The K Mills

I write it. You read it. That's it.

Book Review: The Harbinger, By Jonathan Cahn

I just finished reading a book called The Harbinger, by Jonathan Cahn, and I have to be honest, I’m pretty shocked. And not for all the right reasons.

First off, I was shocked right when I started reading it, mainly because of the circumstances that led up to it. Since buying a Kindle a few months ago, I’ve been gleefully adding samples of books left and right. I read a review, click on a link in Amazon, and away I go down the rabbit hole, sending myself 10-20 free samples at a time. (If you haven’t tried it, it’s a great way to preview a book, for sure. Especially with the non-fiction titles. It really gives you the nekkid bones of the book without having to drudge through the whole thing. Kinda like an x-ray, I guess…)

So at any given moment, I’ve got multiple sections on my Kindle (sci-fi, spiritual, creature fiction, prophecy, etc.) that I can delve into at any time. And last Friday, I was browsing the titles I hadn’t filed into a category yet, and found The Harbinger. Not having a clue what it was about, I started reading so I could slap it into the appropriate folder.

Two chapters into the sample, however, and I was intrigued. Intrigued enough to consider buying the thing, so I clicked on the “Buy Book” button, expecting to be taken to the Amazon Store where I could check the price and confirm my purchase.

Unfortunately, Kindles don’t work that way.

Instead, I realized I had suddenly just purchased my first full-priced book for my Kindle. (Granted, at $9.99 it wasn’t back-breaking, but still… I would’ve liked a warning.) So heads up, Kindle owners – don’t click that BUY button unless you’re serious.

The story’s about a journalist who has conversations with a prophet of sorts, who helps him draw startling correlations between an obscure prophecy for Israel in Isaiah 9:10 and the state of America (both past and present). As I read further into the story, this is where the shock I mentioned earlier set it.

Shock #1? That the prophecy for Israel so many centuries ago actually does apply to America today. While one could argue with the sometimes thin arguments that are presented, there are enough that are rock-solid, researched and factually sound that the idea of their being coincidental are patently absurd. They are astounding, to say the least.

For the record, I agree 100% with the message of the book. America is in trouble in the near future, primarily because of how far we’ve come from the spiritual origins of our nation at the beginning. Whether people like it or agree with it or not, the fact is we started as a Christian nation, dedicated to God with specific principles and statutes in place. Our present culture of compromise might very well try to neutralize and negate key portions of the Biblical basis that offend them, but not without damaging the very foundation we rely on.

Remove enough threads, and eventually the rope’s gonna start to fray.

My second shock, however, was almost as great as my first. Because frankly? This book is not very well written. It’s well-researched, to be sure. It’s complete and comprehensive and astounding, with the facts that are in it. But it is in desperate need of an editor to punch it up a notch.

I understand the format of the book, and why it was written the way it was. But you can’t present a book so heavily dependent on dialogue without making darn sure that dialogue isn’t bland. (And let’s face it, when you’re presenting fact after fact after fact? Blandness sets in pretty quickly.)

Do you need to read this book? Without question. Whether you’re a Christian, atheist, Buddhist or follower of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, if you call yourself an American this book will make you sit up and take notice. When a Biblical prophecy is this bizarrely accurate, ignoring its significance really isn’t an option.

That said, The Harbinger is a decent read, just don’t expect to be wow’d by the prose or characters themselves. They’re not the main event. The message is.

- Kevin

Book Summary: Fueled By Faith, By Jennifer Kennedy Dean

I first heard of Jennifer Kennedy Dean way back in 2006 when I was trying to get a grasp on prayer and came across her book, “Live A Praying Life.” Although it was a bizarrely-designed book at 9” x 12”, it still contained such astounding wisdom on the subject of prayer that I’ve found myself referring to it at least once a year.

