If You Like Christian Fiction . . .  

Posted by Benjie in ,

For all you readers out there: You've got to see this!

I’ve discovered something new — a “blook” tour (blog + book tour = blook tour). And I’m hosting one for debut author Steven Hunt over at Book ‘em Benj-O. If you’re a fan of Christian fiction, private eye novels, or suspense, drop on by and check it out.

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Pointy-headed People Are Making Decisions Again  

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Southwest Airlines has been on the cutting edge in domestic air travel many times. Now, I believe they’ve fallen over the edge. In the interest of making life easier, the bureaucrats over at Southwest have managed to complicate everything. I first heard that they were no longer going to allow families with small children to board first (read it here). Allowing them boarding privileges was helpful because traveling with little ones causes lots of unintentional delays—especially when trying to get down the tiny aisles on airplanes. But in the wisdom of the ages, the pointy-heads at Southwest have decided that boarding will go faster if they just let everyone crowd on like cattle into a chute.

This morning I head about this. Basically, Southwest has decided to keep their “open seating” policy, saving the headache of attendants clicking a few keys to assign a seat—oh, and think of all the printer ink it saves, too. Southwest also saves money in boarding passes, by handing out groupings with plastic, reusable passes. Now, to simplify matters, since parents with small children don’t get to board first, along with your color group you’ll get a number, and passengers get seated numerically as well as by color.

Here’s my question: how is this really easier than assigning seats and boarding by rows?

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Link Issue Update  

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The dead link for the Chazown website (referenced here) is no longer dead. Wait, though. It doesn't take you to the site that had all the interactive tools that feathered so well with the book. Now you are sent to the publisher's page for the book itself. You get a good description of the book and a short bio of Groeschel, but if you want to download the .pdf file of the Chazown Journal you'll be out of luck.

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Word Police -- "Anyways"  

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I've encountered this aberration more often in spoken than in written language. Blessed be the advent of blogs. Now I get to see this non-word crop up even on the 'net. As a colloquialism I have encountered this one relatively frequently in my native Texas. But it seems to rear its ugly head around our nation. My typical response is simply to cringe. After all, they're just talking, right? But when it spews from the lips of educated Americans, my head starts to throb. The verbal pause "Anyway" should never be made plural by adding an 's' because it is a collective (by virtue of the "any" that introduces the word).


The purpose for this rant? I saw it on the comment section of a more than colloquial blog. Thank you very much.

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Journaling Chazown – Past Experience  

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Having examined core values and spiritual gifts, the concept found in Craig Groeschel’s Chazown directs the vision-seeker to look into personal experience. Not only should you dig into the good things that happened in your past, but also look closely at those things that could be designated as sad or disappointing—even tragic—to determine where God has been working in your life. Why? Scripture indicates that “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) The suggestion is that regardless of the circumstance—good or bad—if it is our desire to please God, He will use all our experiences to work together to advance His plan. With these ideas racing in my head, I addressed Groeschel’s “experience” questions:


  • What do your good and bad experiences have in common?

  • What do you think your experiences have done within you to prepare you for the future?

My answers:
The common thread in all my experiences have been family and relationships. These two concepts play a strong part in my experiences. There is a deep-seated need to for approval running through my experiences. I see a great concern when I have not been the crowd-pleaser that I want to be, and equally great jubilation when I have.
Developing the desire to please my audience, I have learned tact and discretion as well as communication skills that have been necessary in the path that lays before (and behind) me.

Finally, Groeschel asks the reader to try to name the next chapter in their life path. Keeping in mind the things I value, the gifts I’ve identified, and the dreams affected by my experience, I’ve come up with the following challenging title for my life’s book:

“Writing the Right Way”

Feel free to answer the questions for yourself, and share your next life chapter title if you wish. Some of the suggestions Groeschel offers as starting points are:


“Making a Difference”
“Starting Over”
“Restoring Brokenness”
“Going for It”
“Taking the Faith Risk”
“Living the Dream”
“Shaping Up”
“Close to God”


What do you think?

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One for the Funny Bone  

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They say that necessity is the mother of invention. And apparently the necessity of a mother is inventive. My wife found a news item about one Dawn Meehan who blogs here. The upshot of it is, this mother of (too many) has a knack for writing. Her trip from hell to the grocery store that resulted in an ebay auction gained her huge amounts (HUGE amounts) of attention. According to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch story, she is now sought after by the publishing and media industry in the manner of a Benny Hill closing credits scene. Read today's story here.

Take a gander at her blog and see what all the hoopla is about. And if you so feel inclined, check out some of her sponsors.

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IQ Test  

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IQ test score
[HT: Josh]

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A Quick Apology  

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Many of you have been checking out my post here. I must apologize for the bad link. After I had posted some of the journal entries from my working through Craig Groeschel’s material in Chazown the website for the book and issues disappeared. I do not know whether the Chazown.com website is experiencing issues or if it is permanently defunct. If it reappears I’ll let you know so that you can interact fully with the material, too.

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New Book Drawing from Challies.com  

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I always love new books--especially free ones. If you click on the button, you will be transported to a site where you can sign up for a drawing for a set of commentaries.

sept Giveaway

Just a note. The commentaries are from the Reformed school of theology. There will be three names drawn for different prizes:

  1. First prize = All six volumes.
  2. Second prize = Winner selects three of the titles.
  3. Third prize = Winner chooses one of the titles.

If you're interested click on the button above.

[HT: Our friends at Pastor Bookshelf]

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