When I read a book, I don’t read details and individual points.  I read general concepts.  This is how I do it.  This is who I am.  So when I tell someone I’ve read a book I’ve enjoyed, and they totally believe it’s blasphemous or heretical or even absurd, then they proceed to show me why on pages, 22, 47, 89, 217, and of course, 666, I am wrong for enjoying the book.   I don’t even read there emails or letters in depth.  I read, “Wow, they are against that book in a way that I am not.”

In truth, I am a bit envious of people like that.  People who can take the time and have the skill set to completely parse each corner and section of a passage written by an author, then tell me what’s good and/or bad about said topic as far as each section/line of the book.

I also wonder how they’re not bipolar (see “A Beautiful Mind”).  For no human can possibly get everything right, and I’m sure there are agreements and disagreements about every human author’s writings, namely because there are agreements and disagreements between the writings of the book inspired by the Holy Spirit of God.

With that said, On December 28th, 2009, I began to read the Bible within a 90 day period.  Some called it B90X, after the popular and intense workout video series.  I wouldn’t suggest this type of reading for everyone, because it’s not for everyone.  I would say its for people who are like me.  They read quickly and take away the one or two main concepts of the book being read.  Reading an average of 16 chapters a day probably wouldn’t work for those prone to taking apart every line they read every time they read.

But for those like me, I found the quick trip through the Scriptures refreshing and wonderful, learning things and seeing things I had never seen before.  From the beginning of time when God’s amazing creation breathed its first breath to John’s last apocalyptic visions, I was introduced to a story like no other, all of which I’d heard before, but never in an entire complete scenario at one condensed time period.  In this reading, for the first time in my life, the writings of Moses and Samuel and David connected so tightly with Luke and John and Paul that I could see the family resemblance.

The Gospel of Jesus came to life once again, as I read about how my Saviour, the Messiah, would live and serve, then apparently be crushed and killed, then be raised again to be with His Father, but not until after He spent a bit more time teaching those He had walked with  and discipled for three years.

The best way to describe this way of reading through Scripture is the difference between Watching “Lost” week to week for years and years, and the watching it on DVD through the whole story in one short portion of time.  If you’ve ever sat together with your spouse or a friend and watched episode after episode and season after season of a show, this is the way it feels.  It comes to life in one shot!

For me, this way of reading the Bible is going to be a habit, for it screams of my best chance to learn and grow from that reading.  This is who I am.  If you’re an adventurer, I suggest you try it out once and see how you like it.  If you don’t, stop.  But I suggest that a regular reading of the Bible is important, not only because of what God did those many years ago in Creation to the redemption of the world through Jesus, but because of what He’s doing now in our world.

You can find a 90 day Bible reading plan or another 29 or so plans at youversion.com, a ministry of Lifechurch.tv

Bible reading rocks!

I love books.  I read a lot, and there’s something about a book that produces creativity in me that nothing else can.  Doesn’t matter the book, if I connect with the idea, new ideas spring up inside my head that previously laid stagnant somewhere in the midst of my thick brain.  On vacation, I read much more than my normal habit, and more ideas are produced.  So far I’ve read “Killing Cockroaches” by Tony Morgan and am almost finished with “Eat this book” by Eugene Peterson.  Next on the list is “Wild Goose Chase” by Mark Batterson and the auto-biography of Joni Earickson Tada, a book I remember my mom reading when I was young.

I’d love to know what you’re currently reading?

How does a phenomena that reaches the many reach one heart?

A song that becomes popular resonates with me so strongly that I can feel the pain or joy of that song?

A movie that thousands, hundreds of thousands and in some cases, millions of people will see brings me to tears and laughter like it was about me?

A book or series of books that hang onto the bestsellers lists makes me want an 7th sequel when it stops at the 7th book.

It’s simple really.  The reason a phenomena reaches out and affected me after it’s touched the many is because it has affected  me.  And I am more alike with someone who lives in Orange County, or the boroughs of Louisiana, or downtown Tokyo than sometimes we’d care to admit.  There’s not a lot, but there are some things that speak to us universally.  Why?

Because that’s how God made us.

I’ve read several books recently you might be interested in reading, and some you might not be.  I won’t differentiate which ones are which, allowing you to choose, but you might find a clear distinction.

In order of reading: (since October)

Tribes by Seth Godin

The Stranger on the road to Emmaus by John Cross

New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

The Shack by William Paul Young

Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Too busy not to pray by Bill Hybels

Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

The Cross of Christ by John Stott

Axioms by Bill Hybels

I’m finding that the books I’m enjoying more these days are novels that try to teach a big picture lesson, and preferably have a sequel or two.  I also love leadership books and first person stories which deal in the world of philosophy.

