Books Available

The following books are available from the author:

Please contact Mike at thirdwayinfo@gmail.com for more information

 

The 18inch Principle

 

There is an old Chinese proverb that provides a key to missions:

“The longest journey a man must take is the 18 inches from his head to his heart”.

This is not a book for the faint-hearted or the easily offended.  With lessons from the persecuted Church this  book will move  you inch-by-inch step-by-step and chapter-by-chapter on a journey to the heart of missions .

Starting with an abdicated life (chapter 1) the book engages the reader into a journey of transformation, moving inch-by-inch to ultimately life a Christian life of acceleration.

Chapters are illustrated with testimonies from those heroes of faith who have embraced the 18inch journey through lives of obedience and faithfulness

Dancing with Camels

“WHEN CAMELS DANCE” is an age-old Arabic saying that describes the excitement felt by nomadic desert-dwellers as they prepared for a new journey.

When people of God embark on a journey of faith, they too will enjoy the unique experience of “DANCING WITH CAMELS”.

Following Christ requires transformed minds, renewed principles and changed values – starting with a life of self-denial, carrying our crosses and imitating a redemptive, forgiving and sacrificial Christ. These foundations of faith essentially need to be in place before the journey starts.

So, regardless of where you find yourself on your walk with Christ, get ready to dance with camels. You might not be able to start a new beginning, but you can make a new ending.  The book contains 52 chapters, one for every week of the year, encouraging converts to live transformed lives based on Biblical principles.

Dancing with Camels is ook beskibaar in Afrikaans: Dans met Kamele

CATCRACKERS

WHAT IS A ‘CATCRACKER’?

“A thermocatalytic cracking unit, simply known as a ‘catcracker’, is a small cylinder, about half the width of a pencil and about a quarter of an inch long. These pellets are heated until they are white hot and are then forced into crude oil. The heat causes a chemical reaction that breaks the crude oil down into its components and separates the light oil from the heavier components. The ‘catcracker’ is an important part of the refining process as it speeds up the chemical reaction of the substance without changing in itself.”

In a spiritual context, the world is in desperate need of ‘catcrackers’:  agents of change who will become vessels of refinement.

For every follower of Christ, there should be an urgent obsession to see that the next generation will be equipped to be a “catcracker generation”, whose lives will be meaningful, purposeful and spirit-filled, based on faith and removed from fear; a generation that will be less obsessed with impressing people and more focused on influencing communities.

The aim of this book is to assist parents in raising a ‘catcracker’ generation that will become agents of change.

CAPACITY

One of the main obstacles of authentic Christianity is the misconception that spiritual GROWTH equals spiritual TRANSFORMATION. As Christians, we need to be transformed with an ever-increasing capacity to develop a Christ-consciousness. We need to expand our capacity to receive, absorb and reflect more of Christ.

The season we live in demands capacity development like never before. This is what this book is all about – the ability to expand our …

• SPIRITUAL capacity — Transforming our faith
• PERCEPTUAL capacity — Changing our glasses
• SOCIAL capacity — Consolidating our friendships
• INTELLECTUAL capacity — Swopping our shoes
• MENTAL capacity — Modifying our thinking
• EMOTIONAL capacity — Developing our affection
• INTENTIONAL capacity — Choosing our response
• GEOGRAPHICAL capacity — Shifting our boundaries
• RISK capacity — Confronting our fears
• CHARITABLE capacity — Customising our budget
• BEHAVIOURAL capacity — Restructuring our actions
• STAMINA capacity — Tightening our grip

SOUPIFIED

SOUPIFICATION:  And so, the metamorphose begins, taking roughly two weeks to turn from a furry caterpillar into a beautiful, winged butterfly.  The transformation begins with the caterpillar releasing digestive enzymes to eat itself alive; effectively turning itself into a SOUP.  If you were to cut open a pupa at the right time during metamorphosis, a goo would ooze out. But this magic goo contains everything needed to create a butterfly, and that is rather Incredible. 

THE CHRISTIAN METAMORPHOSE:  This process of transformation is no less magical for a follower of Christ than that of the simple caterpillar.  Regeneration, transformation and metamorphose is as painful as it is glorious, but it remains a critical component in obtaining a Christ consciousness.

BEING SOUPIFIED:  The book takes the reader on a journey of transformation.  Not only a journey of spiritual growth, but a journey of being completely transformed in our hearts, minds, theologies, perspectives, relations and responses.  The book contains 52 chapters, one for every week of the year.

 

INsalted

With lessons from the Persecuted Church, the book explores 78 virtues that embody the Christianity that Christ proclaimed.  It is divided into TWELVE chapters – one chapter per month – that will allow the reader to AQUIRE insight,   APPLY the lessons   and then ADVANCE to the next virtue.

COVID-19 and the need for SALT:  If ever there was a season to pursue a life of ‘flavour’, it is now.   So, how do we pursue an insalted life, displaying the magnificence and beauty of Christ in    a time of suspicion, uncertainty and fear?

Quite simple:  We add virtues to our life – intentionally, purposefully and visibly.

Virtues do not reflect what we believe, it reflects who we are.  Adding virtues is therefore not about the adding but about becoming.   BUT, we need to discern between structural virtues – those virtues that SECURE what we believe – and decorative virtues – those virtues that DISPLAY what we believe.

