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    When Building a Life ...: How Nehemiah Can Change What You Thought Was Possible
    When Building a Life ...: How Nehemiah Can Change What You Thought Was Possible
    When Building a Life ...: How Nehemiah Can Change What You Thought Was Possible
    Ebook92 pages49 minutes

    When Building a Life ...: How Nehemiah Can Change What You Thought Was Possible

    By Craig Taylor

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    About this ebook

    The proposed book takes the reader through the ancient book of Nehemiah and applies lessons from Nehemiah to contemporary life. It explains exactly what Nehemiah did that led to his success. As I wrote in the Epilogue, “In this book, I have attempted to provide contemporary application of an ancient writing. I believe the lessons Nehemiah provides are invaluable for people of the 21st century who are tempted to live their lives without intentional planning or thought of the future.”
    This book was intended to be a bridge between the Christian Church and those outside its walls. My intended reader is a pre-Christian – the person that is looking for the relevance of Christianity for his/her life and is asking sincere questions about the Christian faith. New Christians would also benefit from this book, as would anyone who had little or no knowledge about the contents of the book of Nehemiah. My hope is that Christians would purchase this book to use as a tool for witnessing to their unsaved friends and family members. I also included questions for reflection or discussion at the end of each chapter so that small groups could go through the book and discuss it together.
    This book is unlike other studies of the Bible because it was not written primarily for Christians. It was written in such a way that all thoughtful individuals might be interested in it. I avoided writing a research paper or a theological treatise. I explained unfamiliar terms and concepts. I used personal anecdotes and humor to make the reading more enjoyable. I referenced a wide range of sources: from Sports Illustrated to Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life; from Dr. James Dobson to a story about Billy Graham. When Building a Life is not an intimidating book – only 19,000 words in length – which is one of its greatest strengths. This makes it more attractive to people who do not usually have time or patience to read religious books.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateMay 23, 2013
    ISBN9781626759756
    When Building a Life ...: How Nehemiah Can Change What You Thought Was Possible
    Author

    Craig Taylor

    Craig Taylor's non-fiction has appeared in the Guardian, the New York Times and the Globe and Mail. His fiction has appeared in the Mississippi Review. He wrote One Million Tiny Plays About Britain for the Guardian's Weekend magazine for several years. Craig publishes Hamish Hamilton's Five Dials magazine as well as his own photocopied magazines, including The Review of Everything I've Ever Encountered and Dark Tales of Clapham. His first book, Return To Akenfield, was published by Granta in 2006, and the play of the novel toured the UK in 2009.

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      Book preview

      When Building a Life ... - Craig Taylor

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      INTRODUCTION

      As a human, you have choices. Just by reading these words, you are exercising your right to choose what you will do with your time and what you read. It may be argued that your life is the sum of your choices. That is what makes life an adventure. That is also what makes you so incredibly special. You have a power that distinguishes you from lizards, lemurs, lobster, loons, lilacs, lemon trees, and all other living things. You can make choices that will build your life!

      Granted, you may be limited in the choices you can make. You have to be realistic. You have to consider such factors as education, culture, natural talent, and available opportunities. These are just some of the resources and restrictions that must be kept in mind when building a life. Yet you have power to do something with them. That is the wonderful privilege enjoyed by the human race. You can choose how to put all of life’s building blocks together!

      You have several options. You can go through life taking each day as it comes. Just let life happen to you. If life is good, then enjoy the moment. If life is not so good, try to make it until tomorrow. Survive. This mentality keeps some people from looking toward the horizon. Those who live this way have made a choice. The present circumstances determine quality of life.

      You could also build to impress. Do whatever it takes to be noticed. Be flashy. Be edgy. Charge the hottest gadget to your credit card. This option encourages you to look around and compare yourself with your peers. Then strive to out-dress, out-spend, and out-perform all of them. You could choose to live this way. You could choose to build your life on comparisons.

      Another alternative involves goal setting. Some people do look to the horizon. They imagine themselves 10 or 20 years down the road and envision the life they would like to live. Then they plan to get there. Perhaps someone enjoys drawing. This person dreams of illustrating children’s books in the future. Therefore, he/she takes art classes, enrolls in a respected art school, and takes steps toward a preferred destination. This is building a life on purpose – with intention. Guidance counselors in schools and self-help books encourage this option. It is a good one, but I believe there is even a better way.

      When building a life, why not choose the best. Why not use your power of choice, look at the available options, and select the best? We do at other times. When we are building that top-notch, triple-decker sandwich for lunch, don’t we want to use the best ingredients available? Who would think of ruining it with moldy bread or limp lettuce? When people are building a house, don’t they want something that will last? Who willingly chooses sup-par lumber or near-dead appliances for their new home? Don’t we tend to find the best we can with what we have? If money was not an issue ... (I know – how often is money not an issue? Stay with me here. I have a point.) ... if money were not an issue, wouldn’t you choose the best? If you selected inferior building material, then you could end up having to re-build sooner rather than later – and who looks forward to that?

      One of the many lessons I learned from my father is always to work in such a way that you will be proud of the result. In other words, he would tell me, Always do your best. Now if that applied to my chores, homework, and projects around the house, how much more would it apply to building my life? So because you have a choice (and remember – all humans have a choice), why not join the countless millions from generation to generation and build your life on what they consider to be the best. At the very least, we should seriously consider the available options – the worldviews out there – and make an educated decision concerning how we will build our lives.

      I discovered a gold mine. I want to share it with you. It is a treasury of what I believe is the best for building a life worth living. You might call it a warehouse stocked with materials for building. When building a life you need to consider using what this warehouse has to offer – all that you need to begin building an eternal, joyful life. It is all right there. In fact, it is all out in the open where anyone can profit from its treasure. So many wise, unschooled, wealthy, needy, healthy, and lame individuals have taken advantage of this place. Its reputation for helping to build lives that thrive has been recognized for thousands of years.

      However, some see the location of this warehouse and decide to shop elsewhere. Some do not understand the significance of their choices and end up building with less-than-the-best. Others may consider the remarkable offer before them, but do not wish to pay the necessary price for it. That is because, although everything found here is free, it is also costly. The building materials are free, but not cheap. They last forever and they require sacrifice. Some builders are just unwilling to pay the price. For choosing to build a life this way may be the best, but it also means not choosing other options that are available. Have you noticed that people like to keep their options open? At some point however, a choice must be made. Eventually, a choice is made. (Even choosing not to choose is a choice!)

      Therefore, I would love to take you through a tour of this place I discovered. I want to show you a better way to live – what I believe is the beginning of the best way. Please come with me through the

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