Mark Driscoll Sermon

It's been awhile since I listened to this ol' guy....and I was really encouraged to listen to this sermon on Sat/Sun. I will be honest, I haven't really been a huge fan of the presentation, but I have always appreciated the message and the way he does love the Bible....but I was pleasantly surprised first with:

• his humility

• his honesty

• his testimony 

All those things really shone into a place that knew I needed to hear this and also inspired me to share this with other people who may also need a little encouragement.

How did it change my life?????

I guess I wish I could say there was a really deep outcome after reading Soren's book (Works of Love) that made me a lovelier, loving-lier and all around more loving person....
....probably can't say that....
but I can say
I will never forget sitting every afternoon listening to the story of Soren and Regine
Then...reading a chapter every week for homework and highlighting and just enthralled that there was a writer out there that could write a sentence that literally "uplifted me".
And on top of that....I was going through a break up that year. I was trying to get over someone and I could relate to Soren so much as he was trying to get over Regine but also love her at the same time.

I honestly know I was meant to read that book at that time. I recommended that book to another friend years later who was going through a devastating break up who agreed it was a good book to read through that.

But it is a dense, thick and hard to read all in one sitting book, in my humble opinion. I don't want to thrust a book on you and then have anyone feel that it isn't read-able. It IS read-able, but I had the great advantage of reading it and discussing it slowly with a class, and also sitting under a professor who was trained and studied on the life of Soren that added to my love and understanding of this great book.

All that to say. I am going to try to read a portion of it each week and report back a memorable quote or thought and maybe pique your interest...for this lovely book.

Can books really change my life?

There have been a few books in my life that have really impacted me....and if I started listing them I would want to go waaaaaay back to my favorite books when I was a little girl....I remember reading Little House on the Prairie books *by myself for the first time* and feeling so accomplished because they were so "thick" and reading the whole set 3x or 4xs ....then as I grew up I do remember the Christian fiction series I would read (Mandie, Best Friends and Janette Oke) and of course the Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley High and other silly books like that...

But books have always been important to me and this year I want to read the good ones.....I don't mind a few silly ones along the way (sometimes you just need a book to fall asleep to) but even now I can remember reading in my Ethics class with my favorite professor Dr. Myron Penner sometime around 2003 :

Works of Love by Soren Kierkegaard.

 

I have made the resolution to read this again so many new years since then....and I even bought a commentary about this that I still haven't finished (Loves Grateful Striving)