LifeChange

Book Review: The Treasure Principle

The Treasure Principle is a coffee table size book that can be read in about 45 minutes.  It both challenged and inspired me to view my possessions (both financial and non-financial such as time, service, etc.) from God's perspective.  It is written by Randy Alcorn and is part of a much larger work of his called Money, Possessions & Eternity.  There are three reasons I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others:

1) No Guilt - Randy doesn't approach this topic from the perspective of guilt.  Instead his goal is to inspire and provide hope, and let those be the catalyst for change to occur in someone's life.

2) Quick & Easy to Read - it's short, uses simple language and can be read in one sitting.

3) Great Illustrations - throughout the book Randy uses great illustrations to demonstrate concepts and points that one might glance over.

Book Review: a long way gone - Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

Wow, this book has opened my eyes to parts of our world that I've never fully understood.  I love Africa, and I was exposed to the existence of child soldiers during my time in Uganda as it's an issue in northern Uganda.  However, I never realized what this really encompassed. 

"In a long way gone, Ishamael Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a riveting story. At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. Eventually released by the army and sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain his humanity and to reenter the world of civilians, who viewed him with fear and suspicion. This is, at last, a story of redemption and hope."

Here's an interview Ishamael did:

Book Review: The Millionaire Next Door

This past Sunday I did a message on God's perspective on our money and we focused on Luke 16 and Jesus' Parable of the Shrewd Manager.  In the middle of the parable as Jesus transitions from the story to explaining what He meant and the lessons people should take-away, He made this statement "For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light."  One of the reasons Jesus included this statement is that He was telling the religious people, the Jewish leaders, those following Him to pay attention because there are things they can learn from people that are successful in this world even if they don't follow God (often times Christians are quick to dismiss non-Christians and don't examine their lives to see if there are lessons they might be able to learn to help them in their pursuit of God.)

From that perspective, I read the book The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko a few months ago.  These two professors did a large study on the behaviors and lifestyles of the wealthy in America.  What they found goes against the stereotype and assumptions many people have about what a wealthy person looks like, the house they live in, the car they drive and how they use their money.  What they found is that most wealthy people look very normal, live in modest homes in middle class or upper-middle class neighborhoods, drive used cars, are frugal with their money, fly economy, and wear clothes they found on sale or at a discount retailer. 

I really found this book interesting.  While as a follower of Christ, my main goal is not to accumulate large amounts of wealth, learning and understanding many of the habits of the wealthy does allow me to maximize the use of my resources and finances in a way to help others and serve God.  Interestingly, some of the habits and ways of living the wealthy pursue are Biblical and similar to God's desire on how we should handle our money. 

Book Review: Developing the Leader Within You

I recently finished reading Developing the Leader Within You by John C. Maxwell with one of the emerging leaders in our church.  It's the first John Maxwell book I've read and it was a good read.  The target audience is people in a corporate, business setting, however without having to stretch too much you can apply it to whatever environment you find yourself working or serving in.  Many of the topics such as Priorities, Integrity, Attitude, Vision and Self-Discipline are personal character skills that everybody would benefit from reading about.

I knew this would be a book I'd want to reference back to, so I kept a list of notes.  The (h) items are highlights and the (a) items are actions or questions I asked myself to evaluate my life with.  See the notes here:  Download developing_the_leader_within_notes.html

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Book Review: The Shack

I was given The Shack to read over vacation.  It's is a fiction book written by William P. Young about a guy named Mack who is a husband and father and suffers probably the greatest tragedy a father could suffer.  The book centers around an encounter he has with God (actually the trinity, the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit) who invites him to a shack where this tragedy occurred for the weekend.  During the weekend Mack deals with his extreme skepticism of God and religion, and the lingering effects of the tragedy. 

This was an outstanding book.  Not only was it engaging and a fun read, but it took my understanding and relationship with God deeper.  While there are a few minor issues I would take with some of the interactions with God, overall this book will challenge you in your views of God and cause you to look at the ideas and beliefs you hold to be true.  Also if you've ever dealt with great personal lose or tragedy of any kind inflicted upon you by another person then you will relate with Mack and the journey he and his family are on.  Read this book.

Book Review: Communicating For A Change

I have not ready many books on communication/preaching, so I was excited to get through Communicating For A Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones. Andy is senior pastor at North Point Community Church and Lane is campus director at one of North Point's campuses. 

