Lisa notes

9 Books I Recommend – July 2018

By LisaNotes July 30, 2018 Books I Recommend, Video Book Reviews 39 Comments

Here are 7 non-fiction and 2 fiction books I recommend from what I finished reading in July, including a 1-minute video review of a favorite.

Once a month we share our current reading list at Jennifer’s.

Books-Recommend-July-2018-LisaNotes

Books I Recommend

NONFICTION

1. When
The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
by Daniel H. Pink

Great book. We often think about what we do or why we do things. But we don’t always give enough attention to when. Like all of his books, Dan Pink delves into research and science to get behind the timing of things we do. Always engaging, always relevant. I highly recommend this one.

[Click here if you can’t see the 1-minute video about When]

2. The Sun Does Shine
How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row
by Anthony Ray Hinton

the-sun-does-shine

I wish everyone could read this book. Beautifully written and moving. Anthony Ray Hinton tells his story about being wrongly accused of multiple murders and sitting on death row for almost 30 years in an Alabama prison. He shares of his despairs, his hopes, his friendships. And finally of his release through the help of gifted attorney Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative (also read Stevenson’s Just Mercy—it will change you).

3. The Gift of Years
Growing Older Gracefully
by Joan D. Chittister

the-gift-of-years

Sometimes I don’t want to get any older. I’d rather stay right where I am. But this book helps show the advantages of growing older. Chittister really does make it more palatable—almost inviting—through her emphasis on growing older gracefully. A very encouraging read.

4. Give People Money
How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World
by Annie Lowrey

give-people-money

I’m not sure what to think. That’s why I wanted to read this. I’m still not sure what to think about giving everyone a basic income. But at least I have a framework now. Lowrey does a great job explaining the ins and outs, the good and bad, of a UBI (universal basic income). This is a great primer to start learning about a topic we’re sure to hear about again and again in the upcoming years.

5. Wait
The Art and Science of Delay
by Frank Partnoy

wait-the-art-and-science-of-delay

A perfect pairing with When (see #1). This book reminds us that we don’t always need to act immediately. Sometimes we need to hold back and wait. For everyone’s good. It will really make you think twice about why we often rush into things, and other times, not. Very interesting.

6. What Truth Sounds Like
Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished Conversation About Race in America
by Michael Eric Dyson

what-truth-sounds-like

I had to read this one slowly. I’m glad I did. Dyson’s word choices feel very deliberate to ensure you get what he’s saying about relationships between blacks and whites in the past 50 years. This book is painful but advantageous to get a historied view of racism and the way we talk about it.

7. The Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Seen
Opening Your Eyes to Wonder
by Lisa Gungor

the-most-beautiful-things-ive-seen

Singer and wife to musician Michael Gungor, Lisa Gungor writes about her journey through faith, loss of faith, and renewed faith. When her daughter, Lucie, was born with Down’s Syndrome, everything changed again.

FICTION

8. Turtles All the Way Down
by John Green

turtles-all-the-way-down

A set of teenage girls stumble onto solving a mystery of a disappeared millionaire. Trigger warning: If you have OCD tendencies, this book might get under your skin. The main character deals with obsessive thoughts about catching a disease from bacteria. Another moving story by John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars.

9. The President Is Missing
by James Patterson and Bill Clinton

the-president-is-missing

This new novel co-written by Patterson and Clinton is about a modern American President faced with serious cyberterrorism. The scariest thing is realizing that some of these things could actually happen. Well-written and the plot moves along quickly.

Reading Now

  • God of Tomorrow
    How to Overcome the Fears of Today and Renew Your Hope for the Future
    by Caleb W. Kaltenbach
  • Reframing the Soul
    How Words Transform Our Faith
    by Gregory Spencer
  • 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
    by Yuval Noah Harari
  • Inspired
    Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
    by Rachel Held Evans
  • Prayer
    40 Days of Practice
    by Justin McRoberts

* * *

What good book have you read this month? Please share in the comments.

Whats-on-Your-Nightstand-at-_5-minut

My books on Goodreads
More books I recommend

Learn It, But Live It {Resources for Matthew 5}

By LisaNotes July 26, 2018 Memorization 8 Comments

We end this week.

For the past four months, our Hide His Word community through the Do Not Depart blog has been memorizing Matthew 5:1-19. You know the passage:

  • Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. . .
  • You are the salt of the earth. . . 
  • Let your light shine before others. . .

But now we’ve reached the final verse in our memory challenge.

Yet the challenge continues.

Learning words is one thing.

Actually, it’s the easier thing. Living it out is another thing altogether.

So as we continue to solidify the words in our brains even in the weeks to come, we’ll also keep praying for them to sink into our hearts. Into our hands. Into our relationships.

For free printable resources to memorize Matthew 5, click here.

If you want to do a quick study of your own through this section of the Sermon on the Mount, below is an index of articles we published on Matthew 5 at Do Not Depart this spring/summer.

Matthew 5 Articles_DoNotDepart

The first disciples had no idea what they were about to hear on that mountain. Do we?

