OK, I’m a late-commer to Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series but I am really enjoying it.  Mitch Rapp is a smart, deadly, heroic guy that has been trained to fight terrorist all over the world.  The prequel to the series is American Assassin describes how Mitch, a world class college athlete seeks retribution for the death of his girlfriend on the Pan Am Lockerbie terrorist attack.  After six months of training, he’s set loose on the terrorist world breaking rules and getting results until his team is kidnapped and held ransom.  Heart pounding suspense, bone chilling terrorist and a collection of custom designed support characters make American Assassin a novel you’ll want to read.

But I have to tell you that reading the next book in the series, Transfer of Power, was more than just an intense and enjoyable experience.  It jogged my perceptions about what a pre-September 11th world was like.  Flynn published the book in 1999 and yet the list of historically accurate terrorist threats and attacks dramatically reminded me of what a frightening place the 1990’s were to our country.   In a post-9/11 world, I do not want to ever forget those years of not responding to terrorist with strength until their threat ended up on our shores.   There are lessons here to be learned.   As with all terrorist related books, there’s violence but Flynn handles it realistically without being gruesome.    I think this book will be high on my gift giving list for those hard to buy for men this Christmas.

Listen to Vince Flynn talk about American Assassin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMEtUEXpV-8

Click here to read more http://www.vinceflynn.com/American_Assassin_Summary.htm

“Your wisest moments will be those when you say ‘yes’ to God.”

Unlike most natural disasters, hurricanes you can see coming long in advance.  Days before a hurricane hits land, coastal residents still begin to talk about precautions, just in case it hit’s their community.  “Should we get some extra jugs of water and some extra batteries?”   As the weather forecasters narrow the prediction to a smaller area, there’s more talk.  “Should we board up the windows or move things inside the house?”  Finally the discussion turns to evacuation. “Maybe we should go to your mom’s for a few days.”  But hurricanes are unpredictable.  The hurricane might land somewhere unexpected or it could putters out in the cold waters of the Atlantic.  So here you are at your mother-in-laws, after spending hundreds of dollars on supplies to board up your house and the hurricane didn’t show up.  Are you beginning to think “Maybe that hurricane wasn’t such a big deal after all?”  How do you know if you didn’t see it?

The Bible tells us of three young men that were waiting for a powerful force to come into their lives.  Three young Jewish men were ordered to die by the Babylonian King because they would not bow down and pray to his gods.  Daniel 3:15 tells us the King ordered the men to be thrown into a fiery furnace saying “What God will be able to rescue you from my hands?”  These were good Jewish boys that knew God rescued the Israelites from Egypt and David from Goliath.  But if it’d been me, I might begin to wonder if God was really able to rescue me.  It’s like wondering if a hurricane that didn’t show up was really that powerful all along.

But these three young men had deep and profound faiths.  In verse 17 the young men say “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it… but even if He does not… we will not serve your gods.”  Their faith in the Lord did not rely on Him rescuing them, even if rescue was the desire of their hearts.   Does your faith depend on God’s rescue?

At times it feels that things like grief, cancer, barrenness, addiction, or past traumas are taunting us like the king taunted the young men “What God will be able to rescue you from my hands?”  I will tell you what God- the Lord God Almighty who is a mighty rescuer.  He sent His Son to rescue you by dying on the cross conquering not only sin but death.   Think of that.  There is nothing, not even death that will keep you from the loving arms of Jesus.

If you are living today in a fiery furnace remember this: God is more than able to rescue you from your suffering but even if He does not, you are still victorious in Jesus.  All believers are victorious through the cross.  Victory is already won! Halleluiah, Halleluiah AMEN.

“God has a way of getting back what has been ripped off.  What the enemy steals, God alone is able to recover.”

I am a HUGE Beth Moore fan.  I have done all of her Bible Studies and some of them twice.  Although I was blessed by all of them, Believing God is by far my favorite.  Beth has created a comprehensive Bible study that pushes the reader to explore how they live out their faith in their everyday life.  Believing God asks you to not only believe in God but to believe God’s promises.  Moore has everyone learn the five-statement pledge of faith:

1) God is who He says He is.

2) God can do what He says He can do.

3) I am who God says I am.

4) I can do all things through Christ.

5) God’s Word is alive and active in me.

