Question of the Week #13

Welcome to the thirteenth edition of the Question of the Week! Please consider sending me your ideas for future questions :)

Do you listen to Christian music? Why or why not? Do you only listen to Christian music? Do you have any favorite artists? A favorite album? A favorite song? Which artist(s) would you recommend to others? Why?

Yes. I have always listened to Christian music. But I rarely listen to Christian radio. I do listen to Christian music though. Mostly on my iTunes. I have gone through phases where I listened to one type or genre of music more than others. But I've always loved variety. I've never listened to only Christian music.

As a little person, I'd say I grew up on Michael W. Smith and Carman. (Also Petra and Michael Card. Rich Mullins. David Meece.)
As a not-so-little person, I listened to Audio Adrenaline, Newsboys, Jars of Clay, DC Talk, etc.
Right now, I'm more into Caedmon's Call, Andrew Peterson, Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, etc.

Favorite Artist? Now, that would probably be Andrew Peterson.
Favorite Album? Probably Jesus Record by Rich Mullins
Favorite Song? Just As I Am by Andrew Peterson

As for recommendations, it would be too hard to just pick a few to say that you "must" like this one. It irritates me when people assume that all Christian music sounds the same. It probably means they've been listening to Christian radio. There is great variety in the field of Christian music. Not every artist will appeal to every Christian. I do think for an artist to be labeled Christian their songs should be about God, about Jesus, about living the Christian life, about faith. And I think there are some albums in Christian stores that aren't all that Christian. But that's another story!

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon (Week In Review March 22-28)

Happy Sunday everyone! How was your week? Is your weekend gloriously lazy?

Here's what I read this week:

Finished Leviticus ESV Study Bible
Began Numbers (1-7) ESV Study Bible
Psalms 51-70 1599 Geneva Bible
Revelation 3-9 Tyndale New Testament

Good news! Revelation is through in Sunday School!!! We begin Genesis next week!



© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Blog Improvement Project #6 (part two: summary)

First things first...the intentions...

I never got around to doing the last assignment for the Blog Improvement Project--which was to research social media-type resources and blog about what you learned. But I am up to doing this continuation-project: joining and participating!

I joined twitter for this project. My user name is operationbible. I added the "follow me" birdie in the sidebar. This is my second twitter account.

My other account is blbooks. (The blbooks account is for Becky's Book Reviews and Young Readers.) I've had it quite awhile now...

Do you know about TwitterTags? I didn't until this morning. I added tags to both twitter accounts. I added many tags to both accounts.

I've also decided to use Twitterfeed. A service that automatically tweets your latest blog posts.

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Update: I haven't twittered much on operationbible. I've had thirty-five updates in two weeks. Which isn't awful. But isn't all that much either. I'd hoped to have double that.

I have twittered a lot with blbooks. I've probably updated a hundred or so times in the same two week period. I look at that as positive. Twitter is twitter is twitter. And it's hard to have two active accounts. To have conversations with both accounts. It's only natural that one dominates.

I've added both blbooks and operationbible to we follow.

I've also experimented around with various twitter applications. I've tried twhirl and tweetdeck. Both are good. I like tweetdeck a little bit more because it has columns so you can always see your @ replies and your direct messages. But Twhirl has the option of having two accounts open at a time. And having a pop-up box for each account is nice. Both have it where you can customize the colors.

I've also played around with Big Tweet. It was very simple. Probably as simple as it gets. And I use this one when I want to link to a page and don't want to hassle with multiple windows and trying to shrink urls.

Overall I'm pleased with this experiment. I needed the prompting to try new things. And I like twitter, I do. Which I was skeptical of at first. So I'm definitely glad to have participated in this assignment!

Other than twitter, Goodreads is a resource I use often. I update my library there several times a week at least.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Fireflies in December

Valent, Jennifer Erin. 2008. Fireflies in December. Tyndale. 343 pages.

The summer I turned thirteen, I thought I'd killed a man.

