Life of Luther by Barnas Sears, D.D.

Luther.

Martin Luther.

A controversial, yet revolutionary man.

Put aside your preconceptions and assumptions of him from what you have known and heard all of your life.

Read of his life from birth to death in detail and often in his very own words as it is recounted in the biography Life of Luther by Barnas Sears, D.D. originally published in 1850 by American Sunday School Union.

This book has been published for the first time since 1850 by Attic Books, an imprint of New Leaf Publishing Group.  Check out Attic's website HERE to find out more about their intriguing line of books.

When I received this book, I was so excited.  It took me back in time just looking at it and holding it.  It has the look and feel of an antique book, though it is a newly printed one.  Torn edges of the yellowed pages.  Original font with imperfections and all.  The look of an old leather cover, though it is a hardback.  Very nice book.

Even nicer because it is so enlightening, so deep, so honest.

Sears portrayed Luther's entire life in a very honest way, including his shortcomings and all.  A large portion of the book is comprised of Luther's own letters to various people in his life: family, friends, rivals, even the Pope himself.

Did you know that Luther endured the Diet of Worms!?!  

Sound tasty? 

It shouldn't.  It's not what you and I think of today.  You will have to read this for yourself to see what it involved.  Actually, in many ways, I would say it was much more excruciating than ingesting the slimy ground crawlers.  Let me know what you think, if you decide to read this.

The Diet of Worms is one example of one thing you will have to endure about the book if you so choose to read it (as I highly suggest).  Because it was written in the 1800's, the grammar of that day is fairly easy to follow though at times can test your intellect.  Stick with it, though.  It is very well worth it.

As someone once recently said to me,

"Catholics have a solid documentation and knowledge of their history.  Protestants, however, do not."  

I agree, having been born and raised a Protestant (which is any non-Catholic part of the Christian faith), that we are not taught very much about our history and why we are to believe what we are taught to believe.  Not saying we are not given firm, solid biblical instruction, but when a person of a Protestant faith comes to that inevitable crossroads of life where one has to decide why you believe what you believe other than just because your parents did or your denomination says so, it is helpful to have some background of knowledge and wisdom from those who struggled to form the basis of what you are taught today.

As this person said,

"Luther was the first to break free from the Catholic church.  I want to know more about why he did." 

I agree.

My reason for loving this book.

Whether you are Protestant, Catholic, Atheist, or anywhere in between, this is a very enlightening book for all to read.  Put aside your former ideas and just take it all in.  Then come back here and share what you gleaned from it.  I would love to hear it.

Also, as my new quote from this book on the top of my blog says,

"Whosoever will believe, let him believe, and follow unconstrained; and whosoever will not believe, let him disbelieve and go his way; for no one should be forced to faith, or to any thing pertaining to the faith, but should be drawn to it and won by the word. Then, whosoever believeth without constraint will freely follow." - Martin Luther

This we can all agree on if nothing else.

I do pray that the Spirit of God will speak to you through my writing as well as Luther's and anyone else's He may so choose.

Blessings to you all.  
And, in Luther's words, "May the grace of God be with us all."

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Attic Books, an imprint of New Leaf Publishing Group. No other compensation was received. The fact that I received a complimentary product does not guarantee a favorable review.

Quick Word of Encouragement

I know we can all use a reminder of the hope we have in our Lord, so today I just want to share a quick passage with you in hopes of giving your spirit a lift.

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31

I know I shared this as a portion of my last post, but it is really hitting home with me today.

Today I am tired, weary, on the verge of being physically ill (probably from exhaustion).

But, the wonderful thing to know and remember is that my God who is the Creator of all has the wisdom and ability to impart me – tired, weary old me – with His strength and stamina when I need it most.  After all, He lives in me, so it is not so far-fetched to know that His strength resides in me as well.  The key is for me to hope in Him, having faith that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Knowing Who I know and hoping in Him, I know that even this tired body and mind will be renewed by the strength of the One who never grows tired nor weary.  I know that these unstable legs that carry me will become sure-footed and not stumble nor fall.  And, I know that I will even soar on wings like eagles…I know it because He said it…and if He said it He will surely bring it to pass.

Now, go about your day and evening and be encouraged and renewed.  I am, just by sitting down and writing this for you.  Guess it was for me, too.

*I wrote this earlier this week while on a lunch break at work and posted it on Faithful Feet.  I wanted to share it with you here as well, since I resonate even more with it over the past couple of days.  I imagine you do, too.*

Life is but a breath of God

Life surrounds me.

Death surrounds me.

The presence of God surrounds me.

Then the LORD God formed a man 

from the dust of the ground 

and 

breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 

and the man became a living being. 

(Genesis 2:6)

Comfort, comfort my people,
   says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
   and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
   that her sin has been paid for,

“All people are like grass,
   and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
   because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
   Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
   but the word of our God endures forever.”

You who bring good news to Zion,
   go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
   lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
   say to the towns of Judah,
   “Here is your God!”
See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
   and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
   and his recompense accompanies him.  

He tends his flock like a shepherd:
   He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
   he gently leads those that have young.  

With whom, then, will you compare God?
   To what image will you liken him? 

