Advent 2011: Grace Upon Grace

I have lots of pictures and things to share with you about Fall and the Thanksgiving season around our place, but since today marks the beginning of the Advent season I wanted to get the Advent Readings posted for this year.  I am using the readings given in the promotional materials for the Common English Bible.  If you missed my original post introducing this new translation of the Bible, you can see it HERE.   

I will also be giving away another copy of the CEB, softcover edition, soon.  Keep checking back for your chance to win!  The winner of last week's giveaway was Marial Davenport who blogs over at Growing in Godliness.

Advent Readings for 2011

Nov. 27 -           Micah 5:2,   Isaiah 11:1-10/7:10-14 ,  9:6-7,  Jeremiah 33:14-16

Nov. 28 -           Matthew 1:18-24 and Luke 1:26-33                   

Nov. 29 -           Luke 2:1-5

Nov. 30              Luke 2:6-7                                                                                       

Dec. 1 -              Luke 2:8-9                                                                                       

Dec. 2 -              Luke 2:10-12                                                                                 

Dec. 3 -              Luke 2:13-14                                                                                 

Dec. 4 -              Luke 2:15-16,  Psalm 25:1-10/27:1-7,18-19,

Dec. 5 -              Luke 2:17-18                                                                                 

Dec. 6 -              Luke 2:19                                                                             

Dec. 7 -              Luke 2:20                                                                                                                

Dec. 8 -              Luke 2:21                                                                             

Dec. 9 -              Matthew 2:1-2                                                                              

Dec. 10              Matthew 2:3-6                                                                              

Dec. 11 -           Matthew 2:7-8,  1Thess. 3:9-13, Romans 15:4-13,  Matt. 1:18-25, Luke 1:26-38

Dec. 12 -           Matthew 2:9                                                                                   

Dec. 13 -           Matthew 2:10-11                                                                        

Dec. 14 -           Matthew 2:12-15

Dec. 15 -           Galatians 4:4-5

Dec. 16 -           Ephesians 2:8-9                                                                          

Dec. 17 -           1 John 4:7-16                                                                               

Dec. 18 -           Ephesians 2:12-22 ,   Matt. 3:1-12,  Luke 21:25-36

Dec. 19 -           John 7:37-38 and 14:6

Dec. 20 -           Matthew 28:19-20

Dec. 21 -           John 8:12

Dec. 22 -           John 9:4-5 and Matthew 5:14-16

Dec. 23 -           Psalm 98:1-6

Dec. 24 -           John 1:1-3, 14 and Romans 6:23

Dec. 25             Psalm 100/Rev. 3:20-21

I hope you will join me in preparing your heart during this Christmas season by focusing on Immanuel, God with us! 

"The Word became flesh and made His home among us.  We have seen His glory, glory like that of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.  From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace."  John 1:14,16  CEB

Blessings,
Jennifer

Jesus + Nothing = EVERYTHING

*DON'T FORGET TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE TRANSLATION AND ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A SOFTCOVER COPY BY GOING HERE.

William Graham Tullian Tchividjian (pronounced cha-vi-jin) is a Florida native, the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, a visiting professor of theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, and a grandson of Billy and Ruth Graham. A graduate of Columbia International University (philosophy) and Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Tullian is the author of Do I Know God? Finding Certainty in Life’s Most Important Relationship (Multnomah), Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different (Multnomah) and Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels (Crossway). Tullian is also a contributing editor to Leadership Journal. He speaks at conferences throughout the U.S. and his sermons are broadcast daily on the radio program Godward Living.  Some of his favorite authors are C.S. Lewis, J.I. Packer, Francis Schaeffer and Jonathan Edwards.

 The very generous folks at Crossway sent me a copy of Pastor Tullian's latest book Jesus + Nothing = Everything for the purpose of review.  In the book Tullian tells a little of his intense struggle to merge his five year old church plant, New City Church with Coral Ridge Presbyterian after being called as the Senior Pastor there.  In reference to this time (2009), Pastor Tullian says it was "the most difficult year of my life, the year God helped me rediscover the now-power of the gospel in the crucible of excruciating pain".  Not only was Pastor Tullian following in the footsteps of Coral Ridge's only Senior Pastor (Dr. D. James Kennedy) and merging two very different congregations, but his father Stephen was dying of cancer.  In God's bountiful grace toward Tullian during this time, He opened up the rich gospel truths in the book of Colossians which would serve as a healing balm to the wounds suffered in this most dark time of life.

