A Little Self-Promotion

If you haven't checked out a copy of my book, Cultural Enslavement: Breaking Free into Abundant Living, please be sure to pick up a copy. In the book I look at how we become enslaved by the ethos of our culture--not through anything inherently bad, but through things that take our focus off our walk with Christ. I also look at ways we can counteract that enslavement and find a more abundant life in Jesus.

The book is available through the following places:

• Amazon.com (also available in digital format for Kindle)
• Barnes & Noble
• Christian Book Distributors
• Wipf & Stock Publishers
• And through me if you live close enough to pick it up (I make the most money off direct sales and can sell for the cheapest price and will even sign your copy, but if you need it shipped it's best through a distributor; if you do buy through a distributor and want a signed copy, I'll be glad to sign a sticker you can put inside the book.)

The book includes discussion questions for personal reflection as well as for use in small groups, Sunday school classes, and book clubs. Be sure to leave feedback on any of the retailers websites if you like the book (if you don't like it, then just hide that from my fragile ego--only joking). I do appreciate any word-of-mouth promotion I can get. Thanks!

May the Fourth

It was a busy day. Our oldest son was at his first non-family-member sleep-over last night as a friend from school was doing a birthday celebration. We picked him up this morning. Apparently 2am was the going bed time. I expected he would have been the one who bowed out early. He's done it before at family gatherings--when he's tired enough he'll tell me he needs to go to bed. We'll see what manner of grouchiness tomorrow brings if he doesn't sleep in long enough.

After his brother and I picked him up, we headed to a local comic book shop. Today was the coinciding of two of our favorite non-religious holidays: Free Comic Book Day and Star Wars Day (dubbed so by fans years ago because it's May the 4th--as in May the Fourth be with you. Yes, nerds enjoy a good pun). So we stopped in and got a few of the free comics they offered. Unfortunately, they didn't have the free Pippi Longstocking comic that my wife desired, so we were going to have to try another comic book store. Much to our chagrin, of course.

I'm not naive enough to think all comics are good. Decades ago there was a fairly successful movement to censor comics and make sure they were all moral and such. They're not all, of course. There's plenty of violence and immorality and women who are drawn way out of proportion. But there's a lot of good stories and fun to be had. Good to triumph over evil, superpowers to be bestowed upon weaklings, and puns to be said.

But before we got to the next store, we had a stop at Home Depot for their kids' workshop. Today's project: a herb planter. Which wasn't a big project. One screw for attaching two pieces of wood. It ended up being more of a painting project. Which was fine. They boys enjoyed it thoroughly.

Then, onto the second place for comics. Which they had a few books that the first store didn't have. But still no Pippi Longstocking. So our quest continued. For my wife, of course. (It didn't hurt that the boys remembered that the third store we were aware of had a Captain America cake last year.)

The third store finally had the Pippi book (though I thought they were out of it at first, because the comic was turned over--often there are two comics put together for the free books and the flipside was what was facing up).

We were all tired by that point, so we headed home. The boys did some reading while I did laundry, cleaned bathrooms, and worked on the pizza dough for supper.

So we had to finish off the evening by celebrating Star Wars Day. The boys picked out Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (after I steered them away from Episode I). Besides being a fun movie to watch, the original Star Wars movies offer a lot. I won't try and make biblical parallels, but there is, of course, the story of forgiveness and redemption as Luke tries to turn his father, the evil Darth Vader, back to the good side. He knows there's good in him yet. And he is right. Even after his father has sliced off his hand, killed his mentor, tortured his friends, and had a hand in the massacre of his foster parents, Luke doesn't give up on old Anakin Skywalker.

And Luke himself is a story of growing from a whiny farm boy who would rather go with his friends to Tosche Station than do his job, to a whiny Jedi-in-training for whom everything is impossible, to finally a Jedi knight who is showing signs of maturity and wisdom. Not to mention that a back-world farm boy can save the galaxy for a seemingly undefeatable evil.