You can check out more books I’ve read if you befriend me on Shelfari, a literary social networking site.  You can find me under Marty H.  Now as far as books…  

would you suggest that I read any particular books that you’ve enjoyed recently?

This is not the shack of which I am referring

First of all, if you’ve come looking for a “Mark Driscoll-like” stance on how theologically incorrect “The Shack” is, you can find another blog community to comment.  If not, let’s go:

A few minutes ago I had a great conversation with Garret.  I was explaining about a book I read recently called “The Shack” and we started up a conversation piece about some of the “shacks” in our lives.  Those things that we hold inside and keep away from everyone else, but they make up who we become.  I believe the frequent commentator (on this blog) Darren would called these things “opiates”.

So I started thinking about the opiates in my life – the Shacks if you will.  What things have shaped me and possibly even changed the direction (in regards to inside, rather than circumstances) of who I’ve become?

What are the insecurities, the abuses, and the character flaws I’ve worked on or kept hidden deep inside?I’m thinking about this today, and possibly I’ll comment on my own blog some answers.

Who knows what we’ll find living in “the Shack?”

Also, if you’ve read it, what were your thoughts?

I wanted to write a quick shout out to my friend Jack Dogg who just released his new physics book, “Jack Dogg’s Compendium Guide to Physics”. I don’t really get into Phyics all that much, but I know Jack Dogg,and this cartoon laced look into the world of Physics (should you like this sort of thing) is bound to be interesting.  He graduated a few years ago from WPI and always has some interesting things to say when we meet for lunch every Friday.
So go and download it or buy it outright,

and let me know how it is here.

This is for my wife.  So maybe she’ll read my blog!

Love you Carie!

“So it finally happened. I got caught.  I had expected it for some time, living in the shadows, and hoping no one would see me doing it.  But alas my time had come, and I had no one to blame but myself.  I made the bad decisions. I lived as I pleased.  And now I would pay dearly.”

In August of 1997, I was a college graduate that loved to have fun and who had just gradauated from a college where I could not make my own decisions.  This did not make for a very good combination.  I tried to figure out what I wanted to do as far as work was concerned, but it wasn’t easy.  I wanted to be some sort of half pastor/ radio DJ/ politician. Like a mix between Rush Limbaugh (he was “in” back then) and Billy Graham.  Instead I chose to be a high school history teacher in Atlanta.  Pretty cool, huh?  I thought so.  I remember loading up my new car – a 1993 cherry red Nissan Sentra, and began the drive from Tucson, Arizona where my parents lived, to Hotlanta.

After leaving Tucson at 9:00 pm on Friday, August 1st, I finally arrived in the “land of sweet tea” on Sunday, August 3rd at around noon.  The friends I was temporarily living with in Atlanta had called me and told me they would be away.  They left a key underneath the flowerpot or something, and I could make myself at home.  They were at some camp with kids and I was in Atlanta until next Friday by myself.  Cable television kept me busy until around 5:00 pm until I got bored and decided to drive around the suburb I would be living and explore.  On that drive, I discovered Chick Fil-A. But it wasn’t open on Sunday!

Then I received a call from my friend Ruben.  Ruben was a crazy man who loved to stretch me in all things adventure and this conversation would be no exception.  He confessed he was in Massachusetts, having a great time,and since I had a week before I had any responsibilities, I should come up.

Now remember I had just driven 35 hours or so to get to Atlanta and had only arrived hours before. But something about Ruben the adventurer always made me say yes.  So around 7:30 pm, my car hit the highway again to drive to the northeast, a place I had only visited once before.
I share this story with you because this was the way I lived my life.  Adventure and fun drove my decisions.  No one dared to tell me what to do any longer.  I could drive to Massachusetts if I wanted to drive to Massachusetts on an hour’s notice. I could go to bed when I wanted to go to bed. (I know that is a funny thing to say for a 21 year old, but the college I attended had a bedtime of 11:00 pm)  And I would from now on make my own decisions.  I was free!  You might even say I was my own king.

By October of the same year, I had hit my stride.  My students loved me.  I taught not only in school, but also a “singles class” at the church I attended.  Don’t worry, I was not teaching people how to be single, I was teaching life, a subject I was certainly qualified to teach, right?.  In short, I was on fire.

The only thing I didn’t have was money, but that would come sooner or later, now I was serving and having a blast with a bunch of people around me – peers, parents, students, and whoever else wanted to come around.  I remember walking from one class to another one day telling myself how invincible I was becoming. Life couldn’t get any better than this!

But it could get worse.