In Jesus + Nothing = Everything, Pastor Tullian takes a look at the equation in reverse order beginning with the everything we all so deeply desire in our lives.  I believe that message is summed up beautifully in a quote from Pastor Tullian's invitation to his new congregation just one day after being formally installed as senior pastor of the newly combined church on May 10, 2009:

"I believe this one new church will thrive beyond anything we could ever ask or imagine if it's packed with gospel-intoxicated people:  people who understand that since Christ laid his life down for us, we must lay our lives down for others...A gospel-saturated church is a church filled with people who give everything they have because they understand that in Christ they already have everything they need."

Tullian spends the rest of the book sharing through his observations of truths in Colossians that "the gospel doesn't simply rescue us from the past and rescue us for the future; it also rescues us in the present" and "the power of the gospel is just as necessary and relevant after you become a Christian as it is before".  Throughout his powerful exposition of the book of Colossians, Pastor Tullian asks his reader some very probing questions such as:

• Are you experiencing any restlessness in your life anywhere?
• Where exactly am I experiencing agitation, impatience, unease, anxiety?  Why is it there?  What's that really all about?
•  What are you looking to (instead of Jesus) for meaning in life, for purpose, significance, security, direction, acceptance, approval?

He goes on to offer this exhortation:

"Identify where your restlessness is rooted - because that's where a confrontation with the gospel is needed."

A confrontation with the gospel is exactly what Tullian experienced and he offers his readers the same in Jesus + Nothing = Everything.  Crossway offers supplemental chapter videos from Pastor Tullian that can be found at www.crossway.org/jesusplusnothing.  Here is Tullian introducing the powerful equation in his book:

Jesus + Nothing = Everything: Intro from Crossway on Vimeo.


You can order Jesus + Nothing = Everything from Crossway by going HERE.

I encourage you to get a copy of this book.  All this world offers is a restlessness that is never really satisfied, but as Pastor Tullian reminds us in the closing of the book,

"The banner under which Christians live reads, 'It is finished.' "

Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving,

Common English Bible

A few weeks ago, our church had a missions emphasis weekend.  We had two missionary couples visiting with us; one couple who are presently serving in Gent, Belgium and another couple who had formerly served in China.  Gib Gerlach, who presently serves on staff with the International Mission Board, spoke in our services that particular Sunday night about he and his wife's time in China and his work now with the IMB.  Of all the things he shared about "going" on mission, whether it's 8,000 miles away or 80 feet into the yard next to yours, one thing he shared touched me deeply.

He shared that 2,500 people groups still do not have Bibles in their native languages.

That's 2,500 people groups who can't read God's word, because they don't have it translated into their own language!  And many who do have a Bible in their language can't read it, because of illiteracy.

We are so blessed in the Western world to have Bibles in many different translations.  I don't know for sure, but I'd be willing to bet that you have multiple copies of God's Word in your house.  I do in mine!  So, you might ask, "Why another version of the Bible when we already have so many?"  I ask that same question myself!  It is for that very reason that I was interested in being part of the "Thank You-Come Again- I Promise" Blog Tour for the Common English Bible.

Beginning this week, which happens to be National Bible Week, and over the course of the next three months, I will be taking a look at the Common English Bible.  I hope you will join me as I examine this new translation of the Bible.  Because God's Word is not to be treated lightly, I will be consulting with my husband (also Associate Pastor of our church) as well as the Senior Pastor and group of Elders as I look at this translation.  Besides the website for the CEB, here are several other places where you can learn more about this new translation:

