Summer Reading

I had a few friends who I spent time with this Summer talking about life & leading . . . but much of my learning was through friends I've never met.

I read about 10 books this Summer and in a couple of different blogs I want to share two of them that had the great impact on me and my thinking.

The first is Untamed by Alan & Debra Hirsch. I'm asking all of our Creeker leaders to read it and would encourage everyone to.

What I love about Untamed is that Hirsch unclutters what it means to really follow Jesus.

He gets at the core of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

And he refuses to let us relax in an ordinary, irrelevant, religious meaning of 'Christian.' It just ain't what Jesus died for.

Here are a few (of the many) great quotes from Untamed:

"If God is not the defining center of our faith, life and identity, then who or what is? This is a question that should disturb each and everyone of us."

"The fact is that you can't be a disciple without being a missionary: no mission, no discipleship. It's as simple as that."

"Worship is no less than offering our whole world back to God."

"Instead of looking at holiness as a list of 'don'ts,' see it as a list of 'do's'."

"The very language of 'getting fed' at church betrays the fact that many attendees are not disciples at all, but rather passive (and somewhat dependent) consumers."

"As followers of Jesus, we must embrace our God-given identity, for it is as we embrace the imago Dei and live out this image that we come alive to ourselves, to others, and to the world around us."

Get it and read it!

Different But the Same

Recently Aaron Schaub stuck a book in my hands called Same Kind of Different as Me.

I get a lot of books. I started it one night before bed . . . and ended up being up realllllly late.

If you don't want to be challenged in your assumptions about people who are different from you, then don't read it.

It's a true story about two people from two different socio-economic and racial worlds. It's a story about how lives are transformed when we truly seek to understand others . . . especially those who are different.

Setting Your Mind

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." (Romans 8:5)

Back in this verse again.

In the past couple of months my reading outside of the Bible has been minimal. One of the ways that I stay fresh and challenged and even mentored is by reading. Yes, reading biblical/theological works, but also reading good leadership books, business stuff that stimulates my entrepreneur side, imaginative fiction. . . .

This morning I was thinking about how I'm responsible to keep my mind fresh and creative with all kinds of things that stimulate the creativity of the Spirit . . . And again primary is God's Word. Foundational. Essential. It is my measuring stick for everything else.

But also allowing God to use fresh thinking from many disciplines of life gives me life!

All the Parts Are There

We all ask the question - probably daily - 'Are all the parts really there?'
Is it true what I've been saying the last two Sundays in the Family Circus messages that God has made all the parts available (i.e. Apollo 13 clip) so that our families can experience the hope and oneness that they are made for?

In a word, Yes. Is it easy, No. Is it worth it, Heck Yes!

I obviously don't have all the answers. I do know we have to fight.

There are many people who have influenced me (and Cindy) in our fight for our family, I wanted to share some of the advice of some of our mentors with you. Specifically these are folks who have mentored us - as parents - through print. These are books I would highly encourage you to read as you look for the parenting parts [After putting the books in below I realized how often I said 'awesome' or 'great' or 'powerful' . . . because these are the very best of what we read and they ALL ARE awesome!]:


- Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp - This was the genesis for Cindy and I in understanding that it's not about controlling, or even just guiding, our child's behavior - but it's all about seeing their heart's changed! If you don't 'get it' here - you won't get it.

- Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson - All I can say is 'Read it Dads!' And read it as soon as you can! And then read it again (I think I've read most of it 3 times)

- How to Really Love Your Child by Ross Campbell - Simple and powerful

- God's Design for Sex - by Stan & Brenna Jones - Series of 4 books that you read with your child and were awesome in helping us talk with our kids about sexuality. And parents if you ignore this area, somebody else won't! These are great - first start at age 3-5 and all are very appropriate for their age development.

- Ready for Responsibility by Bob Barnes - This book speaks so practically about helping our children to learn responsibility in critical areas. He's the first one who made me think about: 'Are we raising our children to be children, or to be adults?' Again, awesome stuff.

- Raising a Modern Day Knight by Robert Lewis - A game plan for raising our sons. Do you have a plan Dad or are just gonna 'wing it'?

- The Five Love Languages of Teenagers by Gary Chapman - Has (and is) really helped us in recent past . . . Awesome in helping to understand transition to adolescence and the different needs of teens. Has sections for single parents and blended families.

- Choices by Mary Farrar - For women wanting to make God's priorities her priorities, inlcuding but not limited to being a mom. [by Cindy and one of her all-time 'top of the list' books!]

- And Then I had Kids by Susan Alexander Yates - A great dose of encouragement for moms! Filled with honest, practical, Biblical wisdom for moms with young children. [by Cindy]