Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between the Rich and the Poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz

Takeaway: It is easy to do more harm than good when working among the poor. Developing people and infrastructure is usually harder, but more important for the long term. Purchase Links: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook This is a book that has been on my to read list since it first came out about … Read more

New Kindle Lending Page

I have been working on creating a lending page for my kindle books that are authorized to be loaned.  This is a new feature that was added to the kindle at the end of 2010.  It is limited, each book can only be lent one time.  And during the lending period, it is not authorized … Read more

The Grace of God by Andy Stanley

The Grace of God

My Takeaway: Grace really is the central message of the Gospel.

I have been meandering through this book for a while.  I bought it pre-release when it was sold at church (full disclosure, I go to Buckhead Church, Andy Stanley is my pastor.)  Then Thomas Nelson gave away the ebook if you signed up on the Facebook page.  So I waited for the ebook to come out.  Thomas Nelson only distributed it in PDF (they really should know better).  So I tried converting it to kindle format using Calibre and it did not look that great.  I eventually finished the book by reading it as a pdf on the iPad, a far from perfect experience.

This is my first of Andy Stanley’s explicitly theological books.  I have read some of his leadership books and I think leadership is where he really shines.  He is a great preacher and having attended the church for a while I can recall some of the sermons this was based on.  It is not a sermon series turned to book form.  But there are a few things that I recognize from earlier sermons.  I think there is just as much that will be in future sermons.  In fact, I recognize a couple quotes from the book as being in the last two week’s sermons and the book has been in my house for the past couple months.

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Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God by Dallas Willard

Takeaway: Classics are classics for a reason.  If you are serious about trying to follow after God, this is a book that will challenge you no matter what your maturity. Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook Finding God’s will is a common desire.  Often people can be paralized because they are afraid of not … Read more

The Economist Magazine on the iPad

Reading on the iPad is a mixed bag.  Many love it, many hate it.  But there just is not another good alternative, if you want full color digital reading that is not a full computer. I recently have changed my mind a bit about reading on the iPad.  I still prefer my Kindle for traditional … Read more

The Sacredness of Questioning Everything by David Dark

Takeaway: Openness to questioning your beliefs and understanding primarily is about relationship.  If we are unable to question, we are unable to build relationships with anyone that does not believe exactly as we do. Early in the book David Dark quotes Flannery O’Conner as saying, “The cultivation of skepticism is a sacred obligation because skepticism keeps … Read more