In A Pit

In The Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day

In a Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day
How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day is inspired by one of the most obscure yet courageous acts recorded in Scripture.

Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it. II Samuel 23:20-21

Your greatest regret at the end of your life will be the lions you didn’t chase. You will regret the risks not taken, the opportunities not seized, and the dreams not pursued. Stop running away from what scares you most and start chasing the God-ordained opportunities that cross your path.

Unleash the lion chaser within!

So Mark Batterson (check out my links) releases his book very soon, head on over to Amazon and pre-order your copy, won’t you?!

Making Ripples

I don’t want the “same old”, do you? We’ve got one shot at this deal, so I want to live with passion. I want to live with a sense of purpose… Wasn’t it Braveheart’s William Wallace who said, “All men die. Very few ever really live.”

Making Ripples

What an encouraging book! I read this yesterday (it’s quite short, a lovely wee book if your looking for something to give away as a gift). Mike Breaux, who is now a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, basically just shares his story of faith, his journey in following Jesus. He talks about how he wandered as a teen, really just played at church without knowing Jesus. He shares openly about how he grew tired of his double-life, and wanted what he saw in some other people, a genuine real-ness.

When people reflect on their lives in their old age and are asked, “What would you change if you had to live all over again?” there are three common themes that come out:

  1. They would reflect more. Slow down, savour more sunsets, eat more ice cream, laugh more.
  2. They would risk more. Take more chances. Go on more adventures. Live life out on a limb.
  3. They would do something with their lives that would live on long after their dead and gone.

Here’s a short passage from near the end of the book, which I love:

I wonder how you get into a swimming pool. Any chance you might be a toe dipper? You stick your big toe in and you go, “Wooooo, that is cold!” And then your ankles, woooo, thats cold! Then your calves, wooo; your knees, wooo; your thighs, wooo! It’s miserable!

You know what’s really the best way to do it, don’t you? Cannonball!! You take a running start, tuck up your knees, hit the pool, and water goes flying everywhere! The ripples go out, hit the side, and come back in. They go back out and they come back in….

I think that’s what God had in mind for us. He’s saying, “Trust me – jump! Make a splash with your one and only life, and we can make ripples together. Live your life in such a way that you touch someone else’s life.

I love that passage. I think I identify with it because when I go to the beach, I play this little game I call chicken. We’ll just close our eyes and run straight into the water and keep going until the coldness stops us. None of this toe-dipping business! But what am I like when it comes to relationships? I’m 100% sure I don’t play chicken with my relationships… am I just a toe-dipper there? That’s the challenge for me.

And that’s the challenge for you, too.

A Well-Read Life

well-read life

Today I sat down and read this book right through. A very very pleasurable read indeed.

One of my favourite ideas from the book is this concept of ‘superficial reading’, where Leveen encourages you not to dive straight into a book, but to spend a little time exploring it gently, probing, reading around it, before getting into the ‘meat’ of the book. Things he suggests ‘researching’ or doing include:

  • What is the authors background?
  • Is there an index or bibliography?
  • Look at the table of contents and the illustrations.
  • Read the back & front: who is the intended audience?
  • Scan the index for major topics
  • Has the book been revised or reprinted? In what span of years?
  • Read a few introductory and concluding paragraphs from each chapter (usually the major points are contained here)
  • Maybe read a biography of the author

Why does Leveen suggest doing this? Along with our own experiences, cognitive psychologists tell us that memory is helped by building anticipation. This kind of previewing the book builds our expectation for what we actually encounter reading it.

I highly recommend reading this book!

Silence Is Crummy

Hey, church, what’s it gonna take?
Does Jesus himself have to make a special guest appearance, point at Africa and shout, “Yo, a little help over here?!” before you realise it’s unquestionably your responsibility to do something significant to stem the tide of the AIDS pandemic there?

I read this from an article in a book I’m currently reading, The aWake Project. That cuts me to the bone. What’s it going to take before we act on this? How long before we understand that it’s us who have to stand up and shout, make a difference on behalf of those who have no voice?

“You speak of signs and wonders
But I need something other
I would believe if I was able
But I’m waiting on the crumbs from your table”

Excitement

Birthdays are great for getting books… I now have 6 more books I wanted to read! So currently in the book queue is:

A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren
The End Of Poverty by Jeffery Sachs
God Created The Integers by Stephen Hawking
Turn by Max Lucado
Captivating by John & Stasi Eldredge
Wild At Heart by John Eldredge

Ohh excitement!!

In other news, I have been up at New Horizon for the last few nights, heard John Piper give two amazing sermons… hopefully heading up for all day Thursday and Friday, so I can get to seminars also. Very exciting indeed… I shall post up some notes from Piper’s sermons later.

The Joys

So, being off school and having free time is super for catching up on reading!

Finished Eat This Book last week, althought Peterson demands an immediate reread, so much in it I just haven’t fully grasped, so it’s on the cards for this week again.

Also just finished off Good To Great yesterday, thanks to Scott for that! Great book with some super ideas in it… need to take some time to start implementing stuff now.

Started The 360-Degree Leader this morning. Looks like it is going to be a good read also.

Off to read, find me curled up somewhere with a good book…