Dan Cooley's Blog, page 24

Bizarre Gene Getz Endorsement

[image error]BIZARRE Bible Stories and BIZARRE Bible Stories 2! endorsed by Gene Getz

"Simply put, author Dan Cooley's BIZARRE Bible Stories and BIZARRE Bible Stories 2! utilize a vernacular, contemporary writing style intended to reach an audience of children and youth with solid Christian doctrine and practical application. The discussion questions interspersed throughout the text are thoughtfully designed to promote interaction between parents and their children on numerous topics of interest. Cooley's books reflect his passion for providing spiritual food to children in a manner they can easily digest. His attention to detail is evident from cover to cover."

Dr. Gene A. Getz

Author of over 60 books including The Measure of a Man, President of The Center for Church Renewal

 

 

Have a Bizarre Christmas!

[image error]BIZARRE Bible Stories is available in new formats for Christmas!

It's available in EPUB at Kobo,This is the format for Nook, Sony Reader, and Apples i'm cool cause i'm into Apple devices. Actually this works on most anything but KIndle. They sell lots. They ebook snobs.

For Kindle you have to go to Amazon,

BIZARRE eboook should be available this weekend at Sony, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Diesel, and Page Foundry stores.

It's still available in paperback at CBD, Amazon, and most online stores.

BIZARRE Bible Stories (third printing) and BIZARRE Bible Stories 2! should be shipped old-fashioned style to bookstores this Spring, with BIZARRE 2! available in digital format at about the same time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

The Pressure's Off

[image error]The Pressure's Off: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

 

The Good

This is a book you CAN judge by it’s cover. What is more freeing than being a boy jumping in a lake in the middle of summer? The Pressure’s Off.

How can a book endorsed by J.I. Packer, Brennan Manning and Cal Thomas, be anything but good? You can read other reviews about the content. I’ll just say…

 

The content is great, the book well-written.
The eight-week workbook in the back makes this a terrific counseling/discipleship tool.
If you struggle with being “good enough,” this book will bring all the freedom of an old-fashioned summer swim.
If you are willing to experience a wild God of freedom and unpredictability, read on!

 

The Bad

If you don’t want to be convicted, don’t buy it.

If you want to keep your god in a box, don’t read it.

 

The Ugly

It felt as if the “Old Way” of keeping the rules to satisfy God was easier to understand than the “New Way” of living by abiding in Christ. Maybe I needed some more nuts-and-bolts kind of examples.

My favorite quote: "Only the mature value the blessings of presence over the blessing of presents."

I recommend this book without reservation, and that’s not because WaterBrook Multnomah sent me a free copy of this book for the purpose of review as part of their Blogging for Books program. The $12 value isn’t enough for me to sell my integrity. Now, if they had thrown in an incentive or two…

Danielcooley.com

 

The Pressure's Off

The Pressure’s Off -- The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly[image error]
The Good

This is a book you CAN judge by it’s cover. What is more freeing than being a boy jumping in a lake in the middle of summer? The Pressure’s Off.

How can a book endorsed by J.I. Packer, Brennan Manning and Cal Thomas, be anything but good? You can read other reviews about the content. I’ll just say…

 

The content is great, the book well-written.
The eight-week workbook in the back makes this a terrific counseling/discipleship tool.
If you struggle with being “good enough,” this book will bring all the freedom of an old-fashioned summer swim.
If you are willing to experience a wild God of freedom and unpredictability, read on!

 

The Bad

If you don’t want to be convicted, don’t buy it.

If you want to keep your god in a box, don’t read it.

The Ugly

It felt as if the “Old Way” of keeping the rules to satisfy God was easier to understand than the “New Way” of living by abiding in Christ. Maybe I needed some more nuts-and-bolts kind of examples.

My favorite quote: "Only the mature value the blessings of presence over the blessing of presents."
I recommend this book without reservation, and that’s not because WaterBrook Multnomah sent me a free copy of this book for the purpose of review as part of their Blogging for Books program. The $12 value isn’t enough for me to sell my integrity. Now, if they had thrown in an incentive or two…

Danielcooley.com

 

 

 

Bizarre 2 is at the Publishers!

[image error]OH BOY! Bizarre Bible Stories TWO is now at the publishers. They are making an attempt to get it to the stores for Christmas.

They didn't like my Mind-Blowing Bible Stories title too much. They also want to republish Bizarre One, and then sell it and  Bizarre TWO at the same time. It's rush and wait now. The rush is over. Now we are waiting for some artwork to come back from Baker Books to republish Bizarre One, and I'm waiting for Heritage Builders to send back their edits from Bizarre TWO so they can start printing.

OH BOY!

Dan

 

Antagonists in the Church

[image error]Antagonists in the Church: Book Review

The Good: This is a MUST READ for church leaders. It’s my favorite book on this subject since Dr. Scott Peck’s People of the Lie. I wish I had read it years ago.

The Bad: I believe it is out of print. I had to buy a used copy.

The Ugly: There are a few negative reviews of this book. The general view of these folks seems to be that if church leadership would model healthy behaviors, we would have no antagonists. I’m not sure then just what they would say Jesus did wrong to get lynched, or what Paul did wrong to have to write 1 and 2 Corinthians.

Acts 20 is still true. Read this book and be prepared! Ac 20:29 (NLT) I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. 30 Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. 31 Watch out!

 

 

Would Jesus be a Scab Ref?

I enjoy Jim Daly's blogs at Focus on the Family. I didn't expect one about the NFL. This one came in my box Tuesday morning.

I know what I’m about to say may not be very popular, especially today. [image error] Last night’s chaotic and controversial end to the Seahawks and Packers Monday Night Football game has thrown gasoline on the fire surrounding the performance of replacement officials in the NFL. And let me just say that I get it. I’m a fan. I watch the games. I enjoy the purity of the sport and don’t appreciate the delays and the mistakes that impact outcomes. But I think it’s time that we take a collective deep breath and step back from all the hype and hyperbole. One of the commentators last night called the incident “a tragedy.” That a Green Bay interception was called a Seattle touchdown is no tragedy. The scourge of abortion, the deterioration of the family, broken marriages and children growing up without a mother and a father, issues we deal with every day here at Focus, is true tragedy. That the Green Bay Packers left Seattle with a loss that should have been a win may be an injustice, but I wonder why we’re often more riled up about a loss on the field than the ongoing sorrows of everyday life? It’s become popular to mock the replacement referees, for coaches to ridicule and yell in frustration. I may wince when I see a bad call, but I cringe when I see a good man who is doing his best maligned and disrespected.

For the rest of the blog click here.

First Review for Mind-Blowing Bible Stories

[image error]Mind-blowing Bible Stories doesn't come out until the Holidays (and the name may yet change), but Dr. Gene Getz was kind enough to review an early copy AND a copy of the previously released Bizarre Bible Stories. Here is his review:

"Simply put, author Dan Cooley's Bizarre Bible Stories and Mind-blowing Bible Stories utilize a vernacular, contemporary writing style intended to reach an audience of children and youth with solid Christian doctrine and practical application. The discussion questions interspersed throughout the text are thoughtfully designed to promote interaction between parents and their children on numerous topics of interest. Cooley's books reflect his passion for providing spiritual food to children in a manner they can easily digest. His attention to detail is evident from cover to cover."

Dr. Gene A. Getz
President, Center for Church Renewal

 

"the Lord changed his mind"

[image error]My publisher has asked for a new Bizarre Bible Story book. New title, new stories, but with a bit of a twist. This one I am basing on questions kids wrote to me while I was speaking at Camp Pearl this summer.

One of the questions was, "Does God change His mind?" Easy answer, right?

Not so fast.

I was already writing a story on Moses coming down from Mt. Sinai, being really upset with the people worshiping the golden calf, and making them drink golden water. Cool story. But, it gets complicated.

When Moses is coming down the mountain God says He wants to destroy the people. Moses prays for them, and then it says... Ex 32:14 (NLT) So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.

Explaining this to a Bible study group is one thing, how do you explain it to a 12-year-old? Any ideas?

 

 

Amazon Best Seller

[image error]Bizarre Bible Stories was an Amazon Best Seller last week, WITH 12,267 COPIES SOLD!

Well, actually that's 12,267 copies downloaded - and that's largely because it was free for five days. So, really it was an Amazon Best Free Book last week. It wasn't much help for the retirement fund, but God's word is now in the hands of a bunch of kids reading His stories, which is really cool, and what I want my life to be about. THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!I

If you are one of those curious people  who would like to know if it made it to the top of the bestseller download list or not -  I wish I knew. I only found  this out by accident as I didn't know to look last week, and the site updates hourly. I've asked them if there is a way to find out more details. No answer yet.