And of course we learn that we are the ones in control of our destiny. Not our parents--even if they happen to be the Dark Lord of the Sith who force-chokes everyone who disagrees with him. Not even the force ghosts of our mentors who try to get us on the right path. We always have the power to make our own choices, no matter what forces are working for or against us.

There's a lot more that could be unpacked, but needless to say, we enjoyed watching the movie together. And of course there are plenty of free comic books to read (especially after visiting three stores) at bedtime. So May the Fourth be with you. (To which I always want to reply, in good liturgical fashion, "And also with you.")

More on Writing a Book and Stroking an Ego

So, I didn't write a book to make money off it. So far I've paid some in for typesetting and haven't seen a cent of profit yet. I'm hoping to at least break even. Anne Lamott, in her book Bird by Bird, says that you can't write for the money--it seldom becomes a real career. You write for the sake of writing.

Still, I have a fragile ego, I confess. I can easily get overly wrapped up in wanting people to like me--in wanting to be acknowledged for what I do.

I too frequently go to Amazon.com and see what my book's rating is--if it's jumped up or down in the ranks. And I get a slight ego boost when it has a better rank (let's be honest, though--it's mostly been between #500,000 and #1,500,000). I don't even know that the ranks mean anything until you've achieved a ranking less than triple digits. There are a lot of books out there.

But I find myself checking Amazon too often, just to see how the ranking is doing--if it's gone up or down, if it's at a number I can feel good about. It really doesn't do me any good to check it, but I do almost daily. So I probably should not go to Amazon.com that frequently (though there are some old books I'm trying to find). It does nothing to help me out psychologically to know whether or not my book is selling well.

But I'm also largely responsible for marketing. If I want the book to do well in any way, I need to try and help it sell. I'm still figuring out how to do that (especially within the realm of working full-time and having a family).

So I find myself in this odd place of balancing my ego and needing to promote myself in order to succeed. It's kind of like the whole job-searching process where you have to use your resume and be selling yourself in the hopeful interview that follows.

After all, I do want to write a book that matters--that touches someone in a special way (whether I'm writing fiction or non-fiction, blog or magazine article). I just need to keep reminding myself (like I need to in all areas of life) that who I am is not wrapped up in what I do. My self-worth is not based upon my worldly success. Writing books may not be the best profession for someone who struggles with that. Still, I enjoy it, and usually I get as much out of the process as I do reading any book. So I hope to keep at it.

* * * * * * *

And since we're here, I might as well provide an opportunity to purchase the book (now available on Kindle as well as in paperback). In addition to Amazon, you can also find it at Barnes and Noble as well as through the publisher, Wipf and Stock.

Book Update

My book is now available on Amazon ($19) in addition to being available through the publishers ($15.20).

And if I may toot my own horn, it's getting good reviews (at least the one from my good friend who has read it--and she's in the process of working on her own book, so she knows her stuff). Thanks to all those who have supported this process and the book. I'm not very vocal about my own work, but I'm the marketing and publicity guy on this one, so I'm working on getting the word out there.

And if you've read it, I'd love to hear your feedback (and be sure to place some reviews out there!).

I Wrote a Book

I'll confess that I have mixed emotions. I'm very excited to have my name published on a book. At the same time, this isn't quite the book I want to write (I know that doesn't make sense--it's one I did write and was compelled to write). What I want to write is a great novel--a story that conveys great truths in adventurous ways. I want to write something accessible to all people. This isn't it. This book is fully targeted at people who want to live a little differently from the rest of the culture and more fully in Jesus. That's not going to be everyone. I accept that.

Still, I'm excited. It was a long process, and I probably would have done it a little differently at times, but I got where I wanted to be. And hopefully, getting one book published will be a stepping stone to other things.

I don't remember when I first wanted to be a writer. It wasn't in college or before then. I remember getting a really bad mark on a paper and not thinking I could write. So it's been since then. Probably in the last decade as I've found I enjoy writing through blogging.

And I've always enjoyed reading. Maybe a little too much. I confess to being a bibliophile. I love books. I think writing flows out of that. I do find great value in books--as an educator I know that reading skills are huge. I may have to rearrange my bookshelves so that a book with an author with the last name "Wenell" isn't alphabetically on the bottom shelf.

