This morning, my parent's pastor, Wayne Barber, preached on worship. I have to admit I wasn't paying much attention until he said one thing that really got me thinking. He said, "What we do here is not worship." So what is worship? According to Wayne, what comes out of our mouths and how we live our lives is our worship. In Romans 12:1-2, the Bible specifies that "our spiritual act of worship" is being a living sacrifice, not conformed to this world but transformed by God. This goes so much deeper than what we do in a church "worship service," that it makes what we do there seem shallow and trivial in comparison. This is why it doesn't really matter what kind of worship service we have. If our hearts are right before God, our lives are lived in purity, and our speech is full of thankfulness, encouragement, and praise, then when we come together as a congregation to sing, God will be honored and praised. But if we focus our hearts on ourselves, live like the world, and speak words of bitterness, complaint, and strife, our "worship service" becomes a stench in God's nostrils rather than a sweet fragrance rising to His throne.
We cannot truly worship together until we offer our hearts, our lives, and our relationships to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Him.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Phantom Island: Wind by Krissi Dallas
I chose to read this book for two reasons. First, it was written by a friend of Greg's, which made me curious. Second, it was fantasy. I am always a sucker for that. The only reason I didn't jump to read it right away was because it was self-published, and as a total book snob I tend to stay away from self-published books. However, after resisting for awhile I finally gave in and ordered my copy from Amazon. It arrived, and I managed to devour it in a few days even with the time demands of a new baby in the house, proving to myself that even Katelyn isn't strong enough to cure me of my hopeless addiction to fiction.
Wind is the first in (I assume) a four-part series. We are introduced to Whitnee Terradorra, the main character, and her two best friends, Morgan and Caleb, as they arrive at Camp Fusion where they are going to be mentors for the summer. The three met at the camp after sixth grade, have been inseparable ever since, and are now back to help troubled kids begin to find healing over the course of the summer. It is not long before Whitnee and her friends find much more than they bargained for, when they cross to the forbidden property across the river and suddenly find themselves on an Island that may or may not be a part of our world. There, they learn about life forces and prophecies, and Whitnee discovers that there is more to her life and her history than she had even guessed before. The story is full of lessons in friendship, trust, romance, and even a little magic (or at least something very like it). The ending is satisfactory, although there are plenty of ends left to pick up in the next book: Water. Like any good fan, I am now eagerly awaiting the next installment.
In spite of my snobbery when it comes to writing quality, I was favorably impressed with this book. Krissi writes very well, and I was completely caught up in the story after just a few chapters. One of my major issues with self-published books is the frequent and unfortunate lack of editing. Although Wind could have benefited from a little more polish, it did not suffer for the lack of it. I never had the unpleasant but all too frequent experience of being distracted by the story because of the writing which I've felt even while reading traditionally published fiction. Take Mercedes Lackey and Terry Brooks, for example. Mercedes Lackey is a good enough storyteller to almost make up for the fact that she sometimes writes poorly and apparently has a lousy editor, and Terry Brooks is just annoying. But I digress...
Altogether, I thought Wind was a well-written, imaginative, and engaging piece of youth fiction. It is pretty light-hearted, not too dark but not all cotton candy and rainbows, either. The world-crafting is excellent, the pace is good, there is some enjoyable humor and definitely plenty of conflict, mystery, and teen angst. I definitely recommend it for fans of the genre, and wish the author the best of luck in her future endeavors.
Wind is the first in (I assume) a four-part series. We are introduced to Whitnee Terradorra, the main character, and her two best friends, Morgan and Caleb, as they arrive at Camp Fusion where they are going to be mentors for the summer. The three met at the camp after sixth grade, have been inseparable ever since, and are now back to help troubled kids begin to find healing over the course of the summer. It is not long before Whitnee and her friends find much more than they bargained for, when they cross to the forbidden property across the river and suddenly find themselves on an Island that may or may not be a part of our world. There, they learn about life forces and prophecies, and Whitnee discovers that there is more to her life and her history than she had even guessed before. The story is full of lessons in friendship, trust, romance, and even a little magic (or at least something very like it). The ending is satisfactory, although there are plenty of ends left to pick up in the next book: Water. Like any good fan, I am now eagerly awaiting the next installment.
In spite of my snobbery when it comes to writing quality, I was favorably impressed with this book. Krissi writes very well, and I was completely caught up in the story after just a few chapters. One of my major issues with self-published books is the frequent and unfortunate lack of editing. Although Wind could have benefited from a little more polish, it did not suffer for the lack of it. I never had the unpleasant but all too frequent experience of being distracted by the story because of the writing which I've felt even while reading traditionally published fiction. Take Mercedes Lackey and Terry Brooks, for example. Mercedes Lackey is a good enough storyteller to almost make up for the fact that she sometimes writes poorly and apparently has a lousy editor, and Terry Brooks is just annoying. But I digress...