Just one question.  What if you lived your life everyday as though each of these promises were true?  Just think of it!  Daily monotony would become daily adventure!  Life on the edge!  That’s the place this study drove my life and I believe it can do the same for you.  Challenge yourself to discover what you believe and to live as though you truely, whole-heartedly believe it!

http://www.amazon.com/Believing-God-Beth-Moore/dp/0805431896

If you made it all the way through 9/11 without hearing There She Stands or seeing the video, take a moment to hear Michael W. Smith’s thoughts on our precious flag.  Here’s the part of the lyrics that effect me the most:

Just when you think it might be over
Just when you think the fight is gone
Someone will risk his life to raise her
There she stands

When evil calls itself a martyr
When all your hopes come crashing down
Someone will pull her from the rubble
There she stands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj9Fa6IFM8Q&ob=av3n

I took my first plane ride when I was 12.  The whole event lasted about 35 minutes.  But do you know the thing I liked about it the most?  I liked looking at the tops of the clouds.  There was just something about the stark white balls of fluffs against the rich blue sky that made me want to jump out of the plane and dance on them.  Funny, I had spent 12 long years looking up at the clouds but I never thought about cloud looking different from the top.  I guess a new perspective can change the way you think about things.

You know, God knew what the tops of clouds look liked long before I did.  Actually He knew before anyone did.    God does not see our world the way we see the world and yet, as humans, we hunger to make sense of it all.  Take suffering.  It’s common for Christians to look at the suffering in our lives and believe that God is using a struggle to strengthen our faith.  And when you look at scriptures, you know this is true.   James 1:2-3 says “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. “  Hardship does strengthen your faith.  But that doesn’t mean that the area of your faith that will be strengthened was the reason for your struggle.

God does NOT look at you and think “You need to appreciate your blessings more, so I am going to make you sick or take your job away.”  God does not cause you suffering to teach you a lesson.  You may learn a lesson from God like appreciation or humility through your struggles but the imperfections in the world come from sin not God.  These imperfections may be anything from a tornado to a cancerous tumor to a company downsizing.  God will use your struggles to teach you lessons but God is not giving you struggles JUST to teach you a lesson.  God’s got things going on around you and your suffering that would blow your mind.  Let’s look at God’s view of your struggles:

John 9:3 tells us that God is using your struggle so “that the work of God might be displayed” in your life.  2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us that God is using your struggle so people can see His power in your weakness.  Romans 5:1-5 tell us that God is using your suffering to build patience, character, and hope.  And 1 Peter 1:6-7 says God is using your suffering to bring praise, honor and glory to Christ.  And that’s just the beginning.  Can you begin to get just a glimpse of how big God’s view is of your life?

Can you see it?  God’s work, God’s glory, God’s glory all around the hardships in your life.  Take a glimpse of your hardships from on high like looking at the tops of clouds.  Imagine a woman in chemo with nothing on her smooth head but a bandana going to the grocery store to buy bananas and go home.  How many lives could God touch with this single act?  Trust God in his omnipotence to know all the ways to use your life for His glorious will.  AMEN

Yes, this is Michael W. Smith with a little gospel thing going on.  I really like it!  I’ll Wait for You has a deep rhythm and even deeper message as he reaches out to those who are waiting on the Lord.  The lyrics that strike the most are “But these are the hardest times I’ve ever seen.  I’m still holdin’ on”. Do you know someone that’s in that place?  I know lots of people these days that are having the hardest time they’ve ever had and they are holding on- maybe by their finger tips- for the Lord.

Now I lie awake at night
Tryin’ hard to think
But these are the hardest times I’ve ever seen
I’m still holdin’ on

I know You never said it’d be easy
All thick and no thin
But the man who waits
Is the man who wins
Holdin’ on
Oh yeah, I’m holdin’ on

Gonna hide myself away
Hide myself away
And I’ll wait for You
I’ll wait for You
I’ll wait for You
I’ll wait for You

Listen to Michael meet you in the hurt and lift you into His arms.  Send this link to someone you know going through the hardest times they’ve ever had.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PwdrJftJhI

This video show Michael telling about what the lyrics mean to him as He is waiting on the Lord. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkQ2ZS6XfIw

In this day and age, the role a US occupational military force in a foreign country is a common topic in news broadcast, water coolers and dining room tables across our country.  Priest/author Andrew Greeley takes an in depth look at the occupational military force in post WWII Germany.  Set around the adventures of a young Chicago born army soldier “Chucky” Cronin O’Malley, the reader gains an new perspective from A Midwinter’s Tale of the difficulties in revitalizing a country through military efforts.  The reader will not be disappointed in the mystery, danger and romance that Chucky discovers in the most extraordinary situations.

Meanwhile, you learn about Rosie, a dynamic young girl that’s best friends with Chucky’s younger sister and “adopted” by the O’Malley’s.  You watch her begin to grow by over coming the chaos prevalent with her parents.

A Midwinter’s Tale is the first in the O’Malley Series which follows Chucky through meeting every president from Eisenhower to Ford and the impact societal changes have on him and his family.  I love a series that holds together from beginning to end and this one certainly does.

http://www.amazon.com/Midwinters-Tale-OMalley-Novels/dp/0812590252

“…I realize that I tend to divide my minutes into two categories: living and waiting to live.”