The long-awaited audio release of “WHATEVER, GOD” is finally here! You no longer have to imagine my voice in your head as you read the book (a comment I’ve heard about 1000 times); you get to hear the real thing instead!
There are two ways you can get your hands on the audiobook. First, you can purchase your copy from either Audible and iTunes, beginning on February 12.
Or you can skip the whole “buying” thing and get your copy TODAY...ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
Read More"What YOU really want and what GOD really wants are closer than you think."
We're in week 3 of WanderLOST and this week we're moving from the question of "What do YOU want?" and now we're asking the question, "What does GOD want?"
And if you look carefully and really consider what you really want out of life, I believe you'll find yourself staring face to face with God when you get there. That's how it happened in my life and if you check out the video above, you'll hear for yourself how I got to the point.
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Why? The three letter question that is seemingly impossible to answer. Many times in life, whether in good, but usually in bad, circumstances, we just stop and ask— Why God? Why did you let this happen or why didn’t you let that happen?
You can spend hours, days, years, even a lifetime driving yourself crazy to find a complex answer to such a simple question. And it isn’t a new question— it goes back thousands of years to the story of Job. But at the conclusion of your quest for an answer, no definitive answer can be found. And typically when we can’t find an answer to a question, we feel angry, sad, hopeless, unmotivated and/or belittled.
So why can’t we find an answer? Because we, as humans, are LIMITED.
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“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” Harry Truman
Year after year, among the most common New Year’s resolutions is to “read more books.” It’s right up there with “eat better”, “exercise more” and “spend less.” It’s a goal that I’ve personally set many times in the past, with limited success.
NOT THIS YEAR!
This year, I turned “read more books in 2018” into “read 15 books in 2018” and you’ll be happy to know that I’m currently on track to more than DOUBLE my goal! I’ve already completed 2 books and should have a third complete by the end of January – putting me on pace to complete 36 books by the end of year.
Read More“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do... Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” Romans 7:15, 20
Part 2 in our latest series, WanderLOST, and this week we're looking at the fundamental problem of all humanity: Due to sin, what we naturally want is in conflict with what we ultimately want.
What does that mean and how do we solve it? Check out the message above and see for yourself.
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Today's heart-warming guest post comes from Madona Lawindy - a close friend of mine and an original founding member of St. Timothy & St. Athanaisus church who has guest posted on my blog before.
There’s a phrase that I have been repeating absentmindedly since my first days of attending Sunday School. “He did it because He loved us.” This is of course referring to Jesus when He came to earth and was crucified on our behalf. I always got it but I never really got it. That is, until this past month, which led to one of the most horrible weeks of my life.
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If you're finding your goals on life support as well, I believe there are two possible reasons why. Your problem lies either in the process of SETTING GOALS, or in the process of FOLLOWING UP with your goals.
I’ve written before about how I personally set goals each year. I have a specific process that I’ve been using for the past 4-5 years and it works great for me. But what I want to share today is the process I’m using to FOLLOW UP with those goals – which is equally as important and might be the reason you find yourself falling short.
The main change in my 2018 plan is that I’M GOING BACK TO ANALOG! I’m using a “paper and pen” system to follow up with my goals.
Read MoreThe Well is BACK and started with a BANG! Kicked off a fantastic new series yesterday called WanderLOST where we seek to answer the question: WHAT DO YOU WANT?
What do you want in 2018? What do you want in your career? Your relationships? Life in general? What do YOU want?
That's the first question. Now the second question is this: ARE YOU SURE? Are you sure that what you want is what you REALLY want?
Did you ever consider that your pursuit of what you WANT might be standing in the way of your attainment of what you REALLY WANT???
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After an extremely hectic couple of weeks, I'll be taking some time off for the holidays. So no blog post or scope this week (or next). Instead, I'll be focusing on a) catching up on some R&R with the family, b) preparing my heart for Christ's glorious birth (starting with my own confession appointment today) and c) preparing for an AWESOME 2018!
I pray that you have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year, and if you're still trying to figure out what to do for some last minute gift ideas, there's still time to order more copies of "WHATEVER, GOD".
Merry Christmas everyone!
Read MoreAt Christmas time, we don't celebrate that Christ gave to the poor, but rather that He BECAME poor. He became poor so that we could become rich.
As we wrapped up our series on IRRATIONAL GENEROSITY this week, we learned about a semi-modern saint who did the same. He not only gave to the poor, but he became poor so that the poor might become rich.
And in doing so, he teaches us the lesson that with every poor or weak or needy person that we meet, we have the chance to be part of a divine transaction - one in which we SERVE Christ IN others and we BECOME Christ TO others.
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It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much mistle-toeing
And hearts will be glowing
When loved ones are near
It's the most wonderful time of the year
(lyrics by Andy Williams)
Yeah yeah yeah… we’ve heard it on the radio… we’ve see it in the movies… we even hear about it at church during this time of year. We know that it’s supposed to be a season of joy, a season of laughter and a season of good cheer… the “hap-hap-happiest time of year” right?