This book explores the often-neglected decorative virtues, how we display the beauty of Christ in a broken world and insalt our communities in a season of uncertainty and fear.

Anamorphic Christianity

Anamorphic images are images or objects that are aligned  in such a way that only by viewing them from a specific direction, or from a specific angle, will they become recognisable.  Viewing them from any other angle will reveal a distorted picture.

If we view our Christian faith – the truth we speak so boldly and our redemption we hold so dearly – from the wrong vantage point, the image of Christ we see, and reflect, will be distorted.

Interpretation of scripture will therefore involve more than Biblical hermeneutics or insight into theology.  It will require a repositioning, a realignment, and a completely new vantage point.

From a Christian perspective, that vantage point is REDEMPTION.

The aim of this book is therefore not to burden the reader with a new theology but to allow the reader to rediscover the greatness and bounty of what we already believe, and to realign our existing beliefs from a vantage point that will reveal the clear image of a forgiving, redeeming, loving, and reconciling God.

To understand faith deeper, to interpret scripture clearer, and to reflect Christ purer will require an ANAMORPHIC CHRISTIANITY.

Nathanael’s Bubble

You and I have bubbles. Everyone does. No matter who we are, where we live, or how enlightened we think we are.  We all live in bubbles. We discuss wars, we contemplate pandemics, we scrutinise vaccines, we share convictions, and we judge evildoers, but we fail to recognise that “our truth” comes from a bubble of prejudice, shaped by our experiences and environments.

I have really enjoyed writing this book and it challenged me to the core.  What I enjoyed most was stepping INTO scripture, trying to understand how the transformative, counter-cultural, and liberating teachings of Christ must have challenged His followers.  Salted and seasoned, ever pointing to a God who came to seek and save the lost, His teachings always offended the religious and comforted the sinner.  In every chapter I stepped into a story and was confronted with myself.

Detecting, dissecting and dismembering our distinctive and debilitating bubbles

CONTENT

1. NATHANEAL’S BUBBLE:  An introduction from one who sits under the fig tree
2. NAVIGATED BY A NAÏVE GOD: Hi, I’m Mike and I’m naive!
3. THE ONE O’CLOCK GUN:  Now, here’s a thought—let’s think for ourselves
4. PUT THIS IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT:  The grand announcement
5. THE IDIOSYNCRASY OF JESUS:  A peculiar way of thinking
6. BUBBLE-BASED BELIEVERS:  Let’s master the art of unlearning before we start relearning
7. NEUROLOGICAL LAZINESS: Once we decide, it’s difficult to re-decide
8. CEMENTING YOUR BUBBLES: The glue that keeps our bubbles together
9. THE BOANERGES BROTHERS:  More than just humanity
10. THE DEPLORABLE DECAPOLIAN: Separating the unworthy
11. LAZARUS AND DIVES: The man who never noticed
12. PETER: THE MAN OF THREE SWORDS: Are you a knight or a gardener?
13. SNAKE HILL, SEXPO AND COVID: In conversation with Peter

BURSTING OUR BUBBLES

12 months to burst our bubbles

1. Bursting our RELIGIOUS bubbles
2. Bursting our SPIRITUAL bubbles
3. Bursting our THEOLOGICAL bubbles
4. Bursting our SOCIAL bubbles
5. Bursting our EMOTIONAL bubbles
6. Bursting our MENTAL bubbles
7. Bursting our ECONOMIC bubbles
8. Bursting our INTELECTUAL bubbles
9. Bursting our PHYSICAL bubbles
10. Bursting our GEOGRAPHICAL bubbles
11. Bursting our CULTURAL bubbles
12. Bursting our SECURITY bubbles

The book is now available (sadly, only in SA at the moment).  You can order a copy at thirdwayinfo@gmail.com

Let me know if you are interested!

Consecrated – A life set apart

DON’T REJECT THE WORLD, REDEEM IT

John 20:19-21 (GNB)  It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.  After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord. 

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you…

… as the Father sent me, so I send you.”

Every follower of Christ is called to a consecrated life, regardless of whether you are a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker – so to speak.

Wherever you find yourself on your journey of life—whether you are a student, a teacher, a housewife, a minister, a lawyer,  a salesman, retired or working in the marketplace – you are divinely ordained and uniquely set apart to the sacred duty of building and proclaiming the Kingdom of God – just like the Father sent His Son.

This book explores the different dimensions of a what a personal consecrated life should look like and the framework of how we radiate Christ in our communities.

CONSECRATED FOR…

1. Redemption  –  Page 27
2. Restoration  –  Page 35
3. Rescue  –  Page 45
4. Release  –  Page 51
5. Remission  –  Page 61
6. Rejuvenation  –  Page 71
7. Replenishment  –  Page 81
8. Representation  –  Page 91
9. Reproduction  –  Page 101
10. Replication  –  Page 113
11. Reconstruction –  Page 123
12. Retribution  –  Page 135
13. Reconciliation  –  Page 145
14. Relationship   –  Page 157
15. Repositioning   –  Page 167
16. Redirection  –  Page 177
17. Recommission  –  Page 189
18. Redeployment   –  Page 199
19. Resilience   –  Page 209
20. Remembrance  –  Page 217