Quote of the Day

"One of our problems with these so-called refined sins is that we have become too comfortable with the whole concept of sin. Because we do sin so frequently we learn to coexists with ti as long as it doesn't get too out of control or scandalous. We forget, or perhaps have never learned, how seriously God regards all sin."                 
                                                                                                                             Jerry Bridges

 :)

3:16 The Numbers of Hope- Max Lucado

 **please bear in mind that I did not do the 40 days devotion portion of the book.

Why I chose this book:
     This was another free book that I got :) Happens. haha. It was given to me as part of the FAST (Feed A Student at TCBC) package back in Christmas (I think...). My Tuesday small group started and will continue to journey through the series "The Gospel" and so I was hoping that this book would bring more insights and inspiration. I think sometimes Christians hear the same thing over and over that we start to downplay the things that God has done for us. It is therefore important to stop ourselves from living stagnant lives and continue to seek and iterate the Gospel from different points of views so we will continue to burn and yearn for God. Another reason why this book was chosen was cause  I forgot I had this book. haha. I was going through the books on my bookshelf and I felt so bad for forgetting I had this book that I decided it was going to be my next read =P

Thoughts:
  I can't say I've read a lot of Lucado's books. His "Cure for the Common Life" is also one my "finished halfway ones" so I really had nothing to compare to. Lucado focuses on the significance of  three points: 1. God so loving the world 2.Giving of His Only Son 3. those who believe will not perish. As mentioned, I was hoping for a new perspective, a new key point that I never noticed before and sadly I didn't find that. He did make good points and used very relevant life examples, but I personally felt like I've either heard of it before or wasn't very inspired by it.(not saying I am not intrigued by the Gospel). It makes me sad cause famous authors/artists such as Pastor Rick Warren, Chris Tomlin, and Tony Campolo all said good thing about the book and yet I felt so indifferent about it =(. Personally, I think it's a good book for new Christians or even for those who are seeking... maybe it's because I've heard similar analogies that Lucado mentions before so it felt like there was nothing "out of the ordinary" from the rest of the books on this topic.
 
Favourite Quote: N/A :(

Rating: 3/5 


:)

Revolution in World Missions- K.P. Yohannan

 **a little behind.. will catch up!

Why I chose this book:
     Approximately 4 years ago, Sycamore (TC 2006 Sr WT) was invited to play at an outreach event called "One Body". Essentially, it was an invitation from a Korean church to churches of different domination and cultures in Toronto to bond together. It was also at this outreach that I received this book (at least from what I remembered). My friend Jay makes fun of me because this is also a book that I have tried to finish several times.. and this time I can actually say that I've finished! :)


Thoughts:
    As you can tell, this book is about World Missions. If you actually visit the book's site, it is Pastor Francis Chan who introduces the book. To be honest, I don't know a lot about the mission field outside the city of Toronto so Yohannan really challenged me to think outside the box. Yohannan brings challenging points as he compares the lifestyle of an average American to an average person in Asia. Here are some interesting points that stood out: 

 -A rich American on Fifth Avenue in NYC or a poor beggar on the streets are both rebels against God,   according to the Bible... meaning that sometimes we are focusing too much on caring for the poor that we forget that our primary focus should be on the Gospel and it should be for everyone.. not only the poor.


-Are we relying too much on things such as softball teams and gyms that we're afraid that once they're gone we have no converts? 


-the average North American Christian gives 50 cents a week to global missions... but isn't Missions the primary job of the Church?


-Yohannan also believes that everyone is called into missions differently.. some financially... some prayerfully..not everyone should go on a short mission... to really reach out to the community, you need to be part of the community. Perhaps we should use our money carefully by supporting those in missions instead of using that money so we can be involved in ST missions. In his opinion, this is a better way to use our money....


Favourite Quote:
     "The latest emphasis of the movement starts by arguing that we should operate mission outreach that provides 'care for the whole man', but it ends up providing help for only the body and soul- ignoring the spirit" pg 106


Rating: 4/5 


:)

Jon Bauer - Come and Save Us

:)