Clover Summer Promotion - Save $50 On A New Website!

Do you have the responsibility of setting up and running a website for your business or ministry? Maybe you're launching a nonprofit or trying to build your online portfolio to display some art or other work. If you've been thinking about purchasing or designing a new website, you really need to visit Clover. 

My wife and I have known the good people at Clover for more than three years now. We love their employees and their product. Anna has a Clover site for her business at Anna Quinn Design and it's been a great way to display her work and connect with clients. People from all over the place have been able to find her and hire her for weddings and other events because of her site. You really shouldn't underestimate a nice looking website that's easy for you to edit and easy for your visitors to navigate. It will make a huge difference for your brand. A good quality website is often the first impression you will make when people are looking for you online.

Save $50 On The Purchase Of A New Site Today!

There's a one time fee to purchase your customizable site and a small monthly fee you'll pay for hosting and support; and trust me, the support alone is worth more than what you will pay. They have a great team of people working to answer your questions, help you set everything up, and keep things running smoothly. The best part is that you can save $50 off the price of a new website from now through the end of July by following any of the links in this post.

Purchase A New Clover Website and Save $50!

The 200th Post

This is officially my 200th post since starting the blog in 2007. When I got started, it was mostly a way to tell stories for and about my friends and family. Since then, I've added thoughts about life, books, theology, culture, philosophy, writing, traveling, work, and a lot of other wild ideas.

I've learned a lot about writing and sharing information. I've had to delete a few posts, edit some others, and never even publish about 100 more. Honestly, they're still sitting in the draft folder. I've tried my best to think long and hard before posting anything to make sure it would be worth your time to read. We're bombarded every day with words competing for our time and attention, and because of that I'm continually amazed whenever a friend or a stranger from some far away place leaves a comment or asks me to write a book review, or a post about some particular thing that interests them.

There are a lot of other blogs that are much more successful than this one in terms of readership and generated income, but that was never the purpose of this blog. This was and is a place to write and interact freely with people. It's a place to promote things that are good and true. There are no deadlines and no pressures to please anyone. You'll can always trust that I won't post anything until the point that I'm completely happy with it. If someone else gains any pleasure from it, it's only an added blessing of discovering that someone else appreciates something that brings me joy. It's a place for friends, and because of that it will always be a place of peace and growth for me and anyone else who wants to join in on the conversations.

I want to thank all of you who have faithfully read, commented, and encouraged me to keep writing. This 200th post is for you.

4 Dallas Willard Titles on Sale Now

If you have a Kindle or the Free Kindle App, you have an amazing opportunity to get 4 great titles written by Dallas Willard at some really great prices. You can get three of them for $3.99 each and the fourth for $1. The Spirit of the Disciplines is only $3.99. It's a #1 bestseller in Ritual Spiritual Practices, alongside Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis. The two other titles for $3.99 include his most recent books written within the last 5 years. I've read The Great Omission and Knowing Christ Today, so I can personally attest to their value. The fourth is from a paper presented by Dallas, titled Getting Love Right. You can purchase all of them by clicking the links above or the images below.

The Spirit of the Disciplines

The last command Jesus gave the church before he ascended to heaven was the Great Commission, the call for Christians to "make disciples of all the nations." But Christians have responded by making "Christians," not "disciples." This, according to brilliant scholar and renowned Christian thinker Dallas Willard, has been the church's Great Omission.

"The word disciple occurs 269 times in the New Testament," writes Willard. "Christian is found three times and was first introduced to refer precisely to disciples of Jesus. . . . The New Testament is a book about disciples, by disciples, and for disciples of Jesus Christ. But the point is not merely verbal. What is more important is that the kind of life we see in the earliest church is that of a special type of person. All of the assurances and benefits offered to humankind in the gospel evidently presuppose such a life and do not make realistic sense apart from it. The disciple of Jesus is not the deluxe or heavy-duty model of the Christian -- especially padded, textured, streamlined, and empowered for the fast lane on the straight and narrow way. He or she stands on the pages of the New Testament as the first level of basic transportation in the Kingdom of God."

Willard boldly challenges the thought that we can be Christians without being disciples, or call ourselves Christians without applying this understanding of life in the Kingdom of God to every aspect of life on earth. He calls on believers to restore what should be the heart of Christianity -- being active disciples of Jesus Christ. Willard shows us that in the school of life, we are apprentices of the Teacher whose brilliance encourages us to rise above traditional church understanding and embrace the true meaning of discipleship -- an active, concrete, 24/7 life with Jesus.