This one had me at hello. It did. Jennifer Erin Valent has created an unforgettable narrator in the young--barely thirteen--Jessilyn Lassiter. I know unforgettable is a strong word. One not to be tossed around lightly. But I'm sincere when I say that her story is one that will stay with me. (The book, quite honestly, reminded me of To Kill A Mockingbird.)The writing was crisp enough, charming enough, that I think it has lasting power...at least in my opinion. The setting? A small Virginian town in 1932. Our heroine, Jessilyn, has a best friend, Gemma, who is black. When Gemma's parents are killed in an accidental fire--a lightning strike to their home--the Lassiters take Gemma into their home. While the community is supportive at first--thinking this will be a temporary situation, a day or two until other arrangements can be made, soon the town begins to turn on their own. Life for the Lassiters will never--can never--be quite the same again.

It's the story of a summer that changes lives. A summer that young Jessilyn will never forget. A summer that captures all the emotions--highs and lows--of being thirteen and just beginning to notice boys and think about l-o-v-e. That uncertainty about who you are and what you want and need.

This is a powerful novel about life, love, friendship, grief, sorrow, hate, and cruelty. It's a novel about growing up. Read it because it is an amazing coming of age story (bildungsroman). Or read it because it is a fascinating examination of racism. Or read it because of the Southern flavor--a writing style that just melts in your mouth like a buttered biscuit. Just read it.

"You can't go tryin' to figure other people, baby. People have all sorts of reasons why they are what they are. Some people are scared because life's been so hard on 'em."
"But they're still wrong."
"Don't give us the right to be hateful to 'em. They're wrong--that I can say, but I can't say I know all that goes on in their hears, can I? So best I can do is pray for 'em. Leave'em to God."
I was tired, and I laid my head back, looked out at the star-dotted sky, and sighed. "Sometimes I don't know what God expects us to do."
Daddy didn't say anything for a minute or so, and then he reached up and caught a firefly as it glowed beside him. "See this light?" he asked me when the firefly lit up his hand.
"Yes'r."
"That light is bright enough to light up a little speck of the night sky so a man can see it a ways away. That's what God expects us to do. We're to be lights in the dark, cold days that are this world. Like fireflies in December."
Then Daddy opened his hand, and we both sat and watched the insect crawl around for a moment before taking off into the dimness.
"Ain't much lightin' one of them can do, Daddy," I said.
"Not by himself. But give him some company, and you'd get a good piece of light."
"Don't look to me like we got much company in the town."
He leaned over and patted my knee softly. "It's got to start somewhere, Jessilyn. It's got to start somewhere." (63-64)

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Question of the Week #12

Welcome to the twelfth edition of the Question of the Week! Please consider sending me your ideas for future questions :)

Do you ever find yourself conflicted when reading books--does your faith ever stand in the way of you 'enjoying' other books--secular books? Do you try to read only Christian books? Do you read 'secular' books regularly? Have you ever enjoyed a book but hesitated to share it with your Christian friends? Do you think you should judge a book critically looking through the lens of faith...or do you think that fiction is fiction and that it's just a story? When does entertainment become dangerous?

This question was in part inspired by a recent review I read of Coraline. (The movie which they rated as "very offensive.") I haven't seen the movie, but I have read the book. And while I didn't love, love, love the book. (Just enjoyed it.) I certainly didn't bring a thousand and one spiritual implications to it. Didn't see it as an attack of Christianity by any means. But I wasn't looking for places to be offended. The other thing that inspired me was the release of Twilight, the movie. (Compare it to that site's review of Twilight, which they rated positively. My question? Does lack of sex between Bella and Edward really make this one Christian-friendly? Yes, it's good that the two don't have sex. But it isn't from Bella's lack of desire. She'd have Edward in an instant. Especially in later books she is begging for it all the time. It is his old-fashioned values and his restraint that keep the two from having sex before marriage. Bella's no role model--or at least she shouldn't be for young girls.)

I think one's faith will always effect your reading of a book in (at least) a small way. You can't divorce yourself from your faith completely. But it doesn't have to be the only way you see the world. In other words, I don't look for ways to be offended. I don't bring to my reading the attitude that I need to scrutinize and examine every single word (and punctuation mark) for hidden-and-not-so-hidden attacks, affronts, and slams to the Christian faith. If you go into it with the idea that every single book you read is dangerous and offensive, then you'll find lots of dangers and offenses.