Currently the book is available through Wipf & Stock, my publisher. Eventually, it will be released on Amazon and even for Nook. I'm working on building a website for it, too (not that I expect much, but I'd like to connect further with readers).

I do have to note that I had no hand in the cover design. I'd like to take credit for it, but I can't. I didn't really have any say in it. So with that in mind, I'm quite pleased.

Anyway, check it out if you feel so inclined. I'll even sign it if you buy one.  :)

Of Books and Blizzards

After the boys are in bed one of us (usually me) reads to them a bit from a "Little House on the Prairie" book. Right now we're in the middle of The Long Winter. Which is ironic because we really haven't had much of a winter here. In the book, the Ingalls family (along with the few other settlers in De Smet, South Dakota) are in the middle of seven months of constant blizzards. The trains have not been able to run, so the town has been out of supplies for a while. The Ingalls family is down to their last loaf of bread and six potatoes. They've been living strictly on brown bread (no butter) and potatoes for several weeks now. There is no kerosene left for their lamps and no coal for their stove (the only means to heat the house).

I can't imagine.

I can't imagine eating only bread and potatoes (with nothing to go on them) for months. I can't imagine the threat of not even having that to eat.

I can't imagine waking in the morning to feel the air outside the quilts at the same temperature it is outside the house. I can't imagine not having an insulated enough house where on cold days, the only heat is immediately around the stove. I can't imagine the darkness and the isolation.

The prairie village where they lived is just over four hours from where we live. What separates us isn't so much climate or location, but time. Our wealth today (even though we are poor by most American standards), ensures us that we have food on our table and heat for our house. When we do have a blizzard (we experienced a few last year), I don't have to worry that it might be a while before we are able to stock up on supplies. Usually within 24 hours I can get somewhere. And even if the electricity goes out or something else happens, I know it won't be long before it's back on. Chances are, someone I know still has theirs if worse gets to worse.

For a s good as we have it, I also think we're missing out on something.

People 132 years ago--even in those tough times--had great attitudes. They never complained, even when only eating bread and potatoes day after day. They worked hard. Really hard. In harsh conditions. But they also knew when to take a break and enjoy themselves (not with video games or television, but with the fiddle and a book). Most of us couldn't survive if anything like that happened to us. We don't have the day-to-day survival skills of going without daily conveniences.

I'm glad we're reading it. It gives me (and hopefully the boys as well) an appreciation of what we have and what people went through to get us here today. It's good for us to remember where we've come from and the sacrifices people have made.

And I don't have a Pollyana-esque image of life back then. I know things weren't perfect (the white settlers tended to have way too much racial elitism for one). And I wouldn't want to give up the conveniences of decent medical care, being able to talk to and visit my family when ever I want, or being able to eat more than one type of vegetable through the winter.

I wish we could retain some of the attitudes: the perseverance, the humility, the strength, the positivity (or at least not focusing on the negativity). I'm thankful for books to remind us of these things.

The Year of Living Biblically IV

I just finished A.J. Jacobs book last night (which will also be a confession of how long it takes me to finish a 330+ page book).

There weren't any major surprises along the way. I guess at times I was surprised at how much a self-proclaimed agnostic got out of following the Law. I admired him for being able to see the benefit in following some of God's commands.

There wasn't a big religious conversion in the end, which I knew would be the case. But, Jacobs does call himself a "reverent agnostic." He says, "whether or not there's a God, I believe in the idea of sacredness--that rituals can be sacred, that the Sabbath can be sacred, and there's a great importance to that."

Jacobs, in my view, is missing out on the greatness of the relationship that God offers us. But he's on the right track. He wants to make it a point to continue in observing the Sabbath, praying, giving thanks. Even if he isn't addressing God, he's seeing that these rituals have something deeper to them than just their actions.