• Twitter 

• Facebook Group Page 

• Facebook Bible Like Page

Common English Bible Translation Background:
Known for being "built on common ground", the CEB is a collaboration of 120 academic scholars and editors, 77 reading group leaders, and more than 500 average readers from around the world who joined together to clearly translate the Bible's original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages into 21st century English.  More than half-a-million copies of the Bible are currently in print.  It's also available online and in 20 digital formats.
"When we say 'built on common ground', we mean that the Common English Bible is the result of collaboration between opposites: scholars working with average readers; conservatives working with liberals; teens working with retirees; men working with women; many denominations and many ethnicities coming together around the common goal of creating a vibrant and clear translation for 21st century readers, with the ultimate objective of mutually accomplishing God's overall work in the world; in essence, helping Bible readers live on common ground, " says Paul Franklyn, PhD, associate publisher for the Common English Bible.
The CEB is written in contemporary idiom at the same reading level as the newspaper USA Today - using language that's comfortable and accessible for today's English readers.  It's available - with and without the Apocrypha - in multiple editions and bindings.
Combining scholarly accuracy with vivid language, the CEB is the work of 120 biblical scholars from 24 denominations in American, African, Asian, European, and Latino communities, representing such academic institutions as Asbury Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, Bethel Seminary, Denver Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Seattle Pacific University, Wheaton College, Yale University, and many others.
Additionally, more than 500 readers in 77 groups field tested the translation.  Every verse was read aloud in the reading groups, where potentially confusing passages were identified.  The translators considered the groups' responses and, where necessary, reworked those passages to clarify in modern English their meaning from the original languages.  In total, more than 700 people worked jointly to bring the Common English Bible to fruition; and because of the Internet and today's technology it was completed in less than four years.
The CEB is sponsored by the CEB Committee, an alliance of five publishers that serve the general market, as well as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) (Chalice Press), Presbyterian Church (USA) (Westminister John Knox Press), Episcopal Church (Church Publishing, Inc.), United Church of Christ (The Pilgrim Press), and the United Methodist Church (Abingdon Press).

If  you are interested in the Common English Bible and would like a copy to examine for yourself, leave a comment to this post telling me what version of the Bible you are currently studying/reading from and I will pick a winner on Friday!  Be sure to leave me your email address so I can contact you if you win.  If you are chosen, you will be sent a softcover copy of the Common English Bible.  But don't fret if you don't win this week!  As part of this blog tour I will be giving away a softcover copy of the CEB EACH WEEK for the duration of the tour.  So, come back each week for your chance to win!

"Since childhood you have known the holy scriptures that help you to be wise in a way that leads to salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus.  Every scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good."  2 Timothy 3:15-17  (CEB)

Blessings,

Abundant Life Day Book

I received a copy of Abundant Life Day Book by Nancy Guthrie for the purpose of review from Tyndale.

Abundant Life Day Book is a collection of 365 readings by Guthrie designed to take you through the Bible, inviting you to savor the abundant goodness God intends for you to experience and enjoy through Christ.  Each day you'll be reminded of yet another way God has loved you and will still be loving you into eternity. 

Nancy teaches at Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, TN; speaks at conferences around the country and internationally; and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Covenant Theological Seminary.  She and her husband, David, are the cohosts GriefShare, a video series used in more than 6,000 churches around the country.  They also host Respite Retreats for couples who have experienced the death of a child. 

Nancy is the author of numerous books including one I'm using this Advent Season, Come Thou Long Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas.

You can connect with Nancy on FaceBook by going HERE and can read more about her at her personal website found at nancyguthrie.com.

The readings in the Abundant Life Day Book are written as if God is speaking directly to you each day.  For an example go HERE to read a few excerpts.  The scripture used in the readings are taken primarily from the New Living Translation of the Bible.  The book itself is small enough to be carried in a purse and is a beautiful black and lime green color scheme. 

If you are looking for a Christmas gift that will last the whole year long, the Abundant Life Day Book would be an excellent choice!  It can be ordered at Amazon.com by going HERE.

Blessings, 

Why I May Not Be Able To Read Another Karen Kingsbury Novel

She has been dubbed "The Queen of Christian Fiction" by Time magazine and has written more than forty life-changing fiction titles.  She has nearly twenty million books in print.  She lives with her husband Don in the Pacific Northwest and are parents to six children, including three adopted from Haiti.  Her name is Karen Kingsbury and I may never be able to read another one of her books!

Waterbrook Multnomah sent me a copy of Karen's Forever Faithful Trilogy, which includes three books:  Waiting for Morning, A Moment of Weakness, and Halfway to Forever as part of their Blogging for Books program.  After reading the Forever Faithful Trilogy, I may never be able to read another Kingsbury novel!

