God of Second Chances

We all have hopes and dreams for ourselves and our families.  Sometimes, we get so caught up in all the accomplishing and striving to make these dreams a reality, we forget to enjoy what's going on all around us.  We don't live in the present because the present isn't much more than accomplishing the things for the future.  We forget that many times the journey is more important than the destination.  

Carlos Whittaker was going out with a video production crew to shoot some video for his song "God of Second Chances." And then Danny came along.  Check it out...

At the end of the song, Carlos says he told Danny to "keep trying to make it man."  Carlos says that Danny was looking kind of confused, and then looked him straight in the eyes and said "trying to make it?  I'm not trying to make it, I am making it.  [God] puts his soldiers everywhere.  [God] says 'Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,' and so he puts some of us there, in that valley." 


I needed to hear this today.  And without getting into the intricacies of Rastafarian theology I can learn from Danny, a homeless man who tearfully sat down and enjoyed the worship of God together with a stranger.  Sure, there are things that Danny should do.  But while he's where he is, his outlook says that God put me here and I am in the valley of the shadow of death for a reason. Sometimes I need God to save me from myself, and He usually does with good friends...

View the trials in life as valuable opportunities to become more Christlike...

Do not trust in yourself, but trust in God because He is good...

We must see our financial wealth as a trial and be responsible stewards of it for God...

Learn the truth and integrate it into your experiences...

Live a life of wisdom...Live a life of worship...Live a life of courage...

Thanks Danny

"The Shack" A Review

I thought this book was very good and it touched me very deeply which is seldom accomplished by a book. I know the book is considered controversial and I've been checking out blog after blog of these critics...very harsh and unkind. I really have a hard time understanding why they are so ruthless in their criticism. This book is a fictional account of one Christian man's journey out of legalism and the lengths that God goes to rescue him. Some have called it a parable, others an allegory, but most importantly this is not a theology textbook. This is not to be read like a theology textbook. When people write in this genre you must give them some slack...when you read in this genre everything is not going to correspond perfectly one to one. I could comment more but I don't want to ruin the book for anyone who hasn't read it.

What makes me particularly sad about these harsh critics is that this book has been in the top 10 for some time now and many, many people in the broader (non-Christian or nominal) culture have already read it and want to talk about it. Here is a book that has reached many on an emotional level, they look online at some of the biggest Christian spokespeople and what do they hear? "Pure heresy, don't waste your time, not worth the paper it's printed on." They read a story of a man's journey out of legalism and this is what the reader hears when they want to engage in conversation...so sad!!!