Tag: review

live second – a review

livesecondIt’s taken me a while to pick up this book. I’ve been busy. I’ve been in important meetings helping people make important decisions. I’ve been in demand.

And it’s worn me out.

I’ve neglected my relationship with God.

So I’ve been thumbing through live second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First, a book I received months ago, but was too busy to pick up.

It’s a journey. This book is not unlike a lot of other devotionals out there, it’s goal is to help us grow daily in our relationship with God. It does occasionally point you to a video on their website. It encourages you to work with others in helping you in your relationships. It tries to help you see it’s best to put Jesus first in your life.

And maybe, if you are in the right place in your life, it will.

Book has been provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications and Thomas Nelson.

 

Posted on September 4, 2013 by revnick
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Emergence Christianity – Phyllis Tickle (a review)

emergencechristianityI’ve heard a bit about Phyllis Tickle over the last year, she seems to like to write about this new form of Christianity coming about referred to as “emergence”. So when I had the chance to pick up a copy of her latest book, Emergence Christianity, I took it. I was looking forward to learning more about this movement and how it looks and functions in the wider church.

Turns out this is a pretty good book to start with, at least I thought it to be.

Tickle does a wonderful job of introducing this movement and its history, which may not be as recent as we think. Turns out the church has been exploring new expressions/locations/settings/styles for quite some time. She also does a great job of showing how many of these variations have manifested themselves over the last 50 years.

This book has given me a great deal to think about. I took a long time to read it, for a variety of reasons (not one of which is because it’s a hard read). But I’m glad to took the time to read it carefully as it has given me a great deal to think about as I am increasingly convinced the church does need to free itself to explore new expressions of church to help reach the generations for which traditional church has become stale or meaningless.

If you are interested in learning about these things, you can’t be hurt by picking up a copy of Emergence Christianity.

Posted on January 4, 2013 by revnick
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2012 Year in Review

Lots going on in 2012, and while I may not have been able to blog as often as I would have liked, I thank all of you for reading and conversing with me over the year.

The blog has been busy, despite my lack of posting (especially in the final quarter) and here are some fun stats from 2012.

Most Viewed Posts

10 – A Little April Fools Fun

A fun post highlighting the April Fools Day bulletin from this past year

9 – Should We Stay or Should We Go?

A video I found asking about the work and mission of the church.

8 – What Am I Doing?

Reflecting on a public meeting hosted by a group I am now on the board of.

7 – Growing Up Is Hard To Do

A sermon from 2011 which shows a couple of Calvin & Hobbes comics

6 – You Learn Something New

Reflecting after a meeting where I was told the language of a doctrinal statement no one knows about is keeping young people from coming to our churches.

5 – The First

My Easter sermon from 2011

4 – State of Shock

It was a hard summer for the United Church of Canada following our 41st General Council

3 – Keeping Watch

This anniversary sermon from 2010 still gathers a lot of hits as people search for “anniversary sermons”

2 – An Open Letter to the Church

Early in 2012 I felt a strong need to say something to the church as a frustrated young clergy. This gathered lots of attention, even from our head offices in Toronto.

And finally, my most popular post in 2012

1 – Breathing in the Words

Another old sermon, this time from 2011. Again lots of search engine hits on a variety of search terms.

And for fun, I thought I would throw in some interesting search terms from 2012
(*not necessarily the most popular, just ones I randomly picked)

– “valley of dry bones” (leading to my top post from 2012)
– “calvin and hobbes dad”
– “why me”
– “post theism”
– “batman begins ninja”
– “why are young people leaving cape breton”
– “rev nick philips bus tour”
– “i want to know more about you”
– “blowing thing up”
– “emo on facebook fanzy” (I have NO idea what this means)

Again, thank you for being part of my year. I appreciate your readership and feedback.

God bless and I pray you have a blessed 2013.

-revnick

Posted on December 31, 2012 by revnick
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I Am Second – a review

There are stories and there are stories.

Some make you smile, others make you think. Some break your heart, others bring you joy.

When I picked up I Am Second, I wasn’t sure what to expect. When I scanned the list of names who contributed to this book, I recognized only a couple, and knew even fewer of their stories.

These are stories of broken people and healing. Powerful stories of people hitting the absolute bottom in their lives with absolutely no where to turn… save one.

As I read through the book, reading story after story of broken lives and healing, I had to stop and pray for the stories I knew personally which came to mind as I read. I prayed for my friends who were going through tough times, not unlike the stories in the book. It’s powerful to know that God has saved people from similar circumstances when they submitted to the One and they themselves became second.

This book comes with an excellent companion website, full of videos of the particular stories you read (accessed via handy QR codes or URLs) but also other recommended videos that did not make it into the book.

Pick up this book if you want to know that God is in the business of saving people. If you want to know for sure there is still hope in the world. If you want to know that even the most recognized, famous, richest people in the world face problems in their lives. Problems from which their money and fame could not save them because they were first above all other things.

Discovering it’s more than about themselves, they discovered the One who is to be first in their lives.

Book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  Available at your favourite bookseller from Thomas Nelson.

Posted on July 5, 2012 by revnick
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