Empty Promises by Pete Wilson

I’m excited today because a new book by Pete Wilson is being released!

Empty Promises is a book about each of us, about how we look for satisfaction and fulfillment in all sorts of places, and how we become disappointed and dejected when those people and things do not meet our deepest needs.

I don’t know about you guys, but I can definitely relate to this subject.  So often we look for something to fill a void – we know something isn’t the way we think it’s supposed to be and we are convinced that if we could just get that one thing we know we are missing, everything would be great.  What we overlook during our search, though, is the truth that we will never be satisfied as long as we look to anyone and anything other than God to fulfill us.

This trailer can explain the book better than I can:

{If you are reading this in email, you may need to click over to the blog to watch the video.}

I wrote previously about Pete’s first best-seller, Plan B and what an impact it had on my life, so I am anxious to begin reading Empty Promises.  Barry pre-ordered it and it should be arriving on my Kindle today!

You can find out more about Empty Promises from these sources:

• Pete’s Blog
• Amazon.com

Have a wonderful Tuesday!
♥ Rachel

What Do You Think About Christian Celebrities?

I’m shifting gears today.  I’m just not in the mood to think or write about cancer at the moment.  I just need a break from it.  I want to think and write and talk about something different, something completely non-cancer related.

I recently read a post on Mary DeMuth’s blog titled “I don’t want to be a celebrity.”  Mary is a well-known author of such books as The Muir House, Thin Places: A Memoir, and Beautiful Battle.  The title of the blog post caught my attention because I thought to myself, “well, Mary, you are a bit of a celebrity, but a very humble one at that.”

Mary asked:

What about you? What’s the problem with Christian celebrity? Why do we gravitate toward the spectacular? What advice would you give me to not succumb to fame’s lure?

And this was my response:

I think we gravitate toward the spectacular because somewhere in our minds we believe that Christian celebrities have it all together – they’ve got it all figured out (when truthfully most of them will fully admit they are just as in need of God’s grace as the rest of us). We believe that by associating with them or trying to mimic their behavior, we can become “holy” as they seem to be. What we forget is that we are often only seeing the good side, the up side, the “on” side of them. We don’t see their daily struggles and frustrations. We don’t hear their fears and their tear-stained conversations with God. We just see the polish and shine and wish that some of it would rub off on us so we could be better Christians. There’s also a little bit of jealousy in there – we want to be known they way they are known, welcomed the way they are embraced by so many, and admired by hundreds and thousands of people. We want to feel significant, like them. If only we could all accept that we ARE known by the only ONE who truly matters and our significance comes from being a child of the King! :)

Dictionary.com defines celebrity as “a famous or well-known person.”  But the term celebrity does not necessarily have a positive connotation, especially in our current culture.  When we hear celebrity, we think of movie stars who make millions and wind up bankrupt, singers and musicians who die much too young from poor life choices, and the rich and famous who live lives of ridiculous excess.

In the Christian world, just saying christian and celebrity at the same time seems to create a bit of discomfort.  Maybe that’s because it feels like an oxymoron.  I can think of numerous people who, in my opinion, would probably fall into the category of christian “celebrity”: Andy Stanley, Beth Moore, Pete Wilson, Lysa TerKeurst, and let’s not forget the truly wonderful Billy Graham.  But I bet none of these people – just like Mary DeMuth- want to be considered a celebrity.  In fact, they probably run from the title because that’s not why they do what they do.  They don’t want the attention to be on them, they want it to be on God.

I am a little bit curious, though, why do YOU think we are so enthralled with celebrities, especially christian ones.  Do you think we, in some ways, begin to idolize them and put them in a position of importance that only God should hold?  Do we want to be like them with these “glamorous” lives that seem so perfect on the outside?  Maybe we have a jealous fascination with people who seem to be so incredibly blessed by God and wonder why our lives have not been that blessed?  Or is it simply that they are motivators for us – people who encourage and push us to be better versions of ourselves?  What do you think?

Have a wonderful Wednesday!
♥ Rachel

Does Meekness Equal Weakness?

Do you know what it means to be meek?

I think a lot of us might describe a meek person as someone who is passive or mild-mannered.  We might even think of them as being  wimpy, spineless, maybe afraid to stand up for themselves – the weakest link.

Source: ThinkStockPhotos.com

I heard something recently that made me stop and think.  I’ve grown up in the church and I’ve heard and read this verse numerous times:

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:5

Yet, I didn’t really have a complete understanding of the word “meek.”

While listening to Pete Wilson speak, I learned that one way to look at the word meek is to define it as power under control.  I think he may have taken this from some of John MacArthur’s teachings because MacArthur says

“Meekness is gentleness and mildness, and a subdued character, but it is not weakness. It is power under control.”*

Go figure.  That’s pretty much the opposite of what I thought a meek person would be like, someone who has power but keeps it under control.  I guess I always thought a meek person was someone who was almost powerless.

But really, a meek person is someone who has their power, their emotions, their patience, their reactions, and their influence – under control.  It’s gentle influence.

