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Book Review: Communicating for a Change

WOW! Those were my first words when I finished reading Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone who communicates on a regular basis. Let me be totally honest and say that I'm a bit bias because I believe Andy is the best preacher in America.

Andy gives an honest, practical look at preaching, but he challenges us to ask the question, "What are we trying to do with our messages?" Are we trying we just "Get through the material?" or "Trying to tell them everything about the text?" or are we trying to "communicate so people change? What I love about Northpoint is just how practical they are and how they have an ability to look at everything from a different point of view.

Honestly, I couldn't give you pithy quotes from the book because 1/2 of the sentences in this book now have underlines, highlights, or stars next to them. I believe whatever your style of teaching is, you can learn a lot from this book. The idea is to present your topic in a way that's engaging. It's not about watering anything down, or throwing out good content. It's about communicating one truth at a time.

I adopted the one point method of communicating about 2 1/2 years ago and it has helped me immensely and made me much more effective. I have talked to many Pastors about it, and I'm thrilled that now there's a resource I can refer them to. 5 Stars!!! Buy this book now!

Book Review: "Choosing to Cheat" and a Couple of personal thoughts

I just finished Choosing to Cheat by Andy Stanley. This book is an absolute must-read! It is an important book especially for those in ministry, because the lines of ministry and God get blurred sometimes for us.

I was talking to someone recently and telling him about how Pastors' kids are sometimes the most out of control kids in the church. He asked why. I said, "Because dad isn't ever home. He's always counseling other people and fixing their families." All the while, the Pastor's family is waiting for him to come home.

Guys, this may seem basic to some, but let me just say it. If you're a Senior/ Lead Pastor, consider the following:

#1 - Don't give out your home or cell number to everyone - This is insane. Everyone doesn't need this kind of access to you. Instead, teach people to walk with God. If they really have a problem, give them the church number and they can make an appointment.

#2 - People don't have to meet with you - Quite honestly, I think this is an ego thing for Pastors. "I'm the minister, so they need me!" People need God, not you, per se. I do very little counseling, not because I don't like meeting with people. I do little because my responsibilities limit my time, but we have staff that are better at it than I am. They are more gifted than I am. That doesn't bother me. I rejoice that the people in our church can get the best ministry possible and I'm with that not being from me.

#3 - Your family needs you - I have the most understanding wife in the world. She has never complained when I have come home late or taken on another speaking engagement or agreed to be on the board of a church plant or had another late meeting. But last year I decided I was going to scale back and am in the process of doing so. Pastors last about 5 years if they don't pace themselves. I plan on serving God my entire life. So pace is important.

Anyway, the book is great. It's simply an exposition of Daniel 1 and the application is work and home. I highly recommend this to anyone who has a family and a job. It's a great book that helps create balance between your job and your family. 5 stars!

Book Review: The Multi-Site Church Revolution

I just finished reading "The Multi-Site Church Revolution" by Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird. I really enjoyed it. I think what I enjoyed the most was that the book fired me up to go multi-site.

In a city like Miami, the idea of buying a huge piece of property and building a big building isn't really reality. Plus, the traffic isolates sections of the city, so I think this is a vision of the future for us. How and when I have no idea.

But I will say this, when I decide to go multi-site, I will read this book again because this book gives a person the step-by-step process to getting a 2nd 3rd, or 20th site going. Also, I loved how the book emphasized what type of staff and leadership is needed to get another site going.

Lastly, I enjoyed how they interviewed churches that are approaching multi-site ministry is completely different ways. This is not a cookie cutter approach at all. Instead, it's more of a variety pack showing the many ways to expand a growing ministry that desires to reach more people for Jesus.

Book Review: Chazown

I just finished reading Chazown: A Different Way to See Your Life by Craig Groeschel from Life Church and let me say: Awesome! This book was so needed. As I was reading it, I said to myself, "I need to buy a copy of this book for every person in our church!" That's how good this book is.

The main idea is that God has a very specific Chazown (Vision) for your life. The brilliance of this book is in Craig's ability to walk you though a process of discovery, so when you finish the book you have a real handle on what God has created you to do.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. I was so blessed by reading the book. I'm actually thinking of teaching a series of message based on the book. It's a fun read. Craig is very witty,engages you with great stories, and challenges you with probing questions. 5 Stars! Buy it, right now! Plus, you can buy my book and his as a bundle on Amazon.

Book Review: Why Men Hate Going to Church

I finished reading "Why Men Hate Going to Church" by David Murrow. I bought this book because several people recommended it to me.

Honestly, it took me about a 100 pages to get into it. But I really enjoyed the book. Funny enough, the emotion I felt while reading the book was freedom! There was always a part of me that thought I wasn't spiritual because I despise holding hands with people (other than my wife) when I pray. So when Christians want to get into a circle and have men hold hands just creeps me out.

I have not been able to look at church the same since reading the book. And I don't think I ever want to. I highly recommend this book to church leaders who want to reach men. Statistically, if you reach the man, you reach the family. I'm not trying to be chauvinistic, it's just the facts. Anyway, pick up the book and the way you view church will change as well. 5 stars!