So when I discovered her follow-up, Fueled by Faith, I was curious what more she’d have to say about praying that she hadn’t covered before. Upon reading the first few chapters, however, I was once again deeply impressed with her wisdom. I think the point that really struck home with me was that faith in anything other than Who God Is will let us down. When we have faith in a person, a specific outcome, or (fill in the blank), we will undoubtedly be disappointed and our spiritual growth with slow.

But when we focus our faith on Him, regardless of what we see happening around us, that’s when everything clicks. Once we reach the point we can fully trust God to do what’s right, the stronghold that stress and anxiety has on us is broken. And by “right” I mean what is truly right in His eyes as He’s the only righteous one to make the call.

He is God. He will do what He wants to, and whether we see the benefit to ourselves or not is irrelevant. Because we’re not the main character in the story. We’re all just a supporting cast that He weaves into His story as He sees fit. The sooner we forget that key point, the sooner we get tripped up in matters of faith.

God is not a cosmic slot machine. He can’t be bribed into doing what you want based on your holy performance. He’s already laid the track for the trip. You can decide if you wanna hop on the train, trip over the tracks in your blind determination or be left behind entirely.

Kevin

 

Fueled by Faith: Living Vibrantly in the Power of Prayer – Jennifer Kennedy Dean

Subject: Faith

Time: 35:35

 

Key Thoughts: 

  • God Himself is the focus of our faith.
  • You can’t have faith in an outcome. You can only have faith in a person. Jesus said to have faith in God.
  • Many time our attempts to exercise faith are in hopes that we will be able to somehow manipulate our circumstances and bring about our preferred outcome by “faith” expressed through “prayer.”
  • We think to ourselves that if we can only learn how faith operates through prayer, then we can get God to do what we think He should do, when we think He should do it. This is flesh-fueled, faulty thinking. It isn’t faith.
  • Belief is not faith. And unbelief is not doubt.
  • Faith’s focus is Godnot a specific outcome.
  • Faith is trusting God. No matter what the outcome is.
  • We need to differentiate between believing in an outcome and believing in God. Faith is not believing something. Faith is believing someone.
  • Faith is fully-focused on God.
  • God’s blessings are free, unearned and undeserved. You can’t “buy” them with faith.
  • God will always, in whatever circumstance or situation or moment, be totally and completely in control.
  • Can God make promises to you about the future if He is not in control of the future?
  • Sometimes God intervenes to stop bad things from happening. We need to remember that even when He does not intervene, He does so on purpose. For a specific reason.
  • Faith is knowing that God sees what you can’t.
  • Faith knows that God is continually working toward an outcome that is beyond anything we could ask or imagine.
  • God’s plans are always for your benefit, and they are thoroughly thought out long, long in advance.
  • Wisdom is that which God alone possesses, and that which God alone can give.
  • Unbelief will cause you to dismiss God in favor of your own abilities. And many times people will decide to let fear direct their decisions in life.
  • The Israelites didn’t wonder if God had delivered them from Egypt and miraculously provide for them. But they didn’t have faith that He would continue to save them.
  • Unbelief is choosing to believe our own perceptions and intentionally not trusting God.
  • God put the Israelites in a position of hunger specifically so that He could provide for them with manna for the specific purpose of teaching them that they could trust in His promises.
  • Sometimes we confuse God’s will for His ways. We often see Him bringing His will about in a way that, to us, seems like a mistake. Don’t confuse what He’s doing with how He’s doing it
  • We need to keep in practice so that our response to any critical or negative thought or circumstance in life is faith.
  • God implants and nurtures vision, and He alone allows it to become reality on the earth.
  • Vision is a specific promise from God to you. It develops gradually, slowly, but in time becomes clearer.
  • Your responsibility is to provide the vision with the proper conditions for maturing. Feed the vision the Word of God. The vision will progressively unfold as you walk in obedience.
  • God implanted you with His vision at exactly the right time, and He will bring it about in exactly the right time.
  • Remember that the vision is God’s, and not yours. He will bring about His vision through you.
  • God will bring you through times and crisis points where you’ll recognize that there are elements of your flesh wrapped around the vision.
  • God will announce His plans before He brings them into being, so that we will fully recognize His work, and will not attribute His power to anyone or anything else.
  • Your job is to obey, moment by moment. Say what He tells you to say, and do what He tells you to do. Faith is expressed in obedience.
  • Your enemy is constantly working against your faith, but he can only defeat you if he can discourage you. He is part of God’s plan for growing greater faith in you.
  • Faith is obedience to the present-tense voice of God, and sometimes the obedience lies in not acting. When faith is exercised on the earth, you release His power into your circumstances.
  • God doesn’t want your best efforts or your well-meaning actions. He wants your obedience to His voice. 
  • God has been directing your life toward the vision all along. Ask yourself, how have your circumstances in your past been arranged so that the vision could grow? How have your particular challenges and heartaches and failures enabled you to host the vision?
  • Time and again, God will bring opportunities and drop them in your lap, and you will know that the vision is His, and He will bring it to pass in His way and His time.
  • His vision for you will fit you down to the last detail.
  • God arranges crisis moments at which times you will come face to face with your flesh, and see how you’ve wrapped it around the vision. You will have to relinquish ownership and lay it down.
  • God will purify you so that which you bring forth will be equally pure. He is working in you beyond simple obedience, digging up the roots of unrighteousness that lead to disobedience.
  • The process of purity precedes the promise of power.
  • As you stay God-centered, rather than problem-centered, you’ll see your situations from a different vantage point.
  • Praise doesn’t always radically change your circumstances, but it will change your viewpoint. Even in the midst of your darkest circumstances, God is who He claims to be.

