PRAYING THE PROMISES

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

PRAYING THE PROMISES
Anchor Your Life To Unshakable Hope
By Max Lucado & Andrea Lucado

OVERVIEW: In Praying the Promises, Max Lucado invites you into a deeper understanding of the peace and security God offers his people. Through thirty Bible promises, reflections on the lives of biblical people of faith, and guided prayers, you will see a clearer picture of the promise of God and how he is the rock you can build your life upon.

AUTHORS: Max Lucado has more than 130 products in print. He is America's bestselling inspirational author. He serves the Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, where he lives with his wife, Denalyn, and their mischievous mutt, Andy. Andrea Lucado is a freelance author of English Lessons: The Crooked Path of Growing Toward Faith. She has a master's degree in English literature from Oxford-Brookes University and contributes regularly to online and print publications such as Relevant magazine and She Reads Truth.

MY REVIEW: Max Lucado's daughter, Andrea joins him in making this a special book. They believe that praying the promises of God will anchor your life to unshakable hope. They don't promise a money back guarantee but they could have because you won't being asking for one. It works!

This is a small, beautifully bound volume that you will want to always have close at hand. You will not want to part with this special book but you will purchase extra copies to give as gifts. The world is a mess. We need help. We need hope. "For every problem in life, God has given us a promise. We can find hope by praying those promises."

Praying The Promises has a brief introduction and then thirty promises from God. So needless to say, this is a book filled with Scripture. Thirty times a section begins with a Scripture that sets a theme. Then the Lucados write briefly about that theme. And that is followed by four promises of God. And the section closes with praying the promises. "Trouble comes but so does God."

(I received this book from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

ETERNITY IS NOW IN SESSION

Thursday, September 06, 2018

ETERNITY IS NOW IN SESSION
A Radical Rediscovery Of What Jesus
Really Taught About Salvation,
Eternity, And Getting To The Good Place
By John Ortberg

OVERVIEW:  In Eternity Is Now In Session, bestselling author John Ortberg + engages in a radical rediscovery of what the Bible really says about salvation, + recaptures the New Testament definitions of salvation, eternal life, and the Good News of the gospel, + dispels the myth that eternal life is something we can only hope to experience after we die, and + talks about what it really means to be a disciple. And most important, he explains how we can experience the unspeakably rich, interactive fellowship and joy that exist between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Eternal life—here, now, every minute of every day.

AUTHOR: John Ortberg is the senior pastor of Menlo Church in Northern California and the bestselling author of many books. He has a PhD in clinical psychology and an MDiv from Fuller theological Seminary. He and his wife, Nancy, live in Menlo Park, California, and have three grown children. You can follow John at www.johnortberg.com and on Twitter and Facebook @johnortberg.

MY REVIEW: John Ortberg is one of my favorite authors. He writes in a way that flows and is easy to understand while writing about extremely difficult topics. Of all his books my favorite is If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat. And now, Eternity Is Now In Session has logged in at second place.

This is an extremely important book because it deals with one of life's most important subjects—salvation. Ortberg says his book is a radical rediscovery of what Jesus really taught on this subject. And it is. At least for me it is. His opinion on what Jesus means when He talks about eternity is one that I think all of us need to listen to. I was helped by a quote in the book from Brenda Colijn who when talking about eternal life said, It is "primarily qualitative rather than quantitative." That is good. Very good!

This good book will help dispel the myth that eternal life is something we can only hope to experience after we die. We need this good news. Eternal life is now in session.

(I received this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for a fair and honest review.)

BIG ONE DAY BLOG SELL

Friday, August 17, 2018

I have been blogging for 13 years. Well, that's not exactly true. I have been a blogger for 13 years.

There was a time when I posted on my blog every day. Not so much anymore.

Almost all of my blogging friends have closed shop.

Many of us are spending more time on Face Book and less on blogging

In recent years most of my posts have been book reviews. However, that too is now in decline. At one time I was reviewing books for many different publishers. Most of them have stopped having book reviews and I am now down to only two.

This week I renewed my interest in posting to my blog and did three. How about that? Three in one week. I would be pleased if you turned aside and read them clif74blog.blogspot.com.

