lunes, 17 de junio de 2013

Nearing Home



"Growing old is not for sissies". That's one of the best phrases I have ever heard... or read.
Billy Graham says that, as a christian, he has taught to die as a christian but no one taught him how to live as one the last years before death.
I was expecting a lot of insight and lessons in this book. I mean, a lot of 'spiritual wisdom' but the 'physic' side of the 'golden years' (as Graham doesn't like to call them) appears to be way too strong to ignore them.
I liked the book but it was the fifth 'wrong choice in a row' for my reading. I can't recommend this book because I didn't like it as much as I was anticipating, but it obviously doesn't mean that it is a bad book.
It must be a good book, great even!
It's just not my type of reading.
Sorry... again.

lunes, 27 de mayo de 2013

I wanted a Coke but a Lemonade was just fine!



I really needed to read a book like this with stories that made me feel hope and encourage.
The lessons are valuable and the title 'When God Makes Lemonade' is really beautiful.
You will identify yourself at least in one of the stories and I'm sure the stories have the power to help you see beyond your present situation (no matter how lemonish it is) and take a look to what God might be doing in such circumstances.
I know it helped me.
Having said that, about the content of the book, I have a comment on the form of it:
I've been choosing my readings in a strange way because, I really like this kind of book with true stories that can make me feel hope. What I don't like is the way this one is written because it is too detailed for me. For example, a conversation goes like this: I said, and he said, so I said, then he said, so I replied... etc.
Bottom line: Great content, good writing (for me, personally).
I wanted a Coke but a Lemonade was just fine!

jueves, 23 de mayo de 2013

Not my kind of books




I'm not a fan of biographies or pages written like a biography and, after fighting to read this book "Seven Men And the Secret of Their Greatness" by Eric Metaxas, I'm still not a fan of bios.
I've been choosing badly my readings lately but, in this particular case, I can say that I didn't like this book because I don't like the category; not because the book is bad (in fact, I think that the book is good if you like a bio).
So, I can't say anymore about it. Sorry.

lunes, 13 de mayo de 2013

Resurrection year, by Sheridan Voysey



Being in the same situation than the marriage of the book (9 years for us) it was a little tired for me to read the book because... well... there are a few days in this kind of trial that you just don't want to remember.
The one thing that I'm really thankful for is that it doesn't end in a 'happy miracle' because, let's be honest, there are a big lot of christian marriages out there that didn't have their 'miracle' and had to learn to live life and enjoy it and be thankful for the life that they received even if it doesn't have a baby in it.
So, I don't know if I can recommend this book or not so I will go with the safest recommendation: Read it at your own risk.
Sheridan, thank you very very much for the honesty. People that doesn't have to live what we have had to live can't understand the frustration, anger and confusion that a christian has to endure in this kind of trials.
Best of love and blessings for your marriage!

viernes, 10 de mayo de 2013

Simply God, by Rick Richards



I suppose this is a book full of good thoughts but I can't be sure because, well... I tried to read it but I just couldn't take the personal writing style.
I mean, I don't like at all when a writer uses a lot of corny phrases and 'pop' ideas and stick them to God. The little that I managed to read felt like a 'new age' book or something like that.
I have nothing more to say. Sorry.

lunes, 6 de mayo de 2013

What a war!


"Gods at war" by Kyle Idleman is a power book!

You may think that idolatry is an ancient problem or a "old testament sin". You can be sure that you are not an idolater (like I was sure about myself) but you WILL discover that a lot of gods have take foothold in your heart.

I strongly recommend pastors and teachers to read this book and then share it with their congregations.

The author gives you weapons to discover the false gods in your heart by asking the right questions. Also, he gives you a great advice: False gods must be replaced with the real God or they will be replace with another false god.

Pleasure, power, money, love, family... The gods are gods because we turn them into gods and we give them the power to rule over our lives.
And the final word from God is clear: Choose! Your gods or Me!

