NowTHINK!AboutIt

7 Guidelines For An Amazon Book Review

October 12, 2014 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Reviews Are
The Lifeblood
Of Book Sales

Amazon’s online review portal provides a great benefit for anyone looking to buy books but only because people say what they think.

And anyone can write a review. Anyone! The only qualifications are you bought – or borrowed – the book and read it.

But as with anything in life, there are Do’s and Don’ts that every reviewer should keep in mind, especially when it comes to books. Several are listed below.

These guidelines apply mostly to non-fiction but can be modified for fiction. [Read more…] about 7 Guidelines For An Amazon Book Review

3 Benefits Of A Great Friendship

September 27, 2014 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

A Person’s Capacity
For Friendship
Is Determined By
The Number Of Secrets
They Keep

In a previous post I covered 11 Negative Friendships To Avoid. Now that that’s out of the way we can look at the positive benefits of a great friendship. These are the things we’re all looking for and hope to find in a friendship.

A good friendship is . . . [Read more…] about 3 Benefits Of A Great Friendship

11 Negative Friendships To Avoid

September 26, 2014 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Friends Are Rarely
Saints
Friendships Rarely
Emotional Utopias

The word Friend, like the word Family, has been romanticized. It evokes idealized images of a perfect world and warm fuzzies for all.

The assumption is, a true friend can only be upright and a friendship can only be good for us. The reality is, again like family, a friendship can sometimes be very bad.

But we can’t allow that possibility to put us in a permanently guarded state. Sometimes the friends we make are the only ones available. They’re in our face, so to speak. We don’t have a choice so we make the best of what’s available.

Imperfect friends and friendships can still be very good. What we must avoid are the extremes.

Defining The Negative Friendship

All friendships have hurtful moments but an abrasion here or there doesn’t make it negative. A friendship becomes negative when it is more hurtful than beneficial over the long haul.

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Personality is an issue but not absolutely. A person’s nature is built in and is neither intrinsically good nor bad. An idiosyncrasy that irritates some people will be endearing to others.

From the examples that follow it is clear that negative is a character issue and that is what spoils the mix.

One reason we gravitate to these not-so-good-for-us friendships is they are like crutches. They reinforce our disabled thinking, and that begs the question. How many people really want to change? How many of us intentionally choose friends because they are good for us and not easy. Having friends who endorse our faults relieves the pressure.

Like the song says . . .

Some of them want to abuse you and some of them want to be abused.

It’s easier to stay as we are, and people who allow that are good for the friendship even if the friendship isn’t good for us.

That’s not how friendships are supposed to work but it does happen.

The truth is Friendship implies Equality, and good ones involve give and take. I wouldn’t say friendships will ever be absolutely equal, or absolutely good for us, but there should be a balance.

The following emotionally unbalanced extremes are ones we should avoid. [Read more…] about 11 Negative Friendships To Avoid

9 REAL Truths About Family And Friends

September 11, 2014 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

No One Is Automatically
A Friend Or Enemy
Not Even Family

It’s very easy to think of friends and family as two different things. We inherit family and we choose friends, but can they migrate? Can one ever be the same as the other?

The Bible mentions three different categories of individuals other than family:

Friends
Enemies
Everyone else in between

But the relationships we have with people are dynamic. No one is born a Friend or Enemy. Instead everyone starts out in the middle, neutral, and then moves one way or the other. We might illustrate it like this:

Family is not represented on this graph and rightly so. No family member automatically fits into any one of these categories. There’s overlap as the following illustration shows.

Obviously, we tend to think of family members as “like” friends, but are they really?

We also never associate family with enemies even when the comparison is justified.

Definitions Are Vague

I’ll share a few examples of family members who became enemies just now but before I do, a good question to ask is: Can “Family” really be defined?

“Family” is more than just a word. It’s a concept, a very broad concept. The finger print of each family can be as different to all other families as individual people are to all other people. Each individual in the family helps form the loops, whorls and arches that make up those prints.

The possible variation in individuality is huge.

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There are basic similarities, yes, but that is about the only thing you can define, the similarities. In fact, most definitions don’t even do that. They usually define the similarities we imagine, the ones we hope are true, the ideal.

Let me give you an example: [Read more…] about 9 REAL Truths About Family And Friends

Press Release: “Tithing For Today”

August 22, 2014 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Promotional Price Of $2.99
Or FREE On Kindle Unlimited

It’s been a long wait but Tithing For Today: Why Tithing Is Good For Everyone In Every Era is finally live on Amazon, in Kindle format, and at $2.99 is priced to sell.

You’ll be glad to know the book doesn’t take a demanding tone or attempt to shame anyone into tithing but instead is sufficiently exegetical, pointedly philosophical and, though not a how-to book on managing finances, encourages the use of copious amounts of practical wisdom in the discipline of handling money. The book also takes a decidedly more patient tack toward those learning to incorporate this practice in their regular budget.

Get a FREE Kindle Reading App for any device (PC, Mac, Smartphones, Tablets) at Amazon

Because “Tithing” enjoys a long history in Scripture – Genesis to Hebrews – it deserves serious consideration by every thoughtful individual and Tithing For Today provides the rationale to answer such questions as: