May | 2018 | Pedestrian God

Book Review: In His Image

May 14 2018

If you’ve spent much time around me, you’ll know that I’ve been gradually becoming more and more a fan of every Bible resource that Jen Wikin has put out in the past couple years.

I was first introduced to her book None Like Him: 10 Ways God is Different from Us (And Why That’s a Good Thing) in which she brilliantly explained our human limitations when it comes to characteristics such as omnipotence, sovereignty, and self-sufficiency. This book encouraged us to repent of all the ways that we’ve tried to become God in these areas of our lives.

So when our church did her podcast-based study on 1, 2, and 3 John called Abide, I was excited to hear her Bible teaching in conjunction with my personal Bible study. And it didn’t disappoint.

Jen Wilkin has something I have been wanting to see for a while in “popular” Christian, women authors – a deep love for Scripture and a dedication to teach women how to understand it on their own. In a Precepts-like method, Jen asks us to seek God’s wisdom and teaching first. She points us to Scripture continually. It’s beautiful.

When I received a Barnes & Noble gift card for Christmas, only one book got me truly excited to spend it – her follow up to None Like Him. All I knew was that it was called In His Image and would follow the same pattern as the first book. Except this time she would examine 10 characteristics that we share with God.

I pre-ordered the book. It arrived last week. I spent this weekend reading it. I’ll tell you on the front end, this book is every bit as hard of a hitter as the first. The questions after each chapter are extremely challenging – in a good way. They ask you to truly examine your heart and motives. I did not spend this weekend answering all the questions. I’ll go back and do that in my own personal studies. I simply read through the book in order to turn around and tell you as quickly as possible – GO BUY THIS BOOK FOR YOURSELF AND EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!

Actually, if you haven’t read None Like Him, start there. This really isn’t a sequel. But you won’t appreciate the impact that we share characteristics with God until you understand how much we don’t have in common (ughh…sin…)

Ending Disputes

May 08 2018

I don’t often find myself in quarrels. That’s not because I’m some incredibly selfless, patient, understanding person. Rather, it’s because, at my core, I’m a people pleaser. I want everyone to be happy – and not just happy – but happy with ME at all times.

So Proverbs 20:3 makes me chuckle when I read it:

Honor belongs to the person who ends a dispute, but any fool can get himself into a quarrel.

How true! There just seem to be some people who go looking for arguments. They get angry over the smallest matters. Rather than explain themselves or make a kind request, they jump straight to the attack.

Just like last Friday. I was trying to accomplish a task for a local nonprofit when someone began to yell at me when I asked for help. When I say “yell,” I mean all-out-angry-you’re-not-better-than-me type words. I was completely caught off guard. Without going into details, I can confidently say that they were being the foolish one. But at the same time, I can’t say that I was gaining honor.

Because even in that situation, I didn’t seek to end the dispute. Honestly, I just waited in stunned silence until the phone call was over. I didn’t provoke the situation and yet I didn’t seek reconciliation either.

Archive - May 2018

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