#doug bender

On the path to making Jesus first...

Today I started doing a daily devotional called "live second" by Doug Bender. I encourage you to check it out! We can talk about it! 

Day 1: Creation

Live Second was a hit book, many of my friends insisted that I read it. I haven’t got to it, but my girlfriend loved it and insisted I check out the devotional. She recommended the devotional because of the original book, having never looked through it. When I got it we started going through it together. It is broken up into different sections and teaches you over the course of a year how to live second to Christ. It is more than just a Biblical passage and some text. Each week they have a video to go along with the week’s devotions. This enhances the experience much more than your normal devotional experience. Also, you can tweet with others each week because there is a hash-tag specific to each week to talk with fellow readers.

This book is fancy. As I said above it has a lot of great things. I enjoyed everything in it, however, there just wasn’t enough meat. It seemed as if it started and then finished before we knew it. Each day is a page or less and it is just hard to get much out of it. They have a lot of cool things, but it is lacking in content and discussion questions. It is great if you have never read the Bible and want to go through the Bible and get the major themes, but if you are looking for something with a little more depth I strongly recommend something else. When my girlfriend and I went through it we both felt needing more. We switched to reading the Bible for now.

3/5 stars

"Real stories. Changing lives."

When Hebrews talks about being spurred on by those around you, those who, by their faith, persevere in this present world -- it is this same idea that the text is referencing. I AM SECOND tells the story of pastors who finally truly meet Jesus far along in their pastorate ... of celebrities, of professional athletes, of musicians, and of everyday people like you and me. It speaks to first person accounts of addiction, racism, prostitution, fame, divorce, and rejection. These are true stories and are the stories of the Church. The stories are written that others might stop dead in their tracks and both reevaluate and refocus their own situation. Are you living second, or first? Are you living for His glory or for yourself to take center stage when your life is played back? These are people who live for the the one to whom this text is dedicated, "To the one who is First." The book is straight forward, so there is not much to debate about how "good" this book is. The writing is done very well. I also completely affirm the sharing of one's testimony for the spurring on of others within the body. For those who feel lonely and discouraged, even "disconnected" in their faith, this is a powerful and encouraging text. I'm going to give it 4 out of 5 stars.