Reading Journal

I've made it through almost half of "One Thing You Can't Do in Heaven." And it's clearly written by someone who makes his living by giving speeches. I've got to give the guy (Mark Cahill) credit: he's got some interesting ideas. Like putting tracts in cases of pop and beer at the grocery store as a way to "witness." A word that's overused in the book, in my opinion.

I'm really interested to get to the chapters on what, specifically, he says when "witnessing," because the early, generic, motivational chapters really don't do much of that. Just him sharing stories of people he's run across spattered around his encouragement and directions. I find that, while his heart is near the right place, he is severely misguided. (And I haven't even read the chapters where he provides textbook answers to common questions yet.) That being said, I tend to make an effort to find wit and/or wisdom in all that I read.
Here's some now...

p. 39
This guy has a lot of stories about witnessing to prostitutes.
"Whenever I tell this story, it ruffles people's feathers. One person asked, 'What if someone from your church drove by and saw you picking up a prostitute?'
I answered, '...they would probably say, 'There goes Mark again witnessing to a prostitute; let's pray for him.' Then they would probably pray that if I ahd picked up that prostitute for the wrong reason, the Spirit would convict me so that I would not do anything to discredit the ministry."

p. 40
"I want every person I meet to be in a relationship with Jesus."

p. 56
"Are you sure you want to witness by your actions alone? I definitely don't want to do that, because sometimes my actions don't portray my Savior in a very good light."

p. 74
"I guarantee that you will be dead a whole lot longer than you will be alive."

p. 76
"Don't put your head on your pillow tonight unless you know exactly where you're going to spend eternity."

p. 79
"Personally, I don't have time for temporary friendships (that is, just hanging out with people who don't know the Lord). I do have a lot of temporary friends, but it's for the purpose of making them eternal friends."
Interesting concept....

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Because I was getting fed up with the word "witness" and it's various forms, I switched over to "Twelve Angry Men." Here are some insights I've found since the last time I posted about insights from this book.

p. 124
"Many people are just as imbalanced as John was....They place too much emphasis...on love....Some are merely ignorant; others are deceived; still others simply do not care about what is true. In each case, truth is missing, and all they are left with is error, clothed in a shallow, tolerant sentimentality. It is a poor substitute for genuine love. They talk a lot about love and tolerance, but they utterly lack any concern for the truth. Therefore even the "love" they speak of is a tainted love....
"On the other hand, there are many who have all their theological ducks in a row and know their doctrine but are unloving and self-exalting. They are left with truth as cold as facts, stifling and unattractive. Their lack of love cripples the power of the truth they profess to revere."

p. 125
"If you pursue anything in the spiritual realm, pursue a perfect balance of truth and love. Know the truth and uphold it in love."

"The authentically Christlike person knows the truth and speaks it in love. He knows the truth as Christ has revealed it, and he loves as Christ loves."

Holy smackdown!! (And, yes, I mean that both ways.)

p. 136
"And yet his love never slid into indulgent sentimentality."
I found that very poetic.

And this just occurred to me: I was talking with one of the sisters on my new Visiting Teaching list, and she commented how much of a page-turner the gospel of John was. And every single one of those quotes was from the chapter on John. Even things written about John are impressive. His awesomeness permeates even that which only mentions his name.