By Dan Hester

Last Sunday I issued the challenge/invitation for members of this congregation to give a testimony. From now on, I will make space in worship for anyone who wants to provide testimony. Call me or email me and we will schedule a Sunday when you can offer your testimony.  Here are some idea starters for putting together a testimony.  

• Where has God been at work in your life? 
• How has God found you? 
• Who has Jesus been for you? What difference has following Jesus made in your life. 
• How have you been surprised by God's love? 
• What is this chapter on your journey meant to you? 
• When and how has God made you whole? 
• Testimony can be about the time when you came to faith, although it doesn't have to be.
  
• Testimony is, simply put by bishop Ken Carter, speaking honestly of ourselves to God, and speaking honestly about God to others.
• Testimony isn't about fixing someone else. 
• Testimony isn't about getting someone else to behave in a certain way. 
• Testimony is about offering how the speaker has been changed. 

The evangelist Luke tells us in Acts 1:8 that some of the last words of Jesus were, "you will be my witnesses." So I challenge you, and open the door for you to offer your testimony so that we might all see the goodness, the grace, and the power of our Lord.

In no particular order, here are four good books on the Christian life. I'm using them in my current sermon series on Christian practices. Any one of these would make for a great personal or group study. 

Marjorie J. Thompson. Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life. 

Thompson's book is best if you need to start from scratch with your spiritual life, or are looking to overhaul things for a fresh start. She's accessible, draws from a wide range of sources, and comprehensive. 

Richard Foster. Celebration of Discipline. 

A classic work. Foster's work has a little harder edge to it and is not for the faint of heart. He's like a really tough personal trainer who gets in your face. But for those who persevere it will reap rewards. 

Diana Butler Bass. Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith. 

This work points to how these traditional practices can renew a congregation. With a bit more political point of view, she integrates well the inner and outer aspects of Christian practice. 

Kenneth H. Carter, Jr. A Way of Life in the World: Spiritual Practices for United Methodists. 

Carter is the former pastor down the road at Providence UMC, and now the bishop of the Florida Conference. Carter has a talent for making things clear. This book is the best at articulating a specifically Wesleyan approach to spirituality.