I just finished reading Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together (affiliate link).   This is a powerful book.

This story illustrates how one man can make a difference.  But, it’s not the man you would suspect.  You would expect the different maker to be the wealthy art dealer, the man of means.  The hero in this book is not that guy.

In his own words, “There’s somethin’ I learned when I was homeless: Our limitation is God’s opportunity.”  God can take our brokenness and weakness to make a difference.  In fact, he seems to prefer to use broken people.  This book shows that God can use anyone to make a difference in the lives of others.  Ecclesiastes 9:15 puts it this way, “There was found in a certain city a poor man who was wise, and by his wisdom he saved the city.”  This book is about a poor man that makes a huge difference.

It’s also about learning to love others.  It’s about learning to love those that society rejects.  Society may not value those who seem down and out, but God does and he wants us to as well.  This story shows the difference reaching out and loving someone who is unloved can make.  It can change the destiny of not only that person, but the lives of so many more.

This is a great read for parents to read to their slighty older kids (their are some mature themes like racism, slavery, etc..), people who intersted in social justice and social change, or anybody who is interested in loving people more like Christ loves them.

This is a short book that I would encourage everybody to read at some point.  You can pick up a copy here in softcover from Amazon or here on Kindle.

And our world needs someone to make a big difference.  Max writes,

These are devastating times: 1.75 billion people are desperately poor, 1 billion are hungry, millions are trafficked in slavery, and pandemic diseases are gouging entire nations.  Each year nearly 2 million children are exploited in the global sex trade.  And in the five minutes it took you to read these pages, almost ninety children died of preventable diseases.  More than half of all Africans do not have access to modern health facilities.  As a result, 10 million of them die each year from diarrhea, acute respiratory illness, malaria, and measles.  Many of those deaths could be prevented by one shot.

Sobering.  Our world is in great need.  Again, our world needs someone to make a big difference.  The lesson learned from Outlive Your Life is that God wants to use average people, like you and me, to make a dent in these problems.  The question is, will we let him use us?

If your looking for a great read that will challenge you to do more with your life, I would recommend this book.  If you’re interested in picking up a copy you can buy it here from Christian Book Distributors, or here from Amazon.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissionâ€s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Hope.  Not everyone has it, but that is why this book is so important.  Dr. Townsendâ€s main goal in writing Where is God? is that people would walk away with an “increased sense of hope”, and if you read this book you will.

Although the question of “if God is real, why is this happening to me?” has been asked by millions of people, it is a question we still struggle to answer.  In Where is God? a clear Biblical response to this question is given.  Anyone who is going through a difficult time, or is counseling someone going through a difficult time, would find this book to be a valuable resource.

Pastors especially will find this book helpful.  I discovered some new ideas for counseling, and illustrations for preaching while reading the book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissionâ€s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

I just finished reading Linchpin by Seth Godin.  To say I found the book a great read would be an understatement.  In fact, I would say this is one of the most important books I read in quite a while.  I would recommend this book to anyone.

In the book Seth challenges you to give up living an ordinary, mundane life and become someone who is remarkable.  He challenges you to be extraordinary, which results in you becoming indispensable…a linchpin.

One quick thought from the book as a tease…

“Would your organization be more successful if your employees were more obedient?  Or consider for a second: would you be more successful if your employees artistic, motivated, connected, aware, passionate and genuine?  You can’t have both of course.”

You can have people who follow the rules precisely and do exactly what is asked of them, or you can have people with passion and energy.  People who don’t just appease the status quo, but who wants to take the organization beyond where it is at now.

Again, I would recommend the book to anyone.  You can pick up a copy at Amazon.