on storytelling [an interview with @marydemuth]
![on storytelling [an interview with @marydemuth]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/storytelling-150x150.jpg)
Like many other bloggers, I’m still learning the art of telling great stories. And like many bloggers, my heart is to connect with other people online. I know that I have a story to tell, but what are the most important things for me to consider as I begin to share it? In the last [...]
about the muir house characters [an interview with @marydemuth]
![about the muir house characters [an interview with @marydemuth]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/willa-muir-150x150.jpg)
One of the most crucial parts of any novel is how the characters develop. In part two of my interview with Mary DeMuth, I ask about how the characters for The Muir House came together. What I found interesting about Mary’s response was how attached she gets to the characters in her stories. It’s easy [...]
book review: bittersweet [thoughts on change, grace, and learning the hard way]
![book review: bittersweet [thoughts on change, grace, and learning the hard way]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/bittersweet_cover-150x150.jpg)
There’s a theme that’s been running through my life over the last seven months or so. Books I read, music I hear, conversations I have … they all keep coming back to one thing: storytelling. I was first introduced to this book sometime back in September by a friend of a friend. Like so many [...]
about the muir house [an interview with @marydemuth]
![about the muir house [an interview with @marydemuth]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/TheMuirHouse-150x150.jpg)
I don’t read nearly enough fiction. There’s just something about good stories that stirs the heart and mind in ways that other reading can’t do. So to know a good storyteller is a true gift. I recently had the opportunity to talk with one of those storytellers. Mary DeMuth is the author of the popular Defiance [...]
book review: deliberate simplicity [how the church does more by doing less]
![book review: deliberate simplicity [how the church does more by doing less]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/deliberate-simplicity1-100x100.jpg)
Deliberate Simplicity: How the Church Does More by Doing Less by Dave Browning is a worthy resource for those seeking how to plant, replant, or work within a current church situation. The book is very helpful and practical, but one must be cautious in applying everything Browning suggests, especially if its based solely on practice [...]
book review: the scent of water
Brokenness is all around us. Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes. Prostitution, human trafficking, rape. Pornography, objectification, negative body image. Fatherlessness, divorce, orphan care, domestic violence, child abuse. Hunger, disease, drugs. Loneliness, directionless, fear of failure. We look for answers. If only we knew what caused the brokenness, we could stop it from happening. Scientific equations, expert [...]
book review: veneer [living deeply in a surface society]
![book review: veneer [living deeply in a surface society]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/veneer-100x100.jpg)
“I’m afraid we’re going to pass on giving you this opportunity.” Silly me. I thought my track record and work history would be enough, but apparently he had another idea of what the job would require of me. “Sometimes when we come into work we need to put on a certain image. We need to [...]
igniting your passion for God [an interview with @mafeinberg]
![igniting your passion for God [an interview with @mafeinberg]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/group-prayer-100x100.jpg)
Here’s that word again. Community. We’ve recently talked about interpreting the Bible in community, and now we’re talking about praying in community. There seems to be something about doing things with other people that increases it’s impact. Can we pray and talk to God by ourselves? Absolutely! Have you prayed with a group of friends [...]
why we need to hear God’s voice [an interview with @mafeinberg]
![why we need to hear God's voice [an interview with @mafeinberg]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/walking-in-100x100.jpg)
What do you do when you hear God’s voice telling you to do something? Do you shrug it off? Do you pray more to ask for clarification? Or are you quick to respond and follow His guidance? In this part of the interview, Margaret Feinberg deals with the idea of what it means for us [...]
what about evil and suffering? [the God i don't understand]
![what about evil and suffering? [the God i don't understand]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/port-au-prince-100x100.jpg)
Who of us hasn’t asked why bad things happen to good people? We’re confronted with the marks of living in a fallen world every day, yet we struggle to understand why we have to deal with such pain and suffering. In the first part of The God I Don’t Understand: Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith, [...]
on listening to God’s voice [an interview with @mafeinberg]
![on listening to God's voice [an interview with @mafeinberg]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/listening-100x100.jpg)
There’s so much noise in the world today that it can be difficult to remember what silence sounds like. And with all of this noise, it can also be difficult to clearly hear God’s voice. Here’s the best example that I can think of to illustrate what I think ‘the noise’ looks like… I’m on [...]
how God speaks to people [an interview with @mafeinberg]
![how God speaks to people [an interview with @mafeinberg]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/genesis-100x100.jpg)
Have you ever heard the voice of God? You know, like the Charlton Heston or James Earl Jones audible voice giving you the clear direction that you’re looking for? I don’t think that I have, but I’m pretty sure that God has communicated with me in other ways. Mostly through reading the Bible, sometimes through [...]
