Tag: book

The Upside Down Kingdom

As I think about Advent and Christmas this year, I continue to think about just how upside down the Kingdom of God really is and how different and upside down I hope our celebrations can become.

From St. Peter’s Brewery:

“You know, I realize this week has been rough for various folks in our group,” Matt began. “But as I was reading this weekend and then talking with Julie about random malarkey, I began to think about just how different the Kingdom of God is — compared to the kingdom of man. It’s this upside down, twisted kingdom that I don’t know if we’ll ever really wrap our minds around.”

Jimmy looked up from his plate and listened as Matt continued.

“I hope that no matter what happens politically, no matter what happens in the world around us, it can be said that I serve the king of an upside down kingdom. A kingdom where the meek shall inherit the earth, where those who morn are comforted, where the last are first, where the oppressed shall be freed. Where rather than appearing in a palace to lead his kingdom with a sword, my king came and appeared in a lowly manager — surrounded by farm animals.”

Matt continued strumming his guitar as Julie opened a Bible and began reading aloud.

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are — no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat…”

As Julie finished her reading, Matt continued telling his story.

“So as I’m thinking about this upside down kingdom and reading the passage that Julie just read and it brought me hope to know that when we’re at the end of our rope, that’s when God can really go to work. And when we lose what’s really dear to us, that’s when we’ll be embraced by God. God loves us all — but I think he has a special place for those who suffer and mourn — in fact he says he will comfort them.”

Matt continued strumming his guitar as he sat looking at the various faces in the room. Jimmy tried to focus on his food again, hoping not to make eye contact with anyone else in the room.

“And so for those of you who have had your kingdom and your world collapse recently, I want to remind you that God offers a different kind of kingdom for us all,” Matt said. “And I want you each to know that not only does God suffer with you, but each of us suffer with you as well.”

You can grab a print copy of St. Peter’s Brewery from Amazon or now through Christmas, the book is available for only $.99 for both Kindle and iBooks.

Outlive your life – Laundry Love

Earlier this year I was asked by Bluefish.TV to tell the story of our Laundry Love Initiative in Red Oak.

A few of their guys came out to the laundromat and interviewed Todd and I about Laundry Love for a video project they were working on with Max Lucado — Outlive Your Life.

The filming actually took place on two separate dates. The first video was the interview with Todd and I — and then the rest of the filming took place on a special Friday Night Laundry Love. Since most of our group was unavailable that night, some friends brought their small group and joined us for the “b-roll footage.”

The book, Outlive Your Life, was released in October — and our story was included as part of the companion DVD small group package.

Not that I expected anything less — but I’m really pleased with the end result.

They did a great job telling the story from an “outsider perspective.”

I’m so thankful to be a part of Red Oak Laundry Love — and love telling the story to others.

When we started the initiative, I was totally unsure as to how it would play out.

Our group was excited in the beginning — but as time went on — fewer and fewer people showed up.

There was also uncertainty on my part about starting something like Laundry Love, knowing in the back of my mind that Laurie and I were seriously considering selling our house and moving.

There was even more uncertainty when the two laundromats we approached said they weren’t interested in helping us.

But I knew there was a need (both for the community and our community group) and so we moved forward with it.

Ultimately, we just picked one of the two laundromats, started showing up to do our laundry and just “happened to pay for other’s laundry along the way.”

And in the end, I believe the owners were excited about the results.

There was no fancy fanfare, no ads, no flyers announcing we’d be there. We just showed up at the same time, every month and cared on whoever we could.

And each and every week — no matter how I felt walking into the Laundromat — I walked out blessed and excited.

We kept the Laundry Love Initiative going for a full year in Red Oak before Laurie and I moved to Forney.

And now I’m dying to get another Laundry Love going in our new community.

I truly believe we’ve been blessed so that we can be a blessing to others.

Here’s to hoping it gets many others interested in starting their own Laundry Love Initiatives or something similar. And here’s to getting another Laundry Love group started in the Forney area ASAP.

Also, I’d be amiss if I didn’t say a huge thank you to Greg Russinger and Charles Lee for their willingness to befriend the under-resourced in their community and to cast the vision that’s led to the creation of 65+ Laundry Love initiatives around the country.

Thanks for all you do guys!

Find out more here or at just4one.org.

Open Our Eyes – an interview with Kevin Hendricks

Kevin D. Hendricks
Kevin D. Hendricks

Last week, I told you about Kevin Hendrick’s latest publication – Open Our Eyes: Seeing the Invisible People of Homelessness.

The book officially releases today but I ordered an “advance” copy and loved reading it over the weekend.

Kevin and the other collaborators did a great job to help share the message Mark Horvath has been sharing at invisiblepeople.tv since 2008 — and all the proceeds from the book go straight to helping Mark continue his great work.

Plus – I believe it’s the first book (other than my own) to make mention of our podcast… so that makes it cool in it’s own right :-).

Kevin graciously agreed to take time away from writing his next novel to do a short interview with me via e-mail. Here’s what he had to say… Continue reading Open Our Eyes – an interview with Kevin Hendricks

When atheists and Baptists agree

But Half a Man
But Half a Man | Photo by riebart

“In matters that are so obscure and far beyond our vision, we find in Holy Scripture passages which can be interpreted in very different ways without prejudice to the faith we have received. In such cases, we should not rush in headlong and so firmly take our stand on one side that, if further progress in the search for truth justly undermines this position, we too fall with it.”

– St. Augustine

A brilliant quote from St. Augustine, as referenced by Rachel Evans in her Washington Post column.

I interviewed Rachel for our podcast a week or two ago and just finished reading her book, “Evolving in Monkey Town.” A great read.

In the book (and somewhat in the column) Rachel lays out her memories and discusses how being given the space to ask questions and have doubt actually helped save her faith.

It’s a great example of why building spaces of grace have become so important to me.

Give clean water — get a free copy of my novel

Ethiopian girl enjoys clean drinking water | Photo from charity:water

As part of our effort to build a clean drinking water well for the under-resourced, I’ve decided to give away a free PDF copy of my novel, St. Peter’s Brewery, to everyone who makes a donation to charity:water between now and August 31, 2010.

Give any donation — of any amount, and you’ll receive a free e-book (PDF) copy of my novel.

Donate now

Continue reading Give clean water — get a free copy of my novel

Destroying the Warehouse Mentality

Catch all drawer
Clutter drawer | Photo by Jonathan Blundell

I shared this on We Live Simply earlier this week and wanted to be sure I shared it here as well for those of you who may not read both sites.

I think it’s time to let the cat out of the bag and help push my motivation forward towards finishing my new book.

While writing posts for We Live Simply, I’ve also slowly been working on my next book, Destroying the Warehouse Mentality: Stop hoarding and declutter your life.

While I wrote my last book (a novel) in a month, this one is taking a bit longer to come together.

So I’m hoping that by putting this information out there, it will give me an even greater incentive to see it through.

But I’ve set a goal for its completion and hope to have it ready for publication by early Fall (hopefully before the twins arrive!).

So far I plan on tackling these areas of clutter:

  1. Buying into a $154 billion industry
  2. Decluttering your home
  3. Decluttering your office
  4. Decluttering your digital life
  5. Decluttering your time

But I’m definitely open to ideas and input — especially from those of you who have struggled with your own clutter, or the clutter of someone else.

I’m also interested in hearing some of your stories on how you’ve dealt with clutter as well.

If you’d like to share your story or offer input on the book, feel free to leave me a comment or e-mail me at editor @ welivesimply.info.