I think it is easy for some people--as hard as it is for me to grasp--to assume that if you read about it or see it on tv, you'll want to do it. If a fictional character has a beer at a party, you'll want to go out and do the same. If a fictional character has sex, you'll want to go out and have sex too. If a fictional teenage heroine gets pregnant and has a baby, you'll want to go out--on purpose--and have one too. I don't think it works like that.

That being said, some things DO offend me. Some things I do feel uncomfortable with. There are books that I categorize as not-for-me because they clash so much with my faith and worldview. There are books that I would say are better left unread by Christians and their families. But I would never go out of my way to act as an alarmist either. There is no one way for a Christian to react to a book. There isn't an absolute "the christian's reaction" to this or that book or movie. You see a large spectrum of reviews, reactions, responses to every thing. And just because one Christian is offended doesn't mean that every Christian will be.

Reading is subjective. I can HONESTLY SAY that there are books and movies which I wish to this day that I hadn't read or watched. Because I wish I could purify my mind.

But I think the more strongly you're grounded in the faith--in the word of God; in your relationship with Jesus--the better you'll be. "Dangerous" ideas can't shake your faith if it's strong and grounded.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

What's On Your Nightstand (March)

Eon Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman. I'm on page 159. This is surely a page-turner! I don't imagine it will be by my nightstand much longer!

Streams of Babel by Carol Plum-Ucci. I'm on page 175. This one is exciting, but a bit too intense. I'm reading it a chapter or two at a time instead of rushing through it.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I'm on page 268. I listened to this one on audio in January. But haven't found the time to read it-read it yet. Other books keep taking priority.

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. I'm on page 147. The long chapters are dragging me down. But this one is surprisingly funny.

The Heights by Brian James. I'm on page 56. This one is a modern retelling of Wuthering Heights. Any wonder I'm finding the characters unsympathetic?!

For Bible reading, I'm in the ESV Study Bible--I'm in Leviticus. And the 1599 Geneva Bible, I'm in Psalms.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Michal

Smith, Jill Eileen. 2009. Michal. Revell.

Michal ducked as a shard of pottery soared past her head.

I've been looking forward to this one for years. Okay, maybe just one year. But still. I was so excited to get a chance to read this one. Here we have the story of David...from Michal's perspective. Michal has never been presented as a sympathetic character in the biblical narrative. She is one of those that falls more into the 'didn't-quite-get-it' camps. But when you think about it--really think about it. Michal's actions are understandable, all-too-human. Maybe it wasn't easy being married to the guy who had a heart after God's own. Yes, David was a good guy, a good king. But a good husband? It would be hard to prove one way or the other.

What did I like about this one? The novel is from Michal's perspective. And it's a human one. Michal doesn't have the benefit of knowing what we know. Of knowing just how big David was in God's plans. Of knowing that God had a sovereign hand in David's would-be kingdom. The decades where King Saul sought his life. His battle for the throne. His reign. With this novel, perhaps for the first time, I can imagine being in her shoes. Of being in that rock-and-a-hard-place torn between her emotionally unstable royal father and her all-too-absent husband. The two--Michal and David--wed. But within a year (or possibly two) of their marriage, King Saul goes mental. David's on the run for his life. Here. There. Everywhere. In and out of Israel. Always staying a step or two ahead of his father-in-law. Where is Michal? Did he take his wife with him? No. She's back at home. Under her father's control. Saul is so angry, so vindictive, that he annuls his daughter's marriage. Gives her to another man. Now imagine living with him for close to two decades. This second husband. Then imagine the shock of having your father and brother killed. The instability of not knowing who will be king when all is said and done. Would you root for your brother or for your ex-husband? How would you feel after all this time has gone by? Where would your loyalty be? The husband you've been with the longest? Or your probable first love? When King David comes to power, Michal is commanded back into David's life. No longer the only wife. Now she is one of a handful. Still the 'first' wife perhaps. But she's also the daughter of Saul. And that can be dangerous being his kin at this time. Conflicted. Michal is bound to have felt conflicted. Shuffled and passed around...always under the control of someone...either her father, the king, or one of her husbands. No wonder Michal seems to have an attitude problem in scripture.

Recommended for those that like Christian fiction or biblical fiction.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible