Have You Read A Thought-Provoking Article or Good Book Lately?
January 25, 2019Have you read a thought-provoking article or a good book that you would like to recommend to your ministry friends on our Awaken page? You are invited to share the article or a few quotes or brief summary of the book.
Here’s an example of Pauline doing just that with a book she discovered!
“Recently I (Pauline Peifer) came across the book, Awaken, a 90 day interactive devotional by Priscilla Shirer. I am sure the title caught my attention since I serve with “Awaken” Network. Every brief chapter is an invitation for God to speak with a place for the reader to respond. I find the following entry quite relevant.
Priscilla tells the story of Naaman, the captain of the king’s army in 2 Kings 5. He has dreaded leprosy which he carefully conceals until he can no longer contain the nasty sores that keep cropping up.
Social media has made voyeurs of us all.
Shirer says, “social media has made voyeurs of us all. We carefully study and judge the lives of others, discovering things about them we might never ask in person. What we have gained from all our snooping is the pressure to keep up airs. When creating our own social media personas, we cleverly conceal the reality of our private struggles, our weaknesses, our deficiencies……our leprosy.”
She asks, “ have we mastered the art of functional leprosy covering blemishes and hurts on the inside but all polished and buttoned up on the outside? We conceal our private pains from public knowledge with perfectly composed selfies.” You ask, “Isn’t that what ministry leaders need to do?”
Might it be the leprosy of anger or unforgiveness, a lifeless, stale marriage, or suffocating anxiety robbing one of a good night’s sleep? Like Naaman we are dying in plain sight. God wants us to be healed. We can be restored from what is killing us.”
Have any good, insightful ministry books you are reading?
