the encounter

Some of you may recall the prayer requests shared for Lanessa Allman last year (She attended UMHB with Phil, the Nash’s and myself.)

Last year she was struck with encephalitis and several other complications after giving birth to her fourth son.

And now that she’s had time to heal and recover, she’s put her story into words and self-published a book, “Restored – To the Land of the Living.”

Lanessa shares on her blog:

I am SO excited to finally write this post! Eleven months ago, I went through a hard trial that almost took my life. As most of you know since this affected my brain, I wanted to write it down so I would not forget the promises and blessings I got from the ordeal. Plus all the lessons I learned about our Lord and myself.

The book is now available for purchase, and before you order it, I ask you read this blurb so you will know the “mission statement” about the book.

I liked to blog, and my writing extended to that before I had Clark about a year ago. The only other writing I might have done in earlier years is some prayer journaling. So, let me explain I am NOT a seasoned, or trained writer…I have not attended writing conferences, and I self-published this book to be honest. I have to remind myself almost everyday that I got confirmations on all my decisions and my husband was behind me every step of the way.

To self-publish is to pay a company to design your book and print it in a book format. I did this with the full knowledge that I might never get back in profit what I paid out to the publishing company. And that is okay. I did not do this for that reason, in fact I want to give portions back to the church that did so much for me. I tried to keep the cost of the book down to a minimum so it is fairly small, thin and paperback. A mere $2 a book is my royalty, but if I just get one comment back that this story helped/uplifted/or inspired someone- that is my reward.

I’m looking forward to reading all that God has done in and around Lanessa through her life changing trials. I hope that through stories like Lanessas, we can continue to learn that “scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue” and that God is good – even in those moments of despair.

To order the book:

Click HERE
OR
call 888.519.5121.

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Author William Paul Young talks about his story and the story behind his NY Times, best selling book, The Shack with George Stroumboulopoulos from CBC News….

Watch it online.

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I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me.

(song of solomon 7:10)

Imagine if this was your story… an alcoholic, Catholic, ex-Catholic, and then Catholic again, former priest, divorcee and a sinner saved by grace.

What would you write about?

I’d hope no matter how many stories you told and no matter how many books you wrote, you’d always go back to reminding folks about God’s Amazing Grace. It’s “the larger and more important story. Only God, in His fury, knows the whole of it.”

Brennan Manning writes in his latest offering:

In my forty-four years of ministry, the furious love of God has been the dominant theme of my life. I’ve varied with titles such as Ragamuffin Gospel, Abba’s Child and The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, but they are all facets of the same gem: that the shattering truth of the transcendent God seeking intimacy with us is not well served by gauzy sentimentality, schmaltz, or a naked appeal to emotion, but rather in the boiling bouillabaisse of shock bordering on disbelief, wonder akin to incredulity, and the affectionate awe tinged by doubt.

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I got a copy of a great DVD last week in the mail — Francis Chan’s “Crazy Love.” The DVD is a companion to the book of the same title and is put together as a great resource for small group discussion.

I watched four or five chapters right off the bat and loved the simplicity as well as the quality of the videos. I instantly thought it would be a great resource for our small group in the coming months and I’ve asked all the other community groups at encounter to consider doing the same.

The DVD is broken into 10 chapters, to correlate with the book. In each “chapter” of the DVD, Chan talks about various topics related to the same chapters in the book. The videos then wrap up with several questions for the group to discuss.

Publisher’s Weekly writes about the book:

Chan, senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, Calif., offers a radical call for evangelicals to consider and emulate in this debut guide to living crazy for God. Chan’s own life compels him to live with urgency, and with good reason. His mother died giving birth to him, his stepmother died when he was nine, and his dad when he was 12. As a pastor, Chan says that conducting weekly funerals for people younger than himself has likewise sobered him to life’s unexpectedness and frailty. Chan writes with infectious exuberance, challenging Christians to take the Bible seriously. He describes at length the sorry state of lukewarm Christians who strive for a life characterized by control, safety and an absence of suffering. In stark contrast, the book offers real-life accounts of believers who have given all—time, money, health, even their lives—in obedience to Christ’s call.Chan also recounts his own attempts to live crazy by significantly downsizing his home and giving away his resources to the poor.Earnest Christians will find valuable take-home lessons from Chan’s excellent book.

Just the first few “chapters” on the DVD alone had me re-thinking my relationship with God and how lacking it can be. Chan makes the point early on that he realized as a teenager that his prayers really seemed to be lacking – he never really “prayed to anyone.” His prayers were more about rattling off a list of requests than actually talking with someone.

He shared that as he began to read about the God of Scripture (in places like Revelations 4) and saw the mighty power and majesty of God, he began picturing coming before this mighty God each time before he prayed — it suddenly changed his heart, his mind and his thoughts. Suddenly he was no longer just praying out into space, but he was talking to his creator and God.

I’m looking forward to going through this book/DVD with our group and seeing and hearing what they take from it as well. We’d love to have you come join our discussion in May as well or start a discussion group in your own home. Just drop me an e-mail jonathan.blundell (at) encounterthis (dot) com and we’d love to get you plugged in.

And to get your own copy of the book, Amazon has a copy of the book in paperback, or you can buy the CD/Audio version, the Kindle version or Audible.com has the Mp3 version for your portable player.

Or for more information about the book and DVD visit http://crazylovebook.com/ or read other reviews at http://viralbloggers.com/2009/01/crazy-love-interactive-dvd/

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I’m in the midst of reading “If God Disappears” by David Sanford. It’s an interesting read thus far. It hasn’t made it to the top of any of my reading lists yet, but several points he’s made have stood out so far.

As we talk about relationships and our relationship toolboxes, I thought these thoughts lined right up with several aspects Brian’s touched on over the last several weeks.

Over the years, I’ve discovered that whenever someone becomes enraged at me, odds are we’re only two steps away from becoming good friends.
Why?
First, because that person is emotionally engaged in our relationship. That’s passion!
Second, because if true Christianity is about anything, it’s about reconciliation. Once a matter is settled, the other person and I are bonded. Sometimes for a while. Sometimes for life.
The same principles apply to a relationship with God. He isn’t defensive or threatened when we feel angry at him. After all, we’re passionate. And he’s equally passionate about being reconciled to us, whether or not we want anything to do with him right now.
God is waiting for us to express our innermost feelings toward him and then ask ourselves, Is that true, or is that how I feel?
Sometimes we’re not angry with God, it turns out. Instead we’re angry at a caricature of God we’ve painted like graffiti on the walls of our psyche.

I can think of a couple times this has played out in my own life. Most of them came from my time working at a newspaper. Many people would write in and be angered about something I or another writer might have written. If handled correctly, we could often get to the bottom of the issue and with understanding and patience, a great friendship and bond grew out of it.

Other times, if one side or the other is firmly set in their way and there’s no chance to agree-to-disagree or build understanding, the relationship may be doomed from the get go.

I hope that I do all I can to avoid being to set in my ways to offer understanding and love to anyone and everyone – regardless of what we may disagree upon.

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