At points, I wish that most of us in the church could get some of the things that Jacob was getting. I think we miss out on a lot because we don't think about our rituals (or, even worse, we completely neglect those important things--like the Sabbath and prayer--that God gives as commands). Sometimes we in the church place to much emphasis on the moment of conversion, and we neglect the process of discipleship (including weighing out the commands Jesus and Jehovah give). Whether or not we believe every command in the Bible is meant to be followed (and the degree of literalness in folowing each one), to call ourselves "Christians" is supposed to mean that we are walking in Jesus' footsteps (not literally, of course, but in striving to be His disciple--learning everything He did, said and believed and putting that into action in our own context).

A Year of Living Biblically - III

Indulge me in letting me share a few more thoughts from my latest readings in A.J. Jacobs' book, A Year of Living Biblically. It's been giving me some good laughs and some interesting thoughts (that's the author at right, displaying his beard-growth journey as he obeys the command to not cut the hair at the side of his head or his beard).

One of the things I appreciate of Jacobs is that he does take the time to reflect on what he's learning from following the Law. He also doesn't resist it affecting him. Jacobs mentions how in trying to follow the Law all the time that it helps him to live more in the moment. In doing so, the mundane becomes sacred. "I thought religion would make me live with my head in the clouds, but as often as not, it grounds me in the world."

I've mentioned a few times in previous posts my desire to practice the presence of God--what Jacobs called making the mundane sacred. I envy him that he has been able to experience that--not at the level of Brother Lawrence, of course, since he is missing out on a relationship with God, but he still gets to a point where he is thinking about God as he tries to be prudent in keeping the commands. I'm trying to be more mindful--being intentional about taking time to pray while I'm in the shower or washing dishes or other routine tasks that enable my mind to focus elsewhere.

I think that part of what helps Jacobs connect in his legalism is that he has to be mindful of being intentional in all he does. That's the key--not the legalism, but in being intentional, being mindful of the intent in all I do. Not just my intent, but God's intent for my life.

At one point near the middle of the book, after traveling to Israel, Jacobs reflects on how one of the downfalls to his experiment is that he's doing it all by himself. One of Jacobs' spiritual advisers told him, "The people of the Bible were 'groupies' . . . Only the crazy Europeans came up with the idea of individualism. So what' you're doing is a modern phenomenon."

Jacobs isn't the only one going about this religious experiment by himself. Most of us do it. Yes, there is a big part of faith that is individual. But there's an even bigger part of faith that is communal. And we're missing out on it. That's how Judaism and Christianity were lived out up until sometime after Constantine: faith was lived out in community. Not just lived out, but shaped and believed. It's more than just going to church and worshiping with others. It's sharing our lives together, sharing our doubts and struggles and revelations.

We've been exploring that at church some recently: how we connect more and experience community in a large church. It's not easy. But little in life is--at least the worthwhile stuff. It's a shame that we got away from church being a corporate, daily-lived-out way we practice our faith. It's also how we keep faith on track as we don't just develop our dogma in isolation. It is shaped by everyone else around us, and everyone else who has come before us. That doesn't mean we all end up believing the same thing, but that we have respectful dialogues as we wrestle with issues.

There's another page I bookmarked with some thoughts to reflect on, but I'm apparently too tired to remember what it was on that page. Which probably isn't a bad thing right now. It's time for bed--and probably a few more pages from the book before I shut my eyes.

A Year of Living Biblically - II

I'm just beginning the fourth month of Jacob's year of living biblically. I'm still finding it quite entertaining, yet thought-provoking. He admits that another part of his reason for the experiment is to show how silly it is to take everything in the Bible literally. Even if you consider yourself a biblical literalist, you're not. Trust me, there are plenty of things in the Bible that you're not doing that the Bible tells you to do. Even if you say Christ's sacrifice fulfills all the Hebrew Laws, there are plenty of commands in the New Testament you're not following literally (do you greet everyone with a holy kiss?).