Book Review: Frequently Avoided Questions

I started reading Frequently Avoided Questions by Chuck Smith Jr. and Matt Whitlock a few months ago. I was so impressed by the first 75 pages that I bought a copy for my entire staff. We started reading a chapter a week and discussing the thoughts that Chuck and Matt brought up. What transpired was some meaningful dialogue that stretched our faith and inspired new ideas.

While I didn't agree with everything that as written, that's not the point of the book. The point was to start looking at the questions with a new perspective. While I think Chuck and Matt are a bit too hard on the "old school" believer and a little too romantic in their view of the "New School", their passion for how believers should relate to those that don't follow Jesus is right.

I loved this book. I think every thinking Christian needs to read this book. Not because the book gives us all the answers, but because it leads us to asking better questions... 5 Stars!

Book Review: Breaking the Missional Code

I just finished "Breaking the Missional Code" by Ed Stetzer and David Putman. It was a really good book. I got several good ideas, but most importantly I got several questions that I need to ask myself and my staff.

These guys are doing it, having planted churches and leading growing churches in their respective communities. I have to tell you, I'm over it with guys writing books on how to do church who have never done it. These guys are doing it, so this isn't theory. It's experience form the blood, sweat, and tears of planting missional communities of faith.

I think the book is a little too long and they repeat themselves several times. I don't think that's their fault. I think a better editor would have cut it down a bit. Perhaps that was the intended effect, but I wanted to more on to new content. That aside, I highly recommend the book.

Who should read it? Church planters for sure. Read this before you decide to plant your church and you will save yourself a world of pain. Pastors and church leaders could learn a lot from this book in learning how to exegete their communities. Great job guys! 4.5 stars!

Book Review: Confessions of a Reformission Rev.

Tally and I traded for Confessions of a Reformission Rev. by Mark Driscoll because I couldn't find a copy of it in all of Miami. I searched high and low for it and no stores had it (The 2 Christian bookstores in Miami didn't carry it and none of the big chains did either). Anyway, this book I purposely read slow because I wanted to milk it for all it's worth. The book was amazing. I loved the raw tone in which Driscoll speaks. I appreciated the sarcasm probably a little too much! But I loved the book because it was real and he opened himself up in a way that most people run away from.

Most Pastors just fake it when things aren't going well. We put on a smile, throw around some Christianeze and head for the nearest fast-food drive thru to drown our sorrows. But I totally appreciate what Mark wrote and the candor in which he wrote it.

Here's what I got out of it: (And every guy that wants to start a church needs to hear this) CHURCH PLANTING IS HARD!!! I've never met a person who said it was easy and if they did, they are independently wealthy and only have 5 people in their church!

Church planting only looks easy to people who have never done it. And Driscoll has done it in an area where most have failed! Mad props! 5 Stars!!!

Book Review: The Radical Reformission

I think the highest compliment I can give The Radical Reformission is the same thing I think when I hear a great song: "I wish I had written that." The book is that good! Driscoll is insightful, witty, and like me, he probably TiVo's "The Best Week Ever" so he can OD on pop culture.

I don't know if I've connected with a book as much as I connected with this one in quite a while. It was amazing to read a book about ministry and to look at what you're doing and realize that intuitively you're doing a majority of what was written. That was incredible. I feel a real sense of connection to Mark's message (Him being America's #1 most unchurched city and me being in America's 2nd most unchurched city).

I think every Senior Pastor needs to read this book. I think you shouldn't be allowed to plant a church without reading this book.

I love his insights on the ministry in relation to the Gospel, Church, and culture. The beer chapter was hilarious! His exegesis of Acts 17 was fantastic.

My fear is that is many circles of the church, people are trying to create 'Cookie cutter' churches that look exactly the same. In my tribe, this is highly promoted officially and unofficially you're looked down upon for not conforming.

I felt like this book has been saying what I've been saying to my tribe: That you can't be a cookie cutter and be effective. Every church by nature has to be different because every area is different. To be led by the Spirit doesn't mean you're going to do things exactly the same way as everyone else. That's presumptuous to say the least.

It's no surprise Mars Hill is reaching thousands in an area that's a wasteland for churches. Like Paul, they are interpreting the culture and using that as the starting point for sharing the Gospel. The Gospel doesn't change one iota. Only our starting place must change based on where people are. To not take your local culture into consideration is foolishness in pastoring and leadership.

I give the book 5 stars because it not only affirmed what we are are doing at CF, but it also challenged me to invite our church to be more involved in the process as well.

Book Review: Sheet Music

I just taught a message on Sunday about sex and intimacy, so I picked up "Sheet Music" by Dr. Kevin Leman to do some research. What a great book! I have recommended it to several friends and folks in our church. Sex is such an important part of any marriage and yet it's a subject that's rarely talked about.

I was amazed at how open Dr. Leman is about his own sex life and how frank he is in answering some questions that would make some people blush. This is not a book just for couples who have lame sex lives. This is a book for couples, period. A lot of the book is a challenge for couples to be open with their spouse about what they want and need. I feel the book is going to give a lot of couples permission to be more adventurous sexually. Anyway, I could on and on, but I would highly recommend you read it. 5 stars!