I decided to review Why Men Hate Going to Church (2011) by David Murrow  because the title intrigued me. Most of us know at least one couple that consists of a churchgoing wife and stay-at-home-on-Sunday husband. In fact, there really can be no doubt that overall Christian churches are more heavily populated by women than by men. Don’t believe me? Just check out church attendance on the weekends when the women are away at their women’s retreats and men have no one to drag them to service.  I read Why Men Hate Going to Church because I really wanted answers to this phenomenon and I got more than I bargained for.  I was expecting an upbraiding of men but what I found was a wake up call to the Church in one of the most important books I have ever read.

Murrow’s main point is that men have not simply left the Church, but rather that the Church has left them. He points to a feminizing of both the Church and of Jesus himself. As a woman I rejected this premise at first but the more I read and thought about what Murrow was saying, the more I realized the truth of his words. One example that he gives is the presentation of Jesus in modern Christian illustrations, sermons, and music as soft and gentle and looking like he just came from a spa treatment.

Once again, modern marketing created a Jesus who does not exist. The true Christ of Scripture is more akin to a gritty super-hero. As a homeless man, he was no stranger to grit and grime. As a tradesman, he must have been well muscled. Like a video game hero, Jesus was a fighter who left a trail of mayhem in his wake. He vanquished demons, destroyed stuff, and made people so mad they tried to kill him. Camp counselors don’t get nailed to the cross. (p. 119)

I do not want to give too much of this book away because I really do believe it is a must read item for all Christians. Even if you have read this book in the past, this newly revised and updated version is worth a reread since 70% of the content is new.

As I said, this book is one of the most important books I have ever read. It was frightening in parts and hopeful in others. It is not just a list of problems but also a list of solutions. I recommend that you buy this book today and read it and then pass it along to your pastor or other church leader.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are mine.

]]> http://celebrating-family.com/2012/05/16/why-men-hate-going-to-church/feed/ 2 http://celebrating-family.com/2012/05/15/family-time-tuesday-may-15-2012/ http://celebrating-family.com/2012/05/15/family-time-tuesday-may-15-2012/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 07:15:28 +0000 Janice http://celebrating-family.com/?p=2855 ...Read More]]> Welcome to Family Time Tuesday!
Life has been very busy lately and FTT took a little break. But it is back so link up and visit!

Feel free to link to any family-oriented post; that means any post that is helpful and relevant to family life. For example, fun family activities, great recipes, parenting posts, marriage posts, craft ideas, money-saving tips, homeschooling posts, and more.

If you would like to be featured in next week’s link-up be sure to leave a post below and visit a few others. The post with the most clicks will be next week’s featured post. Last week’s most viewed post was

10 Tasks for When You Have 10 by Kristen at Celebrate Everyday With Me

Head over and check out Kristen’s post. What a great ideas!

Help Family Time Tuesday grow by adding your post to the linky below, blogging about it, linking to this post, telling other bloggers, grabbing my button, or tweeting about it.

Rules

1. Follow Celebrating Family (in the #1 spot).
2. Link up your family-oriented posts (please no giveaways, hops, or adult content).
3. Please grab my button and put it on your page or link back here to Family Time Tuesday.
4. Visit and follow as many linked sites as you want. If you visit be friendly and leave a comment letting them know you were there. Please try to visit at least 2 sites. Let’s help each other out!

I love you Mom!

Items required:

• plastic cup lids
• pipe cleaner
• bird seed
• peanut butter

Instructions:

1. Feed pipe cleaner through the hole in the cup lid and secure it.
2. Fill the cup lid with peanut butter.
3. Lay the lid in the bird seed.
4. Hang feeder up on a tree branch.

This project is so easy that my four year old daughter even made one. It is worth noting that some argue that bird feeders should not use peanut butter because it poses a risk to the birds. I could not find anything proving this theory.  In fact, most of the information I found said that peanut butter was harmless to birds.

Have fun making these with your family!

]]> http://celebrating-family.com/2012/05/09/easy-diy-bird-feeder/feed/ 3 http://celebrating-family.com/2012/05/08/cirque-du-soleil-kooza/ http://celebrating-family.com/2012/05/08/cirque-du-soleil-kooza/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 13:00:19 +0000 Janice http://celebrating-family.com/?p=2807 ...Read More]]>

KOOZA by Cirque du Soleil is hitting Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, and Tampa. The Arizona event runs June 8 through July 8 at University of Phoenix Stadium.  If you want to make your Arizona mom happy this Mother’s Day buy now and you can save 25%!