This book will hurt you. It will confront you. But it will set you in the right path toward the real God.
It took me 4 weeks to read it but not because it was a bad book, not at all, but because we had to make a sermon series about this at church. It is THAT good!

miércoles, 3 de abril de 2013

A Theography... indeed


In 'Jesus, a Theography', by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola, we can see the life of Jesus in a whole new way: From God's word's perspective.
The reading took me a very long time but not because the book was bad but because there were so much to take in from its pages.
I think that every christian should read this book in order to get close with facts about the Lord that we seldom forget. For example, thanks to Sweet and Viola's work, we can see the great importance of the answer that Jesus gave when asked for 'whom is my neighbor', or the great and dangerous thing that Jesus did when he spoke in public with a samaritan woman.
Bottom line, this book is excellent but take your time to read it and meditate every single thing that you find inside of it.

jueves, 25 de octubre de 2012

The zombie within


"Christian Zombie Killers Handbook" by Jeff Kinley is about the 'New Nature / Old Nature' theme and dilemma in every Jesus follower and being a 'Walking Dead' TV Show fan myself, this little book got my attention right away.


THE DON'T LIKES
I like 'The Walking Dead' TV Show but not because of the zombies (I get really scared with scary movies) but because of the human drama that's envolved in every chapter of the series.
I like to watch those zombies but don't like to read zombie stories, so I didn't like the parts of the book where Kinley tells a story (divided in 'episodes') so I ended up not reading that. Sorry.


THE LIKES
The inner war within a christian is a real issue and there are a lot of books about it. Deep book. Light books. Good and bad ones. Long and short ones. In short: A lot of books.
The theme is not new at all but the way Kinley approach to it, is.
I think that, for the modern reader, there's hardly a better way to describe this battle and perpetual conflict that with a 'zombie within'!
Why?
Do I really have to explain why?
Ok. This is why: The 'old you', the 'dead you' is you, but without really ugly, evil, depraved and bad. That 'you' doesn't want anything to do with Christ. He hates God. He just wants to have some brains for lunch for the sake of eating brains for lunch because... well... a zombie can't die from hunger, right?
The 'zombie you' is dead but still wanting to kill every sign of life that crosses his way.
The 'zombie me' get along with other zombies but hate live people.
The 'zombie us' must be resisted and, ultimately, must be really really put to death.
And that's why I really like the way Kinley approach the book.

We christians tend to forget how really bad we are and how much we need the grace, the wisdom and the light of Jesus in everyday's life, so this is a good book that can help us to take a look (a real one) to the zombies that we're still carrying within and cry to Jesus for help, sanctity, power and life at each moment of our lives.


jueves, 27 de septiembre de 2012

Mondays are mondays...


ºMondays with my old pastorº, by José Luis Navajo is... let's say... a good book.

However, I don't know if it was a little hard to read because of the day of the theme (mondays are mondays... boring... really boring...) or because of the writing style or because of the fact that, even though the author says he's been in the ministry for a lot of years, he seems to be some kind of 'rookie' because a lot of the wisdom written in the book is like 'Ministry Frustration 101' (or at least in my experience and those really close to us in the ministry has been that way).
For me, the book was really like a compilation of mondays: Sometimes... hard to continue with the reading; sometimes... less hard to get through the pages and sometimes; and sometimes... dangerously close to the give-up-button.
I guess I'm trying to be nice, but this book really wasn't up to expectations.
Sorry.

sábado, 15 de septiembre de 2012

Little might be the new Great



"The little red book of wisdom" by Mark Demoss has been a delicious glass of fresh water in the middle of a 'wisdom desert' for me.
I work in advertising and, too often, find myself surrounded by anything but wisdom.
I thought this would be another 'illuminated but not understandable' kind of book but the way Mark Demoss share his business wisdom and then his life wisdom, both constructed with the Bible as the base, is powerfully simple.
And, since I have been a lot of my life in touch with people that talk a lot but say nothing at all, I really appreciate a simple truth told in a simple way.
I think that Mark Demoss book is the perfect example of one of the most amazing truths written in it: 'Under promise and over deliver'.
The little red book of wisdom is red indeed, its full of wisdom but its not little (as under promised), but simply great.
And that is how you over deliver something!

