Every day, I go through the same routine. With a few strokes on my keyboard and the click of a mouse, I travel through a global gateway into a world of interaction and information. My "commute" via the Internet is similar to a rush hour drive, merging with masses and moving through a variety of points of passage called URLs, Web sites, and home pages.

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. — Ecclesiastes 1:9 (New International Version)

The curious thing about this daily pattern is that it doesn't matter where I am, who I am with, or how I am dressed. All I have to do is summon my search engine, and I am empowered to connect and communicate on the global information highway. So, day after day, it is the same. Boot up. Log on. Select an engine. Start a search. Oftentimes, routine searches only lead to frustration. I don't find solutions; I simply wander in search mode, wasting time, energy, and effort. I click here. Go there. Read this. Look at that. I link. I think. I log out. I walk away disappointed by my lack of success. And I wonder why I give time to such trivial pursuits, wishing I had started with a clearer plan. One day, I realized that what I experience in my daily Internet search routine has become a way of life for many. People face each new day, hitting the Enter key to search or plug in words and phrases with the hope of finding satisfactory solutions for life. They, too, are powered by search engines. Not necessarily Google, Yahoo, or the likes of Dogpile, but their engines are revving deep within to search for greater satisfaction in life. People want answers, experiences, and contacts that will change the way they live and view life. They live in search mode. People long for a day when they will encounter someone or something that will lead them to a fuller and more meaningful life. Can you relate?

Have you ever had an itch on your back you couldn't scratch? You stretch your arm over your shoulder. You can't get there. You twist it up behind you, but there is still no relief. You enlist the aid of another only to find that their assistance adds to your frustration. We all know people who live with "itches" they can't scratch. People long for a day when they will encounter someone or something that will lead them to a fuller and more meaningful life. They go from experience to experience, from relationship to relationship, from place to place, and from project to project without resolution. We know people who live with a gnawing sense that life is not satisfying, but they don't know what they want or where to look to find a solution. They seek guidance, growth, and gain only to find unsatisfactory results. They live in search mode, yet their search yields only disappointing results day after day after day. Life soon echoes the mantra of Mick Jagger, that great philosopher whose proclamation soared to the top of the charts: "I can't get no satisfaction!" Yet forty years later, the Stones and many of their fans are still searching for satisfaction. The name of their world tour, A Bigger Bang, says it all. Like many of us, the Stones are still looking for something more.

Can I get personal? Do you find yourself frustrated by your life's direction or lack thereof ? Are you searching for something but not sure what it is or how to find it? Is "search mode" the defining characteristic of your life? Let me introduce you to a man who has reflected and written extensively on the subject of search-mode living. His name is Solomon. He was the worldly, wise, and wealthy king of Israel who described search-mode living as the ultimate reality experience "under the sun."

The Search for Satisfaction: Looking for Something New Under the Sun Despite the popularity and cultural necessity of Google and its Internet counterparts, the human heart has long been the busiest and most tireless search engine. But like so many searches, our quests for meaning, possessions, and purpose often return the same frustrating response, No Results Found. We live in constant search mode looking for purpose and meaning, trying to find something, anything, that might satisfy the deep longings of our heart. Yet this search is nothing new. Even the wisest man who ever lived struggled with these same issues finding that everything in life was meaningless, a "chasing after the wind." Follow Solomon's search through a fascinating study of Ecclesiastes as in the depths of his despair he discovers that only the God who made the sun can offer real and lasting results under it. Satisfaction guaranteed. Available to buy from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk

Seeing What Is Sacred Around us, there are hints that there is a way of life vastly richer and deeper than all this hurried existence, a life unhurried serenity and peace and power. A life where we see all that is sacred. It seems the more we pack into our lives, the less we experience of our lives. We've become modern-day Marthas, busy, distracted, and empty, instead of like her sister Mary, calm, focused, and fulfilled. How do we, like Mary, create "pauses" in our days and weeks to hear what the Savior has to say to us? How do we make time for the things that ultimately matter? How can we become more spiritually sensitive to the everyday moments of life? In Seeing What Is Sacred, acclaimed writer Ken Gire unlocks the door to change by introducing us not to a trendy new method, but to a centuries-old tradition of seeing the sacred in the everyday through reflective living. Available to buy from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk

Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading Eugene Peterson is convinced that the way we read the Bible is as important as that we read it. Do we read the Bible for information about God and salvation, for principles and "truths" that we can use to live better? Or do we read it in order to listen to God and respond in prayer and obedience? Eat This Book challenges us to read the Scriptures on their own terms, as God’s revelation, and to live them as we read them. With warmth and wisdom Peterson offers greatly needed, down-to-earth counsel on spiritual reading. In these pages he draws readers into a fascinating conversation on the nature of language, the ancient practice of lectio divina, and the role of Scripture translations; included here is the "inside story" behind Peterson’s own popular Bible translation, The Message. Countering the widespread practice of using the Bible for self-serving purposes, Peterson here serves readers with a nourishing entrée into the formative, life-changing art of spiritual reading. Available to buy from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk

Hear the words of the Bible brought to life like never before. The Bible Experience is a fully-dramatized reading of the Bible performed by an unprecedented ensemble of distinguished African-American actors, musicians, and personalities. The Bible Experience

You hear it from motivational speakers all the time: Attitude is everything. Is that true? No, says internationally best-selling author John C Maxwell. But that doesn't mean that attitude means nothing. The right attitude can't make you something you're not, but it can enhance everything you have. The Difference Maker — Making Your Attitude Your Greatest Asset

Many people consider their jobs to be chores, something to be endured in order to pay the bills. But God designed work to be a fulfilling aspect of life. John C Maxwell's Life@Work equips believers to confidently carry their faith into the marketplace and make a difference in their world. Life@Work

Discover magazine recently called Richard Dawkins "Darwin's Rottweiler" for his fierce and effective defense of evolution. Now Dawkins turns his considerable intellect on religion, denouncing its "faulty logic" and the "suffering it causes". A Christian Response to Richard Dawkins