The Beginning

A few months ago, I was hanging out with my friend Emily, who told me I had to read Donald Miller's Searching for God Knows What. She was right, to a certain extent: anyone who has ever been exposed to the religious section in Borders should read the first chapter of this book. Miller calls it "Fine Wine: the Failure of Formulas." I don't remember what the "fine wine" is referring to, but the formulas part is about a book-writing conference he went to (he is, after all, an author) that taught him the formula for writing instant best-sellers for the self-help section.

EVERYONE should read this chapter because it is funny. Fortunately, you can read this chapter for free on Google Books! I think the idea is that you will be so enamored you will not be able to resist buying the book to read the rest, but I think the first chapter is the best part (although I can't be certain, I'm only 2/3 of the way through).The point of Searching for God Knows What is not be funny but to say essentially this: people read the Bible as a self-help book, but they should read it so they can fall in love with Jesus. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my new plan (disclaimer: when I say "fall in love with Jesus," this means "find out who he really is--or was").

And this is all relevant because... it got me thinking. Although I profess to be a Christian (and frequently give eligible young men the let's-just-be-friends talk because they're "non-believers"), Jesus himself doesn't play a big role in my day-to-day life. I don't think of him separately from God unless I'm talking theology--and that's usually pretty far from the heart of what I actually believe and experience. So, over the last few months I've been reading the New Testament as a character study rather than a self-help book, and I am now moving on to academic books on the subject of Jesus. Luckily for you, I've decided to document my reading (and anything else that seems relevant) on this blog, so you don't have to slog through it yourselves. Also it seems like a good discipline, to have to review and reflect on what I read, which might have been the inspiration in the first place.

As this is my first post on Breathe Out Loud, a few questions for my soon-to-be loyal readers:

1. Do you like the bold? I'm trying it out to draw your attention to the important parts because I know I'm long winded and I thought it might help the skimming.
2. What is your experience of Jesus?* How has Jesus--not God, but Jesus--been significant in your experience (as opposed to shaping your theological/philosophical worldview)? You don't have to post it, but I have been polling people and I'm curious to know.

*I know, I'm clearly making some assumptions about your faith here, but regardless of your story if you have thoughts about the J-man I'd love to hear them!