Something EpicEncouraging radical lives that matter

The introduction is a very brief overview, and it kind of sums up for me the reasons I’m so excited to read this book. It tells of lives changed and people healed through the message of freedom God has for us, and the truth of God’s “love, forgiveness, and purposes for your life.”

The more people I talk to about this book, the more I hear “it changed my life.” My friend Penny said, “I wish I had a case of them to give away.” She said the book helped her take an awful past and realize that she was loved anyway—that it was a primary force in getting her past the bad stuff.

I have always believed in God, never doubted His existance or anything, but I really struggle with internalizing the fact that He cares about me. Again, I know it, but I want it to be more than just a head-thing. My sincere hope is that this book will somehow communicate the truth to my heart.

For those of you reading along (with the book or just the blog commentary), what are you hoping to get out of it?

My local group started meeting last Tuesday, but I was out of town. Fortunately, Leanna went and grabbed the schedule (and thoughtfully made copies for Daniel and I). The pace is two chapters a week, but I’m a little behind (and I haven’t even started yet!), so here’s what I’m planning on for posts:

Introduction: July 18
Chapter one: July 19
Chapter two: July 20
Chapter three: July 21
Chapter four: July 24
Chapter five: July 28
Chapter six: July 31
Chapter seven: August 4
Chapter eight: August 7
Chapter nine: August 11
Chapter ten: August 14
Chapter eleven: August 21
Chapter twelve: August 25
Chapter thirteen: August 28

You can see that it’s a bit front loaded, so feel free to take it at your own pace. I need to catch up with the local group, hence the push. And of course, none of that is written in stone or guaranteed, but I thought writing it out would help me remember what I’m doing. There may possibly be other posts, too, to share insights from the local group or discuss questions brought up here.

Well, the title mostly says it, but here’s the scoop: my church has small groups that do different things. One group I participate in is a mountain biking group; we ride on Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings.

We also have “Tuesday Night” where we have a potluck-y supper and then split into groups. Most of the groups on Tuesdays are studying books, but there are other groups (like the “Scrappy Crafters”). We rotate these groups pretty regularly so that no one gets bored (or stuck!) with one topic for too long, and also to give new folks a chance to jump in.

All of that is a long prelude to me telling you that, starting in July, one of the new Tuesday night groups will be studying “The Search for Significance” by Robert S. McGee. I could actually say “working through” rather than “studying” because it’s going to be very interactive—half the book is a workbook.

I’m really looking forward to this particular group, because Brian, our pastor, has been using the book as inspiration for a series he’s preaching on self-worth. The basis of this is that Satan perpetuates the following myth:

My value = my performance + others’ approval

This book is all about discovering our real value and getting rid of the lies.

Unfortunately for me, these lies are pretty deeply ingrained. I don’t know that a book can solve all of my problems, but I do believe it will at least make me aware of them and point me in the right direction (that would be God).

I have a feeling already that this is one of those books I’m going to want to recommend to everyone, and I’ve already recommended it to a friend, so I thought it would make sense to post about it as I go along. I’m mentioning this now so that if you’re interested in reading the book and discussing it, you have time to get it.

You can buy a used-but-new copy at Amazon for under $10 shipped. Just go and look under the “Used and new” section. Look for books that say “new” or “like new”, because you’ll want the workbook section to be unused (well, unless you’re nosy, but that’s a separate issue). You’ll also want to look for ones that don’t say “older edition” or similar, because I think the previous printings didn’t have the workbook section. If you can find one that says “direct from Robert McGee”, get that: it’s a brand new copy sold by the author. (I bought one from him among the four total I purchased—I’m getting everyone in my household to do the study.)

That’s all for now. Stay tuned. The first meeting is July 11th, which I’m going to miss because I’ll be on vacation, but I’ll post shortly after that and try to post at least once a week.