New Book – “Revolutionaries” by Matt Brown

Just wanted to let you know about a new book that I am more than excited about – Matt Brown’s “Revolutionaries”. I will be writing a more extensive review soon, but let me just say that you need to go buy this book. Matt is a living example of what he writes. He is a man of prayer, passion, and is doing great things for the Kingdom of God.

I guarantee you – this book will challenge and inspire your faith.

Head over here to get the book!

DS

Helps on Morning Prayer (Paul Miller)

I am currently reading Paul E. Miller’s book, “A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World”. Wow. I am hooked. Extremely practical teaching on prayer. Deeply Biblical. And my favorite – short chapters! It’s also very comfortable to hold. I’m convinced that when a book is attractive to the eye and comfortable in the hands, people will be more apt to finishing it. That may actually be an epidemic in our day – unfinished books. Just kidding.

Anyway, I loved his list of helps on ‘praying in the morning’. No, you don’t HAVE to pray in the morning, but I believe it is essential to a God-centered day. Here we go:

• Get to bed – what you do in the evening will shape your morning. The Hebrew notion of a day as the evening and morning helps you plan for prayer. If you want to pray in the morning, then plan your evening so you don’t stay up too late. The evening and the morning are connected.
• Get up – praying in bed is wonderful. In fact, the more you pray out of bed, the more you’ll pray in bed. But you’ll never develop a morning prayer time in bed. Some of my richest prayer times are at night. I’ll wake up praying. But those prayer times only began to emerge because I got out of bed to pray.
• Get awake – Maybe you need to make a pot of coffee first or take a shower.
• Get a quiet place – Maybe a room, a chair, or a place with a view. Or maybe you do better going for a walk. Make sure that no one can interrupt you.
• Get comfortable – Don’t feel like you have to pray on your knees. For years I was hindered from praying because I found it so uncomfortable to pray on my knees.
• Get going – start with just five minutes. Start with a small goal that you can attain rather than something heroic. You’ll quickly find that the time will fly.
• Keep going – consistency is more important than length. If you pray five minutes every day, then the length of time will slowly grow. You’ll enjoy being with God.

Why We Love the Church

Just finished reading Keven DeYoung & Ted Kluck’s new book, “Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion.” With all the numerous ‘church-as-we-know-it-sucks’ books out there, this was a refreshing read. I read a lot of books and it seems that everybody is always ticked off at somebody. This book is a bit of a reaction to George Barna, Leonard Sweet, Brian McLaren, Donald Miller, & emerging church types.

Aside from the playful banter, I came away from this book with a renewed appreciation for my church and a stronger desire to serve there. I will leave you with some wise counsel from Kevin:

“Find a good local church, get involved, become a member, stay there for the long haul. Put away thoughts of revolution for a while and join the plodding visionaries. Go to church this Sunday and worship there in spirit and truth, be patient with your leaders, rejoice when the gospel is faithfully proclaimed, bear with those who hurt you, and give people the benefit of the doubt. While you are there, sing like you mean it, say hi to the teenager no one notices, welcome the blue hairs and the nose-ringed, volunteer for the nursery once in a while. And yes, bring your fried chicken to the potluck like everyone else, invite a friend to church, take the new couple out for coffee, give to the Christmas offering, be thankful someone vacuumed the carpet, enjoy the Sundays that click for you, pray extra hard on the Sundays that don’t, and do not despise ‘the day of small things’ (Zech 4:10)” (226-227).

Amen.

New Francis Chan book

Looks to be a good read.

Current Reads

Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs – Bill Hybels

Bill is such a wise man and leader. This book is great because the chapters are two pages and very practical. Almost done!

Servolution: Starting a Church Revolution Through Serving – Dino Rizzo

Just got this book off of my friend, Nick Poole. It comes highly recommended from some great leaders. I love the theme as well. Should be good.

The Cross & Christian Ministry – D.A. Carson

I’m revisiting this one because I never finished it. This is a hardcore exegetical work that is said to be one of the best theological books on ministry…ever. Don’t read this when you’re tired. You probably won’t make it.

The Living Church: Convictions of A Lifelong Pastor – John Stott

Loving this. John Stott is a hero to so many pastors and his perseverance as a pastor over many years is awesome.