martes, 11 de septiembre de 2012

Called to Controversy, Ruth Rosen


Before reading this book I didn't know anything about Moishe Rosen and after reading it, I know just a few things: First, he was controversial for Jesus and willing to live up to his calling. Second, he wasn't 'perfect' (at least, not our common idea of perfection). And last, we should imitate his faith, as Hebrews 13:7 says.
In a country like mine (Guatemala, Central America) we christians don't know a lot of jewish people but we know a lot about religion and religious behavior. Even I have some bitter encounter with the 'status quo' that have been anything but pretty.
For me, the life of Moishe Rosen, his work for Jesus and his legacy in his family is an example of faith in the practice, because any christian should understand that he or she is called to controversy when called by Jesus to testify about Him in a world (the personal world) that doesn't want to know a thing about the King of kings.
The reading is good, but it feels long so, get yourself a 'patience tea' and stick to it because it's a good book.
I want to end this little comment with a great and powerful phrase from Moishe Rosen: "Don't let your friends happen to you; don't let life happen to you; don't let things happen to you. Make the kind of friends and the kind of life that you believe you ought to have" (emphasis added).
If you know that you have been called to 'greater things', then fight for that life, have the courage to look for it and found it in Jesus Christ.

miércoles, 29 de agosto de 2012

Twelve Unlikely Heroes, by John MacArthur


This book really touched my heart and opened my eyes. Because it's just a G-R-E-A-T book!
If you're serving God with all your heart (and despite your heart at the same time) and somehow you feel like an 'unlikely and unfitted servant' this book will hit you right between the eyes.
Believe me!
MacArthur goes through all the Bible, founding the most unlikely heroes of the text to teach the reader the reality of God's work: If He wouldn't use the 'imperfect servants' then He couldn't use anybody!
And that is why I'm certain that you will identify with at least one of the heroes and by doing that, God will speak to your heart, comfort your soul and make you want to serve Him again.
That's what happened to me and because of that, I really wanted to share here a couple of paragraphs of the book (even I don't know if I can do it):

'God uses endless combinations of personality, cultural background, experience, and station in society to accomplish His will. He is not limited by age (Enoch lived for 365 years; John the Baptist for about 30); status (Jonathan was a prince; Onesimus was a slave); human strength (Gideon was a weak coward; Samson was supernaturally strong); or even past sins (Paul persecuted the church; John Mark was a deserter; and Jonah rebelled against God's command). (...) From the earliest points of human history (before de Flood) to the earliest points of church history (the generation after the apostles), God has been at work in the lives of His people through unlikely heroes.'

An imperfect and true servant of the Lord Jesus Christ can not afford not reading this book.
Now... Go and read!

miércoles, 15 de agosto de 2012

Constantly Cravin, by Marilyn Meberg

I didn't like this book. Seriously.
I think that 'Constantly Craving' is suit for those 'mature adolescent' that are so abundant in these days (at least in my country).
And who are the 'mature adolescent'? Well, people around their 30's who still don't know who they are, what they want, are still looking for 'the one' (the dumbest term in the history of relationships) and stuff like that.
Anyway, for me, the book killed my reading craving.

miércoles, 1 de agosto de 2012

Jesus. Lord. Period.


"Would the coming of Jesus Christ tomorrow mess up your plans?"
The Truth About the Lordship of Christ, by John MacArthur is a troubling and eye popping book.
It is like salt spread over an open wound because, well, the one thing that we christians love to talk about but don't love to take to practice is the Lordship of Jesus.
We forget that the term 'Lord' doesn't accept negotiation nor unions. It doesn't take under consideration the slave's own will. And it certainly doesn't take 'I don't feel like doing that' or 'I don't have time for that right now' for an answer.
Justification is a one-time event but sanctification is a process and we can't be sanctify unless we put ourselves under the Lordship of Christ because we won't let the lord work the transformation intended for us if it is not 'part of our plans'.
This book hits hard the comfortable 'christianity' of this day and age and make the reader remember something: Jesus said 'follow me' and he wasn't asking; he was commanding.