why ‘hungry for God’? [an interview with @mafeinberg]
![why 'hungry for God'? [an interview with @mafeinberg]](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/lay-down-for-the-Lord-100x100.jpg)
I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Author/Speaker Margaret Feinberg about her new book, Hungry for God: Hearing god’s voice in the ordinary and the everyday. She’s been one of my favorite authors for a long time. And if you’re familiar with her writing, then you probably understand why. The book deals with questions like, “how [...]
book review: the God i don’t understand
We all ask these questions. It’s okay to admit it… there’s stuff you don’t understand when you read the Bible, right? Why did God order the killing of every living person… man, woman and child in Canaan? Why does a good God allow bad things to happen to good people? Why does He allow so [...]
book review: washed and waiting
Let me begin this review by saying that this is a very difficult subject that involves many heated emotions and hurt feelings; when anyone broaches the subject of homosexuality and Christianity, sparks fly. Yet, I was relieved to find that Wesley Hill was not only honest, he was also authentic and desiring to be in [...]
[fatherless generation] closing thoughts from @johnsowers
![[fatherless generation] closing thoughts from @johnsowers](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/183831_10150149721987835_533307834_8142038_346586_n-100x100.jpg)
Thank you Dan (and the BibleDude.net community), It is humbling and encouraging to see the response to the book. I am grateful for this project – and hope that all of us will become advocates for it’s message. The fatherless story is written into the heart of our generation, read in our blogs, seen in [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 14: redeeming the story
![[fatherless generation] chapter 14: redeeming the story](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/composition-notebook-100x100.jpg)
If our God is the Father to the fatherless, how can we, who are called to be imitators of him, be any less? As I read Redeeming the Story, I couldn’t help but think of where my husband and I were seven months ago and where we’re at now. Mentoring looks different for a lot [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 13: sustainable communities
![[fatherless generation] chapter 13: sustainable communities](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/community-100x100.jpg)
Do you have somewhere to cry? Do you have somewhere to laugh? Do you have somewhere to play? Do you have somewhere you are loved? Do you have somewhere you are welcome? Do you have somewhere you can learn? Do you have somewhere you can teach? Do you have somewhere you (fill in the blank)? [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 12: in search of a name
![[fatherless generation] chapter 12: in search of a name](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/white-stone-100x100.jpg)
These are sons and daughters who don’t know their true name. They are searching for who they really are. In their search, they bring this question of identity to anyone who will listen. They live with the overwhelming urge to pursue those who will affrim them and give them a name. They are willing to [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 11: anatomy of a mentor
![[fatherless generation] chapter 11: anatomy of a mentor](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/mentoring2-100x100.jpg)
~ I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ~ – Maya Angelou In July 2010, a new Charter School, called “Mentorship Academy,” opened up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Their Core Principles: CONNECT students, teachers, parents, and the [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 10: of musth cycles and mentoring
![[fatherless generation] chapter 10: of musth cycles and mentoring](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/Elephants-100x100.jpg)
After the scientists introduced the elders to the rogue teenagers, they observed an amazing change. Immediately, the teenagers calmed down, and their musth cycle ended within a few days. ˜ John Sowers, Fatherless Generation After reading this chapter and the entire book I can’t help but think about the fatherlessness that is in my family [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 9: father to the fatherless
![[fatherless generation] chapter 9: father to the fatherless](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/photodad-100x100.jpg)
a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families… Psalm 68:5-6 In my teenage years I had many “adopted” sisters. Most of them were around my age and all of them were going through the same struggle – they were unmarried and pregnant. [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 8: belonging to God
![[fatherless generation] chapter 8: belonging to God](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/loved-100x100.jpg)
To belong to God means I am no longer defined by what I do, no longer defined by my performance. I am defined by his love for me. Whatever anyone else says about me doesn’t really mean jack squat. It is only God that matters. To belong to God means I am free to approach [...]
[fatherless generation] chapter 7: returning the favor
![[fatherless generation] chapter 7: returning the favor](http://bibledude.net/wp-content/uploads/feeling-alone-100x100.jpg)
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. ~A.W. Tozer During my college summers, I worked at a day camp in Tulsa. While it was considered a “Christian” camp, it was mostly about enjoying the outdoors with activities like canoeing, archery, nature hikes and a ropes [...]