Why you ask?  Because this woman is an absolute genius and a master story teller!  Her characters are believable and their stories are emotionally gripping.  When I turned the last page of the last book in this trilogy, I was not ready to let Hannah, Tom, Alicia, Jenny, Matt, Jade, Doris, and Tanner go.  From the first few paragraphs of the first book Waiting for Morning, I was hooked!  I found myself involved in the story so much so that when I forced myself to stop reading at night, I went to bed wondering about the outcome of the lives I was reading about as if they were true to life friends.

SYNOPSIS OF EACH BOOK IN THE FOREVER FAITHFUL TRILOGY:
Waiting for Morning   A drunk driver...a deadly accident...a dream destroyed.  When Hannah Ryan loses her husband and oldest daughter to a drunk driver, she is consumed with hate and revenge.  Ultimately, it is a kind prosecutor, a wise widow, and her husband's dying words that bring her the peace that will set her free and let her live again.A Moment of Weakness
   When childhood friends Jade and Tanner reunite as adults, they share their hearts, souls, and dreams of forever--until a fateful decision tears them apart.  Now, nearly a decade later, Jade's unfaithful husband wants to destroy her in a custody battle that is about to send shock waves across the United States.  Only one man can help Jade in her darkest hour.  And only one old woman knows the truth that can set them all free. 
Halfway to Forever
   Matt and Hannah...Jade and Tanner--after already surviving much, these couples must now face the greatest struggles of their lives: parental losses and life-threatening illness threaten to derail their faith and sideline their futures.  Can Hannah survive the loss of an adopted daughter?  Will Tanner come through decades of lonliness only to face losing Jade one final time?

You can read the first chapter of Waiting for Morning by going HERE, but be warned:  After reading this chapter, you WILL want to get this series!  You won't be able to help yourself!

I may find it hard to read another Karen Kingsbury novel, because I absolutely do not know how she can possibly top the story given in this series of books!  I'm afraid I'll be disappointed in any other Christian Fiction book after reading this one!

You can order your copy of the book by going to the publisher's page HERE or from Amazon.com by going HERE. 

Ms Kingsbury's website can be found at KarenKingsbury.com.

*Thank you Waterbrook Multnomah for sending me a copy of the book and thank you Grace Postorino for introducing me to the best Christian Fiction writer I have ever read!!

Please take a minute and rate this review for me!  If you do, you will be entered in a chance to get a free copy of the book from the publisher!

Blessings,

The Power of a Simple Gift: Operation Christmas Child

Each year in November, the ladies in my church get together for our Holiday House.  Different women offer to decorate a table and we have a nice dinner which consists of ham and yummy sided dishes and desserts provided by those who attend.  Here are some of the tables this year:

(That's my oldest daughter, Cecily.  She does the table for the youth/children.)

(Tunis and her table.)

(Wilmarie and her table.  Wilmarie and her husband Ryan work with our youth.)

(Sharon and her beautiful silver and black table.)

There were two others, but I failed to get a picture!  Sorry Karen and Leslie!

This year we had Lucy Long speak for the event.  She and her husband John are IMB missionaries in Gent, Belgium.  Our youth have adopted them as their class missionary and have committed to pray regularly for them as they carry out their work in Belgium.  Cecily (my daughter) is the class contact for the Longs.  

The main purpose for our Holiday House event (and the part of the evening everyone enjoys the best) is packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child.  If you are unfamiliar with OCC, it is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse.  You can read more about this amazing ministry HERE.  

I wish you could experience the excitement in the room when it is time to begin packing the boxes!  It is so encouraging seeing the joy everyone takes in such a simple task.

One thing that always strikes me at this event is the way these simple boxes unify such different people.  You have older ladies packing boxes beside youth girls and children.  Imagine a room full of ladies focused, not on outfits and handbags and shoes matching those handbags, but on preparing a box full of simple gifts that will be the delight of some child somewhere in another country.

One thing that OCC has made possible in packing the shoe boxes is a way of making personal contact with the child that receives the box you pack.  Mostly our children and youth do this.  OCC provides a paper where the person packing the box can write a little about themselves even including a picture if they want along with their address.

