April's books

I want to read 4 books a month.  

I only read three this month but I am okay with that.  Eat this book, was absolutely awesome!  I studied it more than read it.  It has really renewed my passion for the scriptures and opened up my eyes to the importance of translation.

I believe that is why my teaching/preaching resonates with my listeners.  I take the language of the bible and translate it through verbal and non-verbal communication into the language of today.  I pray that God enables me to do this more and more as I mature.

I want to make the eternal, relevant.  The bible was not written for sages and philosophers.  It was written in the common language for the common man and woman.  Jesus spoke the language of carpenters and prostitutes not politicians, judges, or priests.

I can't wait to preach tonight!

I can already tell I'm gonna piss some people off.

Ready for a drive?

If you can't see what book he is reading, it is "How good is good enough?" by Andy Stanley

Just another reason I can't wait to go to the Drive Conference, in two weeks.  Andy Stanley's influence and insight's are huge!

My wife and I are so excited!  

We are expecting to be blown away and have our faces rocked off!

March's Books

I have a goal this year to read 4 books per month.  I am doing pretty well so far but it is getting a lot more difficult with my schedule spinning out of control.

I wish I had someone who could help me with my scheduling.

Anyway, here are the books I read this month.

The go-giver

I read a book last week by Bob burg and John Mahn called The Go-Giver, and it was really good. To put it very simply, The book is a parable about someone trying to be more successful and juxtaposes a Go-Getter vs. a Go-Giver.

It is a book on business/personal success principles but in reality nearly every principle is founded in the Scriptures.  I found it to be a quick and very encouraging little book.  I am more and more intrigued by these "little" books that have a way of being so powerful.  Who moved my cheese, the purple cow, the dip, making vision stick, all of these books have the power to change your life or outlook on life in one sitting.

Let me give you a quick overview of the principles found in The Go-Giver.

1.  The law of Value

         "Your true worth is determined my how much more you give in value than you take in payment"

         "Most people just laugh when they hear the secret to success is giving.  Then again, most people are nowhere near as successful as they wish they were."

2.  The law of Compensation

        "Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them."

"Your compensation is directly proportional to how many lives you touch."

"If you want more success, find a way to serve more people."

3.  The law of Influence

        "Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people's interests first."

4.  The law of Authenticity

        "The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself."

"No matter what you think you are selling, what you are really selling is you. You want great people skills?  Then be a person!"

5.  The law of receptivity

        "The key to affective giving is to stay open to receiving."

Februaries books

So I am one day late but here are the books that I read this month, cover to cover.  My goal was to read four per month but two of these were almost three hundred pages.  Throw in a state tournament and reading time drastically reduces.  All three were solid reads.

Januaries books

One of my goals for this year is to read four books per month cover to cover.  I succeeded in January.  Here is my list.

Deadly Viper Character Assassins

Yesterday, I found out that someone I know and respect as a Pastor has disqualified himself from leadership because of sin.  I do not want that to be me and I am going to do everything I can to put the checks and balances in my life to keep me on the right track.

Here is one step that I recommend.

This book is really good at getting the conversation going about character.  If you have ever tried to have an accountability partner in the past you have probably realized that it is not easy.  You rarely ask the questions that you should and even rarer still, open up about the mess in your life.  I have found that this book is good at getting us to open up and deal with the character assassins in our life.

The book was written for men, but ladies would probably get something out of it as well.

So get an accountability partner, get the book, and meet as often as you can to discuss.

I am meeting weekly or Bi-weekly with my partner.  I have decided that I am going to be proactive in guarding my character.  I am going after the character assassins in my life instead of sitting around waiting for them to kick my butt.

Join me in radical grace, and radical accountability.

If you are going to be an assassin of Character assassins, let me know with a comment!

Confessions of a Pastor

I just finished the book, "Confessions of a Pastor" by Craig Groeschel.  It was an easy read.  It made me laugh out loud in several different chapters, Craig is a hilarious guy or maybe I should say that hilarious things happen to him on a fairly consistent basis.  

The whole book is about dropping the pose, and getting real with God.  Craig has some ca-honey's!  He say's things in this book that people think but never have the guts to admit.  He talks about the difficulties in staying sexually pure and the steps he has made to guard his life from this potential destroyer.  He openly shares struggles, mistakes, and doubts regarding His personal relationship with Jesus Christ and His church.

The one over arching principle that I have learned from this book is, Transparency is a necessity for Christ Followers.  We need to stop playing games, stop wearing masks, and quit trying to fake it 'till we make it.  We need to get real with God, with others, and with ourselves.

This is the year of transparency for me.  I started a new relationship with an accountability partner, I'm in a small group, and I am going to lead this ministry to a new level of transparency.  We are going to be the Real Deal!  I do not want to turn into the guy who looks like he has everything together on the outside when in real life his wife hates him, his kids can't stand him, and he dreads going to church everyday.  There are many pastor's in the ministry today who are just like that.

What about you?  Do you struggle with dropping the pose and getting real with God, others, and yourself?   Are you living a transparent life?  Do you have a person who will ask you the tough questions and hold you accountable?  If not, what are you waiting for?

Deadly Viper Character Assassins

I started reading Deadly Viper Character Assassins last night and It's tight!

It is very easy reading, and the layout is killer.

The best thing about it though is that is looks freakin sweet while backhanding you in the throat. This is no soft, watered down, book on character. It attacks straight on, but doesn't leave you feeling like a failure for past mistakes.

This is definitely on my Must Reads for 2008! This video is a preview of one of the character assassin's. The Assassin of Zi Qi Qi Ren. We must not let our sin, stay in the dark. We must confess it to God, and a fellow warrior!

Refuse to stay in the dark any longer. These guys have a great blog as well, if your interested you can find it here.