I am not, but I know I am

Book 8: I am not, but I know I am

Read this! If you think you're big, important and capable to take on the world on your own ... this is the book for you! It will show you how big God is. He's just amazing and we're very, very, very, very small. It is incredible to see how vast and immeasurable He is. Giglio's writing style is pretty simple (I didn't love it honestly). BUT, if you can get past the cliches ... it really has a good affect. (I, at some moments questioned if I could get past them.)

It's not on my top reading list, but it will teach you a lot ... if you don't have any other book waiting for you.

Nickel and Dimed

Book 7: Nickel and Dimed

This was a great story for anyone to read. A woman decided to put her education, experience and resources aside and see how possible it is to live on low-wage jobs. She met an assortment of people and faced incredible eye-opening situations. It showed her how to face the world like the average lower-middle class woman might.

Definitely read this story if you have a passion or desire for working in the US society towards social change, or working with social systems in our country. It's a good basic and quick read. I'm glad I read it!

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Book 6: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

This was a required novel for one of my courses, but in the same breath, I read it, so it counts as one of my 12 books for the year!

This story is of a Hmong family whose culture and understanding of the world differs much from a California hospital that is treating her daughter for a form of epilepsy. The author gives much background knowledge to the culture and general history of the Hmong people and helps you see the reasons why they believe what they do and live how they live. It is amazing to look at the world from this perspective.

It was crazy to see the ways that cultural misunderstandings can affect interactions, relationships, and even life itself. I encourage you to read it if you have a large passion for unique people groups out of this country or if you're curious to know more about other faiths. The library has many copies. :)

The Hiding Place

Book 5: The Hiding Place

This story was another one of my summer reads. It is the kind of book that your mom gives you at age ten and tells you it will change your life. And now, at 25, I decided to read it.

Set in Europe, Corrie Ten Boom shares her life story being molded by God as she and her family led a huge rebellion against the Nazis, by hiding and caring for Jewish people during the Holocaust. Her family is imprisoned at a concentration camp and they are used and transformed by God. Somehow she had a bible through almost the entirety of her years spent in the camps. Many died in her family, but Corrie lived on to tell her story to us!

Here's one peice about a night at one of the camps:

"There were services like no others, these times in Barracks 28. A single meeting night might include a recital of the Magnificat in Latin by a group of Roman Catholics, a whispered hymn by some Lutherans, and a sotto-voce chant by Eastern-Orthodox women. With each moment the crowd around us would swell, packing the nearby platforms, hanging over the edges, until the high structures groaned and swayed.

At last either Betsie or I would open the Bible. Because only the Hollanders could understand the Dutch text we would translate aloud in German. And then we would hear the life-giving words passed back along the aisles in French, Polish, Russian, Czech, back into Dutch. They were little previews of heaven, these evenings beneath the light-bulb. I would think of Haarlem, each substantial church set behind its wrought-iron fence and its barrier of doctrine. And I would know again that in darkness God's truth shines most clear."

The book describes God's crazy provisions and so many amazing insights on how those persecuted, abused and even put to death praised God until the end.

One part of the story is regularly on my mind ... Corrie and her sister were imprisoned at the same camp for quite some time. She describes how her sister got to a point in her days, in her words and conversations ... where there was no transition from her words, her vocal thoughts and her prayers. And that is such an incredible concept to me. What does it mean to pray fluidly in your words? (To a non-creepy extent.)

The story was incredible, read it if you like to read stories of others' lives.

Serve God, Save the Planet

Book 4: Serve God, Save the Planet

This was one of my summer reads. It transformed the way I look at the world. First, I believed I was very conscious about the affects we were having on the earth. However this author had an incredible amount of facts, some incredible real stories of things he has seen as well as some great illustrations.

One that is powerful is imagining the history of people as a twelve month calendar. January 1st stands for 8000 BC. Each "day" represents 27 years. December 31st on represents the year 2000 AD. In July, people start writing, building libraries, and using iron tools. In September, Christ lives, dies and is resurrected. By December 24th 98% of all human history has passed and humanity reaches the 1 billion mark. On December 29th, we reached 2 billion. We add another billion on the 30th and during the 31st we add 3 billion more.

