I am a firm believer in reading books for the purpose of personal growth. I enjoy reading books on leadership and spirtuality and find that keeping up with new books is a great way of stretching your perspective on not just how to manage and lead employees but also how to live life and of course look for more illustrations on how to express God's truths. I certainly hope to read more this year than the 13 I've listed, but these are the books I'm hoping to finish by the end of 2010.
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Life Together by Deitrich Bonhoeffer
Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzler
What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell
Primal by Mark Batterson
Defying Gravity by Daniel Henderson
Holy Discontent by Bill Hybels
No Compromise by Melody Green
Why We Aren't Emergent by Kevin DeYoung
A Million Miles in One Thousand Miles by Donald Miller
Master Planning by Bobb Biehl
Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright
Six Sigma for Dummies by Craig Gygi
There have been a number of books recommended to me and I would love to hear about what you are reading, but this is my current list. I'm looking forward to the new year and I hope you are as excited as I am about what God has planned for this one.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Turning Pages
There are some chapters in our lives where the pages seem easy to turn through. Life seems easy. Things are fun. Opportunities seem easy to conquer. Then there are chapters where pages feel heavy. Movements seem difficult. Words are difficult to read and even though those very words define us more during the difficult chapters, it still seems difficult to grapple with our current reality.
As God writes our story and we seek to define ourselves in him, it is important for us to realize that, as character's in his story, there are some things God wants and doesn't want for us. Along the path or perhaps to the side are traps that we choose to either ignore, pass or get entangled in. These entanglements make it difficult to turn the pages. It is important for us to recognize that our loss of freedom from these traps will cause us to give up hope, to stop dreaming dreams and to accept the hole of our current status. What every reader of the story is asking as they read is this: Will the character overcome? Will the character fight for their freedom? Will the character reach up and take God's hand of rescue?
Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 10: 8-9 and in the New Living Translation it reads:
"When you dig a well, you might fall in.
When you demolish an old wall, you could get bitten by a snake.
When you work in a quarry, stones might fall and crush you.
When you chop wood, there is danger with each stroke of your ax."
This is perhaps a duh moment for me, but I found it significant. John, don't be surprised if this happens to you. If you purchase a home, don't be surprised if the value plummets. If you play basketball with people better than you, don't be surprised if you get hurt.
Thursday will mark a significant day in my wife's and I's lives. For about 5 years ago, I allowed us to get trapped into a significant financial commitment that has drawn on us and I allowed it to define us. This last saturday, we listed one of these traps in the pursuit of heading in a new direction. A new direction that is marked by God's fingerprints. There have been many lessons that we have learned as we have dealt with everything from evicting renters, to cleaning up messes to making up for no rents. The most important lesson has been over this fall. The next chapter of our lives requires that I learn to let go of this mistake and move on in freedom.
As God writes our story and we seek to define ourselves in him, it is important for us to realize that, as character's in his story, there are some things God wants and doesn't want for us. Along the path or perhaps to the side are traps that we choose to either ignore, pass or get entangled in. These entanglements make it difficult to turn the pages. It is important for us to recognize that our loss of freedom from these traps will cause us to give up hope, to stop dreaming dreams and to accept the hole of our current status. What every reader of the story is asking as they read is this: Will the character overcome? Will the character fight for their freedom? Will the character reach up and take God's hand of rescue?
Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 10: 8-9 and in the New Living Translation it reads:
"When you dig a well, you might fall in.
When you demolish an old wall, you could get bitten by a snake.
When you work in a quarry, stones might fall and crush you.
When you chop wood, there is danger with each stroke of your ax."
This is perhaps a duh moment for me, but I found it significant. John, don't be surprised if this happens to you. If you purchase a home, don't be surprised if the value plummets. If you play basketball with people better than you, don't be surprised if you get hurt.
Thursday will mark a significant day in my wife's and I's lives. For about 5 years ago, I allowed us to get trapped into a significant financial commitment that has drawn on us and I allowed it to define us. This last saturday, we listed one of these traps in the pursuit of heading in a new direction. A new direction that is marked by God's fingerprints. There have been many lessons that we have learned as we have dealt with everything from evicting renters, to cleaning up messes to making up for no rents. The most important lesson has been over this fall. The next chapter of our lives requires that I learn to let go of this mistake and move on in freedom.
On a side note, if you are looking for a great deal on a townhouse in Blaine, Minnesota, feel free to give me a call.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Dave Ramsey Changed My Life
Yesterday evening marked the 13th official week of Dave Ramsey's Peace University and it's funny how a small group can change your life. On one hand, most information presented was nothing new. On the other hand, the information brought transformation not just in Rebecca's and my finances, but in the very way we think about money and wealth.
Yet, we find ourselves not even at the tipping point of what God desires for us as we obey him. We are doing a lot of work and a lot of discipline work namely in learning to say "no" to ourselves and each other. Perhaps the greatest thing that Dave Ramsey did was this: He gave us a vision for what our world and what the world would like if we pursued God's plan for our finances.
It has taken me years to learn this. The next year will be a long haul, but we have a renewed sense of hope and vision for what God wants for us. Rebecca and I went to Catalyst in Atlanta with Chrissy and Ben Fukushima two months ago and had the opportunity to thank Dave Ramsey personally for his influence in our lives.
His encouragement to us was to continue to pursue God with focused intensity and over time, we would gain the momentum needed to make our vision a reality.
Monday, December 7, 2009
I can do ALL things
I can still hear the sound of Paul's words resonate inside me as I heard my youth pastor read the popular words from Philippians. "I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength." The words seemed to echo words my parents have always said to me, "Johnny, you can put anything you put your mind to." They were similar but there was something hugely significant to me. It was as if God had placed this promise on my life and as I heard the words, I was reminded that it wasn't merely "good genes" or even my strength of will that would accomplish all things. Everything hinged off the epicenter of Paul's quote. CHRIST.
Many years have flown by since I remember hearing those words and every time I hear them, I am struck with this sense of significance that it is through Christ that I am given the strength and will to breathe, to get out of bed every morning and push for God's best in all I do.
It has taken me years to learn this and I'll repeat it again if only to remind myself, it is on Christ's strength that we must lean if we are to live the lives he meant for us to live. I have hopes and dreams just as all who breathe and these dreams require a strength that I cannot muster up for myself.
Paul didn't say it. He didn't need to. It is through Christ ALONE. The only question that remains is this, are you daily plugging into the source of ALL strength and ALL courage and ALL grace?
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