Free Music Friday: Songs Of Hope.

It seems the older we get, the more heartache we’re bound to experience. As we get to know more people, spending time loving them and being loved by them, we inadvertently open ourselves up to greater pain in the process. Because just as we’ll share their joy and mountaintops, we’re also going to stand alongside them when they find themselves in the painful valley.

These songs have all had a powerful impact on my life at different times, lifting me out of my depressive funks and giving me a new feeling of hope. They serve to remind me that no matter how dark life can get, God is still good and He’s still in control of the world. And while He does allow us to experience deep, gut-wrenching pain at times, it’s never without purpose. We will heal in time. Life will get better. The more we commit ourselves into His loving hands, the closer He is to us and the faster we find relief.

So if you’re in a low spot of life and find encouragement through music, leave a comment and maybe you’ll be the lucky winner come Sunday. (Genres range from Christian to chillout to alternative to folk. You can listen to the songs via Spotify by clicking here.)

- Kevin

 Track List:

Addison Road – Hope Now

Addison Road – Start Over Again

Alli Rogers – Hope

Telepopmusik – Breathe

The Innocence Mission – It Is Well With My Soul

Superchick – Beauty from Pain

Superchick – Breathe

Plumb – God Will Take Care of You

Olive – Smile

Kaskade – 4:00 AM

Imogen Heap – Lifeline

Imogen Heap – Wait It Out

Hem – The Part Where You Let Go

Lindsey Kane – The Valley

Lindsey Kane – You’ll Be Whole

Free Music Friday: My Holiday, By Mindy Smith

Around the same time I discovered Rosie Thomas’s Christmas album (see last week’s post), I also found Mindy Smith’s “My Holiday,” which is equally sublime. You can listen to samples below to confirm and validate that this album is worthy of giving away.

You want it? Leave a comment (here or on Facebook if you’re a “friend”) and you’ll increase your chances of winning 100%. Guaranteed. (Winner to be decided Sunday…)

Find a fireplace, pour yourself some hot chocolate (or a glass of wine), grab a good book and make this your soundtrack to holiday bliss.

- Kevin

Song Picks: I Know The Reason, Follow the Shepard Home, My Holiday

Official Site for My Holiday

Amazon (Currently only $5 for the MP3 album!)

Spotify

 

Book Summary: Just Enough Light For The Step I’m On, By Stormie Omartain.

