Posts Tagged ‘What He Said’

A Favor To Ask of You

Thursday, November 17th, 2011 by JEL

I’ll admit it. I searched on this here Internet for the most polite way of asking strangers to do something for you. Not that we’re asking you to do anything onerous or involving messy conditions or heavy physical loads.

This blog gets a fair amount of traffic, and we’re guessing that some of you must have purchased a copy of What He Said from Amazon (the only place it’s available). Yet our Amazon page only has 8 reviews, the most recent coming 7.5 months ago.

So the favor to ask of you is this: if you have the book, would you mind going to the Amazon page, scrolling down to the reviews, clicking the “Create your own review” button, and then waxing away on your opinions, feelings, reactions, etc. to the book? We would love to see what you think. And thank you.

That Ole’ Lefty Bible

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 by JEL

We here at What He Said headquarters have long scratched our head at religious folks and their conservative views. It’s part of the reason why we created the book in the first place. Do conservative Christians ever actually read the Bible, and the Four Gospels in particular? Those messages about helping the needy and the poor? Funny how Jesus never says the poor should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Sandalstraps?

Christianity Today published an interesting analysis of the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey which asked a whole range of folks about their Bible reading and views on a variety of topics. The survey found that people who read the Bible the most tend to be more conservative, BUT BUT BUT the more these same folks read it, especially on their own, the more liberal their views become. That pesky Jesus!

Why does this happen? One possible explanation is that readers tend to have expectations of a text prior to reading it. Given the Bible’s prominence in our society, it’s little wonder that many people think they know what’s in it before they open it up. But once they start reading it on their own, they are bound to be surprised by something, and this surprising new content is then integrated and grafted on to the familiar. Beliefs do change with the addition of new information.

New Review of What He Said

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 by JEL

Dr. Steve McSwain is an interesting guy. He’s a prolific writer, speaker, and church/faith consultant. You can read more about him at his website. I first came across him a couple of weeks ago when I saw his series “Perspectives of a Former Fundamentalist Christian.” I wrote a post about it, and then decided to send him a copy of What He Said. Based on his writings, I had a hunch Dr. McSwain would “get” what we were trying to do and I was interested in his reaction. He wrote me back a week later:

“Thanks for the copy of What He Said. Yep, believe you hit the mark here. I’m pleased to see someone clarify what we are TOLD Jesus said, as it is recorded in the Gospels.  This book helps readers get to the core of Jesus’ teachings and sifts through all the rest so as to create a readable and valuable tool for those interested.  It’s spot-on. Good work.”

Nice to hear we’re on the right track. To read more of his work, check out:

Read The Gospels With Us

Friday, February 18th, 2011 by JEL

I’ve been thinking. Lots of people have Bibles, but don’t read them. Some number less than “lots of people” now have What He Said. Maybe they’re not reading it, either! That would be a shame.

Want to read it together? It’s been a while since I went through the Gospels with a fine-toothed comb, and I’m ready. To keep things manageable, I propose that we read four chapters per week, and then discuss them on Fridays. I’ll put up a post and then everyone can chime in using the “comments.”

So get your copy of What He Said (off the shelf or from Amazon if you don’t already have it), and start reading.

Assignment for February 25: Matthew, chapters 1-4

It’s His Birthday – Get Him What He Wants

Monday, December 6th, 2010 by JEL

Pardon the shameless promotion here, but as you’re scurrying around the Internet and the malls gobbling up presents to fulfill your Christmas shopping lists, I thought you might want to stop a minute.

And think.

Christmas, after all is meant to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus, not a celebration of the glowing credit card. One more plastic toy or electronic doo-dad is not going to make this world a more peaceful and tolerant home for any of us.

If you could sit Jesus down and ask Him what he really wants for his birthday, I’d bet He’d say “To be understood.” We just happen to know of a great gift for everyone on your list that makes His message easier to understand than ever before. Give it a shot >>

IPPY Winners Announced

Monday, May 17th, 2010 by JEL

Last Monday I wrote that What He Said had been named a finalist in the national/religion category of the 2010 Independent Publisher Book Awards. Judging apparently finished up on Friday. At the risk of “sounding a trumpet before” ourselves, I am very excited to announce that What He Said took the Gold medal!

The other two books on the podium are beautiful and powerful; check them out.

You can see the full list of IPPY winners here.

We’re Up for an IPPY!

Monday, May 10th, 2010 by JEL

Last fall we entered What He Said in the 2010 Independent Publisher Book Awards. I just found out that our book has been named a finalist in the National – Religion category. “Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded to each of these finalists and presented at a gala awards ceremony in New York on May 25th.”

I like a good “gala ceremony” as much as the next person, but I don’t think our schedules will allow us to attend. Our fingers are crossed nonetheless.

You can view the full list of finalists here.

Christianity and Not Christianity

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 by JEL

We created What He Said for many reasons. One, because the Bible is a hard book to read. We thought that designing the words of Christ in a new, easy-on-the-eye layout would help people get to the essential Christian lessons of love and peace and tolerance much easier than all the Bibles in their homes that never get pulled off the shelf and really read. And two, because we saw (and see) so many examples of self-proclaimed Christians acting in ways completely contrary to their professed faith. Maybe if they had an easy guide to the teachings of Christ they might reconsider some of their beliefs. And put the guns aside.

This article/editorial discusses “false witnesses” in the ever-growing movement of hate groups:

“It always seemed to me that there was a whole lot more to being a Christian than just believing in Jesus, that too many call themselves that without really knowing what it means and, in far too many cases, to justify behavior that is the antitheses of true Christianity.”

In discussing the arrest of the Michigan couple planning to kill law-enforcement officers, Dan Thomasson continues:

“The problem is that these people aren’t alone. Disaffected, ignorant followers of the philosophy of violence are popping up everywhere. They’re being helped by the Internet and the easy access to weapons. The high rate of unemployment has left otherwise normal citizens disaffected and vulnerable to the likes of those who hide behind religious masks and crazy schemes. Be careful. They aren’t Christians.”

“Jesus, Reconsidered”

Friday, March 26th, 2010 by JEL

The title of this post is taken (hence the quotes) from this NPR story by Barbara Bradley Hagerty. You can read the text of the story, but I recommend listening as the voices add a lot. It concerns reaction over Brian McLaren’s new book, “A New Kind of Christianity.” McLaren is a prominent and influential evangelical and a writer of both books and blogs.

He was also one of the first people to give us a review of What He Said. Again, listen to the story.

New Review

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 by JEL

We got a nice review yesterday from Amy Bayliss, a leading voice in women’s online ministry. Amy is a dynamo in Christian media circles, writing for many publications and websites and speaking at conferences around the country. Here’s what she said about our book:

“What He Said is just a brilliant concept. It is such a handy reference tool, and I really don’t know what I ever did without it. It makes studying easier and simply reading through the book gives you new insight to our Lord and Savior.”

You can find Amy online at Amy Bayliss.com and also at Inspired Hearts Media.