Many of my dearest friends who say they are interested in what I am thinking and doing have never even once looked at my blog.

Well, that's all I wanted to say about blogging.

Oh, what about the BIG ONE DAY BLOG SELL? That was just hopefully to get your attention.

IT WORKS FOR MACY'S.

BOB, BOB, BOBBING ALONG-----A Love For Fish And Fishing

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of hours spent sitting on a grassy creek bank with a fishing pole in my hand. I loved to see the bright little bobber on the line start to move. It meant a bluegill was messing with the worm on the hook. Ah, the days of youth.

There was also much joy in moving up to the wily days of sneaking into ponds where I didn't belong and casting out a long trotline. Coming back hours later to find a catfish on almost every hook.

Deep sea fishing gave me thrills up my spine and sickness in my stomach. Sometimes fish. Sometimes nothing.

I love fish and other sea food. I have enjoyed it from near and far.

Journeying to Ethiopia to help with a famine, I found myself eating almost nothing but fish. I ate it in a beautiful hotel restaurant in down town Addis Ababa  when a respected Doctor suggested it from the menu. I ate it out in the bush, of all places, in a small restaurant that seemed to almost appear out of nowhere.

In India, I enjoyed one of the largest prawns I have ever seen. It was so large I used a knife and fork to cut it up and eat it. It will always be one of my favorite memories because a dear friend and missionary to India found such joy it buying it for me and watching me eat it.

I had a big smile on my face when I enjoyed fish and chips in London, England. I have always liked Long John Silvers and Red Lobster is a favorite. But my favorite of all time was in the lovely little town of Rockport in beautiful New England. Maybe it was because I was with my wife and daughter.
Come to think of it, maybe the joy in all of this----fishing and eating came/comes not from just the activity but from who I am/was with.

Ah yes. That's it. Who I'm with! So as I go bob, bob, bobbing along I hope to see YOU soon.

YOUNG, SEXY POOL BOY OR OLD, SHOT POOL MAN

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

The monsoons are going to finish off this old man.

Night after night they come. It looks like there is no end.

BUT I get the job done. Our pool is sparkling clean. It's gorgeous.

NOW, would one of those young, sexy, pool boys do a better job?

I don't think so.

Would Charlotte like to see him running around in our back yard?

Probably.

She might fib and say, "Why no, I rather see you stumbling around out there."

We all know the truth. She's in her eighties now but hey, those "Old" eighties
gals are not dead.

Truth is she can't afford him. She's stuck with the old, shot pool man----me.

Pool looks good. It's gorgeous.

THE BUCKET LIST OBSESSION

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Bucket list. I don't have one. Don't want one. Don't need one.

It's not that I have done it all. I haven't. 

But I have done a lot. I have ridden a camel up to the pyramids and walked inside. I have seen the Taj Mahal. 

I have done some big things. I have sat at the Captain's table for dinner on a Greek ship as we sailed the Mediterranean. I have been on the Island of Patmos where John wrote the book of Revelation. I have led the communion service of the Lord's Supper on the Lord's Day in the city of Jerusalem in front of the tomb where Jesus was laid. 

I grew up in Oklahoma doing a lot of small but interesting things. Did a lot of stuff in the exciting Los Angels area and also San Francisco. I have done a little bit of everything in Arizona. I have traveled to many distance and exciting places. I loved Paris.

Bucket list? I don't have one. No ambition? Absolutely not!

I have done and am doing what comes to me in the natural course of events. Yes. I plan some things. I just don't have a list of must dos before I die. I haven't put things to do on a list and I haven't been marking things off in my mind.

If I see tomorrow I will be happy. If I don't--- the Bible tells me I will be even happier.

I'm studying Spanish and teaching myself to play the piano. You would like to do that? Don't put it on a list, just do it. Got too many things on your bucket list? Rapidly approaching the final curtain?

It raises the question of what have you been doing all the time.

Bucket list? I don't have one. But I do have a bucket or two. I have an old bucket I got from Charlotte's Dad. He used it to feed his animals. I poked holes in the bottom and use it for a planter.

And I have a couple of bright orange buckets from Home Depot. The white letters on the side read: Let's Do This.

Good idea. I'm going to cook dinner tonight.