The Sunday Salon (July 24)

July 24, 2011

I spent the day, yesterday, reading. I love it when I can do that! We had no plans to go anywhere, nor did I want to, so I grabbed one of my library books ~ “Eat: The Effortless Weight Loss Solution” by Ian K. Smith ~ and read it from cover-to-cover. ((see my review in the previous post))

After I finished that, I started back into “The Medusa Amulet” by Robert Masello. The book is good, but it got off to a slower start, so I had set it aside for a bit.

I was very excited, this past week, to be able to order more books from Amazon. This time I got: “The Holmes Inspection” by Mike Holmes, “Darke Academy #3: Divided Souls” by Gabriella Poole, “Eat: The Effortless Weight Loss Solution” by Ian K. Smith (yes, I wanted my own copy!), “It’s Called Work for a Reason” by Larry Winget, and “Standing At the Crossroads” by Charles Davis.

I’ve been trying to slow down on requesting review books (blog tours), as I’m back to working full-time, and my reading is taking a blow. This month, I had a pile of them, because I’d ordered them before I landed this job. So, I’ve been feeling quite overwhelmed. But, we’re slowly making our way through the pile, and feeling a bit better. I just reviewed “40 Days to Better Living: Optimal Health” by Dr. Scott Morris, “Restless in Carolina” by Tamera Leigh, and “God Gave Us You” by Lisa T. Bergren. Coming up, I’ll be reviewing “Shadows On the Sand” by Gayle Roper, “Mirror Ball” by Matt Redman, and “Heiress” by Susan May Warren. And, later, I’ve requested to review “Sifted” by Rick Lawrence.

Here’s the description for “Sifted“:
Worn down by the troubles in your life? Overwhelmed by piled-up problems? Worried about others who are hurting? In his book, Sifted: God’s Scandalous Response to Satan’s Outrageous Demand, Rick Lawrence offers fresh biblical perspective on pain, based on a single Scripture snapshot: Luke 22:31-32.

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” These two simple verses from Luke’s account of the Last Supper launch a profound exploration of the meaning of trouble in a Christian’s life. Suffering is inevitable, and if we’re honest, the explanations commonly offered often just don’t hold up or help very much. But Jesus’ perfect metaphor of sifting provides fresh perspective on why we suffer and what the sifting process can reveal in our lives.

Peter was to be “sifted like wheat”—shaken hard, beaten, and finally separated from his false identity. Satan was the one causing it, but Jesus would allow it. Lawrence’s verse-by-verse exploration offers insight, comfort, challenge, and a call to greater intimacy with the God who allows our pain because He wants us to know who we really are and what we can become.

If we believe that Christians are still sifted today, why do we so often judge those who are experiencing hardships? They must have done something wrong. God must be punishing them. But suffering is inevitable, whether it comes in the form of life-shifting catastrophe or the drip-drip-dripping of daily troubles. Sifted will encourage those who are facing trouble now and those who will face it in the future. It will encourage us to see our pain as a means to greater knowledge of and intimacy with Christ. Lawrence offers a rigorously honest, deeply challenging, yet powerfully comforting exploration of the trials that beat us down, the good God who allows our troubles, and the incredible beauty the process of sifting can reveal in us.