{"id":9411,"date":"2015-08-30T19:50:50","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T00:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=9411"},"modified":"2015-08-30T19:50:50","modified_gmt":"2015-08-31T00:50:50","slug":"book-review-i-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=9411","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: I Will"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Will-Traits-Outwardly-Focused-Christian\/dp\/1433687291\/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1440981163&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9412\" alt=\"i-will-web\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/i-will-web.jpg\" width=\"230\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/i-will-web.jpg 230w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/i-will-web-212x300.jpg 212w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 230px) 100vw, 230px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Will-Traits-Outwardly-Focused-Christian\/dp\/1433687291\/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1440981163&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\"><em>I Will: Nine Traits of the Outwardly Focused Christian<\/em><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/thomrainer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Thom Rainer<\/a>\u00a0was sent to me for free as a result of some book reviews that I have done on my blog. \u00a0I&#8217;ve read several of Thom Rainer&#8217;s books in recent years and always walk away from his words encouraged and challenged to live out my faith. \u00a0Rainer has served as a banker, a Sunday School teacher, a pastor, and now the president and CEO of LifeWay Resources&#8230;a huge ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention. \u00a0I enjoy following him and his three sons on twitter as they live out their faith in a variety of ministry roles. \u00a0He is also a HUGE Bama fan&#8230;that&#8217;s another great reason to follow him!<\/p>\n<p>I Will is a great manifesto for Christians who desire to live out true Christian community. \u00a0Rainer lists nine traits of the outwardly focused Christian&#8230;<\/p>\n<div>1. \u00a0I Will Move from \u201cI am\u201d to \u201cI Will&#8221;<br \/>\n2. \u00a0I Will Worship with Others<br \/>\n3. \u00a0I Will Grow Together with Others<br \/>\n4. \u00a0I Will Serve<br \/>\n5. \u00a0I Will Go<br \/>\n6. I Will Give Generously<br \/>\n7. \u00a0I Will Not Be a Church Dropout<br \/>\n8. \u00a0I Will Avoid the Traps of Churchianity<br \/>\n9. \u00a0I Will Make a Difference<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>These 9 statements serve as a great list to evaluate where we stand in living out what it truly means to be a Christ follower. \u00a0Today was one of those days at my church that was just AWESOME. \u00a0The worship was incredible&#8230;the message was powerful and challenging&#8230;the fellowship was precious&#8230;and I even enjoyed a meeting we had after church today as we are working towards a 5K that raises money to invest in kids in Haiti. \u00a0It was just a banner day at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cedarcrestchurch.com\" target=\"_blank\">Cedarcrest Church<\/a>\u00a0that left me so grateful that God has led our family to that community of faith. \u00a0We also enjoy a great community at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncchristian.org\" target=\"_blank\">North Cobb Christian School<\/a> where God has planted our family for the past 10 years. \u00a0Some of the richest relationships we have are gifts that God has given through partnership in ministry at NCCS.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I highlighted several things while reading and posted my notes below. \u00a0This book is a quick read and I&#8217;d encourage you to pick it up today!<\/div>\n<p><!--?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"no\"?--><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Instead of saying &#8220;I want,\u201d consider saying &#8220;I will.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s really basic. \u00a0It\u2019s a matter of learning what the Bible says about being a part of the body of Christ. \u00a0It\u2019s about hearing His voice through His Word. \u00a0And when Christ asks you to serve Him and others in His church, you should have one joyous response. \u201cI Will.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>If you have a right, biblically directed attitude, you will experience joy in church membership.<\/li>\n<li>Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. \u00a0Ephesians 6:18<\/li>\n<li>Membership in the body of Christ, the church, is a gift from God.<\/li>\n<li>Why do you think church members are less committed to their churches today than they were several years ago?<\/li>\n<li>True worship flows from the heart in recognition and response to the magnificence of Christ, and because of an understanding of the grace found solely in the gospel. \u00a0Embracing these truths through the practical experience of daily living is imperative in our relationship with God.<\/li>\n<li>But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. \u00a0Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. \u00a0God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. \u00a0John 4:23-24<\/li>\n<li>It is time for a corporate worship revolution. \u00a0It\u2019s time to make that moment of gathered believers a priority in our lives. \u00a0It\u2019s time to stop making worship attendance an optional activity.<\/li>\n<li>Simply stated, ministry is more likely to take place with people who know each other well. \u00a0And the primary way we can know other church members well is to be in a group together.<\/li>\n<li>We must serve instead of demanding our way.<\/li>\n<li>Do you really believe that Christ is the only way of salvation? \u00a0Do your actions reflect your beliefs? \u00a0Are you constantly and urgently going and sharing your faith in words and deed?<\/li>\n<li>For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. \u00a0Matthew 6:21<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through their 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 Commission\u2019s 16 CFR, Part 255 &lt;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.access.gpo.gov\/nara\/cfr\/waisidx_03\/16cfr255_03.html\">http:\/\/www.access.gpo.gov\/nara\/cfr\/waisidx_03\/16cfr255_03.html<\/a>&gt; : \u201cGuides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; I Will: Nine Traits of the Outwardly Focused Christian by Thom Rainer\u00a0was sent to me for free as a result of some book reviews that I have done on my blog. \u00a0I&#8217;ve read several of Thom Rainer&#8217;s books in recent years and always walk away from his words encouraged and challenged to live out [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,14,22,25,16,23,28,17,32,18,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-study","category-book-review","category-cedarcrest-church","category-education","category-family","category-generosity","category-integrity","category-leadership","category-marriage","category-north-cobb-christian","category-truth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}