I was so excited to have a next door neighbor to me and her daughter attend Holiday House with me this year.  Anna and her mom Sandy worked on one of these personal contact forms together for Anna to include in the box she packed.

Anna and her Operation Christmas Child Box.

I didn't notice this particular detail about the picture above until I was uploading it for this blog post.  But do you see it?

"Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven"

That's what makes the task of packing these shoe boxes take on such significance.  We are blessed to be forgiven of our sins by a compassionate and long suffering Savior.  These boxes and the potential impact they have on a young life is just the beginning of many ways we can share with someone else about this amazing gift of grace that we have freely received.

If you have about 5 spare minutes, please watch this video.  It tells the story after the box and God can use a simple gift:

Blessings on you and your family this Thanksgiving and Christmas season,

Hope Underground

* I am so happy to have my computer back and working again!  We had to have a new power source put in.  I've got so many pictures to show you from our trip to LegoLand, our fall festival and our ladies' Holiday House.  I'll try to get caught up on all that tomorrow, so come back to visit and see all the fun we've been having!

Audra Jennings with the B&B Media Group sent me a copy of Hope Underground:  The 34 Chilean Miners - A Story of Faith and Miracles by Carlos Parra Diaz for the purpose of review.  Pastor Parra and his wife Gloria live with their two children in Asuncion, Paraguay, where he serves as regional pastor and missionary.  He was known as the chaplain of Camp Hope during the 2010 mine collapse that trapped 33 miners a half mile underground for 69 days at the San Jose Mine in the middle of the Atacama Desert.

You can visit hopeunderground.com and find links to watch the book trailer and read an excerpt from the book.

An Interview with Carlos Parra Diaz:
Q.  In Hope Underground, you mention several instances that suggest God's intervention.  Did you personally experience God's presence while there and, if so, how did it affect you?
"This recognition of divine intervention throughout the entire process of the rescue has been the consistent perspective of the miners, their families, the rescue personnel and millions around the world.  For myself, I had always believed that God is real, a living God who chooses to be close to those who love Him.  But during my weeks at Camp Hope, I experienced for myself just how real God is and how deeply He loves the human beings He has created.  And how directly involved He is in the daily lives of His children."
Q.  You made the decision to present the miners with a special gift while they were trapped in the mine.  Could you tell us a little about that?
"Yes.  I had already presented Bibles to each of the families at Camp Hope, but I wanted to do more.  In my mind was the thought that a Bible would be one way I could help the miners in the prolonged wait facing them.  The comfort of God's Word and His promises could help the miners bear up under the various physical, emotional or spiritual difficulties that were bound to appear.  I received the necessary permission to send Bibles down tot he men but was told that each one had to be less than three inches wide because of the narrow size of the shaft used in sending items down tot he miners.  It took some time, but we ere finally able to find a supplier of such tiny Bibles and had them shipped to us.  When we received word that such small Bibles had been found, I sent up a prayer of heartfelt thanksgiving.  Along with each Bible, we sent down a small magnifying glass with which to read the small print."
Q.  What lessons in faith can be learned from the mine collapse?
"God was able to get our attention and call humanity back to Himself.  Through the miracle of the San Jose Mine rescue, witnessed by people all over the world through the media, God has issued a call to His creation, every human being, to make a decision while there is still time to do so.  Jesus Christ laid down His life on the cross as a substitute for sinful humanity, as a guarantee of salvation and eternal life, free of charge, to anyone who will receive this precious gift.  By reminding the world of His reality and His love, even in the depths of San Jose Mine, God is once again offering every human being the opportunity to make a very simple decision:  Will you follow God?  Or will you reject Him?  For most people, this spectacular rescue is already yesterday's news.  However, for the millions who prayed for a miracle, this event has become a spiritual heritage for the whole world, a stirring reminder that God listens to the pleas of His children."

I would encourage you to read this moving account by Pastor Parra.  You'll be introduced to the declared "mayor" of Camp Hope, the miner whose wife gave birth to their first child during the ten week ordeal and the youngest miner who to this day boldly insists there were 34 in the mine instead of 33, because, as he explained, "God never abandoned us."

The book is well written and full of reminders that our God is a God Who Sees and cares for His creation.  You can order your copy at Amazon.com by going HERE.

Blessings,