Today I got my copy of Reggie McNeal’s Missional Renaissance: Changing the scorecard for the church. To be honest, I don’t really know with this book is about. As a new member of the staff at Maple Grove Evangelical Free Church I know that this was a book that I was encouraged to read, since everyone else had already read it. Looking forward to expanding my mind! As the old saying goes: “Leaders are readers.”
I’ll admit.
This guy stirs all kind of musical lust jealousy inside of me. And any guy who has played guitar for Steve Perry is cool with me!
What even proked this post? This video.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B300gQkgDS0]
Then I bought this album.
“Dear Lord…make me a guitar player please! Amen.“
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In two weeks I leave the wonderful state of Florida to be part of the “Frozen Chosen!” I had a friend of mine on facebook talking about fried cheese curds and it got me thinking about food (which isn’t a hard thing).
So I thought to myself, “What am I going to miss about Florida, and what am I looking forward to in MN?” The next few posts will be dedicated to what I will miss about Florida and what I’l look forward to in MN.
I will miss your sweet tea, Chick-Fil-A
I will miss your perfectly fried Chicken with no pickle and loads of ketchup and mayo.
I will miss the waffle fries and the nuggets I steal borrow from my daughter’s stash while mom isn’t looking.
I will miss sharing the 0.99 soft serve ice cream with my wife.
I look forward to your original root beer, Culver’s
I look forward to your equally unhealthy butter burgers that drip of grease and butter goodness.
I look forward to eating fries and substituting fries for fried cheese curds because I have already given into the fact I won’t be eating “healthy” here.
I look forward to sharing a cup of frozen custard goodness with my wife again and my children who only think custard comes in a donut.
Going through my library I have found a couple books that I have reviewed in the past in an older blog, and this is a book that I wanted to share with you again. So here’s a review of a really great book that had the priviledge of reading a couple of years agod.
June 8, 2007
I have just finished George Barna’s new book, “Revolutionary Parenting: What the Research Shows Really Works
First, here’s what Barna defines what a spiritual champion is:
“…individuals who have embraced Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord; accept the Bible as truth and as the guide for life; and seek to live in obedience to its principles and in search of ways to continually deepen their relationship with God.”
“Spiritual champions donate unusually generous amounts of time and money to spiritually driven causes. They carefully screen the media they ingest and have a deep and intense commitment to their relationship with God and other Christians. On a daily basis they strive to change the world in small but life-impacting ways…”
He also alludes that those that are considered “Spiritual Champions” for research purposes are those who are not only active in the community of faith, but are Spiritual leaders with influence.
While most books come from a psychological and experiential premise, this was written solely from research data. Patterns of commonality were then placed in book form for practical application and information purposes. While to some, the data in this book may seem too rigid, it can also appear to the over controlling, “we like our little Christian bubble” as ammunition for defending their way of parenting. After a thorough read (and re-read) here are some things I gleaned from Revolutionary Parenting.
These are just a few things. I totally recommend this read to both parents and those who are committed to ministering to children, youth, and their parents.
As we’ve been preparing for our move to MN, we’ve been getting together with some friends for final farewells. I had borrowed this book from one of those couples and had actually forgotten that I still had it. So when I found it while packing I decided to give this book a review before it was gone forever =( I absolutely loved this book!
This is primarily a “missions oriented” book that helps prepare people who are planning to work with cultures that aren’t their own, but the implications of what this book communicates go way beyond just a “missionary’s paradigm” as I will explain later.
The author breaks all cultures down into what she calls
The idea is that neither culture is “better” than the other, but that if the goal is working together, there must be a respect and understanding of the opposite culture. This book is a REALLY QUICK READ. I read it in an hour. After reading it I realized that this book isn’t only helpful for people interested in missions work, but would be a great pre-marital counseling book for two people coming from different cultures…like my wife and I.
For instance, I am a Hot Climate culture and Leona is Cold climate.
Phil (Hot climate): “Let’s go over to our friends house and say hi!”
Leona (Cold climate): “We need to call first.”
Phil (Hot climate) : “Call? Why call? It’s our friend right? You don’t need to call to visit a friend!”
