I am Jamaica's husband, Personality's founder, Foursquare's comm director, CFCC's evangelist, and more.
I'm also blogging at:
Personality™
Church Marketing Sucks
Reading Room Archives
May 28, 2008
Finding Your Soul
Filed under: Reading Room
On the Personality blog I wrote a review of the book by Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly called The Soul of the Corporation: How To Manage The Identity of Your Company. It's a brilliant study on why organizations need to be aware of their soul and how their identity flows from that. The case studies were very enlightening and provided great context for the authors' arguments.
I'm planning to use some of this stuff for a few upcoming talks I have later this year. It's also a great setup for so much of the consulting work I do.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
May 18, 2008
The Shack
Filed under: Reading Room
Two weeks ago somebody in the office asked me if I had read a booked called The Shack by William P. Young. I had never heard of it. Last week, I saw that Mark Batterson was reading it after having it recommended to him by our mutual friend Brad Lomenick. I went ahead and ordered it (thanks Amazon Prime). This book is gaining major momentum--500,000 sold in the first 11 months--and it's self-published.
William Young is a great storyteller. I started the 253-page book yesterday morning and finished it this afternoon. It's the first work of fiction I have read in a long time. I'm not a fan of fiction, especially "Christian" fiction. This book is a rare exception.
The story is about a father of a kidnapped daughter who everyone presumes is dead. Mack is tormented by the loss of his daughter and is trapped in a world of grief and guilt. One day Mack receives a letter--presumably from God--that invites him to the scene of the crime. What Mack finds there is what changes him forever.
The Shack is a mix between Pilgrim's Progress and The Chronicles of Narnia, although not as theological or fantastic in its content. It's written perfectly for the big screen, which I later learned is already in the works.
Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
April 26, 2008
The Journey of Desire
Filed under: Reading Room
A few months ago Jamaica gave me a copy of John Eldredge's book, The Journey of Desire. She already knew I wasn't a big fan of Eldredge from back when I tried to read his Wild at Heart. I couldn't get through the first couple chapters without feeling bored or neutered. John is a man's man and I am not. I can't relate to camping stories and fishermen tales. I don't really care to either.
Nonetheless, I told Jamaica I would read this one. She was really inspired by the quantity and quality of quotes that Eldredge incorporates into Desire, and she wanted me to share in the inspiration.
After a bumpy beginning--three pages into the book and I'm already hiking and swimming with John in the Tetons--I knew the next 209 would be a challenge. Three months later I made it to the end and I'm glad I did.
The Journey of Desire boils down to this:
- We are desire.
- Absolutely nothing of human greatness is ever accomplished with it.
- Desire fuels our search for the life we prize.
- We must go into our desire if we are to meet God.
Unpacking the above took me on a journey of patient redundancy, but I found some treasure. All quotations that follow are from John Eldredge unless otherwise noted.
Continue reading "The Journey of Desire"
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
April 4, 2008
Phil The Cooker
Filed under: Reading Room
Earlier this week I had lunch with "media guru" Phil Cooke. I've been a Cooke observer over the last few years and have only recently met him in person, even though we've worked indirectly with each other on some projects in the past. I also just finished reading Phil's latest book, Branding Faith: Why Some Churches and Nonprofits Impact Culture and Others Don't, which I reviewed on the CMS blog.
We had a great conversation over lunch and talked a lot about his own journey and the worlds he straddles. Phil has a big heart for helping churches and ministries communicate better, and a lot of talent to do so. His ministry-minded (and poorly named) Cooke Pictures, as well as his founding partnership in TWC Films (a commercial production company) speak to his gifting.
I'm looking forward to getting to know Phil more.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
March 26, 2008
Finding God In Unexpected Places
Filed under: Reading Room
During the car-ride to and from Sedona this past weekend, Jamaica and I listened to Philip Yancey's gem Finding God In Unexpected Places. I must admit, I've never been a big fan of Yancey because the books I've attempted to read of his are a little dry. This one was definitely an exception.
Finding God was an encouraging book. It's 49 easy-to-digest chapters are loaded with wisdom and wonder. I love Yancey's stories and tangents. His life is full of experiences that are too good not to tell. From his city life in Chicago to his overseas travels visiting prisoners in Russia and Chile, God was showing up everywhere. Yancey also had a pleasant trail of humor throughout the book which was unexpected.
Unfortunately, because I listened to this book, I wasn't able to highlight and bookmark favorite selections. The bummer of audio books!
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
October 10, 2007
Sex God
Filed under: Reading Room
I finished reading Sex God by Rob Bell during my week-long trip to Atlanta, Charlotte, and Christiansburg, Virginia, this past week. Great book. Way more about spirituality than sex, but leave it to Rob to raise eyebrows and book sales at the same time. Who wouldn't want to read a book that includes chapters such as "Leather, Whips, and Fruit" and "Whoopee Forever?"
The big takeaway for me is how Rob breaks down the concept of angels and animals. Although both were created before humans, the important thing is that humans are not angels and humans are not animals.
When we aspire to live like angles (all spirit), we forget that we're also physical beings. And when we're all physical (like animals without spirit), we forget that there is so much more to life. This is the beauty of humanity. We're spirit and body. Physical and spiritual. We're both. Rob says, "Living like angels can be just as destructive as living like animals."
How we live matters because God made us human.
Which means we aren't angels.
And we aren't animals.
Is sex a picture of heaven?
"...marriage is always about something bigger than itself. It's two people, in their unconditionally loving embrace of each other, showing each other in flesh and blood what God is like. These two are naked, and they feel no shame."
"To pursue being naked, you have to believe that this person is worth getting to know for the rest of your lives. Being naked is peeling back the layers, conversation after conversation, experience after experience, year after year. It's rooted in a belief that the soul has infinite depth and you'll never get to the bottom of it."
"To be known fully and still loved, still embraced, still accepted" is what people "crave in sex."
Rob opens the book talking about creation. He reminds us that how we treat creation is a direct reflection for how we feel about the creator. From the way we treat earth to the way we treat people, it's directly connected to how we feel about God.
Sex God.
Exploring the endless connections between sexuality and spirituality.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
September 23, 2007
The Irresistible Revolution
Filed under: Reading Room
As much as I dislike flying, I do love being able to read a book from start to finish in a round-trip. My trip this past week to Grand Rapids was no exception with The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne.
I grew up a good "Christian" boy. Church every week, sometimes twice a week. A student leader for youth gatherings. Mission trips to domestic and international places of need. I prayed and read my Bible. I obeyed my parents. I never did drugs. Unfortunately, I think I spent more time learning the Gospel than living the Gospel. And I continue to suffer with this despicable disease.
It seems as though Shane Claiborne can relate. Quoting from a letter he received sometime ago, Shane echoes that we're living in days full of "unbelieving activists and inactive believers." Fortunately for his readers, Shane Claiborne is not just another guy teaching us how to live, he's showing us how to die.
This is a book for ordinary radicals. It's for "a generation that stops complaining about the church it sees and becomes the church it dreams of."
Continue reading "The Irresistible Revolution"
Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
September 15, 2007
John Wood the World Changer
Filed under: Reading Room
I don’t typically buy books from over-priced airport newsstands, but this week was an exception. I usually always have a backlog of magazines to catch up on (I subscribe to a couple dozen different publications), but for some reason, my stack was empty. So I faced a couple options for this trip to Nashville: 1) pull out the ‘ol laptop to catch up on work during this four-hour flight, or 2) rely on the in-flight movie option. As I made my way down the terminal toward the departure gate, a book caught my eye that was proudly displayed in a kiosk that protruded into the terminal walkway. Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood. I impulsively developed a third option: read a new book from start to finish on this trip.
And read I did.
The first 177 pages of this 260-page book were literally page-turners. I got choked up twice and that doesn’t happen to me very often (much to my wife’s chagrin).
