Book Review: I am Second

I am Second is a collection of real stories edited by Doug Bender and Dave Sterrett. Most of the accounts are by well known people who found success in the world, but were still had no satisfaction. While they had obtained many material things, they were lacking spiritually. 

The accounts are from a variety of sources, but many are famous sports athletes; others former rock stars and still others lesser known “regular” people. The one thing they all have in common is that they hit “rock bottom” and then found Jesus. Once Jesus became first in their life, they became “Second”, thus the title of the book.

I appreciate the short accounts—4 or 5 pages usually. Plus, if you go online there are accompanying videos on their website. I actually like the videos better as you get to hear the person speaking. It seems more powerful that way. I have used several in my classes teaching 6^th graders. They like the videos even though they may not know who the “famous” person is. 

The book is really good and I recommend that you give it a look. My only complaint is that it would be nice to have an index of issues included in the book. The website has one, so you can look up “Racism” or “Addictions” or many other topics.

This book was provided by Thomas Nelson Press in exchange for an honest review.

The opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced in any way.

Purity Retreat

Last weekend was the annual Purity Retreat for 6th Grade students.

We separated the boys and girls, so I had a group of 16.

Prayer before the main message time. After the message we broke into small groups, each with an adult leader. I heard some great discussions!

Earlier in the day, we did some team-building activities at the park. In teams, the boys needed to assist each other in order to make it through the "gauntlet".  I saw some awesome teamwork that they do not normally exhibit.

 We finished up at the park with lunch at the beach and then headed over to "Round 1": a sports adventure facility. 3 hours of soccer/basketball/video games/ archery/batting cages, etc.

Chaplain Sorley was a big help, as were 3 dads who volunteered.


We had Subway sandwiches for dinner.


Anyway, the boys had a blast and they definitely heard God's vision of remaining pure, not only in our actions, but our thoughts and hearts as well.

Easter Sunrise Service

Our church had a sunrise service on Easter Sunday.  It was early (5:30!), and it was really cold (okay, not as cold as New York), but it was cool to talk about the rising of the Son and to see the rising of the sun.



We had a nice view from the top of Zakimi Castle (which isn't really a castle, but just the foundation).

OCSI Bazaar

Well we had our annual bazaar last Saturday.  This is one of our two big fundraisers for the school.  The funds raised go to improving the school.  In the past they have been able to purchase computers, projectors, renovations for the cafeteria's kitchen.  This year the goal is to purchase Air Conditioning for the  rest of the classrooms (17, I believe).

There was weeks of preparation for this event beforehand and it would not have been possible without hours of volunteer time by many students' parents.  Thank you all for your hard work!

We worked that day, of course, but we also scored a couple items!

We found a crockpot!

Japan says "Thank You"

It has been one year since the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown disaster in Northern Japan.
The recovery is ongoing still.  Japan will recover but will never be the same-- people from all walks of life have been touched in some way by this tragedy.

It has been, and continues to be, an opportune time for mission work here.  There have been many Christian workers that have gone up to assist in the rebuilding.  Some of our friends have relocated up there to better assist with the hopes of starting churches in the spiritually dark area that it is.

Please continue to lift up the proud, but humbled people of Japan.  Like all of us, we all need to humble ourselves and cry out to the one who can give us salvation.  As God's Word puts it: Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.  James 4:10


This is a "Thank You" video from Japan to the world:

Mika turns 5!

Time sure does fly!  5 years ago, on March 8, Mika came into our life.  Emi's pleas for a little sister came true.  

Well, we cannot imagine life without our Mika.

She got a bike for her birthday.

Book Review: Has God Spoken? by Hank Hanegraaff

I recently read through Hank Hanegraaff's Has God Spoken? and must admit that it was better than I expected.  I have heard Mr. Hanegraaff on the radio (Bible Answer Man) and while I did not always agree with everything that he said I found him to be knowledgeable and well spoken.  

In this book he discusses how we can know that our Bible today is reliable, accurate and divinely inspired.  Hanegraaff utilizes several acronyms to help us remember his salient points.  The book is divided into four sections: Manuscripts, Archaeology, Prophecy & Scripture-- each showing the mounds of evidence that the Bible is in fact God's inspired Word.  

I appreciate that Hanegraaff does not shy away from contradictions or "errors" that are supposed to exist in our version of the Bible.  Rather, he addresses these head on and explains or expounds, but does not make excuses. 

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the truth about how we got our Bible.  After this reading I have a new appreciation for just how reliable our scripture is. The integrity of the manuscripts, the evidence offered through archaeology, and the fulfilled prophecies can leave little doubt that what we possess today is an accurate copy of what God has spoken.