I wrote a book. Really? Yep, and it is free. Really? Yep.

Over the past several weeks I have been working to curate a brand new, first time ever, Be the Change e-book. And I am pleased to announce that it is done. 

It is not perfect. But with great help from a few of my friends I am happy with the first edition of this e-book.

Sometime ago I backed a Kickstarter project called the People's Ebook. As an early backer I was invited to the beta version of this tool. It is great and I highly recommend it. I see a lot of potential in the church for this tool when it comes out of beta. 

This e-book comes in three flavors. Each flavor has the same content, but some flavors have Easter Eggs in them (mostly videos).

The epub is the best file to read this e-book. You get all the videos and all the links and all the pictures and the bells and whistles. In order to read an epub, you need to open it in a epub reader, such as iBooks, Nook, or an online ebook reader (just google for one.)

The mobi file is only read on Kindles. I have not tried to open the mobi file in any Kindle device so I cannot tell you about the user experience. I imagine that some aspects of the ebook will be missing (namely videos) if you read this on a "non-fire" kindle. 

Finally, if you want to read just the PDF version there is that option as well. The PDF version will not show the videos. 

Doctors and Lawyers do. But Christians?

When we encounter a doctor we ask them where they practice. 

When we meet a lawyer we ask them what sort of law do they practice. 

Christianity is not thought of as a practice. Christians talk about ourselves as "people of the Book" as "believers" as "born again", but all of these names we give ourselves imply that once you become a Christian you are compete. There is an assumption that being a Christian is just another name for being a nice moral person, and morality is (in American culture) built on utilitarianism philosophy. 

However, Christianity is not something that is easily understood. It is not something that you just "get" one day. It is not something that you believe it is something that you do. And to be "good at it" we have to practice it. Which why we have a teacher - Jesus - and a "helper" - the Holy Spirit - and a model - God. We are a people who practice the ways of love. We are a people of practice, and we (in the Wesley tradition) talk about moving on toward being made perfect in love. 

The only way to reach being made perfect in love is by practicing. 

Christianity is not a religion of virtue but of grace. Christianity is not a religion of morality but of Love. Christianity is not a way of believing but a way of being. Christianity is not mastered it is practiced. 

To all my Christian sisters and brothers I ask us all, "Where is your practice?" 

Using our wounds to heal others

Several years ago I had a friend who, after years of attending the same church, stopped attending. He stopped attending because when he was sick for a month, no one from the church check in on him. No one called. No visits. So, my friend thought, to heck with those people. And he was done going to church. 

His story is not uncommon. I have come across many people in my short life telling me they do not attend church anymore because their church did not check in on them. And I can tell you as a church leader that hurts my heart when someone falls through the cracks of support when they needed the support from a community. It happens. It is never intentional, but it does happen. Humans, even humans in the church, make mistakes. We all fall short.

The story I wish I would hear, but have not heard before, is when someone feels like they fell through the cracks of support they would have such compassion that they would work to ensure the cracks would be filled. I would love to have someone come back and say, "I know how crappy it feels to think I am forgotten or left out. I never want anyone to feel that way and I am going to do something about it." 

For as common as the first story is, I have never heard the second story. 

What can we church leaders do to help change people's hearts so that when pain is felt we work to heal not just our own but others' as well?