The first half of the book is a parable about a pastor that is discouraged and hopeless.  It follows his encounter with a truck driver that pastors at truck stops throughout the country.  In the course of their encounter seven principles for communicating are discovered.  The second half of the book is Andy writing as he goes through each of these principles.  The principles are:

1. Determine Your Goal - know WHY you are communicating.  For weekend services Andy contends the goal is life change (good name for a blog too!)
2. Pick A Point - Andy's father (Charles Stanley) was a well known preacher and a master at multi-point sermons (like most pastors use.)  Andy's approach is much different as his philosophy is that any sermon should be based on ONE point, no more.
3. Create a Map - Have a plan for your message... basically an outline.  Andy uses a map that is ME-WE-GOD-YOU-WE.
4. Internalize the Message - Preaching and teaching God's word is not only a privilege but carries huge significance for those that are in the audience as God is using you to reach them.  While Andy does not say you must memorize every message, he does say you must internalize it and have a burden for it and the audience.
5. Engage Your Audience - Don't be boring.  Keep your audience involved.
6. Find Your Voice - Don't try to emulate someone else.  Find your gifts/strengths and use those.
7. Start All Over - This one point wasn't really that strong.  Basically he talked about strategies for when you get stuck in preparation and the key questions to make sure every message answers.

Book Review: The Blessed Life by Robert Morris

A few weeks ago I finished reading The Blessed Life by Robert Morris.  It is by far the best book I've ever read on how to handle and view the resources (not just finances, but time, talents, etc.) God has given us.  If you are a Christian and want to be challenged and grow in your relationship with God then I HIGHLY recommend this book.  It's one of those books you'll read, highlight and then keep to refer back to in the future.

If you attend Life Church and would like a copy of this book let me know.  I'll get you one and personally subsidize the cost so it just costs you $5 (note, I'm personally doing this, not the church; that is the reason I'm keeping it to people locally.)  I want to try and make this accessible to you as everyone needs to read this.

Book Review: Confessions Of A Pastor

I recently finished Confessions Of A Pastor by Craig Groeschel.  Craig opens up his life in a honest and raw way about the real Craig, the good, bad and ugly.  As you can see from the chapter titles he holds nothing back:

1. I had been living a lie
2. I can't stand a lot of Christians
3. I have to work hard to stay sexually pure
4. Most of the time I feel incredibly lonely
5. I hate prayer meetings
6. I worry almost all the time
7. Sometimes I doubt God
8. I feel completely inadequate
9. I stink at handling criticism
10. I'm afraid of failure

While I can relate with much of what Craig talks about, I was not so much challenged by a single topic he discusses as much as his honesty and transparency.  Being open and transparent with people is something I've always struggled with so this book really spoke to me.

While the title of the book would leave you thinking this is just for pastors, it's NOT!  Any person (especially any guy) would benefit from reading this book and confronting these various issues in their life.  This would also be a great book for small group use and discussion.

Book Review: No Wonder They Call Him The Savior

The week leading up to Easter I read Max Lucado's book No Wonder They Call Him The Savior.  I am a big Max Lucado fan.  I love how his writing is engaging, easy to read and he constantly challenges me to see ideas and stories from viewpoints that I've never considered.  This book was no different. 

In the book he examines three distinct perspectives of the cross:  the words, the witnesses and the wisdom (ideas and truths that we take from what Jesus did on the cross.)  Every chapter is just a few pages long so this is a great book to pick up to read just for a few minutes or for a long sitting.  I finished the 150 page book in about two hours total. 

I plan to make it a part of my lead up to Easter every year.  Next year I may read a chapter a day and use it more as a daily devotional.  This would be an outstanding book for people that make the decision to start living for Christ as it explains truths and realities of the cross and the hope we can take from Jesus' sacrifice.

You can buy a case of these books for a little over $1 each at ManInTheMirror.com.

Book Review: Dinner With a Perfect Stranger

My friend Nick gave me this book on Tuesday.  I was done reading it by Thursday.  Dinner with a Perfect Stranger by David Gregory is a short (only 100 pages,) easy to read book that will quickly grab your attention. 

The whole premise of the book is if you could have dinner with Jesus, what would you discuss?  The book follows the story of a man named Nick who is cynical and antagonistic towards Christianity and religion in general.  You follow his journey and conversation over dinner with Jesus as He challenges religions and Jesus' claims.  It was a fun book to read and presented the gospel from several different view points.  I felt the author did an excellent job addressing many of the challenges and objections people usually have towards the Bible, Christianity and Jesus' claims. 

I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is curious about spirituality but isn't ready to jump into the Bible yet or attend a church service. 

Here is a website for the book where you can learn more about it, see reviews and find study guides.