In order to receive this special offer you will need to be a Cirque Club member and registration is fast and free. Cirque Club members receive advance access to the best seats under the Grand Chapiteau, ticket upgrades, partner promotions, and insider information on the world of Cirque du Soleil.

Discount is applicable on select performances on Price level 1, 2 & 3 only. Prices shown during the purchasing process already reflect this offer and will appear as a 25% discount on each ticket. Maximum of 19 tickets per purchase. All tickets subject to regular service and delivery charges. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Not applicable to previous purchases. All sales final, no refunds nor exchanges. Offer expires May 14, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. Offer applicable on KOOZA in Phoenix, Arizona.

Discount KOOZA tickets using this link!!!

Fine the details for Kooza outside of Phoenix here.

____________________________________________________________________

I would like to thank all of you for getting Savior Cents up to 10,000 Facebook followers! In celebration I have joined with some great blogs to offer you this fabulous giveaway!

Three great prizes ONE winner!

Thank you to Thrifty Mom’s Reviews & More and Sisters Saving Cents for cosponsoring this awesome giveaway. Also thank you to all the other wonderful blogs sponsoring. Stop by and check out all the great information they all have to offer then scroll down and get yourself entered for these three amazing prizes! Good Luck all and once again thanks for just being you!

*Wahm Options *Slap Dash Mom

*My Little Goober *TasteForCooking

*Celebrating Family *Wrap to Lose inches with Jolene

*Wrap Your Way To Skinny *Angie’s Wraps

*Happy Home and Family *Clair’s Freebies

*Save More Spend Less with Heidi *Couponin Momma of TX

*Mom Does Reviews *AllThingsAbby

*Bonkers4coupons *bbproductreviews

*WrapsWithWendy

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To make your gift giving experience a little easier, I have compiled a list of gifts that most moms would love to receive this Mother’s Day. Click on any of them for more info. Feel free to leave a comment with your gift ideas as well.

Kindle Touch

I love my Kindle! Seriously. Your mom will love hers. too!

Resistance Band Set

For the mom who loves fitness…or wants to love it!

Vitamix

This is my favorite kitchen appliance. It pulverizes strawberry seeds and is so powerful it can boil water! This thing makes the best smoothies ever.

Steel Magnolias

 The ultimate chick flick.

Sewing Machine

Crafty moms and even not-so-crafty moms would love one of these!

Culinary Herb Seeds

For the mom that cooks.  I would love this!

Happy shopping and don’t forget to tell Mom you love her!

If you would like to be featured in next week’s link-up be sure to leave a post below and visit a few others. The post with the most clicks will be next week’s featured post. There is no featured post this week since there were so few visits to the posts last week. I want to feature the post with the most clicks each week but if each post only has 1-2 visits that is hard to do. Let’s take a few minutes to visit the other posts that are linked up. It is fun to see what other bloggers are up to.

Help Family Time Tuesday grow by adding your post to the linky below, blogging about it, linking to this post, telling other bloggers, grabbing my button, or tweeting about it.

Family Time Tuesday will be open every Monday night at 10pm MST. The carnival will remain open for a whole week, allowing you to link more than one post each week

Rules

1. Follow Celebrating Family (in the #1 spot).
2. Link up your family-oriented posts (please no giveaways, hops, or adult content).
3. Please grab my button and put it on your page or link back here to Family Time Tuesday.
4. Visit and follow as many linked sites as you want. If you visit be friendly and leave a comment letting them know you were there. Please try to visit at least 2 sites. Let’s help each other out!

Britax is celebrating the release of the movie, What to Expect When You’re Expecting by touring the country with their Expect Greatness Tour.   This event gives you the chance to win great giveaways and get discounts. The tour may be coming to a city near you. Check out the tour dates and locations at Britax Expect Greatness Tour.  The tour is coming to my area (Arizona) on May 5 and 6 and I will be there!  Even if you cannot make an event or don’t win the giveaway, you can visit Britax on May 5 to win big.  Prizes can be won in store (or online) with up to $25,000 worth of goodies!

AZ Event
May 5: Destination Maternity, Chauncey Ranch, 18560 North Scottsdale Road, from 10AM – 3PM.

May 6: Arizona Mills Mall, 5000 S. Arizona Mills Circle, from 12Pm – 4PM.

Giveaway
To help promote the Expect Greatness Tour, Britax is giving Celebrating Family readers a chance to win a Britax stroller board like the one below. This product sells for about $80 and it attaches to the back of your stroller so your older child can ride along (50 pound weight limit).

Enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

By the way, be sure to check out the Registry Rewards program where moms have a chance to get a free Boulevard 70.

In addition, be sure to check out these other sites that are also giving away great Britax products.

I received no products or compensation for this post.