Are you poor? Do you feed on God’s grace as a regular staple in your spiritual diet?

How does Jesus flip our views of strength? Memorize Matthew 5:4-5 to see how mourning and meekness are blessed.

What are you hungry for? Find satisfaction in showing mercy.

How do you see God? What does that mean?

Blessed are the persecuted. Really? Who? And how?

How can we be reviled today? What did Jesus say about it?

Why did Jesus say to rejoice in persecutions? Can anything good come from pain?

Jesus said that believers are salty. What does that mean? And are we?

You aren’t light because you’re so brilliant. It’s because of Jesus inside of you. He is the light shining through.

Don’t waste your light. Someone needs it to see by.

What good works is God calling you to do this week? When you do them, you bring Him honor.

Jesus was here on purpose. Are we?

Not a jot or a tittle would pass away. What did Jesus mean? Memorize Matthew 5:18 with us and discover.

You’re not invisible. What you do and say matters to more people than just yourself. Memorize Matthew 5:19 and see why.

* * *

Do you have a favorite Beatitude (see the list of Beatitudes here)? Or a favorite scripture you’re applying to your life in this season? Please share in the comments.

Do You Have to Know?

By LisaNotes July 23, 2018 One Word 2018: Mystery, Trust 36 Comments

Do you like to know? Do you want to be right? Do you want to feel sure?

Yes, yes, and yes.

I want to know that what I believe is 100% right and true and confirmable.

But it’s not.

Excuse my repetitiveness, but it’s my year of paying attention to Mystery.

Because the desire to know doesn’t go away. And the quest for certainty can morph into an idol.

The problem is trusting our beliefs rather than trusting God.

Thinking we have to have all the answers is unrealistic. We all have to live with levels of uncertainty. About our lives, about ourselves, and even about our God.

We can’t know it all. Because God hasn’t revealed all of it. And we couldn’t understand if it he did.

Peter Enns says,

“The deeper problem here is the unspoken need for our thinking about God to be right in order to have a joyful, freeing, healing, and meaningful faith. The problem is trusting our beliefs rather than trusting God.”

I have to swap knowing for trusting.

Not trusting my beliefs. But trusting God.

 “Maybe knowing, as I had been taught to know, is overrated. Knowing like that doesn’t last. Knowing has its place, definitely, but not at the center of faith. And then for me, the bottom line: I can choose to trust God with childlike trust regardless of how certain I might feel.”

So here we wait. With imperfect knowledge. Imperfect understanding.

And we become okay with that.

We still strive to learn and know and understand.

But we don’t bet our lives on our own understanding. We throw ourselves on God’s mercy instead. His mercy with our errors and misunderstandings.

“When we learn that it is okay to let go of the need to be right—that God is not going to pounce on us from behind the corner and give us a whipping but actually welcomes this step of faith—only then will the debilitating stress of holding on to correct thinking begin to fade.”

We don’t have to know. But we definitely benefit by trusting.

  • Trust God, not our version of God.
  • Trust Truth will be revealed as we need it.
  • Trust the process will unfold as he plans it.

Take one step at a time. One situation at a time. One breath at a time.

A greater faith in God, not in my ideas about God, remains a mystery.

But what it unveils is a grace even greater.

* * *

Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Is Prayer Enough?

By LisaNotes July 16, 2018 Prayer 18 Comments

He calls because he’s in deep pain. He doesn’t know what to do. I hear the desperation in his voice.

I don’t know what to tell him.

She calls because life is about to change. Again. New obstacles, fresh challenges. She wants to be optimistic, but so many things are in the way.

I don’t know what to tell her.

I'll be praying for you

Is Prayer a Cop-Out?

Is “I’ll be praying for you” a cop-out?

Do we say, “I’ll be praying for you,” because we don’t want to feel guilty and say nothing? Because we don’t want to do anything else? Because we don’t know what else to do?

Sometimes yes, yes, and yes.

But when the needs seem so urgent and tangible, “I’ll be praying for you” feels inadequate.

“You come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, ‘Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!’ and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you?
Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?”
(James 2:15-17, The Message)

People tire of hearing only “I’ll be praying” if they know actions are also needed.

We see it after mass shootings. If politicians tweet only about prayers, they get backlash. Prayers may be good, people say, but they also expect actions, maybe change a law, with the praying.

It’s an old dilemma. James also said faith without works is dead. Faith is completed by works. A person is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:20-26).

Who’s the Problem?

Or should we blame the person in need of prayer? Are they responsible for their own dire circumstances?

Doesn’t everyone start Monopoly with free money from the bank? (Since 2008, the rules say you start off with two $500’s, four $100’s, one $50, one $20, two $10’s, one $5, and five $1’s.)

No. Not everyone starts off with money from the bank (or family support or a healthy body or a stable mind). Or maybe as an adult they don’t have enough mental, emotional, or cultural skills, or the right circumstances, to make it last.

According to the World Values Survey, most Americans believe the poor just aren’t trying hard enough. They could dig out if they’d apply themselves. (Interestingly, most Europeans disagree, according to the same survey.)

