Books @ Leadership Network

4 hour work week

A couple of weeks back I posted on the book The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich.  I was a little nervous posting this for a couple of reasons: 1) People would think I only want to work 4 hours a week; 2) That I want to join the new rich.  But I'm happy to tell you that those descriptors are a little misleading.  I do want to escape the 9-5, and I do want to join the "new rich."  But neither has anything to do about the hours one works or the amount of money one makes.  Instead, this book has really opened my eyes to some new insights that I find very practical in ministry.

Most of us who are in ministry are in some way entrepreneurial.  We manage programs and discipleship people, alternating time between the office, at home, with people, buried in work at Starbucks.  So as I read this book I realized that though I wasn't finding myself passionate about the automated, online businesses that he was suggesting, I was brainstorming about how to better use my gifts in ministry.  And his suggestions on fasting from media, looking at the 80/20 principle, minimalism/less is more mentality  and mini-retirements are something that I think would go a long way in helping one be better prepared and refreshed for the work involved in ministry.

This book was a suggestion by many others that I respect, and now that I have finished reading it, I'm glad to say that it was worth it.  There will be pages, and sometimes chapters that may or may not interest you, or that you may find yourself disagreeing with, but overall I think there are some important concepts that you will walk away with.

If you have read the book, tell me what you think.  If anything, it's important that we every once in a while read something that so turns traditional methods on their heads.  Doing so helps us re-evaluate our own life, ministry, methods, etc., and gives us an opportunity to look at the paradigm we are operating in and to ask ourselves if it's the right one.

Focal Point

Focal Point by Brian Tracy is a great book about being productive and accomplishing the objectives you set out to complete. Brian's time management stuff in this book is great and the insight he gives into goal setting is worth the price of the book.

Here's a few of my favorite quotes:

- “You are no longer rewarded for the hours you put in, but what you put into those hours.”

- “Personal responsibility is the preeminent trait of leadership.”

- “Half of the average person’s working time is simply wasted.”

- “People who value themselves allocate their time carefully.”

- “Perform more and more tasks of higher value and delegate, delay, outsource, and eliminate tasks of lower value.”

- “Errant assumptions are at the root of most failures.”

- “For a goal to effective in guiding behavior, it must be specific and measurable.”

- “...It is the quality of time at work and the quantity of time at home that matters.”

- “Your life only gets better when you get better.”

Anyway, there's probably 100 more lines like this. This is great book especially at the beginning of a year when you're setting goals seeking to establish objectives for 2008. I highly recommend it.

by Bob Franquiz

Pagan Christianity

Pagan Christianity is not only a logical sequence to Barna’s recent book, Revolution, it also is an interesting and accurate account of the historic events that have shaped today’s counterfeit form of Christianity.

Four sections tell most of their story:

“Healthy organic churches never produce a clergy system, a single pastor, a hierarchical leadership structure, or an order of worship that renders the majority passive. To our minds, such things… run contrary to New Testament principles.” Page 163

..there is a strong consensus among evangelical scholars that the early church did not have a clergy, did not meet in sacred buildings, did not take the Lord’s Supper outside of a full meal, did not have a fixed liturgy, and did not dress up for church meetings.” Page 165

“The ‘church meeting’ was devolving into a ‘service.’ Page 91

“Oratory tended to take the place of conversation.’ Page 92

Although the authors leave some wiggle room the only really logical conclusion of their arguments is the end of the institutional church. My central question or criticism of the book is can that form of Christianity, thrive in an institutionally based and concert driven world like the West? Whereas I agree the present form of Christianity we see today isn’t biblical, I still question whether what they suggest can survive much less thrive within our context.

So here’s my question: how can we take the unarguable truths in this book and apply them to our present day context? The West is very different from China under Mao. Even the house church there has evolved into more of an institutional form.

Their major criticism of today’s church, other than it being totally non-biblical is the passivity and the elitism of today’s Church. I agree the passivity and elitism of today’s church is deplorable and has to be addressed if Christianity is ever going be what Jesus wanted it to be. Every church leader ought to read this book and respond to its criticism of modern day Christianity with the goal of addressing the passivity and elitism of today’s church. Any positive movement away from these two sins of the church and this book has done its job.

The only place I totally disagree with the authors is in their argument about the non-biblical nature of the sermon. I agree that as it is practiced in most churches it is non-biblical but it doesn’t need to go. Preaching in the New Testament was never directed to the saints but to those who have not heard. Preaching isn’t an in-house exercise. It is to spread the Good News. If one is to preach in church it should be directed toward the non-believer. When Wesley took to the fields preaching he was following a long line of New Testament preachers.

