Surviving Your Serengeti

Surviving Your Serengeti conjured up wonderful pictures in my mind. The vastness of the desert has always intrigued me, and I was anxious to see if this played into the story. The Seven Questions it promised to tackle made me hopeful. Who wouldn’t want to know how to overcome a challenge, discover hidden survival skills, reach unmet goals, discover my instinctive strengths, learn problem-solving thinking, excel to my potential, and have a positive message to share?

Sadly, Surviving Your Serengeti promised more than it delivered. The fable had a stilted story line, and didn’t really hold my interest. The protagonists didn’t hold my attention, and I couldn’t empathize with them. They were too predictable. I should have expected this—it was billed as a fable, after all.

I looked forward to what I could learn from the seven beasts that survive in the wild. There must be lessons to be learned from these animals that have survived the ravages of nature for centuries. The summary at the end of each chapter did offer practical applications, and I found this beneficial. Who doesn’t struggle with some of the traits discussed—endurance, strategy, enterprise, efficiency, grace, risk-taking, and communication. I didn’t find anything I hadn’t read before, though, and my goal is always at least one new thought.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Jesus, my Father, the CIA, and Me

Intrigued by the title, I decided to read this memoir, a genre I don’t often read. So glad I did. What great insights I gleaned from being inside the head of the child of an alcoholic narcissist.

In Jesus, my Father, the CIA, and Me, I was able to explore the longing of a person to gain the love and acceptance of his father. The story was honest, funny, sad and poignant as I traveled with the author from being a child to a grown man, finally able to reconcile his past, and forgive his father in spite of it all. With candor, the author told of how this quest to connect with his father colored and had the potential to warp every other relationship in his life. Without preaching, or really explaining, I was able to take this trek with him, and understand his viewpoint in a way I had never experienced.


Yet even in the end, there is that unfilled longing in the heart of the author to truly connect. This spaciousness of his soul is something I believe we all experience, as we wait to finally be united with our heavenly Father. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand a little more of the depth of the pain alcoholism can inflict on anyone who touches it.

Ten Great Questions

People who achieve their dreams stand out. You cannot be a part of the crowd and achieve your dream at the same time. This was just one of the many truths I gleaned from “Put Your Dream to the Test,” Maxwell’s best book, in my opinion. I am a long-time reader of his books, and have learned many things by the easy-to-understand way he writes. However, after a few, they all begin to sound alike. Not so with “Put Your Dream to the Test”. While many of his previous principles shine through, this book gave me a bricks and mortar way to put these principles to the test.

No matter the size of your dream, the ten questions posed and the way they were presented will give the reader a good indicator of what is required of the dream, and a way to gauge the cost. The chapters covered a broad spectrum of considerations to think through when starting out. From “Ownership” to “Passion” to “Significance” to “People”, this book was more of a workbook than just a read. This helped me see a dream from many different facets. The Dream Map helped to further take ownership of the dream and lay out a general plan to make it happen.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a dream to pursue, and is willing to view it from all angles to help count the cost.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Final Summit

I enjoyed the use of historical figures in the story of The Final Summit, to solve a problem in the present. Feeling overwhelmed and hopeless by circumstances , David Ponder regained value by being used of Gabriel, the archangel, to help find a solution to set the world back on track.

The task is daunting--to find a way to set civilization back on target for its own preservation—and David will have the help of Travelers from a previous time to find the key that will do this. Drawing on wisdom and insight from the past, their job is to find the one key that will set the earth back on the course to do all that is right and good.

Although the answers that are offered (and rejected), are good principles to live by, and will make for a more successful life, they were very predictable. I did enjoy the insights I gained into some historical figures, especially Churchill’s comments on depression. I was disappointed by the “right answer”, but did enjoy the read, and it gave me cause to reconsider some things.

The Final Sprint

Hebrews It's crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we've heard so that we don't drift off. (Jesus) is there (Heaven) from now to eternity to save everyone who comes to God, thru Him, always on the job to speak up for (me)!

Do you see what this means? It means we better get on with it! Strip down, start running & never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how He did it. Because He never lost sight of where was headed--that exhilarating finish in & with God--He could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever.

It's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God. So don't sit around on your hands! Help each other out. And run for it! Work at getting along with each other and God.

James Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.

I & II Peter Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick.

Don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our master, Jesus. Hold your minds in a state of undistracted attention.

I, II, & III John Here's how we can be sure we know God in the right way--keep His commandments.

Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. God is greater than our worried hearts & knows more about us than we do ourselves. The commandment we have from Christ is blunt---loving God includes loving people. You've got to love both.

Jude Fight with everything you have in you, for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish.

Revelation John turned and saw the voice (?) What does it mean to see the voice?

I've opened a door before you that no one can slam shut. You don't have much strength, I know that; you used what you had to keep My Word. You didn't deny me when things were rough. I'm A to Z. I'm the Beginning. I'm the Conclusion. From the Water of Life Well I give freely to the thirsty.