He goes on to describe population growth in relation to the earth and it is simply eye-opening. I was most challenged by the fact that energy is to be valued and kept, as it is not endless. That seems like a simple truth. But, now I know it in my mind, purpose and heart.

This book is for anyone who lives on this earth. It will open your eyes and you will at least change a few things about your lifestyle at the end, I don't think there is a way that you couldn't! And honestly I had a really hard time putting it down.

Intercession

Book 3: Intercession, Thrilling and Fulfilling

This book is a collection of inspirational instruction and true stories of how to pray for those around us, and in the midst be transformed by our LIVING God. Chapters are listed as titles like, Praying for Our Friends, Spiritual Warfare, Are You Prepared, etc. The author is an older, traditional woman who has worked for YWAM - and she has seen the power of God and has no fear when it comes to calling for it.

I was the most challenged by two chapters, one called How Far Will We Go? and the other titled, How Big is Your Vision? It was huge to be forced to see how little I walk out to sacrifice in prayer. Would I sacrifice everything, everyone, myself?

Read this book if you struggle with how to begin praying for people, situations or the world around you. A good friend gave this to me awhile back and it has been sitting on my shelf waiting for me since. When I started reading it, I called her and said, I cannot believe that I waited this long to pick it up! Much of it is instructional towards the end, and if you have a subscription to Pray Magazine (don't laugh), then you may not get too many new ideas from the last quarter of the book.

But, I recommend this for anyone who wants to grow closer to God's heart for the world.

Red Moon Rising

Book 2: Red Moon Rising

What an incredible book. It has officially been added to my most-inspiring reads (not that I actually have a written list). BUT, this is a book that I would recommend to anyone, anytime, anywhere. In the 1990s some people throughout Europe were drawn to start a prayer meeting that would run 24 hours a day. A vision was created for an army of people to rise in our world, to connect with God through prayer. This expanded to thousands all over the world, and now there are several locations of rotating 24-7 prayer.

There is a small village in Germany where they prayed 24 hours a day, for 100 years in the 1700’s. This town was a starting off point for the 24-7 people to see the way God changes and controls things (It really instills a sense of how huge God is and causes an overwhelming holy fear of God). The true stories were overwhelmingly beautiful and surprisingly shocking. Something that was incredible was that wherever these meetings were happening, big cities, small towns, warehouses, nightclubs ... people from all over would come, people who knew God, people who refused God, people who didn’t even believe He was there ... all in hopes of being prayed for or praying. They all saw a need and they couldn't ignore the ways that God was moving. This words in this book hold power. You may cry in every chapter (as I did), you may be inspired to walk out and obey all of Gods commands (or try), and most of all you WILL be inspired to be intentional about praying for the area, for people around you, and for divine restlessness. I have had this book for years and I cannot believe it took me this long to pick it up and actually read it through! Do it.

24-7 Prayer

A Case for Christ

Yes, my goal is to read a book a month in 2008. And yes, it is April and I have only finished one. But, it doesn't mean I can't catch up! Have hope.

Book 1: A Case for Christ

For anyone who knows who Jesus is, doesn't think he exists, is in love with Him, or for those who have never heard his name ... they should read this book. It is an easy read, but depending on your history and biblical study it may be a lot of information to take in with just a few sittings.

I picked it up as a result of a plea on my heart to understand the depths of who Christ is, how He is really God, and what His years on earth miraculously looked like.

The chapters are outlined as several tough questions commonly asked about Christ. Strobel interviews scholars in that specific arena of study. Questions and answers and thousands of thoughts are touched on. I learned new significant things about scripture, history and my own faith as I read.

It is an apologetics book written from a skeptic perspective ... and honestly if you go into the reading with the idea that the author is going to prove to you intellectually that Christ is all that He is, you're probably not going to get what you want. I think the Spirit has to intervene and allow that mystery and crazy reality to be foundational truth in our minds, at least for me that is how it is. But, there are definitely many truths explained that will grow your unshakeable belief in who Jesus is.

And isn't that what is desired, to grow to a place where our faith in Christ is immovable, unshakeable? I think one of the paragraphs at the end of the book really went back to what grounds me, confidence in his truth through his real movement in each of our lives ... the undeniable truth that we have seen so evidently. It makes things clearly immovable.

I encourage you to read it.