I’m starting a new section at TheKMills.com this week. It’s called “Book Summaries,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like.

Here’s the deal: when I read books, I underline the good parts in various colors. I figure physically interacting with the book helps me remember the nuggety goodness therein. But I want to be sure that I learned everything inside it, so after the underlining, I then dictate the sections, recording them as an MP3.

Then when I go to bed at night? I can pick and choose which “book” I need a refresher on, and listen to the audio summaries as I drift off to sleep, absorbing it all into my ultra-fertile subconscious mind.

Does it work? I think so, but I’m honestly not sure. I can’t help but think the more I retrace the grooves of truth that these books have to offer, the more streamlined my thinking becomes.

Over the years I’ve read and dictated books in the following six categories:

• Prayer

• Money

• Faith

• Living

• Thinking

This week I’m starting with Stormie Omartain’s “Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On.

As I’m struggling to understand God’s will and purpose in my life here in Washington, this book is perfectly timed. It’s short and easy to read, but it is thick with how to harness a straightforward, bold faith. Which, I’ll be honest, I don’t have a lot of sometimes during this season of my life.

It’s hard to stay focused on Him, to remain hopeful when I’m watching a handful of my hopes and dreams slowly shatter in front of me. But I believe if I choose to submit to Him in this trying time, I’ll come through it faster and stronger.

Lord knows He’s brought me through hard times in my life before.

My job is to follow His voice and step forward where He leads, even when it’s down a dark, stanky alley.

- Kevin

Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On – Stormie Omartain

Subject: Faith

Time: 29:12

 

Key Thoughts:

He constantly calls you to step beyond your comfort zone.

Your tomorrow is determined by the steps you take today.

He wants to accomplish great things through you that can ONLY come by living a life of faith and obedience.

 He wants you to be so convinced of His presence in your life that even when you can’s sense it or see it, you know that He is there.

Don’t believe you’re out of God’s will just because you’re facing dark circumstances.

God prefers to give us just enough details to keep us dependent on Him.

We always hope that God will lift us above our circumstances, but often He want us to walk with Him through them.

Ask God to give you a new perspective, because you don’t always see the whole truth. Be willing to let go of your determination to see things through your own tunnel vision.

It’s in the wilderness that you’ll be convinced you won’t achieve anything of lasting importance without His help.

God wants to separate you from all that you crave so that all that you crave… is Him.

Forget any plans that you might have on accomplishing your purpose on your own. He wants you to be completely convinced that it won’t happen without Him.

You can’t do whatever you feel like doing and then ask God to bless it. 

Free Music Friday: A Very Rosie Christmas

 

I stumbled across this album a few years ago and fell in love with Rosie’s soft voice and catchy songwriting. So now I’m buying you a digital copy of A Very Rosie Christmas for FREE! (Provided you leave a comment here or on Facebook… and are the lucky winner randomly picked on Sunday).

Listen to “Christmas Don’t Be Late” or “Christmastime is Here” to get an idea of what’s in store.

Her MySpace page has the best audio links, so far…

Free Music Friday: Near The Parenthesis – Japanese For Beginners.

Okay, instead of trying to describe this music, I’m ripping off the description that’s on the label’s website. It’ll do a much better job of letting you know what Near the Parenthesis is about, and why you wanna get it.

Japanese for Beginners‘ is Near The Parenthesis’ 4th album via the n5MD imprint and 5th overall. Not far behind on the contemplative artfulness of 2010′s “Music For the Forest Concourse” this new album finds Tim Arndt adding more texturally experimental treatments to his signature mix of melodic IDM and Modern Classical. Arndt was intent on creating a decidedly more “electronic” backdrop for the record, which includes what may be some of the most creative drum programing of his career. Building on this new platform, Japanese for Beginners continues Arndt’s bias and skill in constructing haunting piano motifs and, as always, brings the pieces together seamlessly. The songs on “Japanese For Beginners” are as hopeful, as dreamy, and as thoughtfully crafted as you want them to be. With this album as with any of Arndt’s releases, it is up to the listener to dive in to the details or simply let it play as the soundtrack to your day.”