Altogether, I thought Wind was a well-written, imaginative, and engaging piece of youth fiction. It is pretty light-hearted, not too dark but not all cotton candy and rainbows, either. The world-crafting is excellent, the pace is good, there is some enjoyable humor and definitely plenty of conflict, mystery, and teen angst. I definitely recommend it for fans of the genre, and wish the author the best of luck in her future endeavors.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson
Well in case you haven't noticed, I haven't posted anything since my verdict on the Twilight Saga. That's because I haven't read anything other than articles on digital imaging since I read the Twilight Saga. My class on digital imaging is absolutely not one of my favorite things, so I won't mention it again! But between it and getting ready for the arrival of the Dukeling (now only a month or so away!), I haven't had many opportunities to read for pleasure. Normally, I don't read non-fiction if I can help it, so this is definitely a notable occasion.
Greg and I are fans of Craig Ferguson. I really can't explain why. He's got a dirty mind and a filthy mouth and he certainly does not share many of our beliefs and values, but he has at least two things going for him: he's brilliant and he's Scottish. I'm not sure how funny he really is, but things just seem to sound funnier with a Scottish accent. We started watching his show because we watched Dave (I liked him at the time, but I'm over him now) and sometimes we would just leave the TV on and stay up too late. During the most recent election, shortly after he had become a naturalized citizen, Craig delivered a few passionate monologues on patriotism and voting that really won me over. Then he started playing with puppets, and I was hooked. So now we DVR his show every night and usually watch it the next night instead of Dave.
Greg checked out American on Purpose, Craig's autobiography, from the library. After he finished it, he handed it to me and told me that it was a fast read and that I'd enjoy it. I did. I did not enjoy some of the language - Craig is particularly fond of the f-word - but I was fascinated by the story and by the fact that this dude who left school at sixteen is as brilliant a writer as he is a comedian and late night host. Of course, he does read extensively, and I always say that avid readers are generally not stupid.
Greg was right: this book is a fast read. I'm not sure whether it's entirely true and accurate, but it is certainly an interesting story. I suppose it's a fairly typical Hollywood story - alcohol, drugs, women, failures and successes - but he tells it in a witty, cynical style that is easy to get caught up in. His story of coming from a lower class Scottish family to achieving fame and fortune in America, while working through all kinds of sordid stuff, is pretty interesting. But woven through it all is this philosophy, this idea that America really is the greatest country in the world, and that ultimately his life is about becoming a part of this country. Craig Ferguson may be an unlikely patriot, but he somehow manages to be an inspiring one.
Greg and I are fans of Craig Ferguson. I really can't explain why. He's got a dirty mind and a filthy mouth and he certainly does not share many of our beliefs and values, but he has at least two things going for him: he's brilliant and he's Scottish. I'm not sure how funny he really is, but things just seem to sound funnier with a Scottish accent. We started watching his show because we watched Dave (I liked him at the time, but I'm over him now) and sometimes we would just leave the TV on and stay up too late. During the most recent election, shortly after he had become a naturalized citizen, Craig delivered a few passionate monologues on patriotism and voting that really won me over. Then he started playing with puppets, and I was hooked. So now we DVR his show every night and usually watch it the next night instead of Dave.
Greg checked out American on Purpose, Craig's autobiography, from the library. After he finished it, he handed it to me and told me that it was a fast read and that I'd enjoy it. I did. I did not enjoy some of the language - Craig is particularly fond of the f-word - but I was fascinated by the story and by the fact that this dude who left school at sixteen is as brilliant a writer as he is a comedian and late night host. Of course, he does read extensively, and I always say that avid readers are generally not stupid.
Greg was right: this book is a fast read. I'm not sure whether it's entirely true and accurate, but it is certainly an interesting story. I suppose it's a fairly typical Hollywood story - alcohol, drugs, women, failures and successes - but he tells it in a witty, cynical style that is easy to get caught up in. His story of coming from a lower class Scottish family to achieving fame and fortune in America, while working through all kinds of sordid stuff, is pretty interesting. But woven through it all is this philosophy, this idea that America really is the greatest country in the world, and that ultimately his life is about becoming a part of this country. Craig Ferguson may be an unlikely patriot, but he somehow manages to be an inspiring one.
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