viernes, 4 de mayo de 2012

Dormir en lugar de clamar • Sleeping instead of claiming

ESPAÑOL
En Jonás 1:5-6 dice que, en medio de la poderosa tormenta, todos los marineros clamaban a sus dioses mientras trataban de mantener a flote el barco. Y al mismo tiempo, Jonás estaba abajo, durmiendo.
Es impresionante ver cómo, en medio de una tormenta, los que nos llamamos cristianos y decimos ser hijos del único Dios verdadero, tomamos la misma actitud de Jonás: Mientras todos claman a dioses falsos, aquellos que pueden clamar a Quien tiene el poder de calmar la tormenta... duermen.
Mientras el mundo se deshace en guerras, hambrunas, enfermedades, violencia y muchas otras cosas, la Iglesia del Señor... duerme y se entretiene.
La tormenta no fue enviada para destruir a los marineros (ni a Jonás) sino para despertar al profeta rebelde a la voluntad de su Señor.
¿Será posible que estemos dormidos?

ENGLISH
In Jonah 1:5-6 says that, in the middle of the storm, the sailors shouted to their gods for help while trying to maintain the ship floating. At the same time, Jonah was downstairs, sleeping.
It's impressive to see how, in the middle of the storm, we who call ourselves christians and declare to be sons of the only true God, take the same attitude than Jonah: While everybody shout to their false gods, those who can claim to the One who has the power to end the storm... are asleep.
While the world tears itself apart in wars, hunger, diseases, violence and many other things, the Church of the Lord... is asleep and entertained.
The storm wasn't send to destroy the sailors (nor Jonah) but to wake the rebel prophet up.
Is it possible that we're sleeping?

domingo, 15 de abril de 2012

Our Favorite Sins by Todd Hunter

I've read a lot of books about temptation but Todd Hunter really gets to the point when take the reader into the heart of the matter and take away the 'mystery clothing'. I mean, temptation is some mysterious weapon in the hands of the enemies of Jesus' people, but if you see it for what it is, well, you can see that temptation is a pretty dull thing.
If I'd have to choose one phrase out of the whole book it would be this: 'I can be tempted only when a desire I already have within me matches something that comes to my attention.' James said it in his epistle and Hunter translated it for us in his book. That's the reason why some people are tempted with drugs, some with social internet and some with gambling, for example.
The book tries to make the reader to understand that Temptation is not that powerful and that, if wanted, desires can be reoriented, defeating temptation in the process.
The only thing that I felt really strange is the 'prayer reading' stuff, but I suppose that this is because I'm not from that kind of church background.
Do I recommend this book? Well, if you're fighting with temptation and really want to start winning the battle, I strongly recommend the book.

viernes, 30 de marzo de 2012

Has God Spoken? by Hank Hanegraaff

It's been a few years since I've read this type of book and, even I loved it, it has some parts that are just too much. I mean, the author became a little redundant sometimes explaining things that were already clearly explained.
The other thing that I didn't like was the 'personal' confrontation type of writing. Hanegraaff wasted a lot of pages trying to show the lies in some of the 'christianity detractors' and, although it is ok (and I love to witness a good theological and logical confrontation), it go and go and go and go for pages and it eventually became a boring thing.
Nevertheless, I recommend this book because it is pretty much actual in the 'prophecy fulfillment' department.

viernes, 23 de diciembre de 2011

El peligro de ser "hijos de luz"



¿Alguna vez, cuando leíste Efesios 5:1 te dieron ganas de brillar como un hijo de luz debería brillar?
Aquí te comparto un pensamiento que publicamos en el blog de la iglesia.
Podés leerlo aquí.
Un abrazo!!!!!!