That’s the kind of person I would like to be.  Not that I think I have a lot of power or influence, but what little I do have, I would like to keep it under control and use it in an appropriate way.  Someone with gentle influence?  I think that’s what I will aspire and aim to be.

I hope you have a beautiful Tuesday!
♥ Rachel

*From Restoring the Virtue of Meekness by John MacArthur

[Book Review]: Plan B by Pete Wilson

I recently read Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn’t Show Up the Way You Thought He Would by Pete Wilson.  Pete is the pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville and writes regularly at his blog, Without Wax.

In one word, I can sum up my feelings about the book: FANTASTIC.

I highlighted more passages in this book than in any other book I’ve ever read.  It’s that good.  I’ve already re-read pieces of it and will probably do so many more times.

The very first passage to get the yellow marker was this one:

“Your dreams may not be happening, and things aren’t turning out the way you expected, but that doesn’t mean your life is spinning out of control.  It just means you’re not in control.  It’s in those moments you can learn to trust the only one who has ever had control in the first place.”

It just means that you’re not in control, Rachel!

What do you mean I’m not in control??  :)  For someone who likes to maintain [ahem...] slightly more than her share of control, this piece grabbed me by the arm and shook me awake.  I knew this book would resonate with me because I’m in the middle of my very own Plan B right now.  I never planned, dreamed, or imagined I would have cancer.  This is not at all how I envisioned my future, yet, it is what it is.

This book helped me see more clearly that sometimes God can do some amazing things when our plans do not turn out the way we had hoped.  Sure, this is not how I saw things happening, but that doesn’t mean He can’t make something good out of this difficulty.  I just have to be willing to trust Him and keep my eyes open for the good stuff that He is doing and is going to do.

There was one part of the book in particular that surprised me, but made sense to me the more I thought about it.  Pete refuted a saying that many of us have repeated in an effort to comfort someone, or even ourselves, at times.  You know the phrase – God will never give you more than you can handle.  You’ve probably said it before.  I know I have, to myself and to others.  But Pete says,

“Here’s the truth—and this one is thoroughly biblical: throughout life you will face one situation after another that will be completely beyond what you can handle.”

Well, all right then, there you have it.  When I read that, I took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly.  YES, we will – we ALL will – experience situations that we feel are beyond our strength, beyond our ability to cope or process because they ARE beyond OUR ability to handle them.  It’s in those moments that we cry out to God for help and we know that He will give it to us.

I can’t say enough good things about this book and about the hope that it points us to in the Bible.  It really is a fantastic resource for anyone struggling to make sense of a situation that has or is turning nothing like we had planned.  If you are interested, you can download a chapter of the book for free at PlanBBook.com and see for yourself if it is one you might like to read.

♥ Rachel

January Goals Update

I’m a little behind on posting this, but for the purpose of holding myself accountable, I thought I should share my goals progress for January.  What’s the point in having goals if we don’t check in with ourselves to see how we are doing, right?

Source: ThinkStockPhotos.com

Reading Goal:

• Read 26 books in 2012, so I needed to read 2 books in January.  Check!
  I read What Happens When Women Say Yes to God? by Lysa Terkeurst and Plan B by Pete Wilson.  Loved them both.  I think I underlined more in Plan B than I have in any book I’ve ever read.

Spiritual Goals:

1. Have 30+ minutes of quiet/prayer time each morning and write in my journal.
   I did this 28 of 31 days in January.  Not quite every day, but much more consistent than I had been, and there were some days that I spent much longer than 30 minutes, so I consider that progress.
2. Read the Book of Proverbs.  Check!
   Did this and it was great reading one chapter a day which allowed me to better absorb what I was reading.
3. Memorize two Bible verses.  Check!
   Proverbs 4:23 – Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
   Proverbs 21:23 - He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

Fitness/Exercise Goals

1. Get back to riding 12 miles on the bike.
   This isn’t a January-appropriate goal (at least not for me) because it’s too cold to ride in January and I was out of town two weekends in the month – and weekends are our riding time.  So I made no progress in this area.
2. 30 minutes of exercise, 5 days a week.
   My plan was not to get started back with this until February 8 after my checkup with the oncologist, so it was also not a January goal.  Funny how none of my exercise goals were for January!  :)
   Now that I’ve received a good report, I have to get serious about exercising again.  I can tell that my muscles are very weak from lack of use and from the chemo breaking them down.

Question Time

Do you write in a journal?  If so, do you have a process for doing this or do you just free write?  I’m so curious how other people approach this and what types of things you write about – just your thoughts, prayers requests, quotes from books you are reading, things you want to remember about the day, etc.

Source: Pinterest

One of my journaling challenges is that I feel like this is something that should be handwritten, but I hate to write – I would much rather peck something out on a keyboard.  My thoughts go so much faster than I can write (because I’m a super slow writer) that I get frustrated with the process and end up not writing everything I’m thinking (which is not always a bad thing – ha ha!!)  What’s a girl to do?  :)

What are your thoughts on journaling?  Ideas, suggestions, what’s worked for you, why you do or don’t journal – I’d love to hear from you about this subject.  Give me some tips!

Happy, HAPPY Friday!!!
♥ Rachel