Wednesday, May 18, 2011

He Obeyed...

Joyous day in the church today. A young man became a Christian today. He is the son of a couple that are very faithful in the church. When he was at home, he came grudgingly with them.

He eventually moved out on his own and stopped attending. A couple of months ago, he started attending of his own volition. He showed up at services even when his parents were away on holidays.

After a strong Biblical lesson this evening on the meaning, necessity, nature and result of repentance, he came to the front to show that that after hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, he believed it, for himself. There was no doubt that he understood repentance after sitting through the lesson. He made a public confession that he believed that Jesus is the Son of God then he was baptized for the remission of sins.

As he stood in the waters, waiting for the moment, his mother tearfully moved closer to capture the event on film.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Stacked and then Some

I thought I could resist and stick with the idea of only buying books when I want to read them, but I fell victim to another book sale.
  1. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. I was reminded about this book when someone said she had top billing (hah,) in the play.
  2. The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton which is a popular money managing book even after 22 years. I borrowed it from the library a few months ago but someone else put it on hold so I couldn't renew it. I only read the first few chapters but it had some good ideas and presented it in a story form.
  3. Leo Tolstoy: His Life and Work by Paul Birukoff, who was a friend of Tolstoy. The sale only had Volume one. Volume two is when it gets really interesting though, as it talks about his religious views, in which I know we are at variance, because at the end of his life he did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
  4. Then, drum roll or tuba blast, a book that could be revolutionize my book reading experience called The Book Group: A Thoughtful Guide to Forming and Enjoying a Stimulating Book Discussion Group edited by Ellen Slezak and foreword by Margaret Atwood. Could this be done on-line ?
What were the last books you purchased??

Sunday, May 08, 2011

An Artist's Way?

Ever since I started back on medication for being bipolar, I have not felt creative but maybe it is just an excuse.
It certainly does help when you are posting everyday and constantly aware of that which makes you smile and might interest or amuse others.

Lately, I have been reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron which is a workbook on how to be unblocked creatively. In it she tells you to write everyday but privately which I have been doing pretty faithfully. Another activity is to have an artist's date every week on your own, one in which you go out and do whatever you want for about 2 hours.

Yesterday, my Husband and I went out for supper and afterwards decided to go and browse through a bookstore. I was drawn to the many magazines they have and I came upon Artful Blogging. It certainly is a beautiful magazine and as I read of one woman that had taken the Artist's Way workshop, I thought of how much fun I had while blogging.

Could I still have it in me?