martes, 13 de septiembre de 2011

Put the test to the test

Put your dream to the test, by John C. Maxwell is a really useful book. In fact, it is so good that we made a whole Sermon Series at our church based in the book. Why? Because a dream "planted" from God into your heart is also a promise! Thus the importance of finding your dream, put it to the test and chase it.
This book came into my hands in a time of transition.
My wife and I have been half-time--planting-pastoring for 2 years a little church in Guatemala, Central America, and have beginning to dream about having more time for church. This book helped us to put a lot of dreams on the table and slowly but surely take a lot of those dreams out of the table, since they were pure fantasies and not dreams. There lies the power of these pages!
I mean, if you ask me to recommend you this book in one sentence, giving you just one reason to believe that this book has the potential to fire up you heart, it will be this: "Dreams are not enemies with reality! Fantasies are!"
That's huge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maxwell asks 10 questions and you're supposed to answer 'yes' to all of them. If your 10 answers are affirmative, then you may come to achieve your dream. If just one question is answered 'no', you have some homework to do in order to turn that 'no' into a 'yes'. Those 10 simple yeses are the difference between a dream and a fantasy.
Remember the 'dreams on the table' that I told you about? Well, the 'dreams' that had to be taken out weren't dreams but fantasies. 'Put your dream to the test' teaches you how to know the difference and challenges you to pursuit what your life has been promised by God in the form of a dream!
Read this book, discover your dream, put it to the test and conquer it!

martes, 2 de agosto de 2011

¿Candidato o plan de trabajo?

En estos tiempos de fascinación politiquera, muchos dicen que no tenés que votar por la "persona" que sale en la foto y que tampoco regalés tu voto en base a las promesas. Que, en cambio, tenés que informarte, tenés que conocer el plan de gobierno y las propuestas que cada candidato trae respecto a cada problema del país.

Sólo entonces es que ya podés votar por el plan de trabajo que tenga las mejores posibilidades de éxito o que vaya acorde a tu línea de pensamiento.
En resumen, dicen que no debo votar ni por la persona ni por las promesas, sino por el plan de trabajo.
Sin embargo, en mi cabecita hay una idea persistente: Un plan de trabajo de un candidato presidencial es una promesa ¿no? Es decir, técnicamente, un plan de trabajo no es más que un montón de promesas. ¿Por qué? Porque nada de eso se está haciendo, sino que se hará... digamos.

Así que, votar por el plan de trabajo es votar por un montón de promesas.

Ahora bien, cuando encontrás un "plan de trabajo" que parece que puede funcionar... tenés que confiar en que la o las personas detrás de dicho documento harán hasta lo imposible por convertir ese montón de teorías en un montón de prácticas exitosas. Y si necesitás confiar en que la persona "cumpla" su "plan de trabajo", entonces necesitás confiar en la persona, así que, al final, sí votás por la persona.

Ahora imagina que nuestro sistema de gobierno dejara a las "personas/candidatos" fuera de la ecuación de gobierno y sólo votáramos por "planes de trabajo" (es decir "promesas"). Aún así, tendría que haber una comisión o un comité o un ministerio o que trabajara por hacer que ese plan de trabajo llegue a convertirse en una realidad. De nuevo: Gente.

Y si a ese grupo le asignás un grupo de gente que lo audite, tenés que confiar en que los que cuidan a los que ejecutan, lo hagan honestamente. De nuevo: Gente.

Y si a este otro grupo les asignás más personas que los fiscalicen, la historia se repite. De nuevo: Gente.

Los planes de trabajo no se dejan corromper. Las personas sí. Y es por esto por lo que necesitamos gente en la que podamos confiar y no sólo planes de trabajo.
Sin menospreciar las promesas –o lo que es lo mismo, el plan de gobierno–, lo más importante es la persona ya que sin la persona, el plan no se puede ejecutar.

Así que, aunque mi forma de pensar puede ser un poco simplista (y no por eso deja de ser profunda) mi problema en estas elecciones presidenciales no nace de la falta de "planes de trabajo", ya que todos dicen más o menos lo mismo y todos funcionan igualmente bien (en teoría).

Mi problema nace de la ausencia de esa persona en la que puedo depositar mi confianza a través de una X en una papeleta.