But there’s just one problem….IT ISN’T! The holiday season reminds us of everything that ISN'T right in our lives and highlights all the areas that AREN’T going according to plan.
Why doesn’t my life match? Why can’t I have that too? Things were supposed to be different by now; this circumstance wasn’t supposed to still be here. Why God, why?
Read More“The doors of his house were open to all. He was like a father to orphans; to the poor a merciful giver, to the weeping a comforter, to the wronged an advocate, and to all a great benefactor.”
Who's the most famous man that nobody knows is a real person? ST. NICHOLAS! The man who lived such an extraordinarily generous life, that he spawned the legend of Santa Claus across the world!
Who was the man behind Santa Claus and what can we learn from his life? That's our topic in part 2 of Irrational Generosity, we look at the life of the real St. NIcholas.
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Below is the third and FINAL excerpt I'll be posting from my book, "WHATEVER, GOD": Rediscovering the One I Thought I Knew. Below is the introduction of the book, the very first pages.
For those who still haven't gotten a copy, I hope this whets your appetite. You can learn more about my book - including how to get discounts and freebies on bulk orders - by going to the "WHATEVER, GOD" homepage.
For those who have read it, I hope you'll do me a favor and consider leaving a review online. That's the easiest and simplest way to help get the book in front of more people. The more reviews a book gets, the more Amazon pushes the product, and the more likely the book is to get in front of someone who needs it.
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We're coming to the end of another year and if you want to make the coming year special, NOW is the time to start planning for it! How? Believe it or not, the key to looking ahead is actually to start by looking back.
I've come to the conclusion that for me, the key to setting effective goals in the new year is to start by evaluating how things went in the prior one.
In other words, I don't start with "where do I want to go in 2018"? I start with "what happened in 2017?"
Why? Because you must PROCESS YOUR PAST before PLANNING YOUR FUTURE.
Read More"Giving" is an act we DO.
"Generous" is a person we BECOME.
Kicked off a brand new series yesterday at The Well called IRRATIONAL GENEROSITY. The series looks at the spiritual gift of generosity - a gift I believe is just as important and impactful as preaching, teaching, praying or serving. In fact, nothing makes you more like God than when you give and give generously.
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How often do you ask God for "a sign"? Are you as guilty of it as I am? I say things like: “If God wills it”, or “God, I’m putting this in Your hands”, or just simply “Lord, give me a sign.”
I like to include God in every little decision that I make, hence the constant fishing for reassurance by asking for a sign. But it’s listening to His answer that always drives me nuts. I can never tell if/when He’s responding. My struggle is always — how do I discern if this is a spiritual sign or just a plain old sign that I’m trying to see spiritually?
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Thank you to everyone who participated in my "Post a Pic" challenge the past two days. I got some great pics - some very creative like THIS ONE and others not-so-encouraging like THIS ONE :) See more pics in the gallery below.
But I could only choose one winner and that is Denice McNeill (see picture above).
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“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Paraclete) will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7)
That’s an incredible verse when you think about it. Do you understand what Jesus is saying? Think about it from the perspective of the disciples when they first heard it.
By this time, they had been following Jesus for three whole years. They’d left their jobs, their homes, their friends and family . . . they left everything to follow Jesus. Their only job on a day-to-day basis was to follow Him and do whatever He told them to do. He alone gave meaning and purpose to their lives.
Death for Jesus meant orphanhood for the disciples. They had nothing without Him. They were disciples and He was their Master, and you can’t be much of a disciple without a master.
So how could Jesus say that they’d be better off after He left? How could that be true? Sure, it would be great to have the Holy Spirit, but come on . . . this is JESUS we’re talking about! The five-loaves-and-two-fish Jesus. The walk-on-water Jesus. The healing-the-sick, casting-out-demons, raising-the dead Jesus. Could it really be “to your advantage” for Him to go away? How could Jesus say that?
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So how was the first week of sales for “WHATEVER, GOD”?
- At its peak (Friday morning), the book was ranked in the top 2200 out of more than 8 million books sold on Amazon! (current rank is just above 7000).
- International demand FAR exceeded expectations and that left people in Europe (especially those using amazon.co.UK) wondering when they’d stop seeing THIS
- We sold more than 400 copies at STSA alone on Sunday
- Ever since Friday, “WHATEVER, GOD” has been ranked #1 BEST SELLER on Amazon in the category of Orthodox Christian books (see image above)
Not bad for week 1. So what’s next???
Read MoreAnd we're off! The "WHATEVER, GOD" movement officially launched yesterday and what a launch it was!
The book started the day at #1,080,766 on the list of more than 8 million books sold on Amazon. But as you can see from the graphic above, by the end of the day, it was #2,279. Not too shabby for one day's work! Only 2,278 more spots till we reach the top!
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