Todays Book Club Monday happens to be a book that points out many of the sacred traditions Judiasim has to offer to the Christian world. While some may choose to focus on major contrasting points between these two beliefs, Mudhouse Sabbath attempts to bridge the gap.

I have read Mudhouse Sabbath written by Lauren F. Winner twice and both times I was able to understand more of the Jewish culture as well as take into consideration their specific acts that all seem to revolve around God. Winner has an interesting take on both of these beliefs because she grew under Judiastic beliefs and currently believes in Christianity.

She believes that everything Jews do is to remind them of their Creator and they are always encouraged to think about God except when they are in the bathroom.  This act they believe should be concentrated on rather than thinking about God. (just a little interesting fact from the book)

There are some main contrast that Winner immediately points out with this quote…

“Practice is to Judiaism what belief is to Christianity.”

This quote may seem to highlight some contrast between these two beliefs, however through out Mudhouse Sabbath one is encouraged to observe and understand the purpose of each Jewish tradition.

Lauren does an amazing job interpreting how Christians can apply some Jewish traditions in their walk with God. You could even say, she attempts to bridge the contrast between Christianity and Judiasim by continuing to keep older specific Jewish customs and adopt newer Christian customs to mold into a walk with God combining the past with the present.

I absolutely recommend this book. You would be surprised by the unique interpretation of simple tasks such as lighting a candle would mean to followers of Judiaism and how they connect with God.

Have you read Mudhouse Sabbath? What did you think?

Today I have asked my very smart brother Kyle (his words) to share a post about the book “Persmission To Speak Freely” by Anne Jackson.

Here is an excerpt of his review

Seeing the church as stuffy, out of date, and out of touch seems to be a common understanding amongst most, but seeing the church as a place where you cannot speak freely is felt by most but never made known.

In a place that stands under the umbrella of grace and freedom the church has taken on the role of condemner rather then confessor.

Having permission to speak freely in church is about as safe as driving with your eyes close, you will cause an accident one way or the other and someone will get hurt, usually it is you.

But what if the church became a place of openness and healing? What if the church was known for the conversations that took place rather then the condemnation? Anne Jackson decides to put that hope out there in her newest book “Permission to Speak Freely”.

Providing a first hand experience of one sinners struggle to find redemption and healing, Jackson takes you on a journey from a small church in the backroads of Texas to a place of healing in Kansas City. Anne Jackson calls the church to be a place of giving the gift of going second.

What is the gift of going second? It is the practice of sharing a struggle, fear, or failure with someone else first so the door of trust is opened up between two individuals and the opportunity for the other to go second, to feel safe, and to know that they are not alone.

Here is what Jackson says about going second:

Whenever somebody confesses something, and they’re the first to do it, it’s usually a pretty hard step to take. They don’t know how people wil respond. They fear all the judgment and isolation. But they do it anyway. They give a gift. What happens on the other side of that confession is something beautiful. When you confess, there’s somebody on the other side of that confession who could very well be keeping a secret too. So when you go first, you’re opening up this amazing opportunity for trust. You’re saying “I’m broken.”

You can see the power of giving the gift of going second. But it seems this gift is not always being given.

To read the rest of this review head to http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com

Love Wins….need I say more?

I would like to do a small small book review on Rob Bell’s newest book Love Wins. Before I get started, I am not claiming that I agree or disagree with all that Rob is saying, but I do think that this book specifically challenges its readers to open their minds.

Rob Bell encourages his fellow brothers and sisters to step out of their comfort zones. He is the one who plays devils advocate to all of those basic beliefs of heaven and hell. He points out small details that I, usually, to lump into a big old category without thinking twice.

I believe a good book challenges. A great book challenges your beliefs and asks all the hard questions. What good is a book that agrees with everything you say. It is about the thoughts that provoke you to see differently.

Rob Bell touches on something that I love towards the end of the book. He finishes talking about heaven and hell then cannon balls into what God wants. Ohhh did you see that coming?

We are so obsessed with how our life is turning out that we forget about what the creator wants. We create this image of God. Telling him he needs to be this or that. He needs to wear a nice bright robe instead of wearing sweat pants and a t shirt.

“We shape our God then our God shapes us”

Well if God wears robes all the time, then I gotta start doing that.