Just Do Something

I just finished reading a very insightful book about the will of God. It’s called “Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will or How to make a decision without dreams, visions, fleeces, impressions, open doors, random Bible verses, casting lots, liver shivers, writing in the sky, etc.” by Kevin DeYoung.

Quite a title, huh?

For the most part, I was highly encouraged and motivated by what I read. Kevin drives home the thought that in the name of ‘waiting on God’ for His perfect will, we are being inactive and simply don’t know how to make decisions. He says we shouldn’t wait on God’s will of direction, but should simply obey His Word and make decisions for His glory. Focus on what the Bible says you should focus on instead of waiting for something that may never come.

I believe this is true, but I also believe we should ask God to reveal His perfect will as we remain active in what we already know is good.

Check this book out. It will challenge your thinking!

In Real Time: Authentic Young Adult Ministry as it Happens

I’m in the process of reading an enlightening book on young adult ministry. It is written by Mike Glenn who is the senior pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church near Nashville, TN. Mike teaches at Kairos, the young adult ministry that meets every Tuesday night.

While I haven’t yet finished the book, I love his insights into our current young adult culture. The more I read it the more I’m saying, “Yes! That’s right!” I will leave some quotes on the blog as I continue through the book.

“While they [young adults] may not know what kind of father or husband they should be, they know what kind of father or husband they don’t want to be. They may not know what kind of mother or wife they want to be, but they know what kind they don’t want to be. Abandonment is a huge issue for this generation. So the young adult knows only, “I don’t want to live like that.” The problem is you can’t live against. You have to live for.”

“Humility: True Greatness” – C.J. Mahaney

Just finished another great book by C.J. Mahaney. Here are some highlights for me:

• Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.
• If you’re like me, you compare yourself to others and look for opportunities to claim greater importance than them, just as the disciples did.
• True greatness, biblically defined: Serving others for the glory of God.
• You should have a practical list to daily weaken pride and cultivate humility.
• “Fill your affections with the cross of Christ that there may be no room for sin” – John Owen
• How we begin our morning so often sets the tone for the day. I’m convince that the most decisive time of our day is very often our first waking moments, because they color everything to come.
• “Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• Only those who are humble can consistently identify evidences of grace in others who need adjustment.
• Some of the greatest manifestations of power I’ve seen are individuals who suffer greatly and yet aren’t complaining.
• In interacting with you, what is your spouse more aware of – evidences of grace you’ve noticed, or the need for change and growth?
• If you aren’t faithful to encourage, you can be sure you will eventually exasperate your child.
• Every conversation has potential. So let us pray, “Lord, help me discern what kind of grace this person needs.”
• What do your words reveal about your spirit? What report are your words filing about the condition of your soul?
• Are you regularly informing others of your temptations and sins, or do you present to them a carefully edited and flattering version of yourself?
• Parenting is about preparation
• If you’re a parent, don’t celebrate anything more than you celebrate Godly character.
• I never do anything passively. I’m never just observing. I always seek to impart discernment.

“Jesus Driven Ministry” – Ajith Fernando

Just finished a very encouraging book – Ajith Fernando’s “Jesus Driven Ministry”. Ajith has been the Youth for Christ director in Sri Lanka for over 25 years. Having never read any of his writings, I was impressed by the practicality and genuineness of his writings. He is a man very dedicated to the Lord and focused on daily obedience.

Alongside his many personal life stories, I loved how each chapter was an exposition of Scripture. From practical teaching on casting out demons and praying for the sick, to retreating from activity, to prayer, to being saturated in the word, he led me through the earthly ministry of Jesus and taught me how to have a truly enduring ministry.

Highly recommended.

“Living the Cross Centered Life” – C.J. Mahaney

Just finished reading this remarkable book. What I loved about it was how practical it was, yet it wasn’t simply ’self-help’. It was the Gospel. C.J. tells us to view every area of our lives through the lens of the Gospel. Easy to read and extremely challenging.

I wanted to leave you with his 5 points for living a Cross-centered day. As he writes, “A cross-centered life is made up of cross-centered days.”

1. Memorize the Gospel
2. Pray the Gospel
3. Sing the Gospel
4. Review How the Gospel Has Changed You
5. Study the Gospel

Every day we need to preach the Gospel to ourselves. In all reality, this may be the most important thing we do.