Buddy's #14 Try Giving Yourself Away

I picked this book up off the shelf in Phnom Penh because it was only a couple of bucks and the title was intriguing. I had checked the copyright date (2007) but quickly discovered it was a reprint of a book that was 89 years old as many of his illustrations dealt with travel by train and other vestiges of our recent history in America.

Though he calls himself a Christian the author approaches giving himself away not as part of his religious duty but rather as a hobby that brings him much joy.

One of the big takeaways from the book for me was to be on the look out for ways to add value to the lives of others. Another takeaway was that the door to give yourself closes quickly so walk through it while you have the chance.

The author also said that the more specific you can be with gifts, compliments and praise the better. To someone with the spiritual gift of giving this may come as no surprise but it was a good reminder for me.

Even if you never read the book you should still "Try Giving Yourself Away" this week and I am sure you'll have a much better week and bring glory to your God in the process.

Buddy's # 13 Kisses from Katie

Kisses from Katie is the kind of book I would never purchase. Someone purchased it for us as a gift and I am glad they did because I loved it. I loved the stories of her struggle and the joy that comes from serving the least and the last.

There are times when I feel like the life I live here is a bit of a struggle. I have spent 4 of the last 13 months sick. I got home at 1:10 am this morning after going around our city on a moped looking for kids who may have been trafficked. Some days I just want to have a normal job and not deal with the heartache and injustice, the fundraising, the multiple ministries, and the multiple projects in multiple countries.

Katie Davis's account of her first three years in Uganda was convicting, inspiring and challenging.

Convicting because the life she lives and the sacrifices she has made are 10 X's more difficult than my own. Inspiring because she makes it clear that there is no better path to be on than the one that God has called you to. Challenging because she chose to despise the things of this world and say yes to the things of God.

If you are looking for a personal account of the radical life lived out, look no further.

Buddy's # 12 Catching Fire

OK. I don't know what I can say about a trilogy without ruining the first book.

A few days ago my friend mentioned the the hunger games were the top three selling books on Amazon. I checked today and saw that they are still the top three selling books. While going with the crowd is not usually a path for success in life I think it might be when looking for a good book.

Buddy's #11 The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is compelling like water is wet. Suzanne Collins reaches out from her book in the first few pages and grabs your attention and doesn't let go of your collar until a couple of hours later you find yourself on page 374 looking for book 2 of the trilogy.

Yesterday I was mentioning the book to a friend and a lady ahead of me turned around and said, "Isn't the hunger games awesome." Yes, stranger on the street, it is.

While boy meets girls is always a good start to a book, there are so many ways this storyline aligns with the current world situation. Evil government versus good citizens. (It's very real in my neighboring Burma and Syria is killing it's citizens as I type this) Entertainment versus serving the needs of the world around us. (This one is very real in my own heart and life) and Self Preservation versus dying to yourself and/or giving your life for the sake of others.

The Hunger Games takes place in the future in the land that was once America where the government forces each of the 12 districts to send in two kids each year in a fight to the death leaving only one victor. This is to remind the districts that the central government holds the power and each of the districts exists to serve them. Originally the story line sounded a little to gruesome and while it is definitely PG 13 it has caused me to think about how sin has impacted our world.

I encourage you to read the series with a couple of friends and talk about it.

Buddy's #10 Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got

I have always loved creative thinkers and Jay Abraham is definitely at the top of the list when it comes to creative ways to think about business and make money.

He has a couple of cool thoughts from a business perspective.

Put the need of your clients ahead of you own.

You have clients not customers.

A customer is someone who buys a commodity product or service.

A client is under the care and protection of another.

There are three ways to increase the revenue in your business: 1. Increase the number of customers. 2. Increase the average transaction price. 3. Increase the frequency of transactions.

I think that over simplifies business a little bit but probably makes things a lot less complicated for growing your business than usual. He gives multiple strategies to increase all three areas and even ideas that can lead to entirely new businesses.

His idea of bringing value to others fits in with his ideas of Joint Ventures. Creating different business opportunities where two or three businesses all derive great benefit from the partnership.

The book was written in 2000 so his chapter on internet marketing is a bit dated, (He doesn't even mention google in his list of search engines) but the book is fool of solid marketing ideas.

As of Feb 4th you can download the book for free from here

Buddy's # 9 The Iron Lance by Stephen R. Lawhead

The Iron Lance is the first in the Celtic Crusades Trilogy. I have really enjoyed Lawhead's works after being introduced to them by a couple of friends a few years back. In fact, since my return to fiction 2 years ago I have read more of Lawhead than all other fiction authors combined. So I might be a bit biased.

While I would give it five stars the book did seem to start off a big slow and it took me at least 60 or 70 pages to really get into it. The other down side is that I felt like you could have removed 150 of the 641 pages without taking too much out of the story.

That being said, of what I have read, this is perhaps Lawhead's best work of historical fiction in trying keep to the facts of history as we understand them and weave a great story into the mix. He shows the awful side of the Church as it existed around 1095 to 1100 and doesn't sugar coat anything. At the same time he lifts up the Cele De as a group that tried to follow the teachings of Christ where they differed from the Church. He also shows the realistic struggles of the protagonist as moves from disdain for the church to a growing faith.

The history of the first Crusade is intriguing in itself but the characters in the The Iron Lance make it a wonderful read.