So, here it goes.

It was kind of hard for me to get into, because about the first 50 pages seemed to be saying a lot of stuff that I have already read or heard. Sometimes it jumped around like it was a book of collected sermons, rather than a single work. If you read it in short bites it would be easier to think on the different ideas and points. Near page 100 though (which is halfway through the book) things started picking up, so I’ll finish it. At one point early on I twittered that I gave it an M for ‘meh’ but now I’m upgrading that to an H for ‘hmm’ Hopefully I’ll finish it up next week and give it some quotes.

Here is the marketing info from the publisher. I have one copy to give away to anybody this weekend and I’ll have a second to give away in a week or so. Let me know in the comments if you want one!

Serve God as never before

The first Christians “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) shaking the gates of hell even in the face of severe persecution. The result: People all around “were filled with wonder and amazement” (Acts 3:10).What can give Christians today the same impact?

God’s Holy Spirit is ready to answer that for us in an awesome way, as Henry Blackaby and his son Mel Blackaby make clear in Experiencing the Spirit. You’ll see how the proof of the Spirit’s presence is our awareness of God’s personal assignments for us, plus our supernatural enablement to carry out those assignments. You’ll find essential clarification on the difference between natural talents and spiritual gifts. You’ll explore the dynamics of being filled with the Spirit through intimate relationship with Him, committed obedience, and radical departure from sin.

Instead of considering what you can do for God with your abilities and talents, you’ll be encouraged here to seek what God wants to do through you supernaturally by His Spirit, empowering you beyond your personal competence and capacities. Release the Holy Spirit’s work at the very core of your experience of the Christian life.

“Perhaps the greatest poverty of all is having nothing of value to offer the community. I want to believe that no one in my community is that poor.”
from Ch. 7, in the context of destroying people’s dignity by giving free handouts.

Compassion, Justice, and the Christian Life: Rethinking Ministry to the Poor, by Robert D. Lupton