Thinking your invincible is a little like thinking you’re the best at the game of basketball because you hit a shot from 3 point land while you’re shooting around by yourself.  No one can prove you’re not the best, and of course that’s where the burden of proof lies.  So when you hit the shot, you smile smugly to yourself about how good you are,and how the Celtics deserve to have a guy like you on their team.  Basically what I’m saying is, it’s ludicrous to think that way…

This was part of an rough draft introduction to a project I recently started working on entitled,”The Worst Story ever told and a few really bad ones too.”

I wanted nothing to do with them.  Not because they were filled with witchcraft, spells, and snake talkers – CS Lewis cured me a long time ago of giving a rip about those things – plus I could never get my broom to fly anyway.

The reason I wanted nothing to do with the Harry Potter novels was simple – everyone else was reading them. It’s not a good reason not to read a group of books, but I had already been pressured to reading another series of books about 7 years earlier called “Left Behind.“  They started out fine I guess, grabbing my attention and moving me to enjoy reading about this post rapture age I’d been taught my whole life.  Then the authors got a bit money hungry, and what should have been a 7 book series at most became a 13-15 book series, sucking the life out of what once had been decent reading material (even if one disagreed with the premise).

So I was not going to get caught again.

And then I happened to be meeting a friend at Barnes and Nobles the day the last book came out.  That was a mistake.  As we talked, hundreds of people from the age of 7 or 8 to the age of 88 walked around the store dressed as Harry, Hermione, Ron, and any number of professors at Hogwarts, playing games and having a blast celebrating “the Deathly Hallows.”

Freak Show.

I just didn’t understand what was happening.  How could all these people enjoy this children’s book?  And then it happened.  A few days later, I was sitting in my office doing some work when in walks Darren.  Darren worked here at Fellowship for a while, doing odds and ends, and doubling as my secretary at times too.  It was not infrequent that he’d come into my office, especially when his mind whirred with thoughts on life.

As he walked in, I immediately asked him what the deal with this Harry Potter thing was.  Why were so many people dressed up like the characters in this novel and waiting anywhere from 3-7 hours for this book to come out?  It seemed crazy to me.  He agreed, and then said he only waited 2.  What happened next is the stuff of myth.

I asked him if it was worth it.  Is the story good?

And for the next hour and a half, Darren proceeded to explain the story to me, scene after scene, philosophy, action, good vs. evil, the climax, the adventure, and the epilogue – One after the other.  Four times he cried.  Other times he leaped out of his seat to physically demonstrate a battle scene.  And by the time he finished, there was only one reaction to his story…

The next Monday I took a trip to Barnes and Nobles and bought the first 6 books.

You see, this is what happens when a story connects with you.  When a story changes who you are inside, simply because you read it, you learned from it, and you are a different person after having experienced it.  And then you tell those close to you about the experience you had.  Hopefully affecting them with the story as well.

It kind of reminds me of another story of redemption that affected my life a while back.

The Trailer

I have a love for the art of story.  I love the eloquence of a finely told life experience, especially if it is accomplished across the bridge of two movies or two books.

It probably started when my dad and I sat down to watch “The Magnificent Seven” and “The Return of the Seven” one night.  I loved that a team of experts would come together, then accomplish their task, and then I loved the fact that I got to see it done all over again.  I mean, some of these series of movies and books have been life-changing for me.

Occasionally a book gets a solid first run, and they make a sequel not worthy of the original content.  In fact, many times the only reason it’s done is marketing.  Unfortunately this happens a lot in the Christian sub-cultures of our world.  Are you serious?  Give me a break, “The Power of a praying pet turtle?“  Or the Oh so popular “Chicken Soup for the One eyed radio DJ’s soul.”  So I thought I’d share with you my favorite series of film, literature, sports, or television:  (and no, American Pie is not on the list)

10.  Boston/LA 2008 – That sure was a long 21 year wait.

9.  Left Behind. It did become something of a marketing ploy, but I enjoyed the story nonetheless – inaccuracies and all.

8.  Young Guns. I love these movies, and Jack Bauer’s in them, so they can’t go wrong.

7.  Star Wars. Many would suggest this would be number 1.  I would not.

6.  The A-Team.  “I pity the fool…”

5.  Rocky. Nuff said.

4.  John Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy series.  A collection of detective/legal thrillers set in San Fran.  Good stuff!

3.  Lord of the Rings books and movies – These last two were difficult, but an amazing story to walk through.

2.  Letters to the Next president by Andy Stanley – seriously, you have to hear or watch these.

1.  Harry Potter – I have no words to say how I felt after I finished those books in November of 2007.  And this was after I made fun of others who read the stinking things.  Whether its the movies or the books, these things are absolutely brilliant.  And of course I was drawn into witchcraft immediately after reading them.  (this is sarcasm)

Okay, your turn. What did I miss?