REVIEW: Influencing Like Jesus by Michael Zigarelli

Lately, I have been trying to "improve my serve" so to speak, looking into ways that I can be a better teacher, mentor, person. This set me on a quest for knowledge and I didn't want to approach things the old standard way. I've seen too many books out there that treat teaching the gospel like selling the latest "Bando buy it now for only $19.95" commercial. I wanted something genuine, that helped me to think.

Enter Michael Zigarelli's book "Influencing Like Jesus" that was recommended to me. So I did the cautious thing and went to Amazon to check it out. I wanted to see what others had said about it, and if I could to get a sneak peek inside. I found that I was able to download a sample, so I did. I liked what I saw, but initially thought that this was sort of the "same ol'" that I have heard. So, I bought the book - the actual book not a digital copy.

Now, I'm a slow reader because I like to process what I read. I like to catch the snipits and dwell on them, think about them, and study them along with the Bible if they are a spiritually oriented book as this one is. And I have been processing.

• Much of what he has written, I already "know" and a lot of it I have done. What I found intriguing was the genuineness behind the book and the encouragement I felt to do and be what he was recommending.
  
• Another thing that stood out to me in the book was the parallels to biblical examples to what he was citing. This - struck home with me!
  
• The more I read, the more intrigued I became. I also now have the workbook, and find it equally stimulating.
  
• Each section offers opportunity for reflection and discussion (especially if you are in a small group) and a worksheet - which I loved and have implemented.

My overall opinion on this book if you have not gathered by now, is good. I heartily recommend it to those trying to teach others the gospel or to lead group studies within their congregations. I believe you can be bettered by reading it. Its intriguing and not some boring "sales manual" type of book. It is engaging and I recommend it for your own library and personal development. You won't be sorry.

Mixing Myth and Scripture - Getting the Facts Straight

I've been searching for a topic to write on and this one happened to pop out. In a new discovery reported by DISCOVERY today, there is a title "Slaves Didn't Build Pyramids: Egypt." (http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/pyramids-tombs-giza-egypt.html)

The article states, "The mud-brick tombs were uncovered last week in the backyard of the Giza pyramids, stretching beyond a burial site first discovered in the 1990s and dating to the 4th Dynasty (2575 B.C. to 2467 B.C.), when the great pyramids were built on the fringes of present-day Cairo.

The ancient Greek historian Herodotus once described the pyramid builders as slaves, creating what Egyptologists say is a myth later propagated by Hollywood films.

Graves of the pyramid builders were first discovered in the area in 1990 when a tourist on horseback stumbled over a wall that later proved to be a tomb. Egypt's archaeology chief Zahi Hawass said that discovery and the latest finds last week show that the workers were paid laborers, rather than the slaves of popular imagination.

Hawass told reporters at the site that the find, first announced on Sunday, sheds more light on the lifestyle and origins of the pyramid builders. Most importantly, he said the workers were not recruited from slaves commonly found across Egypt during pharaonic times."

This is interesting and I do not dispute the findings. What is interesting to me is how people in general assume things, and the assumptions become scripture. People have assumed, probably because of Herodotus and Cecil B. DeMills, that because the movies show the Jews in bondage, that they must have been the pyramid builders of the past. Yet, the scripture does not mention anything about them building the pyramids (Ex.2:23; 6:5,6,9; 13:3,14; 20:2). It simply says that they were in bondage or slavery and that they made mud-bricks. It is also interesting that the Jews dwelt in Goshen in the northeastern delta extending from Succoth to Piramesse. Cairo is is along the Nile immediately south of the point where the river leaves its desert-bound valley and branches into the low-lying delta region with the city itself residing on the east bank.

Something to notice in the Discovery Article above, is that it does not deny that there were slaves during the times of the Pharoahs. So, both this article, with the scripture have shown us that the Bible accord is still correct, and the assumptions of man have been burst again. So, the next time we tell the story of the Exodus, let's not paint things into the picture that aren't there. As well, let's not jump on some discovery bandwagon and shout the Bible is wrong, without investigating what it DOES say first!