Book Review: Priceless by Tom Davis

"'I mean that most people who follow God, most Christians, don't understand the meaning of the word redemption. ... Iskuplenye, redemption, means vosstanovlenye i obnovlenye togo, chto bilo pokhisheno, to restore and renew what has been stolen. Most people squeeze their eyes shut and pretend the Devil doesn't exist. ... They live their lives as if there were no problems in the world, no hunger, no orphans, no child sex slaves. They don't do what God calls every single one of us to do, to redeem mankind. ... [This is] about you establishing the kingdom of God in a significant way by finding freedom for the captives. All of this is the beginning of a new life for you.'"

- Priceless, Tom Davis, Chapter 36

This was a very good read. [Plus, it was free - yay for free ebooks! ;)]

So, it's becoming a well-known stat - there are 27 million slaves in the world.

Priceless takes us on an educational, spiritual, emotional and page-turning journey through that sickening reality.


educational

In Priceless, we journey with Stuart, a photojournalist, who's in Russia to document the rise of HIV/AIDS in the nation. However, through an old friend, he soon finds himself in the middle of an operation working to free trafficked sex slaves.

Throughout the [fictional] story, readers learn about the grim reality of human trafficking and the sex trade. Yeah, you might have heard a bunch of stats before, but this book pulls you right into the brothels, streets and sickening circumstances. [For this reason, I'll say now that this book is definitely PG13 - there are a few gruesome/graphic scenes.]

I also learned a lot about how people are pulling these girls out of captivity and into freedom. While readers learn of the deep darkness of sex slavery, we also learn of heroes who are trailblazers for freedom. Tom Davis does a fantastic job of educating readers on many of the aspects of rescuing sex slaves, without getting too boring or technical.

spiritual

Priceless recognizes that we are fighting for hearts and we're fighting against a real live evil. An evil that grips lives and causes hearts to turn to evil things. An evil that reigns all too often.

Priceless reminds us that "'it's God who will ensure [our] success in this matter.'" [Chapter 37]

And what must we do? "'We give ourselves, in spite of what we might prefer and in spite of fear. ... None of us is good, but God's salvation is perfect. He can do good through people who allow for it.'" [Chapter 36] 

emotional

As we journey with Stuart, we are also pulled into the gripping story of Marina, a girl who is chained into sex slavery, as well as the stories of countless girls much like her.

Their stories pull you into feeling just a tiny sliver of what a sex slave might feel on a daily basis.

The torture. The darkness, the evil. The utter hopelessness.

Their stories rip your heart out. Because it's not fair. None of it is fair.

"'Why does God allow it?' I say this almost under my breath. It's my greatest struggle." [Chapter 36]

Yes. Why? How? Yet there's this -

"I cannot trust life, but I can trust the One who created it." [Chapter 39]

 Yes. That. He has overcome the world.

I'd recommend Priceless 100 times over. You learn. You cry. And you cling to the only hope - Jesus.

Last thing - this book will disturb you. You'll be angered. Discomforted. Wrecked. Fair warning, ok? ;)

-

Grab Priceless here [US] or here [Canada].

Would you fight for freedom? Check out International Justice Mission.

Celebrating Mom...

mom & kids. :)
[not really sure what was so funny.]

My mom.

You really could figure out how great my mom is without much help from me, just by looking at her life.

My mom teaches me to be disturbed at injustice. She teaches me to run from apathy - and into the arms of Jesus.

My mom teaches me to guard my heart and that a girl's value is always in Him. 

She has always taught be to never settle for anything less than my best, but also that mistakes are redeemed by Christ.

My mom teaches me to love deeply and loudly, chase grace, spread hope... and occasionally organize my life. ;)

And she teaches me all this through the way she lives her life.

Neither of us is perfect.

I don't help cook dinner.

Sometimes, she forgets to pick me up from school.

We don't always agree, and sometimes we say things we don't mean.

But both of us are redeemed by grace. Perfected in Him.

My mama is a listening ear, some great advice, dinner on the table, a refuge, a role model and a woman who strives with her all to live like Jesus.

And I love her a lot. :)

Here's the type of woman my mom is.

Right now, she's counting down the seconds until the spotlight is off her. Because she walks humbly.

Really, she'd rather me tell you about struggling moms in developing countries or struggling moms right here at home.

I could tell you about how much I admire the way she gives of herself for others [because she acts justly and loves mercy], but she'd rather me ask you to help one of those struggling moms by clicking on one of those links.

That, my friends, is the beautiful woman I'm celebrating today. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Because Jesus-Love Is Always The Answer

An explosion.

Another.

And a nation, a world, a society explodes and hearts everywhere shatter into a million pieces, because any age is devastating, but 8-years-old? That's too soon.

They hunt for a few days, and a society watches, captivated.

And they bring in a boy only three years older than me.

And 19-years-old? That's also too soon.

This. This is how a Christ-follower needs to respond. [This link is a must-read.]

Because me, 19-year-old Dzhokar and 8-year-old Martin, all three of us are just kids born into this terrible crazy world. 

And us image-bearers are failing hard. Because when a 19-year-old boy knows nothing better than to drop a bomb and kill a 8-year-old, we've failed them both.

We've failed to show them a God who cherishes peace. We've failed to bear the image of the Prince of Peace. 

And sometimes, failures don't get second chances. With Martin, we don't get a second chance. 

How's it feel to be robbed of a second chance?

But in our failure with Dzhokhar, we get one. We get a second chance and what are we gonna do with it? Rob him of his? 

No, no. We can't.

Here's why: We're all recipients of second chances. 

What he did - it absolutely was not okay. It makes me sick to my stomach. Yes - he needs to serve a hard punishment. But more importantly - he needs to learn peace. 

He needs to be shown peace.

And I can't hate Dzhokhar.

I can't hate him because we're pretty much the same: Sinners, yet infinitely valuable children of the Most High, created in His image.

And I can't hate him because then I would be forced to hate me. And every other person on this earth.

I can't hate him because Jesus still loves him and I want to be like Jesus.

And so we can't kill him. Because of something as simple as an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Because of something as simple as he's just like you and me - loved, known, cherished and relentlessly pursued by the King.

If you're grieving - if you're Martin's family or a person now missing a limb or someone like me looking on horrified - I understand why you could hate Dzhokhar. 

An explosion went off in your life, but an explosion went off in Dzhokhar's too.

All our worlds, they explode daily, and we all just try to heal and pull our way back.

And if we still believe in hope for ourselves -

we have no choice but to believe in hope for Dzhokhar too.

Just A Little Worship Sesh For Your Monday Morning. :)

The best way to start your week? With Him. 

{The best way to live you week? Yeah, with Him. :)}

Love love love these worship songs lately.

Listen to the words - sometimes songs express everything you feel but couldn't put into words. That's why I love music.

Enjoy and happy Monday! :)

The Beauty Of Our God

When's the last time you just sat in awe at the beauty of our God?

Do it.

This past weekend I went on a retreat with my youth group, and what I'm taking home isn't the crazy games, hilarity or even the teaching.

What I loved most about the weekend was just being - together, brothers and sisters in Christ, His children, family.

Arms raised or around each other, hearts worshiping our beautiful Saviour and loving each other, souls basking in the presence of our Abba Father.

Ever so often, we all need a little taste of heaven on earth. We all need to be reminded of the beauty of our Lord.

Because we come home and we're tossed right back into the brokenness of our world.

And this world is not our home but we're here to be His image bearers and we're failing because that's what we humans do.

And here's what we can do -

we do our most very best to be the best image bearers possible.

Then we just wait patiently and in eager anticipation for our Lord because really - He knows what He's doing.

And one day we'll get to spend forever basking in the presence of out Abba Father as His children.

How beautiful is that?

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. Romans 8:19-21

Stories From Wilmington: Because It's More Than Just A Job

He was having one of those days on a Saturday and that's just bad timing.

It's UrbanPromise's Saturday morning basketball, and he decides it's a great morning to throw a fit.

And what choice does an intern and coach have but to send him home?

I'm a little upset and whole lot worried and it's my last day so the last I see of this kid is him leaving the gym in a ball of fury.

After the last game I go up to the intern and I ask him if the kid's going to be okay.

And what does he say to me? "Yeah, I think I'm gonna go over to his house later to talk with him and make sure he's ok."

What?

Let's review here: This is an intern who's not paid much more than a small stipend. He's already worked more hours than not this week, and it's Saturday. And in my opinion, Saturday afternoon would be a good time to catch up on sleep or something.

But nope. To him, Saturday afternoon is a good time to make sure this kid's ok.

And those are the kind of people I spent my week with.

It's inspiring.

Because they're all away from their families. And they all could've had normal American-Dream-type jobs that didn't involve living in the inner city, writing support letters or driving around mentoring kids on Saturday afternoons.

And every single one of them goes above and beyond anything their paid for or anything that's in their job description. As I write this, interns and staff are on spring break trips with some of their kids. And while I was in Wilmington I literally saw how integrated into the community the UP staff is - they're investing into the community 24-7.

And nothing about this is easy, so why?

Because - it's more than just a job.

It's not a job. It's the calling of a Christ-follower, and that's the difference.

And I've seen time and time again how serving and compassion is treated as just a job, just a duty, just something else to do, and not what being a Christ-follower is about.

This is why when I went back to Wilmington this year and saw such growth and positive change in kids I met last year: because the UrbanPromise staff don't treat their jobs as jobs - they treat it as who they are as Christians and it's not perfect but that's who they strive to be and that's why it works.

And shouldn't this be an example to us all - being compassionate is not just something we have to do.

Being compassionate is who we must be as Christ-followers.

Because fighting for justice isn't a hobby - it's a lifestyle.

-

If you'd like to support these inspiring interns & staff as they continue to be Christ to this community, this link will take you to Urban Promise Wilmington's donation page. :)

My Redeemer Lives!

Today, we celebrate the greatest, most beautiful victory of all time.

Jesus conquered death.

He is alive, and we get to share in that victory.

Live in that victory.

Happy Resurrection Sunday!