We’re more comfortable believing success is within our individual control. If someone doesn’t succeed, we say they only have themselves to blame. It’s enough if we only say we’ll be praying. We’ll have done our part.

Or Is It Me?

Or am I to blame for not being able to adequately help others? To do nothing but pray?

I don’t want to doubt prayer, to doubt God, but do I?

Sometimes the problems seem too big.
My resources too limited.
My God too slow?

Pray Anyway

So what can we do?

Pray anyway. It’s always the perfect first step.

And as we pray, maybe God will prompt us to take a second step. Maybe he will supply us with an idea. Or renewed energy. Or proper direction.

When I talked to my friends on the phone this weekend, I encouraged just one step at a time. One day at a time.

Maybe I need to take my own advice in helping them. Take just one step.

  • Just listen to the problem with fresh ears.
  • Just look up a resource to help them.
  • Just ask someone else to pray for me.

Then pray again.

Because prayer is doing something.

Whether or not we see its effects, God is on the move when we pray.

We don’t always have to say “I’m praying for you” if it sounds too trite.  If it would offend.

But we can be praying anyway in our hearts. We can still cover their needs. We can still solicit help for our own means to help.

Throwing ourselves on God’s mercy is always the right action.

  • Maybe God will answer through a change in their circumstances.
  • Maybe God will answer through a change in the person.
  • And maybe God will answer through a change in us.

I’ll Keep Praying

I don’t know what will happen with my two friends. This isn’t the end of their stories. They’re still in the middle.

I did tell them both I’ll continue to pray for them. But hopefully I’ll also do for them, too.

I’m in the middle with them. With all my inadequacies, my fears, my own struggles. For now, that’s where we are.

But I’ll keep praying about it.

* * *

Please share your thoughts about prayer in the comments.

What About Your Righteous Anger?

By LisaNotes July 12, 2018 Book reviews, Guest posts 8 Comments

How often are you offended? Are you irritated too frequently? Overly sensitive?

Are Christians viewed as perpetually angry people?

Here’s what could be a game-changer for dealing with Christian anger.

Read it all here, “Should You Be Mad?”

Should I Be Mad? Anger is easy.

* * *

We’re looking at Exceptional Christian Books this month at Do Not Depart.

Will you join me there as we talk about our “righteous anger” and the book Unoffendable?

Why They Listen to You

By LisaNotes July 9, 2018 Community 34 Comments

“People tire quickly of conversations that are simply ongoing narratives, endlessly repeated narratives, of another time.”
– Joan Chittister

Older Generation - Joan Chittister, The Gift of Years

Aunt Nancy

Aunt Nancy is 93 years old. Her husband died a few years back. She now lives in assisted living, but is doing well, all things considered.

As she sat inside on July 4th, away from the heat, different guests at the cookout would wander in and out of the house. And occasionally sit down for a visit with Aunt Nancy.

By mid-afternoon, I was seeking escape from the heat, too. Aunt Nancy was the perfect respite.

As I sat with a few others in my mother-in-law’s living room, we talked with Aunt Nancy. She told us some things we already knew. And some surprising things, too—her memory isn’t what it used to be—that we could easily weed out.

But content aside, it was simply being together that we enjoyed.

The Signposts

We weren’t looking to Aunt Nancy for only facts from the past.

Like other pilgrims on this journey, we look to the generation who walked before us for a lighted path. For a well-trodden road. For signposts that if we keep walking this way, we’ll end up in the right place.

  • We listen to hear that regardless, it will work out.
  • We listen to hear that God is really good.
  • We listen to hear that in the end, we will be fine.

I need to remember that, when I’m on the other side of the conversation. When I’m the “Aunt Nancy.” When I’m the older generation, the Aunt Lisa.

Aunt Lisa

Earlier in the day, before the crowds arrived, I was able to spend a quiet conversation with one of my nieces. She’s beautifully pregnant with her second baby, halfway there. We talked about changes and worries and options.

And what I hoped to pass along to her wasn’t facts, but hope. Faith. Joy. That she’s doing a fine job already. And I know she will continue to, regardless of what comes next.

That “life in all its forms is not only possible but wonderful,” in the words of Joan Chittister.

Relationships aren’t just to relay information back and forth to each other. They are to inspire each other to live better, to live stronger, to live more wisely.

Why We Listen

By the end of the day, Aunt Nancy was wilting. She’d changed from sitting on the couch to lying down on it. I rode with Clara Jo to take Aunt Nancy back to her home.

When we arrived at her assisted living facility, the residents were already gathered in the dining room for supper. Aunt Nancy was excited to be there with them. Even though she had no hunger for food, she was hungry to share her day with her friends.

Before she was even seated, they were asking her about it. “Tell us all about your day, Nancy!” She was ready to talk. And they were ready to listen.

Whether talking to someone ahead of us or someone behind us on our life’s journeys this week, may we all breathe life and inspire love and speak courage into each other.

Isn’t that what we’re all listening for?

* * *

Who do you listen to that is older than you? Are there younger ears listening to your voice? Please share in the comments.