MIller Review Part 2

Submitted by MBK

I loved Blue Like Jazz. It was the first book that I read in which ‘Post Modern Christianity’ made any sense to me. I think that was because Donald Miller told stories. I started to understand a whole new view on how we ‘do’ church. If I had one criticism of Blue Like Jazz it was that there was a lot of discussion about social justice or social activism but Miller himself didn’t really seem to do a whole lot about the social causes he was highlighting. I know that he has done a lot to address that in the past 5 years.

When I read A Million Miles in A Thousand Years it was clear that Miller was back to the style of writing that made Blue Like Jazz popular. Although I am sure that a book with the subtitle ‘non religious thoughts on Christianity’ had a much broader appeal, I believe this book is well worth the read for those who want to mature in their faith. It is clear that Donald Miller moved past complaining about social issues to doing something about them. The book came at exactly the right time for me.

This fall I have seen so many changes in my life. The analogy of living a story was a very powerful one for me. I remember a day when I particularly wanted to give up. I remembered a chapter of the story that spoke about being in the middle. At the beginning of an adventure we are all excited and energized. Then at some point we realize that what we are doing will be really hard. We are tired and we want to give up. Miller told a story that beautifully illustrates how God meets us in those places. It came to mind and I held on. For me the book was worth reading just for that.

I was going to say that if you liked Blue Like Jazz you will like this book. However as I thought about it, I realized that isn’t entirely true. If you liked the anecdotal story telling in Blue Like Jazz but you are ready for a next step, you will like this book.

Haiti Continued...

Below are some blogs that you can follow regarding what is happening in Haiti.
A simple reminder that if you have not given already you can give at http://www.soulsanctuary.ca/welcome.htm and click on the Paypal button. Your money will go to ERDO and it will be matched dollar for dollar by CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency).

http://www.haitiministries.com/english/
http://haitiexperiences.blogspot.com/
http://www.missionofhopehaiti.org/
http://houseofhopehaiti.blogspot.com/


Thank You

Want to Help or Must we Help?

Have you seen the news? Have you seen the picture from Haiti? Of course you have. I am reminded of December 26, 04 when a tsunami took the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and the world responded. Now, one of the poorest countries in the world (top 20) is hard hit by an earthquake. We are encouraging people to do more than just pray, but also give. Did you know that a person living in Canada making $36,000 a year is in the top 5% of the richest people in the world? I think you can afford to give something? (Ah Gerry, using guilt! No Silly, compassion)

Go to http://www.soulsanctuary.ca/welcome.htm make your donation using Paypal and anything over $10 will be issued a tax reciept.

Thank You

First Reader Review

FROM BRANDI:

Donald Millers - A million miles in a thousand years.I love the theme of finding meaning in your life and the stories of people he came into contact with. Creating memorable moments that will last a life time. Even if they are random things like jumping off a dock when saying good bye. The simple fact that he was afraid and doubtful with every move he made yet he still overcame the obstacles, this was very inspirational. I thought it was funny that I felt as though I was reading John Eldridge’s Epic again yet, in a different way. This one was far more personal and had so much more human connection as opposed to fictional movies. Very talented writer that brought you into his life, made you think about your life, and then moved to relationship with the Father (this is from me who hated Blue Like Jazz). How we quite often just drift through life as though believing is simply enough. (yes, I know it is) but there is no joy, no furthering of life. You become stagnant. When the movie producers stepped into Don’s life, I felt God say, this is not what I wanted for you. So here are my tools. Through the story of his life he began to see that indeed that wasn’t life.

I was reading a friends blog James Williams and thought it was weird he echoed the same thing. I thought it was very philosophical in a sense to re-examine your life. I believe it was Aristotle that said “a life unexamined is not worth living”…or something like that, any way my point here is that he didn’t really choose for it to be examined it was a sort of push that he fought. I think we can all relate there. I know the chapter I enjoyed best was the one that describes how change actually comes about. An Inciting Incident really hit home for me. I live very much in a comfort zone and it takes something really important to me for me to shift or move. Yet I love new adventures but it takes something really powerful to get me to move. Usually anger works best for me.

Although not clearly written I saw anger in Don, the constant changing his life for the movie to make people interested in seeing it. There's nothing like saying to a person we like the backbone and idea of your life but we have to change everything about you to make it good. That got me thinking. Would I want to read about my life, I’ve been told for years to write a book about my life and you know what it would probably make for a good story but would it in a movie? Would it look good in life? Would someone want to live my life? The questions go on….I got completely sucked into thinking OK when is that big thing in my life going to happen to force change again. Ridiculous thought I know, but that’s what I read and saw in my head. I almost felt a step by step book on how to live a more interesting and impacting life and I was sad when I had finished reading it. I had more questions that still weren’t answered. More fears and doubts that hadn’t been resolved. SO I was left wanting more.

2010: Interaction

Every once in a while people get inspired by odd things, and one of those inspirations for me has been through the movie Julie and Julia. Now, as a person who loves to cook, this movie was one that cought my attention much to the scorn of the rest of my family. But, since I am the Alpha male in my fam, I made them all watch it over the Christmas holidays. Anyway, that is another story.

Where I am going with this is that I am looking to have more of an interactive blog for this upcoming year. I have a theme in mind of Faith, Family and the Future and will be focusing on that, however I want to invite you (the reader) to post more and to encourage healthy discussion.

Before we start something new however, I must finish the review of Donald Miller's Book 'A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.' I know that a number of you have already read this book and have an opinion, so I am wondering if you would be willing to share your review first?