Maybe that is why God is somehow always on our side of the debate. God always believes in my point of view and he can smite people so you better think twice before crossing me.
One of my favorite quotes that Rob says is this,

“What the gospel does is confront our version of our story with God’s version of our story.”

God forces us to face reality. He asks us to look hard into what the world really is and then free fall with him into the great abyss. We know that there are some jagged rocks at the bottom but, we trust.

Nerd alert. It is exactly like running into a brick wall. OK in Harry Potter they had to run straight into what appeared to be a brick wall so they could go to their school Hogwarts. Now, God is telling us to run into a brick wall. Full force. No stopping. He tells us that he will provide and we have to trust. We have to trust that in our story we will discover our purpose through his guidance.

“Love frees us to embrace all of our history. The history in which all things are being made new.”

Here is the brick wall. Do you see it?  The one thing (brick wall) that is impossible to get past.  History shows this has not worked out very well but, God is asking you to trust that he will make you new. He will refine you.

Are you going to take on that brick wall?

Check out the book here. Buy it here

This has been one of the best biographies I have ever read. Don’t let the amount of pages scare you; it is worth your time.

For this book, Eric Mataxas narrates the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Mataxas walks readers through Bonhoeffers entire life. From the minute he was born all the way up to his last words he said to a companion before being executed at a concentration camp in Flossenburg.

It was clear that through out Bonhoeffer’s life God was cultivating him. This man’s life was  intricately woven with the will of God.

Readers continue to learn triumphs and losses of his life.

Caution you may take an immense liking to Bonhoeffer.

We see courage and confidence that were predominate characteristics during his lifetime.From the beginning, he spotted Hitler’s faulty politics even before Hitler was elected.  God, certainly, meant for Bonhoeffer to teach his fellow Germans how to sincerely live a life that was solely devoted to God.

He was intentional with all of his actions. A man ready to listen to the fathers whispers even when the enemies threats resounded all around him.

He possessed an astounding joy for the duration of all his struggles. This is seen by his last comment to a fellow prisoner before he was taken to be executed.

“This is the end. For me the beginning of life.”

boy he is a looker

The biggest question I found that Mataxas answers about Bonhoeffer’s life is this…

What would cause a man whose predominate beliefs were closely entangled in pacifism to be involved in the assassination attempts against Hitler?

Well I now know! but do you?

Have you already read this book? if not are you going to read it now? if so what did you think?

Read the book and find out. Take the challenge to tackle all 500 some pages and study the life of a true martyr. buy it here

We interrupt the Jonah series for a quick book club meeting.. your series will continue shortly

Yes this marks the beginning of a new tradition at kamriereed.com. Every Monday I will be talking about a new book that I have recently read. I would love to have your input on what you thought about this book…

The first book the War of Art!

I believed this book hit on something that not a lot of people like to hear about or take the time to understand. This whole idea of resistance is a force that has lasted through out the centuries.

Resistance= any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health, or integrity or any act that derives from our higher nature instead of our lower (definition provided by the War of Art)

This whole idea of resistance is what has stopped people from doing what they dreamed of.

People become easily detoured with life.

We all chose to escape our dreams by demeaning them, chase after something that is more stable and logical, or worst of all blend into society and tell yourself some day this dream will come to life by magic.

Steven Pressfield exposes this beast by calling all of those want-to-be-dreamers out and tells them with dreaming comes action.

He explains that in reality we were chosen for a specific purpose. God has given us a specific job that only we can do.

“We come into this world with a specific, personal destiny.” (the War of Art)

We can not pick and choose which destiny we want. It is there, right in front of us. We were designed to work with this for the rest of our lives.

Pressfield explains this best with this quote,

“Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.”

We need to embrace our new job and live it. If we were meant to be a writer than we probably shouldn’t allow accounting to get in the way of letting us write. We need to take risks because with much risk is much reward. This risk may come with failure but because of this failure one really learns.

I am not going to lie, Resistance will always be a fight to the death. It will always be around. New struggles brings more Resistance. But the more we fight the more skilled we become.

For one to beat this so called force it requires blood sweat and many many tears. The force preys on your physical and emotional needs and drains you of your strength.

The fight, however, is what makes life great. It challenges you in every way and conforms you into what you must become.

It is now our choice. Will you do a little tussle with resistance? OR will you allow this resistance to hold you back from this dream that God has called you to?

What did you take away from this book?

and if you haven’t read it please go buy it here. It is a great revealing book full of challenges amongst many other things.