Books

What To Remember When You Start

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

start_book_3dIf you’re reading this blog, I can’t tell you how grateful I am.

I just wish there were more of you.

Look, I realize I only started this blog a couple months ago. I realize I’ve only written 60 posts or so. I realize it takes years, decades even to grow a following.

But I want more than a dozen people to read this blog every day. And I want that right now. I want it today.

I think that’s why I needed to read Jon Acuff’s latest book Start. Continue reading →

An Interesting New Book I’ll Be Reviewing – An Amazon Bestseller

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment
Shortly, I will be receiving a review copy of “God’s Favorite Place on Earth” by Frank Viola. The book released May 1st and stayed in the top # 50 on Amazon.com for 8 straight days. There’s a lot of buzz about this book on the Web, and I’ll be writing a review after I read it.
Here are a few interesting nuggets about the book.
* It’s been recommended by 47 Christian authors, including John Ortberg, Jack Hayford, Leonard Sweet, Tricia Goyer, Mary DeMuth, Greg Boyd, Todd Hunter, Jon Acuff, and many others.
* There is an interesting video trailer for the book that introduces it.
* The book tells the story of Jesus in the little village of Bethany and the amazing things that happened there through the eyes of Lazarus. It combines biblical narrative, dramatization, theological insights, and nonfiction devotional teaching. It argues that “Bethany” was God’s Favorite Place on Earth and explains how every Christian and every church can be “Bethanies” today for God.
* The book addresses 18 specific struggles that Christians face and offers hope, challenge, and fresh insight.
You can check all of this out at http://GodsFavoritePlace.com

Childlike

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

beck-bennettKids say the darndest things.

By now you’ve probably seen the series of AT&T commercials featuring a droll corporate everyman interviewing a series of elementary school children. The man in the suit asks kids questions like “What’s better – doing two things at once or just one?” He typically receives the answer you’d expect from a 6-year-old.

These commercials are the greatest thing ever:

(Click here if you can’t see the Youtube video above.)

All of this is to promote how even little kids are smart enough to realize AT&T’s products are superior to other phone companies. The commercials may not be super effective in mobilizing you toward AT&T, but they do illustrate just how insightful kids are. They also provide a great lesson to us about wonder. Continue reading →

What To Do When You’re Stuck In The Middle

/ Alex Doriot / 2 Comments

Goblet_fire_coverPop culture confession time: I am one of the last people in my generation who has never seen or read the complete Harry Potter saga.

It’s not because I think the series is demonic or promotes witchcraft or any moral reason like that. I actually did start reading the series about 13 years ago.

In fact I was the first kid in my class to get behind the books, introducing them to many of my friends. My mom saw them in a book catalog and brought the first one home to me.

I was hooked. I devoured the first three books. I even ordered the fourth book from overseas before it was released in the U.S. I was a megafan.

Then there was a gap between the fourth and fifth book. From what I remember this is when Potter-mania really started catching on in America, at least around the people at my school. Now seeing another person with a Harry Potter book was not strange; it had become the norm.

The first Harry Potter movie came out around this time too. And this was the beginning of the end of my fandom. I had great expectations, and to me that first movie did not ignite the same spirit as the first book did. I was sorely let down. Continue reading →