I received a copy of Margaret A. Blincoe’s book — Message In A Word (2010, Self Published)– from my editor friend Lillie Ammann, not realizing that she was Margaret’s editor. I’ve gotten to know Lillie through her A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye blog, enjoying her insight particularly from a Christian perspective.

Message In A Word is a devotional, offering 52 one- or two-page expositions on a divinely-rendered acrostic. Acrostics are words where each letter in that word represents another word or statement. One example is DOUBT which Margaret renders as Disbelief  Of Unerring Biblical Truths.  Acrostics are fun, easy to remember, but they’re also an excellent way to impart truth.

Given that Margaret’s book has 52 messages, one for each week of the year, I’ve saved some of my reading for the weeks and months ahead. But, through the half dozen or more stories I have read, I can tell you that Margaret’s “Inspired Succinct Sermons Uniquely Expressed” are just that — inspired.

God has given Margaret a gift for using words — in this case acrostics — to tell a story. Those Godward stories are meant to inspire and uplift the reader, drawing him or her closer to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Following each devotional a “Notes of Reflection” page is set aside to allow the reader to share his own thoughts about the reading. This can be a good place to add commentary about Margaret’s lesson, by including a practical application of the acrostic in the life of the reader.

Margaret says that the book’s idea came as a result of several recurrent dreams, spanning a number of years where God spoke to her about certain “issues” He had with her.

At first, Margaret thought that God was mad, believing that He had some sort of a dispute with her. Upon much prayer and reflection Margaret realized that God had another meaning of the word in mind — a proclamation or an announcement — which turned her thinking around.

An encounter with a pastor’s wife revealed to Margaret what God was telling her and from that point on the acrostics began to flow freely. I was encouraged to learn what Margaret went through to arrive at that point in her journey to understand what the word “issues” meant, demonstrating the patience of a loving Father who wants to impart wisdom and understanding to all who worship Him “in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24)

Yes, wisdom is what Solomon desired, something we who follow Jesus Christ need if we are to walk uprightly before God. Perhaps God has an “issue” with you too!

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I received a copy of Francis Chan’s book, “Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God,” this past December, putting it on my monthly reading list for March 2010. I try to read one book a month and already had my first two selections for the year waiting.

On Monday, I picked up the book and by Thursday I was finished with it. It wasn’t just a quick read, but a deep one where God spoke to my heart and showed me where I needed to make some corrections in my journey with Him. I thank God for the book and I thank Mark from my Monday morning men’s group for gifting a copy to me.

Francis Chan is the pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California, a community found just above Los Angeles. In “Crazy Love” readers learn about the hardships Chan felt as a boy, losing his mother at birth and then both his stepmother and father by the time that he was 12.

Chan doesn’t focus so much on the ensuing years but we do learn that he eventually came to know the Lord, married a beautiful woman named Lisa and went on to have four children with her. Later, he became the pastor of a church and that is where God began to speak to him about the way that he was living.

And that is the crux of Crazy Love: loving God and allowing Him to work radical living out through your life.

Chan’s walk with the Lord began to change dramatically when he realized he needed to give more of himself away. That meant using his time wisely, contributing financially to the needs of the poor and downsizing his house. Chan believes that Americans have so much and the world so little; instead of laying up treasures here on earth we should do so in heaven. The needs here on earth are great and we have the tools at our disposal to make a difference in the lives of so many.

What particularly spoke to my heart was Chan’s statement “do not assume you are good soil” in reference to Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13 about the farmer and the seed.

You know the story: the farmer sowed seeds with some of it falling on good soil while some of it fell on bad soil. We love to assume that we’re on good soil, but there is a good chance our seed fell on the path, on rocky places or among thorns. In the last three examples those seeds were snatched, withered or choked away—usually when persecution or tough times arose. Ouch.

Chan went on to describe the passage in Revelation 3:16-19 about the lukewarm church (Laodecia) and made a bold statement: we will not see so-called lukewarm Christians in heaven. His point was that God was instructing lukewarm people in this passage to put on “white clothes to wear,” noting that true believers are already dressed in white (a symbol of purity). Yes, a lot of people are walking around calling themselves Christians but are not.

I certainly do not want to follow a God who threatens me with hell if I don’t conform to His commands. But, that wasn’t the point Chan was making.

What “Crazy Love” does do is instruct the Christian to pursue God completely and wholly, giving of ourselves in order to serve Him. Our lives on earth will soon be over—we should make the most of our time by serving the poor, blind and naked–the least of them (Matthew 25:40) who Jesus said represents Him.

Crazy Love has inspired me to make changes in the way that I live my life, by bringing everything to God. Living radical is a lot of work—you will feel as if you are swimming upstream—but God has called us to do nothing less than that. Honestly, I don’t have it within me to live a radical life, but that is Chan’s point: we don’t, but God does.

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