I have loved this journey through the Bible. Intensive most of the time, but keeping me focused on the One Priority of my life. This disciplined reading of the Word came at a time when many things were swirling around me, and it was truly my anchor. I finished Sunday, March 27, and started a 5 day journey preparing me for the next step in my walk with Jesus. With man it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible!

Learning From Paul

Acts This is what happened to the first Christians: They agreed they were in for good-no quitting. They agreed in prayer. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and received supernatural power. They followed a daily discipline. They couldn't keep quiet about what they knew to be true. They prayed for fearless confidence in preaching The Message. They all shared with each other. Ananias and Sapphire are proof that secrets will kill you. The followers were 'promptly obedient'. Paul and Barnabas encouraged the believers wherever they went--putting muscle and sinew into their lives, encouraging them to stick with what they had begun and not quit. Making it clear that being a follower wouldn't be easy.

Songs of praise and worship break open the prison doors. Praise and thanksgiving will set me free from any bondage in my mind, too.

Paul gave constant encouragement, lifting the believers' spirits and charging them with fresh hope. When warned of trouble in Jerusalem, Paul told the believers that the issue was not what the Jews might do to him, but rather, what the Master, Jesus, does through Paul's obedience. Awesome reminder of the importance of immediate obedience.

In reading through Acts, and all the things that happened to Paul, I am reminded again that we modern, Western Christians have a very unrealistic view of how the will of God plays out in the circumstances of our lives. Even though Jesus taught that we would have trouble, we somehow think living in God's will for us means everything just works out good. That is so wrong. Paul had joy, contentment, and great productivity for Kingdom work, but hardly anything went the way he thought it should. Let that be a reminder to me again, Lord, that Your ways are so different from mine; Your perspective full and complete, and mine limited.

Romans Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgemental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors.

Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting Him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade.

Offer yourself to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God, and the freedom never quits!

God's gifts and God's call are all under full warranty--never canceled, never rescinded.

So, here's want I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings out the best in you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Love from the center of who you are--don't fake it. Be good friends who live deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.

A final word of counsel--Keep a sharp eye out for those who take bits and pieces of the teaching that you learned and then use them to make trouble. I want you to be smart, making sure every good thing is the real thing.

I & II Corinthians God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of His purposes. You won't find it lying around on the surface. Also, see Isaiah 45:3.

Stand your ground, and don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort.

Enter this wide open, spacious life. (We) didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively.

Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in your faith. Don't drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular check-ups.

Galatians The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God does for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Make a careful exploration of who you are, and the work you have been given & sink yourselves into it.

Ephesians Long before we first heard of Christ, and got our hopes up, He had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone.

Philipians My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. Live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ.

There's more to this life than trusting in Christ. There's also suffering for Him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting.

I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward-- to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us.

Colossians Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Radical, exuberant praise & thanksgiving!

Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.

I & II Thessalonians God hasn't invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life, but into something holy and beautiful. Look for the best in each other and always do your best to bring it out. Check out everything, and keep only what's good.

I & II Timothy Exercise daily in God--no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gym are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. Run hard and fast in the faith. Don't ever quit. Just keep it simple. This is the only race worth running. I've run hard right to the finish, believed all the way.

Titus God's people should be big-hearted and courteous.

Philemon I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it.

The Gospels-Walking with Jesus

Matthew 15-28 Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant...if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty. Staying with it--that's what God requires. Stay with it to the end.

Mark The Diligent Servant. Jesus lost no time. He didn't fritter His time away. Everything He did was intentional and purposeful.

Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes.

Jesus was never without a story when He spoke.

Love the Lord God with all your passion & prayer & intelligence & energy. And here is the second commandment. Love others as well as you love yourself. There is no other commandment that ranks with these.

Part of (Peter) is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire. Help me not to become tired, and then lazy as an old dog, Lord.

Luke Just like the Devil played upon Jesus' hunger in the wilderness, he will always play on my weakness. Whether it's a habit or a temporary situation. Just like the Devil only retreated temporarily, and lay in wait for another opportunity, he will do that to me. I must always be on guard.

Even though Jesus was doing a very successful ministry & there were still plenty to be healed, Jesus knew that God was sending Him to other villages to do the work of God. I believe I am being sent to another 'village' in PA, even though there is plenty of work to do in TN.

Jesus prayed all night before choosing His disciples. How long do I pray before making a decision?

Be easy on people; you'll find life a lot easier.

Jesus continued according to plan. Altho what He was doing might not have made sense to others, He knew He was doing the Father's business. He knew this because He was in constant communication with Him. Prayer is the primary source of direction. God's view, not man's.

Even though people were being healed, the people asked Him to leave--too much change, too fast, and they were scared. (Never be afraid of the change Jesus is working in my life.)

Life is not defined by what you have done, even when you have done a lot. We must watch carefully to not be consumed by our possessions. The way to life--to God!--is vigorous and requires your total attention.

If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get a life on God's terms.

John You're tied to the mundane; I'm in touch with what is beyond your horizons. You live in terms of what you see and touch. I'm living on other terms.

Anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal. If any of your wants to serve Me, then follow Me.

This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I've revealed to you. Ask in My name, according to My will & He'll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks.