Visit Kathi Macias' web site

It didn't occur to me to include Kathi's web site URL during our interview. Duh!

If you'd like to stop by for a visit, find her here:

www.kathimacias.com

Beyond Me - Part 13: Interview with Kathi Macias

Continuing the interview with Kathi Macias, author of the new book Beyond Me: Living a You-First Life in a Me-First World (New Hope, 2008):

Is there anything I didn’t touch on that you’d like to say?

KM: First, thank you for hosting me on this blog tour, Dianne, and for taking the time to come up with such thoughtful questions and insights. I pray your readers will be blessed by what we’ve discussed—but more than that, will buy the book and/or do whatever God directs to help them draw closer to the Father’s heart. For whether Jesus is “at the door,” ready to return, or whether that great event is still years or generations away, it is a fact that our days are numbered and each of us is drawing close to the time when we will pass from this earth into eternity. May we do so wrapped in the righteousness of Jesus and the unconditional love and forgiveness of the Father.

One more question: What’s your next project? Are you working on another book?

KM: My next book releases in February 2009 (six months from now) from the same publisher: New Hope. The title is How Can I Run a Tight Ship When I'm Surrounded By Loose Cannons?

Then there are two more coming right behind Loose Cannons.

My Son, John is a novel about a family that is devastated over the brutal murder of the maternal grandmother, and then is hit again when their 23-year-old son, John, is arrested for her murder (a story of unconditional love). That releases in March 2009, and the publisher is Sheaf House.

Then, in May 2009, I have another nonfiction book releasing called Mothers of the Bible Speak to Mothers Today (also from New Hope).


Thank you, Kathi, for this interview!

More from Kathi Macias, author of Beyond Me

We're about to wind up this interview with Kathi Macias, author of Beyond Me: Living a You-First Life in a Me-First World, with my last post coming tomorrow. If you'd like to read more from Kathi, here's a link to an article:

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/69877

And here are links to other blogs who have hosted Kathi this month during her blog tour. If you visit and leave a comment, you might like to include a note directing readers back to this interview:

Aug 4 http://litmizreviews.wordpress.com/ and http://rdtwot.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/new-book-beyond-me/
Aug 5 http://bookvideos.wordpress.com/
Aug 6 http://reviewyourbook.com/review.cfm?reviewid=889
Aug 7 http://rebecca2007.wordpress.com/
Aug 8 http://www.thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/
Aug 11 http://www.nancyisanders.com/
Aug 12 http://www.crosswalk.com/root/parenting/teens/11576470/page0/
Aug 13 http://bookexcerpts.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/beyond-me-by-kathi-macias/
Aug 14 http://tristisbooktours.blogspot.com/
Aug 15 http://www.blogginboutbooks.blogspot.com/
Aug 18 http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/69877
Aug 19 http://www.christianity.com/devotionals/kathi%20macias/11576601/
Aug 20 http://www.thebookstacks.com/
Aug 21 http://mochawithlinda.blogspot.com/
Aug 22 http://myheartbelongs2books.blogspot.com/
Aug 25 http://bookwormsballroom.blogspot.com/
Aug 26 http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/22197/52376-kathi-macias-takes
Aug 27 http://quiverfullfamily.com/blog/
Aug 28 http://morethanmudpies.wordpress.com/
Aug 29 http://canblog.typepad.com/canbookmarketing/2008/05/booksongtrailer.html

Beyond Me - Part 12: Interview with Kathi Macias

Continuing the interview with Kathi Macias, author of the new book Beyond Me: Living a You-First Life in a Me-First World (New Hope, 2008):

On page 176, while talking about the marriage between the Bride—which is the church universal, collectively all Christians—and the Bridegroom—who is Jesus the Christ, you wrote: “And as the return of our Bridegroom draws breathtakingly near, the pace of preparation intensifies.”

What do you see that causes to you believe the return of Jesus Christ is “breathtakingly near”?

KM: Now we get into that exciting but easily misused area of prophecy again. Do I believe we are now closer to the return of Jesus Christ than we were a thousand years ago, or a hundred years ago—or yesterday? Of course I do. In fact, the Scriptures state that very thing, that now “we are closer than when we first believed.” And I can’t help but observe the “signs of the times,” as the Bible calls them, when I see the many things going on around the world. However, I’m a bit uneasy trying to take those occurrences and fit them into sections of Scripture to prove that Jesus is about to return at any moment. Could He? Jesus is God; He can do anything He wants! He can come back today—or not. And He Himself said that “no one knows the day or the hour.” The important thing is that the bride-to-be in the Jewish wedding customs, once she was engaged, spent her time preparing for her bridegroom’s return, never doubting that he would come for her at just the right moment. That should be our focus—anxiously and faithfully preparing for His return and never doubting that He will come “in the fullness of time”—on His time schedule, not ours.

What preparations are intensifying in pace?

KM: God is calling His people to holiness and integrity, to passionate love for Jesus, rather than lukewarm faith that offers lip service and little else. That is the most significant preparation that I see as we prepare for our Bridegroom’s return.

Beyond Me - Part 11: Interview with Kathi Macias

Continuing the interview with Kathi Macias, author of the new book Beyond Me: Living a You-First Life in a Me-First World (New Hope, 2008):

In chapter 9 you tell about the ancient and modern Jewish weddings and the parallels of that picture with the relationship between believers (Christians)—the bride—and Jesus Christ (God)—the groom.

Do you think this picture God has painted is skewed by homosexual marriages and civil unions between two men or two women?

KM: This picture is skewed anytime it deviates from God’s ideal, and homosexual marriages and civil unions between two men or two women would certainly fit into that category. So would marriages between a man and a woman who don’t first honor God and live accordingly, meaning being faithful to one another, honoring and respecting one another, and raising their children to love and serve God and others. When the divorce rate in the church is equal to the divorce rate in the world, it’s obvious we’re falling short in following the model God has given us.

On page 180 you wrote, “Brothers and sisters, it is time to grow up. We’ve got to put aside our childish ways. God’s desire is for us to walk in love for Him, for each other (the church) and for the world. Let’s leave behind the selfishness, the quarrels, the bickering, the pettiness, the unhealthy divisions.”

You write a lot about love. Do you think it is unloving to speak out against such things as homosexuality and abortion? What if standing against such wrong behaviors produces bickering or quarreling within the church?

KM: It is never wrong to proclaim God’s Word on any subject. It IS wrong to voice our opinions as if they were scripture. We therefore need to be careful that we are indeed proclaiming God’s Word (which is absolute truth) rather than offering our opinions (which are worth no more than the atheist’s or ax murderer’s opinions). Will that at times cause bickering and quarreling within the church? Possibly, but only with those who do not believe God’s Word is the final authority on all issues. In that case, we must—lovingly but firmly—take a stand and refuse to compromise.

From the book:

“We are to model a you-first life to a me-first world, loving God first and then giving of ourselves to strengthen our fellow believers and to draw unbelievers to Him” (p. 191).

Beyond Me - Part 10: Interview with Kathi Macias

Continuing the interview with Kathi Macias, author of the new book Beyond Me: Living a You-First Life in a Me-First World (New Hope, 2008):

In chapter 8 you write about how everything we as individuals own is a gift from God and not something we have earned with our own strength. You wrote “That attitude is dangerous, because we can easily become stingy and judgmental towards others, rationalizing that if they worked as hard as we do, they too could amass the same possessions and conveniences that we have.”

You then, on page 154, quote Joel Belz, founder of World magazine as follows:

“If, on the one hand, we are persuaded deep in our hearts that we have earned
what we have in life, then we tend to expect others to do the same. But if we
know that everything we have in life is a gift, then we are inclined to extend a
giving heart toward others. The tension between these two points of view is hard
for American conservatives to resolve—and perhaps especially so for American
conservatives who are also serious Christians.”

I have to disagree with you here. This sounds to me like very liberal thought trying to disguise itself (and not doing a very good job of it).

American conservatives, many of whom are Christians, are generous people. We (if I may speak for American Christian conservatives) believe in working hard to provide for our families. At the same time, we are fully aware that there are some in our society and world who are not able to provide for themselves, for instance in the cases of physical or mental disabilities. We are more than willing to pitch in to help provide for the needs of such precious people—and we do, in many ways.

However, when people who could provide for themselves don’t, our generosity is presumed upon and it has come to the point of overwhelming good-hearted conservative Americans. For example, countless people have come into our nation illegally and so have to maneuver under the radar for jobs. Our health care system is overwhelmed by people—not only those who are here illegally but others as well—who abuse our hospital emergency rooms because they don’t have jobs when they could (or don’t have them legally) so they don’t have health care through their job benefits.

And yet American Christian conservatives are constantly told we are stingy, we are never generous enough, and we are wrong to want people to obey the law and work to provide for themselves and their families.

I’ll give you room to respond if you wish.

KM: I don’t disagree with you at all that American Christians (and Christians from other countries, for that matter) are often the most generous people in the world. Most charities were started by Christians, and countless good works have been done throughout society and throughout history by those who serve Christ. The danger comes when we begin to believe we own or earned our possessions—when we consider them deserved rather than God-given. The first sign of a hard heart is a lack of gratitude. If we believe everything we have came to us as a result of our own hard work, then what have we to be grateful for? But if we realize that it is only by God’s grace and mercy that we were born in a country that rewards our efforts, it helps keep us in an “attitude of gratitude.”

Does that mean we have to give away everything we have to everyone who asks (or demands)? Of course not. God expects us to be wise stewards and to remember that all we have is His. Therefore we need to seek Him before we disperse the material goods He has entrusted to us. But while we are here on this earth, serving as stewards of God’s blessings, we must learn to hold them with an open hand…and a tender heart.

From the book:

“With all the weaknesses and warts of the church, we still need to be an active part of it” (p. 156).

Beyond Me - Part 9: Interview with Kathi Macias

Continuing the interview with Kathi Macias, author of the new book Beyond Me: Living a You-First Life in a Me-First World (New Hope, 2008):

It seems the focus of your book is really discipleship: discipling the reader to deeper understanding of God’s Word and what God wants from us. True?

KM: Yes, that’s my purpose. Although I would hope that unbelievers would read the book and be called to make that first step of heart commitment to become a born-again believer, the book is actually written to those who are already converts and would like to move on to become mature Christians, disciples who are “disciplined ones,” walking in the footsteps of the Master.