Personally? This is one of my favorite albums ever. It’s a great worship album to me, when I want to calm down and focus on God, but I don’t feel like getting overwhelmed with predictable melodies and saccharin lyrics that most Christian worship music consists of. Near the Parenthesis? Allows me to be myself when I approach God, without distractions.

I’m not a fan of ambient music, or stark piano for that matter. But this album is the epitome of tranquil and serene. So click here to listen to some samples and see for yourself why you should leave a comment & try to score this thing for free.

Got Spotify? You can listen to the entire album here. For FREE.

Free Music Friday: Natalie Walker

A few years ago I heard a rendition of “Dust in the Wind” by a group called Daughter Darling. The lead singer was Natalie Walker, who’s since broken out on her own with a handful of successful solo projects. If you’ll click on the link (above), you’ll hear how her voice is vivid and somewhat mesmerizing. Her latest album, “Spark,” is equally as enjoyable (although I only download a handful of the choice songs.)

So today I’m offering the lucky winner a total of 5 songs from Natalie:

Dust in the Wind

Quicksand (Thievery Corportation Remix)

Galapagos

Uptight

Mars

You can find samples for each one at Natalie’s Amazon page (or elsewhere on the web). And all you gotta do to enter is leave a comment. Ta-dahhh!! That’s easy. I’ll pick a winner on Sunday & get ‘em to you ASAP.

Free Music Friday: Vedera – Stages

As usual, I don’t know how I ran across Vedera. Probably music mining over on Amazon or something… I dunno.

But I DO know I was thoroughly impressed with their debut album, “The Weight of an Empty Room.” So when their follow-up album, “Stages,” came out, I knew I would enjoy it. Granted, they rewrote some of their key hooks and melodies from their previous album into new songs on this one, but you know what? It works. (Part of the joy of being an indie artist… you’re free to do crazy stuff like that if you want to.)

If you’re a fan female-fronted bands ala Sixpence None The Richer, The Sundays or The Cranberries, you’ll probably love the infectious pop rock stuff that Vedera has to offer. :) Just leave a comment with your contact info below and I’ll pick a winner on Sunday for the Amazon MP3 album.

Vedera – Stages (On MyPlay.com)

Vedera – MySpace

 

The Giving Experiments (conclusion).

There’s a definite correlation between giving and receiving, and I believe it’s universal. Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or Chocoholic, this is just the way God originally designed the world to work. Period.

When we give passionately and sacrificially, focusing on the needs of others as opposed to our own, we will be blessed. Incredibly, astoundingly, jaw-droppingly blessed.

Whether it’s in the areas of finances, relationships, books, music or whatever, I believe you will reap what you sow. What’s more, you will reap MORE than you sow. A lot of other books have touched on this, but they all point to one thing: what Jesus said is absolutely true.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Here’s a few other key Scriptures to meditate on. (Yes, I said “meditate.” Deal with it.)

1 Corinthians 4:7,8What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings.

Guess what? Everything you have in this life? God gave it to you. Your house? Your car? Your books and CDs and computers and STUFF? Yeah. Gifts from God.

“But,” you stammer, “That’s not right! I bought that stuff with MY money! That I earned with my hard work!” Uh-huh. And who provided you with your job? Your livelihood? Who gave you the skills to make that money? The hands to do your work? The mind? The body? The very breath you’re breathing right now?

That’s right, Buttercup. You’re not the self-made success you thought you were. Everything you have is a gift, but here’s the kicker: the more you share your gifts, the more gifts you get to share. Yeah, I know. He’s a crazy giver, our God. Insanely generous, some might say.

2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Again, this is a universal truth. What you spread around is what’s gonna come back to you. Call it a boomerang effect, call it karma, call it whatever you want, but the truth is right there in God’s word: we will reap what we sow in this life.