“To whom will you compare me?
   Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
   Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
   and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
   not one of them is missing.

 Why do you complain, Jacob?
   Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD;
   my cause is disregarded by my God”?
Do you not know?
   Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
   and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
   and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
   and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary,
   they will walk and not be faint. 

(Excerpts from Isaiah 40)

Life is but a breath of God.

Be comforted today by the One who is the very Breath of Life.

It the Tree's Knees!

Living in South Louisiana, I am constantly surrounded by some unique, beautiful, and intriguing creations of God.

One of these I have witnessed many times in several southern bodies of water such as lakes or even swamps.  But in my own neighborhood?  Not until now, at least.  (and I don’t live in a swamp…)

Ambling along through Narnia the other day with my five-year-old son…

Wait—did I throw you off with “Narnia”?  Yes, as in The Chronicles of Narnia.  Of course, where else would we be after we passed through an imaginary wardrobe and came out near a real lamp post along a path in our neighborhood?  See?

And you thought I was crazy…

To confirm that I really am not crazy, you can finish reading this post on Faithful Feet, the blog on which I posted it in its entirety. :o)  See you there!  And leave your thoughts on it here and/or there...would love to hear someone say I am not crazy...or maybe you think I am...oh well.  ;-)

What if...God said it and it is true!?!

What is truth?

How can you be sure?

These are some common questions of our day.  We as humans often struggle with truth.  In reality, however, I think the reason we struggle so much with truth is that we don’t want to believe it.

Tough thought, I know.

If you want to know more about my thoughts on this, check out the rest of my post on "What If..."

If you do stop by there, leave me some feedback about your own thoughts on this.  You know I would love to hear them.

See you there!

Intentional

Be intentional.

Make intentional decisions, lest you inadvertently make unintentional ones whose affects on you can be devastating.

After all, to not decide...is to decide.

Intentional.

This word has been floating around in my head for several months now.

It first stood out to me when I heard Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine discussing "Legacy" on their radio show, FamilyLife Today.  Dennis said that when his son was asked what one word he would use to describe his father, his answer was "intentional."

How about you?  Can you be described that way?
At times, maybe I could be, but not as a majority.

Deep thoughts of this word resurfaced recently when I happened upon a blog post in which the author, Alece, is leading a second annual "one word" for the year.  This year is, of course, "One Word 2011." 

So, she put forth a challenge for anyone who wanted to consider it to come up with your "one word" for 2011.  Maybe what you want to be, what you want to do, but whatever the case---find and claim your "one word."

Immediately, I knew what my "one word" would be. 

So, here I tell you that, as of today, I plan to be INTENTIONAL in 2011.

No longer will I just do things, say things, spend time and/or money without a purpose or intention.

I want to be INTENTIONAL:

• in my use of time
• in the words I write and say
• in the books and articles I read
• in the love I give
• in the way I relate to my husband
• in the guidance and upbringing of my son
• in the work I do for my job
• in all of my relations and interactions with others
• in the entertainment in which I partake
• in the money I spend and give
• in my thoughts and plans

I have made the decision to be intentional.

Only with God's guidance, support, and strength is this possible.

With Him, however, all things are possible.  

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Matthew 19:26

 So---what about you?  What will be your "one word" for 2011?

Life---in 3 Minutes or less

How is it that we have come to this?

We have so many time-saving, efficient devices and processes in our day, yet we constantly feel the need to rush around as if we cannot stop and savor what is occuring. 

That time that we have saved for ourselves with all of our gadgets and plans has not turned into something of worth.  It has not allowed us time to ponder and reason and just enjoy a few moments to ourselves.  No, it has caused us to have shortened attention spans, to the point that everything we do and view seems to need to fit into a space of three minutes or less.

We cannot begin to read an article or blog post that appears to have more than maybe five paragraphs.  We cannot take the time to watch a video when we see on the progress bar at the bottom that it is FIVE MINUTES LONG.  Oh, be still my heart! 

Yes, many factors play into this conundrum, but it is a sad one still.

When I consider this sad state we have allowed ourselves to get into, I always think of the lyrics to a song by county music's Alabama called "I'm in a Hurry."

I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why

That is just part of the song, but enough that you probably are either singing it in your head now, or you at least get the idea of why it often comes to my mind.

All of this to say that, as my head hurts from all of the random thoughts that are jumping through it right now, I think we all need to remember that time is one of the greatest gifts God has given us.  Some of that time needs to be used to be productive and even efficient, yet He intends for us to also wisely use some of it to just chill. 

Balance is not easy to find, especially when it comes to managing the gift of time.  However, we have a daily and even hourly opportunity to learn from our past mistaken imbalances and implement those lessons in ways that will benefit us in our moments and days we are currently living.

If this strikes a chord with you, I invite you to jump over to my friend Christie Love's site called Love's Notes and check out a new FREE online Time Management Bible Study she has just begun to lead.  You can jump in at any point no matter what you may have already missed.  I think it will bless you to have some guidance in changing your perspective on how you use your time as Christie uses her vast experience in time management coaching in order to lead this Bible study.

In hopes that you are still reading this and I haven't taken up too much of your precious time ;-) --- I will leave you with this:

"There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens..."  Ecclesiastes 3:1