Tag Archives: giveaways
The Winner of the Valentine’s Giveaway is…
Thanks to all who posted comments! These are all very important things to remember. These are things that are key whether you have been married 5 minutes or 50 years. I plan on putting this list inside my Bible and every day pray that I am able to live these to my wife and model them to my two boys.
Most all the comments fell into 10 things to remember so you stay in love (in order of number of comments):
- Sacrificial love
- Put Jesus first
- Maintain a friendship
- Communicate
- Develop a forgiving spirit
- Make a lasting commitment
- Regard one another with mutual respect
- Be open and honest with one another
- Maintain a sense of individuality
- Get naked
Grace. I wish I had something more lengthy to say, but that is it- the ability to remember how much Christ has forgiven you, then to extend that over and over to your spouse.
Thank you all for reading. Here is the first full session of Staying in Love by Andy Stanley:
Valentine’s Giveaway: Staying in Love and $100 AMEX Gift Card
Last night, my wife and I went out to a valentine’s dinner with our small group to a local place called Mangiamo. We were serenaded by an accordionist named Mike to some Italian and French tunes, had wonderful food, and great conversation. Kate and I have been married 10 years this coming June and have weathered our fair share of storms, but through it all we have stayed friends and stayed in love.
In honor of the holiday who’s mascot is the chubby cherub, we are going to do a giveaway for curriculum pack (1 DVD and 2 Participant’s Guides) of Staying in Love by Andy Stanley, and a $100 American Express gift card. This way you and your spouse can come together and learn from pastor Andy Stanley how to stay in love once you fall in love, and go out together for a lovely date night (babysitting not provided, sorry).
My wife and I went through the Staying in Love curriculum about 18 months ago and found it quite helpful. Here is a short clip from session two about treating one another with respect and as the most valuable person in the world followed by a quote from the participant’s guide:
While falling in love only requires a pulse, staying in love requires a plan. Do you have one? Most of us don’t, so we can be grateful the Bible offers a set of helpful guidelines for exactly such a plan. It’s the kind of strategy that requires something from us every day, something that touches on all our decisions and attitudes and actions. It may also require some radical new ways of thinking about yourself and about your spouse.
Okay, to win the Staying in Love curriculum pack with $100 American Express gift card, just answer this question in the comments below. On Tuesday we will pick a random comment as the winner.
Think about the marriages of people you know best. What elements contributed to lasting, long-term marriages?
UPDATE: winner will be chosen at 8 AM EST February 15. Come back to see if you won!
Spaghetti Sauce and Small Group Bible Studies
In his book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell talks about choice and spaghetti sauce. He says that having too many options almost paralyzes people and inhibits their choosing, rather than making it easier. I don’t know how many types and brands of spaghetti sauce there are, but I do know that there are hundreds, if not thousands of different small group Bible study materials available.
How often do you get together with you small group and wonder what to study next? I know that in my small groups we have spent entire group meetings wading through different options.
One voice that I have really come to appreciate over the last couple years is Mark Howell. Mark founded SmallGroupResources.net, and is the Community Life Pastor at Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park, Illinois. Mark recently shared an older post of his on Facebook about how he recommends choosing curriculum. He lists five helpful things to keep in mind when choosing:
- Keep in mind the skill level of your leader
- Keep in mind the maturity of the members
- Look for a topic that will pique interest of the members
- Look for a six-week study
- Choose a DVD-driven study
Read the whole article here.
How about you? How do you choose what your small group will study together?
Be sure to visit the Small Group Bible Studies playlist on YouTube that has full sessions of our video-based small group studies.
Links Worth Clicking: Free Books, Chuck Swindoll, and more
If you like our recent series, “Psalms on Sunday,” then you’ll love the giveaway going on today at www.BibleGeekGoneWild.com He’s giving away 6 copies of The Essential Bible Companion to the Psalms. It would make an excellent last-minute Christmas gift for someone.
The Amazon Vine Voice and frequent blogger over at the “Pastoral Musings” blog has posted an excellent new review on Chuck Swindoll’s commentary on James, 1 & 2 Peter. In the review he says:
Swindoll’s Insights are exactly that: Swindoll’s Insights. They are the product of years of study, experience, and pastoral ministry. The things contained in these commentaries aren’t the product of ivory tower academia, but are the results of being in the trenches serving Christ and loving His people. Thus it is that scholarship is brought to us all in a way that we all can profit.
We recently interviewed Jim Samra, author of, The Gift of Church. If you liked that book but are still on the fence about reading it, see these two reviews: Scripture Dig and Our House of Fun.
Take the “Bob Roberts Jr.” Quiz!
The new look
Transformation: Discipleship that Turns Lives, Churches, and the World Upside Down, by Bob Roberts Jr., is the third book in the Exponential Series. (Read a sample here.) It recently got a face lift and went to softcover. To celebrate we thought it might be fun to put together a little quiz on the book, and on Bob Roberts Jr. in general.
Everyone who gets 100% on the quiz gets a free copy! (Unless that’s literally everyone, in which case we’ll just giveaway ten copies randomly.) (And if you have never read Transformation, don’t worry, you can likely still get 100%.)
- The old look
If you don’t win a copy of the book with this quiz, however, all is not lost. Transformation is 35% OFF with Free shipping at www.zondervan.com December 8-9 only.
FREE Giveaway: The Gift of Church, day 2
Yesterday we gave away 2 copies of Jim Samra’s new book, The Gift of Church: How God Designed the Local Church to Meet Our Needs As Christians, by asking people to list share the funniest Christmas gift they have ever received. See the post here – there were some funny ones. Learn more about the book here, and Jim Samra here.
You can leave as many answers as you’d like below. Winners will be chosen at random from the comments section. We can’t wait to read your answers!
Enjoy the season!
- The Engaging Church team
FREE Giveaway: The Gift of Church, day 1
Because its that gift-giving time of year, we’d like to give something back to you: Pastor Jim Samra’s new book, The Gift of Church: How God Designed the Local Church to Meet Our Needs as Christians. (See my recent interview with Jim.)
We have 2 autographed copies of this book to giveaway. If you’d like a chance to win one please answer these questions in the comments section below. Winners will be chosen randomly. You can answer as many times as you like.
What’s the funniest Christmas gift you’ve ever been given? Why was it so funny?
Tommorow, I’ll be giving away 2 more copies in the same manner, except that I’ll be asking serious questions. (So get your funnies out now.) Let’s hear’em!
Winners for the Psalms Giveaway
Giveaway question:
What is the most common genre of poetry in the Psalms?
A) Praise
B) Lament
C) Zion Songs
D) Liturgy Psalms
Answer: B) Lament
Winners: David Smith, Debbie, Craig Hurst, Kim Vander Helm, and Richard Wilson! (I’ll email you for your shipping address – congrats!)
We had almost complete agreement on this answer. That’s encouraging! That says to me that lots of us know at least a little bit about genres in the Psalms. I confess, up until about a week ago I would not have been able to answer this question correctly. I would’ve answered (A) Praise. Here’s what Dave and Brian have to say about lament in The Essential Bible Companion to the Psalms:
