Speak out, trust and obey--like a child

A few weeks ago, we went to Radium and had fun as a family hiking in the mountains and swimming in hot springs. Friends let us stay in their condo there.
While we were there, though I enjoyed the beauties of God's creation, I was most struck by my oldest's efforts to share with others about God. Almost immediately, after we arrived, he approached a group of motorbikers at the condo next door to us and said to them, "Do you know about God? God loves you."
"Sure, kid," they said. "Do you want to see our bikes?"
I must admit I blushed a bit in embarrassment. He was so direct.
A couple days later, he urged a Muslim boy on the playground to become a Christian now, ask Christ to be his Savior on the spot. Lukas was very concerned that the boy didn't know about the Bible, though he did know about God. Though Lukas's overzealous efforts prompted me to remind him that it's the Holy Spirit, not us, who convicts people of their need for salvation, I was personally convicted by my son's boldness and prayed that God would give me even a little of it.
Perhaps, it's another example of our need to become like an un-self-conscious (if that's a word) child who simply does what he knows God wants him to without thinking about the challenges, awkwardness, or rebuffs he might face. Just trusting and obeying.

There are many ideas about how to run a church and how to grow a church but though churches squabble about so many procedural and also theological issues if we can know and hold up clear scriptural teaching and let the preferences go as much as we can, won't we find that there are many ways to rightly hold Christ high and encourage our Christian brothers and sisters? Squabbling doesn't need to be and shouldn't be on the docket.

Get Back Up Quick

Jeremy Kingsley's Getting Back Up When Life Knocks You Down encourages perseverance, recognizing that God uses pain, facing truth, letting go of guilt, letting go of anger, letting go of bitterness. This issue of being frustrated, defeated, discouraged, is real for all of us. Kingsley's personal stories are poignant and effective. It's always inspiring to have someone admit his or her own discouragement and disappointment and how he dealt with and rose out of it.
While this book is brief and only says so much, offering many thoughts Christians are already aware of, what's said is helpful and at least a good reminder. I'd like to see a bit more biblical content and I do feel the book's not quite long enough to fully cover the subject. It just feels a little pat, so that at the end you might ask, "Is that all?" but again what is said is helpful and I especially appreciated the many warnings against different wrong responses.
I received this book free from Bethany House in order to review it.