Altar Ego

This summer I was introduced to the book titled "Altar Ego" by Craig Groeschel. I read some reviews on Amazon.com to get a feel for the book and people's opinions about it. Previously I've enjoyed studying "Battlefield of the Mind" by Joyce Meyer and "Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. I wanted to see if this was a dig-deep type of study. It is :-)

What thrills me is all of the online resources available to really layer in the depths of the message found in this book! And if you read the first chapter of the book, you really get some insight into why so many resources are available. Here is a partial list:

The book

The study guide

The study guide videos on YouTube

The YouVersion 35 day devo plan

Podcasts with an Altar Ego emphasis on leadership

Altar Ego sermons at lifechurch.tv

THE BIBLE
It's even on Pinterest! (Lifechurch.tv)

But, when God wants to drive home a point, He'll orchestrate messages from all over the place for emphasis. Here are additional resources to remind us that we are not who we say we are, who the enemy says we are, we are not out failures or even our successes! We are who God says we are!

Matthew West song, "Hello, my name is..."

Matthew West, talking about the impact of the song, "Hello, my name is..."

Big Daddy Weave story behind the song, "Redeemed"

Big Daddy Weave song, "Redeemed"

Tenth Avenue North song, "You Are More"

All To Jesus I Surrender (Vineyard)

Steve Bell song, "Here by the Water"

Max Lucado kids book, "You Are Special"

Mercy Me song "Hurt & The Healer"

Mercy Me story behind the song "Hurt & The Healer"

What I don't want to have happen as I study this book, is to only be puffed up or wrapped in warm fuzzies. I read recently (and I wish I recalled where!) about cleaning up our lives and our pasts so the enemy doesn't have anything to throw back in our face. If we still have lingering labels or scenarios that bring us shame, there's more that needs to be laid on the altar. 

I'll update this post as time goes on.

 ALTAR EGO VIDEOS
Study guide video 1

Watch all four full-length sermons at www.lifechurch.tv
Talk It Over study guide 1
Talk It Over study guide 2
Talk It Over study guide 3
Talk It Over study guide 4

Podcast on leadership 1
Podcast on leadership 2
Podcast on leadership 3
Podcast on leadership 4

You're going to be so glad you scrolled all the way down here! Just this morning, one day before our final Women of Worth Bible study on Altar Ego, God has directed me to another LifeChurch series: Boldness! This won't match up with the Altar Ego video series but it matches up with chapters 9 to 12 in the book!  I haven't looked yet, but I'm certain there will be Talk It Over study notes as well. I'm so excited!


LifeChurch series on being bold

Family-friendly movies

Earlier this summer, PluggedIn asked their Facebook followers to share which movies their families enjoyed. I haven't found the official list anywhere, but S-M-R-T me, I wrote it down :) We all have different ideas of what is family-friendly, and I've got pretty "conservative" standards. I'll include some of PluggedIn's list, and add some of our favourites. PluggedIn is a phenomenal resource for movies, TV, cd's, etc. And yes, there IS an app for that!

To define "family", I'm thinking of the 5-12 age group. I'll continue to update this list.

Movies we enjoy:
Sound of Music
Mary Poppins
The Croods
Cars
Swiss Family Robinson
Nim's Island
Meet the Robinsons
How To Train a Dragon
The Chronicles of Narnia
Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Narnia: Prince Caspian
Bella (sensitive content, deals with abortion and adoption in a great way!)
Akeelah and The Bee (contains a bit of language)
Evan Almighty
Despicable Me
Nanny McPhee, 1 and 2
Monsters Inc. 
The Bee Movie
Anne of Green Gables series
Soul Surfer
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Annie
Facing The Giants
Bolt
Up
Ratatouille
Wall-E
Over The Hedge
Old Yeller
Flicka (kid-friendly but there was a rather unnecessary comment from Tim McGraw's character to his movie-wife, "Last one back gets naked first!")
Hachi 
Free Birds
Walking On Water; Two Surfers. One Dream. Finding Faith on the Journey of a Lifetime. (Documentary)

For older kids (teens):
Firelight (a Hallmark movie, takes place in prison). Theme: taking responsibility 
7 Days In Utopia
Crossroads; A Story of Forgiveness (Hallmark movie)
Happy People; A Year in The Taiga (you must be comfortable with the idea of hunting for this movie)
Hugo (thoroughly reviewed at PluggedIn online)

You'd think, but for us, not so much:
Sister Act: language and graphic content (man gets shot, which is shown in a way that isn't gory but definitely not family-friendly)

Return to Nim's Island: there are very few concerns about this movie so it's unfortunate they needed to put in two fairly long scenes where a man is trying to kill Nim! In one scene he threatens her with a knife and in another scene he tries to drop rocks on her head while she's in a confined space... My girls would have been upset to watch it.

Bruce Almighty: contains a pretty spicy bedroom scene, language issues, a monkey climbs out of someone's rear end...

Shiloh: there are a few instances of a character being violent to a dog (hitting and kicking it), two dogs get in a fight which my girls found upsetting, and there's a traditional slant in the movie where a man's word is final but in a way that doesn't seem to leave much room to hear from the wife or kids. I was also very concerned that the main kid in the story says he realizes he may end up with a bullet in his head due to the ownership dispute over the dog. I'm surprised PluggedIn reviewed it so favourably!   

Mrs. Doubtfire: some of these older videos don't show up on PluggedIn. What took me by surprise in this movie was the father/son discussion about the 12-year-old-son's birthday gift. Kid asks if it's a stripper, father says no, son asks if it's two strippers. The father seems proud?? I'm also surprised to hear "what the h*ll" and "g--d---".