Continue reading "John Wood the World Changer"
Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
July 9, 2007
Surnames
Filed under: Reading Room
One of the other things I liked about reading Benjamin Franklin was the tangents that Walter Isaacson goes of on. For example, Isaacson gives a little background about surnames, and how they were a reflection of their context. The upper classes tended to take on the names of their domains, like Lancaster or Salisbury. Tenants of the wealthy would reflect their own little turf of land like Hill or Meadows. Artisans would assume a title of their trade like Smith, Taylor, or Weaver. Franklin comes from the Middle English word "frankeleyn" which means freeman.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
July 8, 2007
Benjamin Franklin
Filed under: Reading Room
I don't make a habit of picking up books with more than a few hundred pages, but I've been wanting to read former Time editor Walter Isaacson's 590-page Benjamin Franklin for quite some time. Thanks to a long flight back and forth between Israel last month, I was able to do just that.
"Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us," says Isaacson in the opening pages of this truly engaging read. I definitely appreciated the first half of the book more than the last half, most likely because the first half had so many details about Franklin and the historical events surrounding his life that I was not aware of.
Franklin is credited with doing a lot. From coming up with the idea for fire stations and libraries, to establishing the matching grant and the middle class, he would also, in January of 1751, start what is known today as the University of Pennsylvania.
In addition to being "American's best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, and business strategist...," Isaacson says Franklin was also "America's first great publicist who continued to reinvent himself."
Continue reading "Benjamin Franklin"
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
March 18, 2007
The Life I've Always Wanted
Filed under: Reading Room
Just finished reading The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg. Jamaica read it several years ago with a small group she was a part of. I don't remember her sharing much of the journey with me as far as what she was learning from the book. Had she shared just a few glimpses I would have read this thing a long time ago. In terms of spiritual formation, this book is incredible. I've been a fan of Dallas Willard--another spiritual formations author--for a long time, but every time I attempt to read his stuff, I get a little lost. He's just too smart for me. John Ortberg is kind of like Dallas Willard for dummies.
In The Life You've Always Wanted, Ortberg does a masterful job at framing up what a spiritual journey can look like against the backdrop of now. This is not about studying monks and monasteries, attempting to re-order a life that is caught between traffic jams, long days at the office and marriage problems. Quite the contrary. This book is really about re-ordering the heart so that the realities of today are filtered through the lens of celebration, "slowing," prayer, serving, confession, reflection and suffering.
Continue reading "The Life I've Always Wanted"
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
March 17, 2007
This Beautiful Mess
Filed under: Reading Room
Last month I read the book This Beautiful Mess by Rick McKinley. I never wrote about it because I didn't quite know what to say. The book was a major kick in the butt for me, especially in light of Jamaica and I living down here in the city. The mess is life. The beauty is God. The conflict is in the mash-up of the two. They are not mutually exclusive.
Jamaica wanted to read the book as soon as I was done. I really didn't want her to because now we would both be held hostage to the words churning in our heads and hearts.
I still don't know what to write about. All I know is that we're in this city for a purpose. And that purpose has to be more than just a shorter commute to work, a better view and great restaurants within walking distance.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
February 13, 2007
Mind Your X's and Y's
Filed under: Reading Room
Last week I finished reading Mind Your X's and Y's by Lisa Johnson. I wrote a review over on Personality's site, as well as a follow-up post that made me giddy about how well Personality is positioned for the next generation.
The wisdom from this book will come in handy for so many things I am working on now, including the Foursquare NextGen Summit. If you're interested in how the next generation is going to interact with the world, this is a great look ahead.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
January 31, 2007
Vital Friends
Filed under: Inspiration
Finished reading Vital Friends by Tom Rath earlier this month. Tom is a Gallup guru so the book is driven by deep research and analysis.
The premise is that we spend too much time focusing on the wrong kind of relationships in our lives. We focus a lot on psychology (our relationship with ourself), sociology (our relationship with groups), and anthropology (our relationship to culture). We spend very little time focusing on that one-on-one relationship with another person.
Rath started his initial research when he was working on a Gallup project about homelessness. He found that the reason many people become homeless was due to a relationship with someone (perhaps the last and only relationship they had left) that was lost. Perhaps a spouse who gave up, children who won't talk to them anymore, or a parent who has resolved to let the child fend for themselves. Furthermore, Rath found that many people get out of being homeless because someone began and cultivated a relationship with a homeless person.
It was the absence of a one-on-one relationship that resulted in homelessness. It was the presence of a one-on-one relationship that resulted in home-full-ness.
Continue reading "Vital Friends"
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink