Posted on: March 20, 2009 by Diane
Join CLEAR’s 3-Week Discussion
May 2nd, 9th and 16th - 9:00 a.m.
CCV Building, Royersford, PA
The Shack
by William Paul Young
A best-selling fiction book about the journey to God of a man, Mack Phillips, who has suffered a Great Tragedy - the loss of a child by a brutal murderer. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant, The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, ‘Where is God in a world so filled with pain?’ The answer Mack gets is both enlightening and thought provoking. An easy read about extended conversations with the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - that will spark curiosity and conversation.
Posted on: February 6, 2009 by Diane
We’ll be discussing Lynne Hybels’ book, Nice Girls Don’t Change the World, at our 2-week Book Club on February 7th and 14th, 9:00 a.m. at the CCV Building. The book can be purchased at the CCV kiosk for $10, or through Amazon
Attached you will find a link to the CLEAR Book Review as well as a link to my initial reaction to the book when I read it last year.
http://get2clear.com/blog/?p=156
http://krack-up.com/blog/?p=58
And that’s not all…still to come…
March 7th - CLEAR Brunch, CCV Building, 9:00 - 11:00 a.m., babysitting provided
April 17th - Chick Game Night (oh yeah, games like bingo just for chicks, no guys! Food, fun, prizes!!). Watch this site for more details!!
June 13th - Women’s Conference - all day event, so line up babysitters early!!
Hope to see you at one of these CLEAR events! Until then, keep warm!!
Posted on: January 1, 2009 by Terri
Book Discussion Group
Nice Girls Don’t Change the World
Saturday, February 7th at 9:00 AM
Saturday, February 14th at 9:00 AM
When you are young, you want to be a good girl. To do what is expected. To do what a ‘good girl’ should do, and be. In this wonderfully touching book, Lynne Hybels tells the oh-too-familiar story of getting lost along the way. From being a good girl, to being only what everyone else expected. She realized she needed to change. She needed to get beyond being a nice girl, and move toward being a ‘good woman’ - ‘trading the safe, passive, people-pleasing behavior of niceness for the dynamic power of true goodness. ‘It wasn’t an easy place to move towards for Hybels. But the story of her realization and ultimate healing from the slavery of ‘niceness’ is one that many of us can relate to. It’s a story of getting beyond what people think of you, and move toward what God thinks of you.
It’s a quick read, with a powerful message, culminating in a challenge to all of us to ‘become dangerous’ for God, and for what he created us to become. Pick up a copy and join us at the CCV building in February!
Posted on: November 29, 2008 by Diane
A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
by Khaled Hosseini
I recently read the second of two books by Khaled Hosseini. His first book, The Kite Runner, was a beautiful story about friendship and forgiveness. Set in Afghanistan, it made you hope you could learn to forgive and to accept forgiveness as the boys in this story so vividly lived out. In his second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini portrayed the past several decades of upheaval and change in pre-Taliban Afghanistan as seen through the lives of two women. Both were married to the same brutal man in a patriarchal society that overtly supports the notion that women are inferior to men, mere property to treat whatever way you want. Dressed in burkas from head to toe, they lived their lives hiding in public, and in filled with fear when in their home. The only thing that got them through was the friendship and support of each other - through the misery, the beatings, the attempted escapes. The book was very moving, and pulled you into the emotion and culture of that society. It’s even sadder because, in many third world countries today, the lives portrayed in this book are still an unnerving reality. This book will touch you at your core, and leave you in a thankful place of peace and appreciation of living where we live.
Posted on: November 29, 2008 by Diane
LOOKING FOR GOD
by Nancy Ortberg
Sometimes I have a problem with churches. Sometimes I have a big problem with them - more specifically it’s the people in churches! It’s the people who decide what is “spiritual”; it’s the people who decide the “right and only” way to get close to God. They present a cookie cutter approach to living out your faith. And I always felt like the gingerbread cookie with a missing arm.
Ortberg felt the same way, and shares it in this enlightening, refreshing book. She takes down the sacred cows, without bashing any of them. Journaling not for you? It’s OK. Quiet time just doesn’t resonate in your life, no matter what time you try to do it? It’s OK. It’s OK if you do all the things that others say are the ‘only ways’. And it’s OK if you don’t! It’s absolutely OK to figure out what connecting to God means to you, what is right for you. Not for me. For you.
Ortberg is honest with her challenges in taking this path - of seeking God her own way. You may not change a thing about what you do after reading this book but you’ll go away refreshed knowing that how you connect with God is a uniquely, personal decision.
Posted on: November 29, 2008 by Diane
NICE GIRLS DON’T CHANGE THE WORLD
by Lynne Hybels
When you are young, you want to be a good girl. To do what is expected. To do what a ‘good girl’ should do, and be. In this wonderfully touching book, Lynne Hybels tells the oh-too-familiar story of getting lost along the way. From being a good girl, to being only what everyone else expected. She realized she needed to change. She needed to get beyond being a nice girl, and move toward being a ‘good woman’ - ‘trading the safe, passive, people-pleasing behavior of niceness for the dynamic power of true goodness.’It wasn’t an easy place to move towards for Hybels. But the story of her realization and ultimate healing from the slavery of ‘niceness’ is one that many of us can relate to. It’s a story of getting beyond what people think of you, and move toward what God thinks of you.
It’s a quick read, with a powerful message, culminating in a challenge to all of us to ‘become dangerous’ for God, and for what he created us to become.
