Tuesday I will share a few clips regarding the Shack and some sermons denouncing the book.


The best Video Review I've seen.


William P. Young on the 700 Club.




Jay Leno's The Shack Joke

What Would Be the Perfect Online Bookstore?

On Shelf Awareness this week there is a discussion topic: What would be the perfect online Book Store. BiblioBuffet, SIBA's Nicki Leone responds:

I think the problem with many bookstore sites—even high-end ones with money to burn for site development—is that they waste enormous amounts of effort attempting to duplicate the physical appearance of a real store, when they should be concentrating on recreating the browsing experience of the buyer in that real store.

Now I would like to hear comments from you
.


What would be the perfect online Bookstore for you?

For me...
I agree with Nicki's thoughts about graphics for the bookstore. My blog has enough graphics blinking in the sidebar to distract me, especially if I want to peruse a book. I would like an online store to do that in a simple form. Maybe like online literary journals like Story South....Now her discussion on the wonder and mystery of libraries and bookstores is very interesting. How can online booksellers, myself included, accomplish that? That idea is worth exploring and could be the thing OBs need. Your thoughts?


GiveAway Tuesday: Pink Lemondae Bags


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ENTER TO WIN A PINK LEMONADE BAG
Every Good Book Needs a Good Bag



Contest Details:
Pink Lemonade Bags is givi
ng away a beautiful bag to one lucky lady! The giveaway is being hosted by Notes From My Nest. Click here to enter and for details. Deadline to enter is noon (EST), 7.2.08. Open to US residents only.

If you win this bag, and you're a subscribe
r to Christian Fiction Blog, hit me up. I have another goody 4 U.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Christian Fiction News: Scuba Diving, Shack Attack & Payne

Christian Fiction News for the week ending June 24, 2008

Novelist with an edge

ZOndervan's Tom Morrisey talks about scuba diving and his new wilderness adventure novel, Wind River in the Orlando Sentinel.

From the interview...

Is it difficult to integrate faith and action/adventure in your novels?

I'm an evangelical Christian, so I don't find that difficult at all because when I read the Gospels, I'm reading about Jesus and the disciples camping out under the stars -- they're carrying swords, they're walking through enemy territory, they're on boats in the midst of storms. So when I read the Gospels, what I really see is kind of a collection of the things that intensely interest me.

More Shack Attack


This weekend I've been reading the ACFW loop and responding to emails to me about The Shack, the novel. Now Campus Life has joined in the fray.

Mark Driscoll, who is concerned that Young’s vision of God the Father is an African-American woman called “Papa,” says, It’s goddess worship. If God the Father is really God the Mother, that changes everything…If God reveals himself to us as father, we are to honor him as father."
Not for nothing, but as an African-American woman I have heard this whole assault on Papa's visit too many times this week to be mildly offended. Not at Young, but at all the Evangelical critics who seems to only harp on God as an African woman thing as very, very wrong. I'm starting to feel twinges of racism lurking about in these reviews somewhere. Is this why CBA don't have many black christian writers? God can't be seen through us?

What I loved about Brandon O'Briens Campus Life article is that it showed balanced and non-biased points of view on the novel, and left the question up for discussion to those who have read the novel. I stress read.

Win a Walk on Role on Tyler Perry's House of Payne

Are you looking for a shot at fame? Then, Tyler Perry's House of Payne on TBS is looking for you! Watch the three House of Payne video clips, choose one to re-enact, and upload your video for a chance to win a walk-on role on the show. Two finalists will win a trip to the Essence Music Festival taking place in New Orleans July 4-6th where they will perform live to compete for a walk-on role in an episode of Tyler Perry's House of Payne on TBS. Only one winner will be selected for a special appearance on the show. The last day to submit your video is June 25th, so enter today!

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