Leona (Cold climate): “It’s impolite to come over unannounced.”
Phil (Hot climate): “It’s rude to not go over to a friends house when it popped into your mind!”
I think you get the picture.
This is a really great book. Pick it up! It’s short and you can get it really cheap here at amazon.com
Deuteronomy 31:1-2
When Moses had finished giving these instructions to all the people of Israel, he said, “I am now 120 years old, and I am no longer able to lead you.
Note to self…
Even great leaders have an end.
If you lead to leave a legacy, it will go beyond yourself. If your leadership is about you – if you find yourself saying,
“This organization won’t make it without me!”
You fail.
Your end will come. And when you’re gone, your accomplishments will go with you. There are many unknown graves that hold memories of “great leaders” which will never be remembered -their stories never to be told again.
But if you succeed to leave a successor – if your leadership includes raising up others who will not only replace you, but do a better job than you – than there is a legacy for you to leave.
Dear God, thanks for using your Word to always give me a right perspective on the way I see my life, my world, my passions.
Amen.
The people who invented the blow up kiddie pool?
or
The dad who spends 30 minutes blowing it up with his own breath?
Doesn’t matter.
Yesterday I officially became a family man. While it’s not as cool The Griswold’s station wagon, it does have a luggage roof rack! Yes…
We bought a minivan.
After the birth of our second child, it became very apparent to us that sooner or later we were going to need more than a Mazda Protege to haul our kids around. So after much saving and strategic planning, we found ourselves in the position to buy a minivan – with cash!
Dave Ramsey says that paying with cash as opposed to paying with credit or financing actually causes pain. He is totally right. When we drove away in our minivan, I literally felt pain. It was the most money I have ever spent at one time.
But the price we paid with all the purposeful planning that was put into it made what was “painful” to do, a rewarding thing as well. Why?
I could give you all the financial reasons why it’s better to buy with cash than with financing or credit. Not because I am a financial guru, but because my personal experience with credit proves that I am an expert on the negatives. I KNOW how NOT to manage your money.
Back to what I was saying…what we did and how we did it (purchasing a minivan) was extremely rewarding because I came to an epiphany on the way home. And what was that?
Why? Because we are, by nature, beings that love familiarity. We love keeping things the way they are. We don’t like to have our boats rocked. Growing up means rocking the boat. It means confronting the lies which tell us we are ok and realizing that we need to grow.
In college, I was very EXTREMELY immature. (I know…my wife would banter back, “WAS?”) I honestly didn’t see it…or at least I was unwilling to recognize it and admit it. That was until one day, a professor of mine who I had built a good relationship with pulled me into their office. This professor was leaving and it was their last day at the university I was attending. So I could tell that what this person was pulling me into their office to tell me was important. So what happened?
My professor placed me in front of the mirror and said,
“Phillip. I want you to look at yourself and say, ‘I am immature.’ ”
At first, I was, “You’re crazy!” but I complied and said it. Then my professor again said with even more resolve, “No…I really want you to look at yourself and say ‘I am immature’ “.
I got it. And it hurt.
I wish I could say that I totally became the most mature person in the world – but I was far from that…still am. But I am grateful for all the people who cared about me and confronted me on my “areas of improvement” as well as the many life situations which have stretched me into becoming the man I am today. After all, no one I personally know and admire has become what they are by being a Toys-R-Us kid!
So bring on the pain!
(I just wished I could have gotten wood paneling!)
Recently my oldest son, Brennan (2 yrs), has occasionally been coming out of his room at nap time or bedtime saying,
“Daddy! Scared…berry scared!”
I look up to the top of the stairs, where he’ll inevitably be standing, and I can see him trembling with lips pouting. Like any concerned parent, I make my way up to him and ask,
“What are you scared of?”
To which he replies,
“Da birds…scared-ed da birds”
I’ll admit it. I don’t like to see my son like that, and it even pangs me to write about it. But I do enjoy the fact that even in this moment of concern,
So in a way, I appreciate “da birds,” wherever they are. I still haven’t seen “da birds” or even know what he may be referring to. But I’ll take any opportunity to be what only I can be for him…
Daddy