What we fail to grasp is the fact that we are ALWAYS sowing. Constantly. Everything that we think, say or do is planting a seed that will grow and sprout and for better or worse – produce a harvest just like the original kernel. That’s why it’s so incredibly important to pay attention to what you’re thinking, to filter out and uproot those negative thoughts that pop into your head. Just because their seeds fall onto the fertile ground of your mind doesn’t mean you have to till the soil, stuff ‘em down and fertilize them. Heck no! Snatch ‘em up and throw ‘em away! YOU get to choose what you plant. It’s YOUR garden. (It’s Your Life.)

2 Corinthians 9:7-8, 11 “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”

Do I believe God wants us rich? Without question. But not in the way the world defines “rich.” You see, the world says you’re rich when you’ve got the nice house (or a couple on each coast), the fancy cars, the latest and greatest toys and gadgets and all the money you could ever spend on yourself. I don’t think this is what God has in mind when He wants to bless us. In fact, I believe it’s pretty much the exact opposite. I believe God wants to outrageously bless us so that we in turn can become outrageous blessings to OTHERS.

People often misquote 1 Timothy 6:10 and say that money is the root of all evil. It’s not. Money’s neutral, a tool that can be used for God’s glory or our detriment. Financial prosperity and wealthy abundance for each one of us? God’s all for it. And here’s why: because when we’re so self-centered on our own “lack” and focus only on what we think we DON’T have in life (money, cars, stuff), it has a two-fold effect.

First, we give end up giving power to the perpetual wheel that’s running in the background of our lives. We say we don’t have enough? Guess what? You’re never gonna have enough. Just like it says in Proverbs 18:21, you get what you say. And your words have more power than you realize.

Secondly, if we have the constant mindset that we ourselves are just barely making it, frantically scrambling about financially and thinking we never have enough, then guess what? The idea of giving to someone else isn’t a high priority on our To Do list. We’re not going to even consider giving something of value to someone else if we’re convinced that we are the ones who are in desperate need.

And that’s a really sad mindset to have. Because as the Bible makes perfectly clear, we can only reap what we sow in the first place. Think about it. A farmer doesn’t just wander out to harvest a field of bare dirt. He plants the seeds well ahead of time, knowing they’ll one day product a crop of whatever he planted. So if you’re not sowing seeds financially? If you’re not passionately giving to someone or somewhere else that you see has a need? Buddy, you’re never going to reap a financial harvest. Ever.

I’m convinced that that’s not what God wants for us. He wants to make us rich. Every single one of us. And He doesn’t want to do it so we can buy all the bling we want in life. He wants to do it so what we will be positioned to share what He’s given us with others. He wants to bless us to be a blessing.

So let go of that bucket mentality you’ve got. Punch a few holes in that sucker, and watch as the blessings He’s about to unleash on you overflow and spill and spurt out in every direction, drenching everyone you come in contact with. God wants you to be a sprinkler, not a sponge. Stop soaking it all up for yourself and start actively spreading it around to those in need, to the people He places in your path each day. Give It Away. Intentionally. Passionately.

Trust me when I promise you this: You Will Be Blessed.

- Kevin


Recommended Reading:

God’s Plan for Your Money – Derek Prince

The Treasure Principle – Randy Alcorn

The Greatest Money-Making Secret In History – Joe Vitale

Give to Life: How Giving Can Change Your Life – Douglas Lawson

Can’t Take It With You: The Art of Making and Giving Money – Lewis B. Cullman

The Generosity Factor – Ken Blanchard, S. Truett Cathy

The Storehouse Principle – Al Jandi, Van Crouch

How To Solve All Your Money Problems Forever – Victor Bloc

Recommended Sermons:

Note: Be forewarned. These messages have the power to CHANGE YOUR LIFE. So if you’re tired of going through the financial wringer and ready to experience a dynamic shift in your thinking about giving, then buckle up. You’re about to be blessed.

LifeChurch.tv “Blessed”

LifeChurch.tv “How to BE Rich”

LifeChurch.tv “The Blessed Life.”

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