I am occasionally given the opportunity to review books on the blog. It’s nice perk!

That’s how I received an advance galley copy of Pathway to the Palace: Becoming the Person of Influence God Has Called You to Be by Danette Joy Crawford in February. I packed it in my bag to read on the plane while I traveled that week.

I opened the book several times and closed it again after just a few pages – not feeling all that engaged or inspired to keep reading.

This probably has a lot more to do with me and my heart more than anything else – sometimes we’re just not open to a message. Thank goodness God keeps working on us to let His truth come in.

Two weeks ago I finally sat down with it again, firm in my commitment to give the whole thing a quick scan through – just enough to give a review of what was inside. (Being honest here!)

Only something was different.  The words reached off the paper and shouted into my heart. The same words I was bored by a couple of months ago were coming alive and ministering to me in a very timely way.

The subtitle of the book is ‘Becoming the Person of Influence God Has Called You to Be.’

The recurring theme is that God is looking for those who will set a standard.  God wants to use us where we are, in what we’re doing today – He has a plan to use what you’re going through, whatever it is.  She uses many examples from the Bible. Esther, Joseph, Ruth… as you read you’ll realize how much you have in common with them.  Once hopeless and frustrated – soon delivered and redeemed.

That gives me so much hope and joy.  I hope it does for you as well.

Danette’s message is strong: God wants us to have strong character and humility so that He can work through us. We have a responsibility to submit to God’s hands and let His Word live in us.

I’m halfway through the book. The next chapter is about Pride… uh oh

Now that we are well into the new year, you may have already set New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, grow closer to Christ or any other type of goal. However, as a Christian, what if you decided to set faith goals instead of making resolutions that honestly, you probably won’t even keep.

“I’ll make no resolutions, I find no need for such. I have a set from least year that hasn’t yet been touched.”

Faith goals differ from a typical resolution because these goals require faith for them to be possible. By including God in the process, a goal turns into a covenant between you and God rather than a man-made goal.

While you may have given up on setting new resolutions this year, setting a faith goal can be different.

Faith goals provide direction. Living a life with purpose is important, and setting goals throughout life, even small ones, can be a great way to move forward and achieve.

Faith goals help to focus intentions. Try to write down general intentions and activities. By documenting goals, it will help you remember them as well as work towards achieving those goals. Think about posting a list of goals on the fridge or another place in your home to remember a faith goal every day.

A faith goal is an affirmation of God’s plans for your life. Everything in life happens for a reason, and our lives have a purpose. By making a faith goal, we recognize those purposes and seek to make our lives more like our Creator intended.

Faith goals, like any other goal, can be difficult to accomplish. However, by setting a goal with faith, we rely not only on ourselves, but also on God and His plan for our lives. Set goals that have a purpose and are in accordance with Biblical principles and work to achieve those goals with His help. Take on a positive attitude while working to accomplish these faith goals and, not only will work be done, but God will be glorified in the process.

Grab your own faith goals kit here.

We’ve all seen ‘Facebook Guilt’ in one form or another.  I’ll share a couple loosely quoted examples:

• ‘I care about America’s soldiers – IF YOU CARE TOO YOU MUST REPOST THIS.’
• ‘I’m putting this status up for one hour today to stand up for ___ rights.  If you feel the same way YOU MUST POST IT TOO – IF YOU DON’T I’LL KNOW YOU DON’T CARE!’
• I just gave $_ to ___ because I love ___ – if you love ___ you’ll do the same RIGHT NOW.  If you DON’T you’re a cold, mean, heartless person!’ (Ok, I may be exaggerating here.)

We get it.  You feel strongly about this.  Reading your message you’re sending is akin to being whapped over the head with a frying pan though and we’re not going to re-post your message.

We Christians take Facebook Guilt to a new level with unresearched prayer requests.

• ‘Pray for sweet so and so who shot himself in the face with a ____, he’s hanging on for dear life so he needs all of our prayers!  REPOST this if you believe in the power of prayer!’

I think it’s great to share prayer requests with your family and friends on Facebook – but when you see a sensational, heart tugging story I encourage you to do a quick search in Google to see if it might be outdated or even a fake story altogether.  The internet is loaded with ‘urban legends’ and sadly that includes some of these emotional stories.  When you post them without at least doing a quick fact check, you’re contributing to the problem.

This situation came up just this week, a friend of mine joined Facebook and came across this request and posted it.  I recognized it and sent her a link to show her it is at best outdated, at worst, a complete lie.  She was relieved to hear it and sad to know she’d been praying for a situation that didn’t exist.

The worst sort of Facebook Guilt I’ve seen perpetrated by believers goes something like this (again, loosely quoted – I actually held back some of the worst of it):

“I believe in Jesus and I’m not ashamed to post it here for all the world to see.  Do you believe in Jesus?  If yes, repost this status on your profile for one hour today to prove it to everyone.  Some believers will do this.  Some will not.  Those who don’t are denying their savior.  I know who my Christian friends are and I’ll be watching to see who stand for Christ with me!’

As I read this, my heart filled with horror.

• First, they’re embarrassing the Body of Christ with this threat laden nonsense.  Imagine what the un-churched think as they read it.
• Second, just because they felt it was important to make a public confession at that moment, how dare they demand it of others?  Do I have to act like a bonehead in public just because you have?
• Third, how could they suggest that those who prefer not to post about their faith on Facebook are denying Christ in some way?

I’m sure they had the best of intentions, I don’t believe they meant to be so mean spirited.   Consider that the next time one of your well meaning Facebook friends posts something like that and send them a private message with a link to this post.

Facebook and other social media sites can be a great mission field.  When we live out our live on these sites we have the opportunity to demonstrate our faith through kindness, encouragement and friendship.  If you feel led to share your love for Jesus with your friends and family, I pray that you’ll do it with wisdom and love.

I ran across this new item today and it took my breath away.

I understand that some folks don’t believe in God – but to think of them promoting their lack of faith to others is shocking to me.  Sure, it’s America, they’re welcome to express their opinion.  I get that.  I support that.

The board says that you don’t need God ‘to hope, to care, to love, to live’.

And they’re right.  You don’t need God to hope, care, love or live.

Unfortunately they’re forgetting about what happens after life.