Rediscover Church by Jonathan Leeman and Collin Hanson (January) How to Reach the West Again by Tim Keller (January) The Family Firm by Emily Oster (January) Spirit and Sacrament by Andrew Wilson (January) Becoming Whole by Brian Fikkert and Kelly Kapic (January) Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen Kobes Du Mez (January) Personal Kanban by … Continue reading 2022 in Books
Books
A Non-Anxious Presence
Why does everyone seem so anxious these days? And how can pastors lead their congregations through these anxious times. Those are the questions that Mark Sayers attempts to answer in his book, A Non-Anxious Presence. Sayers first digs into the sources of the pervasive anxiety that seems to sit over the whole culture, even the … Continue reading A Non-Anxious Presence
How to Pastor a Small Church
Most churches are small. And most will stay small. If most churches will stay small, why are so many pastors using large church strategies and systems to pastor their small church? And how can small-church pastors apply strategies and systems that work for small churches? Those are the kinds of questions that Karl Vaters seeks … Continue reading How to Pastor a Small Church
Books I read in January 2022
January 2022 was a great reading month for me. Here are the books I read that month: Family Firm by Emily Oster Pretty good book on making decisions as a family. The first section on coming up with family values and having those guide your decision-making as a family was the best part of the … Continue reading Books I read in January 2022
The Family Firm by Emily Oster
Should you get your kid a phone? A seemingly simple question like that can be quite hard to answer. What kind of phone? A smartphone? A "dumbphone"? What will you say when your kid begins pestering you because all their friends have one? Emily Oster, in her book, The Family Firm: A Data-Driven Guide to … Continue reading The Family Firm by Emily Oster
Time Management for Mortals
Even though Oliver Burkeman is not a Christian, he has written a deeply Christian book. His book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, book could be summarized as saying, "You're not God!!" or as Moses wrote thousands of years ago, "Teach us to number our days, That we may present to You [God] a heart … Continue reading Time Management for Mortals
Disciples Making Culture by Brandon Guindon
Why churches begin with the best of intentions to make disciples only to drift off course, falling back in pragmatic or programmatic ways of thinking? Probably because there's a culture problem argues author Brandon Guindon. Guindon points out that strategies for making disciples don't set the culture of the church. It's the other way around: … Continue reading Disciples Making Culture by Brandon Guindon
The Big Rocks Lie
Productivity guru Stephen Covey popularized a very compelling illustration about prioritization in his book, First Things First, using a jar to represent a person's life. Typically, we haphazardly jam our lives to the full, placing in big rocks (our highest priorities), pebbles (middling priorities), and sand (things we don't really care about) in a jumbled … Continue reading The Big Rocks Lie
At Your Best by Carey Nieuwhof
Carey Nieuwhof has written At Your Best to help knowledge workers do what they are best at, at their best time. He first chronicles the difficulties that many people have today being overworked, overcommitted, and overstressed. He then confronts the lies we tell ourselves about our life: "To revive some semblance of hope amid all … Continue reading At Your Best by Carey Nieuwhof
When a Crisis Is Not a Crisis, But Sin
The crisis of leadership in our churches, businesses and governments is largely due to this one dilemma: men have been given power, but they are unprepared to handle it. The time of ruling is a tremendous test of character, for the king will be sorely tested to his influence in humility, for the benefit of … Continue reading When a Crisis Is Not a Crisis, But Sin