Spilling Some Dirt

Remember last Sunday when I posted about the 

Word-of-the-Day Thought Collecting Adventure?

Well, even if you don't, I did. 

I had a notion when I typed that one up that I might come back here every day last week with a different word of the day from Philippians 4:8, just in case someone out there in blog land wanted to adventure along with me.

I have lots of blog related notions like that.  You can see how well they work out. 

So, anyway, I didn't do that. What stopped me was my oddball need to do everything properly and in order. I got all tongue- tied trying to summarize the first word on the list into a blog post slightly shorter than War and Peace, and I couldn't do it.  I started yakking away about whatsoever things are true, and  I babbled my way into a blog corner.

So today, I'm going to do something entirely different. I'm going to jump to the end of the list instead.  I'm going to yak about the last part of the Word-A-Day Thought Collecting Adventure.

... If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, 

think on  these things. 

If anything is excellent...

Now folks, as wonderful as it would be to drift away on daydreams of fettuccine alfredo,  we all know that's not the kind of excellence Paul had in mind here. The (Greek) word in question speaks of moral excellence. It carries the idea of rising up from the dirt, of things which are above the grime that is our fallen world.   That's why some versions translate it virtue instead.

...If anything is virtuous or praiseworthy, think on those things. 

In other words, keep your head out of the gutter, people.

Why do you think I warned you to stay away from Walmart? One need only spend a pair of minutes  hours in the checkout line next to the trash magazines to get a headful of dirt without even trying.  If that fails to drag you down, all you need to do is log on to MSN.

 It never ceases to amaze me what that bunch deems newsworthy.

It isn't newsworthy. 

  What's more, it isn't praiseworthy, either.

It must get some serious clicking traffic, though, or they wouldn't keep putting it up there. Obviously, a whole lot of folks like to fill up their think tanks with what amounts to  nothing more than dirt.

May I offer you a better option? 

A slightly different take on the dirty novel.

 Earlier in the summer, I was sent a copy of this book by a blog friend of mine, who just happens to be married to the author.

  Tell me what you think, she said. 

So I did.

And then, I told Amazon.com what I thought.
And now, I'm telling you.

Folks, this book is praiseworthy.

However, I must warn you:  Don't expect to read it and feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  If you're looking for a book that makes you feel all excellent and praiseworthy, you might need to look someplace else.  You won't find it there. Don't expect to read it and leave without a broken heart, either. 

This book gets down in the dirt. It takes you to the slums and prisons of Brazil and forces you to look inside them at the children (yes, I said children) who live there, children (yes, I said children) who know exactly two ways of life, drug running and sex trafficking.  That's the bad news. The good news is that the author doesn't go there empty handed. He brings along the transforming love of Jesus Christ. 

I would tell you what happens next,
but I wouldn't want to rob you of the chance to read it for yourself.

As far as I can recall, I've never endorsed a book on this blog.  I don't know if I'll ever do it again, either. I'm pretty careful about the things I endorse. I can like something or even love something, but to give it an endorsement is a much bigger deal to me. To endorse something means I have put my name behind it.  I don't do that lightly, but I'm doing that this morning.

I'm Debbie, and I approved this message.



And that's all I have to say about that.

Except maybe this: 
In case you missed all the other clickable links I've inserted in this post, 
here's one more:

Dirty Faith

*****
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