I just read through 31 Days to Finding Your Blogging Mojo.
I’ll use 3 words to describe it:
From "The Accidental Creative" by Todd Henry
“A lifetime of mediocrity is a high price to pay for safety. Paranoia undoes greatness.” ~ Todd Henry ~
Needs not be elaborated on.
Jonny Baker writes a fascinating piece on mission among young people. Youth Pastors need to read and absorb this.
Traffic and participation on artFWD is growing. Seems as if the focus there is something lots and lots of people are sensing and we’re naming.
Arloa Sutter has a book out entitled “The Invisible.” If it were the worst book ever written, I’d still buy it. Arloa is an incredible leader doing awesome work with a group of people that most of the world would rather not see (hence the book title).
Frank Viola shares what he’s learned in 2 years of blogging.
I also HIGHLY recommend Frank’s book “Jesus Manifesto.” To describe it I say this, “If I was forced to add another book to the Biblical cannon, it’d be Jesus Manifesto.”
Gary joins Bri in my list of former students who have started blogging. I hope to grow this list very soon.
I am very strategic about the things I do and the places I spend my time. Except for one area. DC Curry has me envisioning a more focused spiritual growth plan.
Just off the top of my head, here are books that I’m either currently or planning on reading.
What about you? What are you reading? What do you WISH you were reading?
When I picked up “What Difference Do I Make” and started reading, I was moved. The book is filled with heartwarming stories that cause the reader to rethink some standard assumptions.
The book is filled with stories of hope, redemption, healing and life lessons.
I don’t want to spoil the stories here, there were several times I found myself being able to name issues and tensions that had previously remaned hidden.
If you’re a sucker for the happy ending or a sentimental story, this is a book for you.
But this is also the books downfall, while being filled with inspiration and hope, I found it difficult to continue to press on through the entirety of the book. It’s like watching a movie on Lifetime, you know it’s gonna be a sappy ending. You know the girl is gonna get the guy. You know the black kid and the white kid – though they struggle through racial tensions – are going to end up being there for each other.
My recommendation: If you absolutely loved the first book (Same Kind of Different as Me), you’ll love What Difference Do It Make. If you’ve read neither, don’t start with this one. If you’ve got too many books on your reading list, don’t add this one.
One of the more valuable bits of information I picked up in my undergraduate studies was Thomas Groome’s 5 movements. These movements describe Groome’s theory on how
people best learn and share faith. Each movement opens the door to the next culminating in the final movement of deciding/responding to live the Christian Faith. For a more detailed look, check out this detailed article. I’ve included the outline of the 5 movements below….
| Focussing Activity | |
| Movement 1 | Naming/Expressing “Present Action” |
| Movement 2 | Critical Reflection on Present Action |
| Movement 3 | Making Accessible Christian Story and Vision |
| Movement 4 | Dialectical Hermeneutics to Appropriate Story/Vision to Participants’ Stories and Visions |
| Movement 5 | Decision/Response for Lived Christian Faith |
I picked up Dan Allender’s book, “Leading with a Limp,” during a time when I felt frustrated and limited in my own leadership and my own imperfection. Like any overly-excited online shopper, i left it sit in a pile of “books to read” on my desk.
I cracked it open today and couldn’t put it down. The book isn’t incredible because of Dan’s writing or it’s practical advice, but because it each word seems to skip your mind and head straight into your soul. As a president of a graduate school that is well known for it’s bent towards psychology and counseling, much of Dan’s talks and writings sounds like they’re coming from a counselor.
And for me. For me right now. That’s just what I need.
Here is a paragraph that named an inner-tension that – I’d guess – every leader feels. It brought a tear to my eye as I’d never heard another human being so directly speak to that part of my heart:
We expect a leader to make tough decisions – to fire his close friend if necessary or to send troops into harm’s way – yet we want him to tear up over a sad story and be sentimental on Mother’s Day. What we want is an illusion and we know it. We prefer the illusion because we have a deep need to be buffered from reality. Setting up a leader to b our big daddy, our bright and shining knight, our perfect mother who will get up in the middle of the night and hold us until we feel safe makes leadership a nightmare that we inflict on a few while we comfort ourselves that we don’t have the right stuff to pull it off.
That hit me so hard.
If you would, take a second to pause and reflect.
Take a moment to think about the expectations you’re putting on those that you’d call leaders?
I just finished reading “Primal” by Mark Batterson. I’ve got a Review and then a Reflection. I hope both are beneficial to you.
A Review
Batterson writes “Primal” out of the inspiration coming from a trip to an ancient church gathering space. Mark explored an underground place where Christians gathered back when the death penalty was a very real consequence of their faith. “Primal” is an attempt to explore the raw, unpolished core of the Christian faith. What is it that seemed to precious to early believers that caused them to gather in spite of persecution? What did they see in the faith that was worth it? What did they experience? What did they know about God.
In today’s world, gathering with other believers often is less of a priority than sleeping in or taking our 4th grader to baseball. Why the shift? The thrust of Mark’s exploration starts here: “…some of the sacrifices you’ve made for the cause of Christ might not even qualify under a second century definition.” Mark spends the rest of the book elaborating on how Jesus teaches the “primal” core of discipleship in saying, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
A Reflection
I couldn’t put this book down. I devoured it in 2 days. While I love books and reading, something about this book totally hooked me and I was unsure of what that something was until I thought about it….
I work in a church. I work with Christians. I work in a church filled with upper class Christians. Except for one or two families in our congregation, there aren’t any external needs. In fact, I’ve had to spend 18 months with the teenagers there to begin to see some of the deepest issues that can linger under the surface in suburbia.
Sometimes I just want someone to shake me. Sometimes I just want to shake someone.
This book shakes.
It names realities. It doesn’t sugarcoat. It doesn’t pull punches.
A buddy of mine just asked me for a list of reading materials for youth ministry. Here is what I gave him (in order of my perceived importance):
your thoughts? any suggestions?
Chris McAlister: meant to add...there's much I don't track with in the following videos...
Chris McAlister: Adding that book to the wish list. I was taught the middle path (slow ...
Adam Lehman: We talk about it a lot here at work. Understanding a client or prospec...
Chris McAlister: Nice. I've never seen a post on launching speeds. What a helpful conve...
Adam: SURE HAVE!
In fact, my wife designed a free desktop/iPhone/iPad wall...
Chris McAlister: meant to add...there's much I don't track with in the following videos...
Chris McAlister: Adding that book to the wish list. I was taught the middle path (slow ...
Adam Lehman: We talk about it a lot here at work. Understanding a client or prospec...
Chris McAlister: Nice. I've never seen a post on launching speeds. What a helpful conve...
Adam: SURE HAVE!
In fact, my wife designed a free desktop/iPhone/iPad wall...
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