Corey from Simple Marriage and Mandi from Life…Your Way have brought together a super sweet e-book package for those interested in simplifying your family (and your life).
When purchased separately, these ebooks are worth over $450, but for four days only, you can purchase the entire collection for just $47.
Corey’s become a great friend over the last few months as we’ve chatted both online and off-line about a variety of great things. I love his heart and posture and I’m proud to help promote his work (You can listen to his story over at the something beautiful podcast).
But as I mentioned above, there’s a catch… This collection is only available from 2 p.m. on March 21st to 2 p.m. on March 24th March 25th. There will be no late sales offered.
I doubt it’s a secret, but I would love to be able to blog/podcast full-time (here, here, here or even here) if I could, or at least add a decent supplement to my regular income (click the “stuff I like” page up top to find some ways you can do that – hint, hint).
And from time to time, I receive random offers to advertise this or that product on my blog for various amounts of lengths of time and money.
Most of the time I trash the offers (solely based on the e-mail or the type of product they want to sell), but depending on the offer, I may take the time to actually investigate the offer and respond. Continue Reading…
Judas carried with him into that field the burden of not receiving God’s grace because he was removed from the community in which he could hear it. In Judas’ ears there never was placed a word of grace. And let me tell you. …that’s not something the sinner can create for him or herself. – Nadia Bolz-Weber’s sermon on Judas
She continues…
We cannot in our isolation manufacture the beautiful radical grace that flows from the heart of God to God’s broken and blessed humanity. As human beings there are a lot of things that we can create for ourselves. Entertainment, stories, pain, toothpaste. We cannot create the thing that frees us from the bondage of self the thing the frees us from the shackles of sin and death and the guilt of all of it. We cannot create for ourselves the word of God. We must tell it to each other. You cannot as it was said of Judas “turn aside and go to your own place” of meditation or yoga or your own place of resentment and anger or your own place of voluntary simplicity or even prayer and create the proclamation of God’s grace. That’s why we have community. So that we can stand together under the cross and point to the Gospel. And it takes a good sinner to really get the gospel; which Bonhoeffer says is frankly hard for the pious to understand. Because this grace confronts us with the truth saying: You are a sinner, a great, desperate sinner, now come as the sinner you are to a God who loves you. God wants you as you are; God does not want anything from you; a sacrifice, a work. God wants you alone.
Nobody said this to Judas.
How would that early Christian community have been different if Judas had received forgiveness as the rest of them had. Again and again Jesus had said they should preach forgiveness of sins in his name. I mean, it was forgiveness of sin that got Jesus in trouble with the pious folks. He was pretty serious about the whole thing – mentioned it all the time even.
Maybe Judas was destined to betray Jesus. Maybe it all had to go down just like it did. And maybe Judas chose death too soon. Maybe he didn’t avail himself of the means of God’s grace…. But maybe his community never sought him out and offered. Maybe extending the Word of God’s forgiveness to Judas was simply too painful for them. Maybe it was easier for Judas to be the identified problem in the family. Certainly would have been tempting to me. Judas is the traitor…not us. We need a villain so that we don’t have to sit in the awkward and discomforting reality that it is actually all of us. Maybe his community failed him….
In case you missed This American Life’s excellent job of explaining The Giant Pool of Money (go listen right away), or you’re more of a visual person, here’s a great visual explanation of why your 401(k) is in the crapper* and why the economy is going with it.
*Yes, I think that’s the official/technical term for the Credit Crisis right now .
During financially challenging times, it’s so easy for us to forget who we’re putting our trust in. Are we trusting in Wall Street, or in the God who created it all?
TWOTP have a great selection of videos for your church, group or wherever. They’ve also put together a great selection of videos geared specifically for the current times we find ourselves in. The above video is a free download as part of that collection.
imagine if suddenly...
rather than seeking revenge, you sought reconciliation
rather than repaying violence with violence, you sought creative transforming nonviolent alternatives
rather than focusing on external conformity to moral codes, you were internally transformed by love
rather than loving insiders and hating outsiders, you welcomed outsiders into a new “us” and “we”
rather than anxiety about money or security or pleasure, you trusted ourselves to the care of God
rather than living for wealth, you lived for God who loves all people, including our enemies
rather than hating our enemies and competitors, you loved them and did unto them not as they have done unto you – or before they do unto you – but as you wish they would do for you
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