I consider myself to be fairly orthodox in my theology (though I believe that if we follow Jesus' teaching that we'll end up being fairly unorthodox in traditional religion). I do treat many events in the Bible as history (with the acknowledgment that history is always told from a certain point of view). I tend to take a good chunk of commandments seriously (and literally), though I also know there is plenty of symbolism, allegory and analogy in the Bible. I do believe the spirit of the Law is more important than the letter (though I believe most of us--myself included--fail at both ends. We are sinners after all).

Jacobs writes about following Ecclesiastes''s admonition to "always wear white." Though people in New York City (where drab browns, blacks and navys are the norm) are constantly leering at him, Jacobs finds himself feeling happier, more spiritual. He notes that the outer influences the inner. The things he does shapes his feelings. In this case bright, pure clothes make him feel happier and more spiritual.

At the same time, Jacobs often notes how he's not there. All of his obeying hasn't "converted" him to anything. He's hoping that the more he does, the more spiritual he'll become. There is truth to that . . . sometimes our faith is bolstered by our actions, our religious routines. Sometimes our habits carry us through. But usually the faith has to be in place first.

Several years ago during a trip Beth and I were listening to a book on tape about a woman who spent a year with the Amish to learn from them. It was a fascinating look at Amish life, but at the end she leaves with little transformation in her life. I believe that her time with the Amish didn't really change her because she never embraced the reason behind the Amish beliefs: chiefly God. What the Amish do doesn't make sense if God is not in the equation.

Likewise, the Law doesn't really make sense if you don't also seriously investigate who the God is behind the Laws. It's one thing to read about Him. It's another to rigorously learn who He is.

A Year of Living Biblically

I recently picked up the book The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs at a thrift store recently. After seeing it in book stores I had been interested in looking at it; some friends' recommendations reminded me of it again. So when I saw it for a couple bucks, I thought I'd pick it up (as if I needed more books for our library--why can't I just be content with checking them out from the public library more? I guess this way I have them to share with others, too).

Jacobs is a self-professed agnostic Jew (he admits that he's about as Jewish as The Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant) and editor for Esquire Magazine. He decided to try an experiment (partly to find out what he was missing by not being religious, partly to have better answers as a parent and mostly to have a new book to write) of following every command in the Bible--the major ones like those in The Ten Commandments, but also the lesser-known ones like not trimming your beard and not wearing clothes of mixed fibers.

I'm just starting the book, but it's quite fascinating (not to mention humorous in many places). Jacobs talks about trying to put into practice the commands about disciplining children. He has a hard time jumping in headfirst and "not sparing the rod." But he also realizes that his hands-off (so to speak) discipline isn't good for his son, nor is it fair to his wife.

He realizes how much he lies (just little, white lies often meant to have a good outcome--like get his son to eat his veggies) and how his son has picked up on lying. He realizes how much he covets (others' speaking fees, clothes, cars, etc.), and how distracting that is in his day as well as taking away from happiness in life.

He has a great outlook where he manages to find the good in each law--the underlying reasons why God created some of those laws for ancient Israel. While his wife isn't too fond of being considered "impure" once a month, and gets frustrated with Jacobs for not being able to sit on any furniture she has sat on, Jacobs learns that a week hiatus from touching his wife in any manner can actually strengthen their marriage (though his wife might need more convincing) and it is embedded with a respect for life. He has done the footwork in setting up mentors (rabbis and pastors) who can answer his questions and provide encouragement.

Even though I'm just at the beginning, it's evident that this year-long journey of following every commandment in the Bible isn't going to "convert" Jacobs (plus, I read some additional material at the end of the book in which Jacobs outright states that he still isn't a practicing Jew or Christian). But it's also very clear that he is being changed by this. He sees the value in moral absolutes (even coming from a moral relativism background) and wants to raise his son up with morals. He knows that following the commandments makes him a better person.

If anything, though, being legalistic about following the commandments actually causes Jacobs to think about God more. Now, I'm not advocating that we all become legalistic believers, but I wonder if we've gotten too lax in keeping the commandments (after all, in order to keep the commandments, you have to KNOW the commandments). I'll keep you posted as I continue reading--he's only into the second month of this experiment, so I'm sure there'll be more to reflect on.