Knowing Christ Today

Dallas Willard, one of today's most brilliant Christian thinkers and author of The Divine Conspiracy (Christianity Today's 1999 Book of the Year), presents a way of living that enables ordinary men and women to enjoy the fruit of the Christian life. He reveals how the key to self-transformation resides in the practice of the spiritual disciplines, and how their practice affirms human life to the fullest. The Spirit of the Disciplines is for everyone who strives to be a disciple of Jesus in thought and action as well as intention.

The Great Omission

In prose that is both decisive and austere, Willard (The Spirit of the Disciplines)throws down the gauntlet to those in both the secular and religious realms who claim it is impossible to know Christian truths. A professor at the University of Southern California's School of Philosophy, Willard attempts to demonstrate how knowledge and faith can support each other. Arguing that the standard of knowledge is truth and proper evidence, the writer leads readers through his proofs for the existence of God, the resurrection of Jesus, God's ongoing intervention in the world and the then logical possibility of a vital spiritual practice centered on interactive life with Christ. Christian discipleship, as the author sees it, includes such crucial elements as humility, intent to be inwardly transformed, the practice of the presence of Christ and obedience. As Willard admits in his introduction, the book is a mental workout—even the questions at the end of the chapters are challenging. Woven through with the ideas of classical and contemporary philosophers, theologians and sociologists, this volume will engage readers who are willing to follow Willard on his self-assured way, and trust him as a guide. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Getting Love Right

A paper presented by Dallas Willard at the American Association of Christian Counselors conference in Nashville, TN, on September 15, 2007. Conference Theme: No Greater Love. Dr. Willard explains the importance of the Apostle Paul's teaching on love: "It is Paul who really helps us to understand the love of which Jesus and the New Testament speak. There is, needless to say, much confusion about love, and what Paul says about it, as well as his practice, can help us to get agape love—and therewith all the other “loves” of the Greek and other languages—right."

A Book to Challenge Your American Christianity - Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

I have the great privilege of working with a lot of thoughtful, scholarly people who take the command to "love God with all your mind" very seriously. That privilege also allows me to hear about the great books they are writing. I'm particularly excited to introduce to you a book that is  sure to challenge your thinking, assumptions and reasoning, wherever you stand on the issue of Christians using or defending violence to solve personal and global problems. 

If you're someone who thinks God loves America more than every other country, you need to read this book. If you're someone who always feels the need to make a case in defense of America's military actions or to justify our wars by using Scripture, you need to read this book. If you've read all the words of Jesus and still find yourself using hypothetical situations as examples to justify killing your enemies, you need to read this book. Even if you've never thought through any of the previous statements, this will be a great book to help people discuss one of the most divisive issues in American Christianity.

It probably won't turn you into a pacifist and it might not change your mind about some of the issues it addresses, but it will help you think about everything the Bible actually says about violence, war, and killing and how you can be a faithful disciple of Jesus in the way you think about and respond to those issues.

If you want to be a part of this discussion, you may pre-order a copy of Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence by Preston Sprinkle, due to come out this Summer.

An Interesting New Book I'll Be Reviewing - An Amazon Bestseller

Shortly, I will be receiving a review copy of "God's Favorite Place on Earth" by Frank Viola. The book released May 1st and stayed in the top #50 on Amazon.com for 8 straight days. There's a lot of buzz about this book on the Web, and I'll be writing a review after I read it. 

I reviewed one of his books on this blog before and I really enjoyed it. From Eternity To Here may have actually been the first book I ever reviewed on the blog, but I can't remember for sure. So, I'm looking forward to reading this one and giving my honest thoughts and opinions about it.

Here are a few interesting nuggets about the book provided by the publisher.

* It's been recommended by 47 Christian authors, including John Ortberg, Jack Hayford, Leonard Sweet, Tricia Goyer, Mary DeMuth, Greg Boyd, Todd Hunter, Jon Acuff, and many others.  

* There is an interesting video trailer for the book that introduces it.  

* The book tells the story of Jesus in the little village of Bethany and the amazing things that happened there through the eyes of Lazarus. It combines biblical narrative, dramatization, theological insights, and nonfiction devotional teaching. It argues that "Bethany" was God's Favorite Place on Earth and explains how every Christian and every church can be "Bethanys" today for God.  

* The book addresses 18 specific struggles that Christians face today and offers hope, challenge, and fresh insight. 

You can check all of this out at http://GodsFavoritePlace.com