I Am Second

I Am Second is not only a book by Doug Bender and Dave Sterrett, it is a movement. Most importantly, God is first.  God is glorified, and salvation is shared through the testimonies of football players, a skateboarder, a Pastor, a Biggest Loser, business people and others. Moreover, the book is just a part of what is available from the I Am Second movement. I definitely suggest you check out the website, check out some of the videos and stories, join a group, share it with others, be encouraged and encourage others. That is what this movement is all about, sharing God through personal testimony and encouraging each other through the struggles we all face.
This book is different from any other book I have read. Each chapter is the story of a different person and their journey with God. There are several people you may have heard of and/or seen on TV. There are people who have dealt with drug addiction, sexual addiction, divorce, abuse, and much more. I definitely suggest this book for everybody. I hope this movement will continue to grow. I intend to become a part of it. I know that if we continue to encourage each other to keep God first, we will be amazed by what he does.
This book was sent to me free for review through Book Sneeze.
You can find it at Thomas Nelson or Amazon.

The Lucado Inspirational Reader

If you are looking for a book to read cover to cover with one continuous story or theme, this is not the book for you. However, The Lucado Inspirational Reader by none other than Max Lucado is a great book to refer to for anecdotes, quotes, and inspiration on various topics related to Christ and Christian living.
I read through it as if it were a novel, but I would suggest taking more time to read and digest.

Lucado has an interesting style of relating Bible stories and characters to modern times and giving a personality to various situations and characters. His style is very relational and comfortable. If, like me, you are interested in reading some inspiring quotes from Max Lucado without buying a whole set of his books, this book gives you excerpts from many of his writings, categorized for ease of reference.

I plan on keeping this book around and may refer to it from time to time depending on the various stages I might be going through. I think that is what this book would be most useful for, reading it as you need it. And I don't think it will disappoint in those times of need.

I would suggest this book for anybody to keep around. You can get a copy of it at Amazon or at Thomas Nelson.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze book review program.

Mount Pleasy

Big News!

Kassie and I believe God is leading us to move back to the land of the pleasant mountains, aka Mount Pleasant.

That's about all we've got for now. Thanks for your prayers and support.

What Am I Doing?

What am I supposed to be doing? Sharing God with everybody, everyday, everywhere. 


What am I doing? Watching TV, playing games on facebook, thinking about myself and my problems, going through the motions.


I guess something needs to change. What are YOU doing?

Weddings

I am excited to see my family this weekend and witnessing my sister Kelsey getting married to Joe Nowell.


 I am also looking forward to a trip to Chicago next month, seeing my family again, and seeing my other sister, Amy, get married to Alex Vimont.


I have a wonderful family. Praise God and thanks for being so great!

Our Last Great Hope by Ronnie Floyd

Many of us have heard of "The Great Commission." Some of us may have even memorized the verses that contain the charge from Jesus to share the gospel throughout the world. How many of us, though, as a individuals and churches, actually live out the great commission in our daily lives?
This book Our Last Great Hope by Ronnie Floyd encourages and challenges believers to do just that. It is a book that should not and cannot be taken lightly. Once you start reading it, you must either be willing to change your thinking and your life or you must stop reading.
It took me quite a while to read this book. I tend to have several books that I am reading at one time. The one I finish first is usually the most entertaining and easy to read. This book was not the one I finished first. However, it is one that I will likely pass on to others. In fact, after reading part of the section which discusses our use of money I offered it to my pastor to use in his upcoming sermon.
Our church is currently in a process called ReVision in which we are rethinking what our purpose is as a church, how we are doing at fulfilling that purpose and how we can change to fulfill that purpose more effectively. I hope to interject many of the ideas of Our Last Great Hope into this process and will encourage other leaders to read it.
I did not always appreciate the delivery. At many points throughout the book I felt as if the author were writing from a "holier than thou" position. Yet, I cannot escape the message. Whether humbly conveyed or not in this book, the message it contains is one that Christians, especially Christian leaders, need to hear and allow to change their life.

This book was provided free for review by BookSneeze®.

Harbor Beach People

Today is Saturday, and it was one of those "not much is planned, but there's a lot to do" kind of days.

This morning Kassie, Aurelia and I met with Pam Schantz and the Pysklos to discuss Remix. We had a good conversation and figured out something things we need to accomplish before the informational meeting next week. During the end of that meeting a somewhat familiar face came into McDonalds Deli, a blast from the past. It was the mother of Chris, Bruce and Dean McNeal. I haven't seen any of them or heard from them in quite a long time but it reminded me of the time when Chris and I were friends.

This afternoon, I went to Saginaw to run some errands for our family and for the youth group. Of course, many Harbor Beach people end up, or at least pass through, Saginaw usually due to connections with SVSU or another college in the area.

I stopped at the strip mall containing The UPS store, Guitar Center, Best Buy, etc. As I was pulling in, I noticed Harbor Freight Tools (I think that's what it's called) was having a sale. Being a man, I was interested in a sale on tools. Plus we needed a hammer. So, I went in. After looking around for a while, overwhelmed by all the tools I wish I knew how to use, I was stopped by one of the employees, who happened to be Nick Sanislo. It was cool catching up with him a little bit and interesting to find out that his family is in the middle of a busy wedding season, similar to my family.

Next, I went to the UPS store where I was surprised by the efficiency of the visit. I had ordered something and needed to return it. The company I had gotten from sent me a shipping label. So, all I had to do was give the package to the guy there and walk out.

After walking out I went to Dunhams where I thought I might look for some soccer cleats and/or check out the toe shoes if they had any. I didn't see any toe shoes, and there selection of soccer boots wasn't impressive.

I went on to Guitar Center to try out some acoustic guitars. I thought mine was having problems recently but realized it was just my cable. Nevertheless, my guitar isn't great quality (it's from China), and we are almost out of debt so we might be able to save up for a new guitar sometime. Clinging to that hope, I entered Guitar Center and was met by none other than Jason Guitar. We had a brief exchange and he went on his busy way as I went to try out guitars. I found one I liked quite a bit, a Martin. I tried all kinds, Ibanez, Seagull, Takamine, Taylor, some brand I had never heard of, and another brand I had heard of but don't remember. I ended up really liking a Martin, though. I wanted to buy it right then, but I don't think that would have made Kassie very happy.

Well, it's time for dinner. Gotta go.