Frank Viola is taking comments, questions, and criticisms at www.ptmin.org/pcobjections.htm

Bill Easum
www.easumbandy.com
easum@aol.com

The Forgotten Ways...

I've been chewing on Alan Hirsch's latest book, The Forgotten Ways, over the past few months. 

It's somewhat of a follow up to The Shaping of things to come by Hirsch and Michael Frost. It's a fairly dense read and Alan coins a number of new terms, which might be why it took me so long to dig through... but it was well worth it.

There are plenty of reviews around on the book, a few personal gems:

All great missionary movements begin at the fringes of the church, among the poor and the marginalized, and seldom, if ever, at the center.

An advertising executive recently confessed to me that they are now deliberately stepping into the void that was left by the removal of Christianity from Western culture... Much of that which goes by the name advertising is an explicit offer of a sense of identity, meaning, purpose, and community... If through advertising marketers can just link their products to this great unfilled void, they will sell.

If we don’t disciple people, the culture sure will

The fact that God was in the Nazarene neighborhood for thirty years and no one noticed should be profoundly disturbing to our normal ways of engaging mission.

Start with the church and the mission will probably get lost.  Start with the mission and it is likely that the Church will be found.

Alan offers a real primer on what it means for us to 'be the church' in the 21st century.

Lon Wong
http://solarcrash.com

Smart Couples Finish Rich

In preparation for the financial seminar I'm co-leading in February, I'm reading some financial books I haven't read. I loved "The Automatic Millionaire", so I decided to read Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach. What a great book!

This book is a great primer on understanding a lot of the financial terms that get thrown around. It gives a great strategy for putting together a strong financial plan that sets a couple up for retirement. Anyone who doesn't want to be dependent on Social Security during their retirement years needs to read this book and put a plan together. I highly recommend this book!

by Bob Franquiz

The 4-Hour Workweek

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, And Join The New Rich by Timothy Ferriss

You may ask yourself why I'm recommending this book.  Just based on the title there are some concerns for those in ministry like:

• Can you only work 4 hours a week in ministry?
• Is my goal to be rich, or join the "new rich"?

Keeping those questions in mind, this is the one book that I overhead talked about in more conversations this past month or two, and it was the one book recommeneded repeatedly again by those that I really respect.  So I figured, I need to read this book.

Though you will find this book irreverent in many places; raising ethical questions in others; I think there are some really important things to take away from this book. 

This book has helped me think through issues rgarding my own work productivity and efficiency in ministry.  Ministry is not the typical 9-5 job anyways, and I think because of that there is this need to "work4work's" sake, something that Timothy Ferriss is not a big fan of.  How often do we find ourselves generating meaningless work in ministry, so that we can justify our jobs.  When we spend the majority of our time outside of the office with people, there is a need to be in the office to put in our 9-5, even if it has little or no relationship to the work we are doing.

Ferris also raises other questions about pursuing work that we are really passionate about, rather than pursuing jobs that give us a money, security and ensure us a retirement at the end (something Ferriss is very against).  He also raises important questions about emphasizing strengths, rather than trying to improve on our weaknesses.  This is something not often emphasized in ministry and which I think leads to burnout.  If we can get people to emphasize their strengths we can better help them to pursue their passions, be productive, etc.  This also leads to more teamwork and collaborative efforts in my opinion, because we can compensate for people's strenghts and weaknesses in a group.

This is a book you will find yourself disagreeing with in many areas, and Ferriss's writing style and confidence/arrogance may rub you the wrong way, but I think it's a book worth reading.  There will be some important principles you will take away with you.  Most importantly I think it will turn the 9-5 on it's head which is something that needs to be done, or needs to be revamped as we move further and further into this internet age.

Have you read this?  Thoughts?

Pagan Christianity?

Tony Morgan reviews a new book by Frank Viola and George Barna about the house church movement. Here's an excerpt:

I just finished a review copy of Pagan Christianity? by Frank Viola and George Barna. This is a revised and updated version of the same book that Viola published in 2002. Basically, the book is an attack on the institutional church and Viola and Barna's attempt to portray the house church movement as the only biblical method for the church body to gather. In fact, the "final thought" that the book shares is a three-step process for people to leave their current church.

...

I'm sure for some people it's the expression of faith that best helps them experience biblical community and spiritual growth. Though it's not for me, it's just another reminder that it takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.

Great book review. Read the full book review of Pagan Christianity >>

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[errata: apologies for the wrong attribution in a previous version of this post]

The Mulligan

When I travel I often take along an "easy reading" book.  On a recent trip to San Antonio I decided to read, The Mulligan.  It is a parable, a story about second chances.  Written by Wally Armstrong and Ken Blanchard, it is a fun and thought provoking read.  And, as I had anticipated, the perfect kind of book for plane travel and relaxing time on a family vacation.

As I read, I enjoyed the story.  In particular I liked the Old Pro who offered simple wisdom and perspective on golf.  The lessons carried well from the links to life. 

One of the goals Wally and Ken have for this book is to help people who love golf, but don't yet know Jesus.  You might find this to be a helpful book for friends and family members who enjoy the game of golf and are still on their journey toward the Savior.

Books I Love to Give Away

Some books are gold! They offer so much wisdom, practical advice, or Spirit-given insight that I keep extra copies on my shelf so I can give them away. I always have a couple copies of these books waiting for the moment a need arises.

I would suggest you develop this discipline…it is a gift to those who receive the a great book at just the right time. If you do this, and have three or four books you believe are worth giving away, please let me know. I would love to review them and maybe they will become part of my literary arsenal.

Here are three of my favorite books to give away (I’ll share others in a future blog):

A Grace Disguised, how the soul grows through loss, by Jerry Sittser (Zondervan). I give this to people who have faced deep personal loss. Jerry lost his mother, wife and daughter all in one moment, when a drunk driver hit the van he was driving head-on. It is not so much a story of his loss as much as the journey forward that all of us face in our times of loss.

The Philippian Fragment, by Calvin Miller (IVP, out of print). I give this to leaders who are battling, how shall I say it, the “silliness” of the local church. I love the church, but we can be very silly sometimes, even painfully silly! I read this book every couple of years and laugh, learn, and cry each time I do so. I believe Calvin is one of the true Renaissance thinkers still serving in the American church and recommend all of his books highly. On a side note, sometimes amazing books go out of print…this is one such book. But, a few times a year I search local stores that have used books and snatch up all the copies I can get. I just checked and I have four copies on my shelf just waiting to be given away.

Jesus Driven Ministry, by Ajith Fernando (Crossway Books). This is a book for leaders who have lost their bearing on what ministry is all about. Ajith is a leader and servant to the church in Sri Lanka and his vision of ministry captures the heart of Jesus as well as anything I have ever read. This book is challenging and counter-cultural. When I sense a leader needs a fresh perspective on their call, this book is great medicine. I used this as a text for a seminary class I taught and the students were blown away!

I have other books that I keep on my shelf…I’ll introduce them at a later time.

Incarnation and the New Year

Many seekers and Christians alike are wondering what god they just met on Christmas Eve … and whether they will meet God again in the coming year. It is as if we made eye contact with the divine, blinked, and when we looked again God was gone. I finally read “Face to Face: Portraits of the Divine in Early Christianity” by Robin Margaret Jensen (Fortress Press, 2005) over the holidays and the insights will keep me thinking in the New Year.

Any worship designer or missionary interested in the power of images … and particularly portraiture … as a means of both remembering and experiencing the touch of the Holy will find this book powerful. Chapter 3 (“The Invisible God and the Visible Image”) and chapter 5 (“Portraits of the Incarnate One”) are particularly relevant for the post-modern, image-based learning methodologies of emerging churches. Struggles with idolatry and the yearning to touch … and be touched … by God fueled controversies about art and religion not only for the decorations of early church, but for the devotional lives of ordinary Christians.

I have always been interested in images as more than symbolic reminders. Ordinary faithful people experience images (and yes, sound bytes and video clips) as talismans through which the infinite reaches out to grasp the hearts of unsuspecting nerds walking down the aisle of their favorite technology store, or shake the souls of middle class families taking their kids to the movies. This book is so interesting because it explores the specific power of Christ’s image … not just any image, but images of Jesus. In the pre- and post-literate societies then and now, this book brings modern word-based, publicly educated, sermon-oriented Christians “face to face” with an undercurrent of popular devotion they chronically deny.

“Face to Face” is a book the goes beyond the power of words as a vehicle for evangelism and spiritual life. It helps me understand the growing “disconnect” between the academic world of “Practical Theology” and the actual world the way Christians really live it. The two groups barely communicate anymore. Perhaps the pastors, evangelists and small group leaders of tomorrow will be a new generation of “portrait artists” capturing … and being captured by … the image of Christ.

Tom Bandy