Hear My Cry

Hear My Cry (Mustang, OK: Tate Publishing and Enterprises, 2009, 229 pages) is as complex a book as its author. Tish Hagee Tucker is smart, witty, lively, loving, and God-honoring. All of this comes through in Hear My Cry.

In this journey through her battle with cancer, Tucker tells her tale in an engrossing manner. She walks you through receiving the diagnosis and the treatment at M.D. Anderson in Houston. Through this you can feel the emotional battles going on as though you are in the room with her. Her unique way of viewing life and creative expression makes you laugh at occasions that are heart-breaking. The struggles are so vivid that it is difficult not to shed a tear while reading. But mostly, you are inspired by her faith and God’s faithfulness.

Tucker’s struggle reminds us of the importance and power of prayer. Hear My Cry teaches of the power of little acts of kindness, such as bringing a meal or washing a dog. There are lessons of what not to do or say in times of turmoil. Scripture and prayer saturate the book, as they saturated her life during the fight.

Hear My Cry is a reminder to be thankful for our health, to value the time we have with family and friends, and, most of all, to live a life that brings glory and honor to God.

There is much more to this book, but to find that out you will have to buy it.

One more thing: a special bonus includes a coupon code for the audio book.

Twittering in Church

Yes, I know I never blog anymore. This story was too fascinating to pass up.

Time magazine has an article on Twittering in Church which says:

John Voelz isn't trying to brag, but it's fair to say he was down with Twitter before most people knew it was a proper noun.

Last year, Voelz, a pastor, was tweeting at a conference outside Nashville about ways to make the church experience more creative — ways to "make it not suck" — when suddenly it hit him: Twitter. (The TIME 100: Ashton Kutcher on "The Twitter Guys")

Voelz and David McDonald, the other senior pastor at Westwinds Community Church in Jackson, Mich., spent two weeks educating their congregation about Twitter, the microblogging site that challenges users to communicate in 140 characters or less. They held training sessions where congregants brought in their laptops, iPhones and Blackberrys. They upped the bandwidth in the auditorium. (Finding God on YouTube)

As expected, banter flourished. Tweets like "Nice shirt JVo" and "So glad they are doing Lenny Kravitz" flashed across three large video screens. But there was heartfelt stuff, too.

"I have a hard time recognizing God in the middle of everything."

"The more I press in to Him, the more He presses me out to be useful"

"sometimes healing is painful"

There's a time and a place for technology, and most houses of worship still say it's not at morning Mass. But instead of reminding worshippers to silence their cell phones, a small but growing number of churches around the country are following Voelz' lead and encouraging people to integrate text-messaging into their relationship with God.

You can read the rest via the link above.

Brilliant