WestWay Staff's 2011 Study/Learning Highlights

(That could quite possibly be the most horrible post title ever, but there's really nothing else to call a post like this, so... you're stuck with it.)

At the end of last year, I asked the rest of the staff here at WestWay for some lists of what had impacted them over the past 12 months or so. I intended to make it sort of an end of the year summary, but that went the way of most of my family Christmas letters and was unfinished until now. Instead of just giving you a list of stuff we read, maybe this can open a discussion in your own life. What's God been showing you lately? What's He using to do that?

I asked each of the guys, "What authors/books stood out to you from this year's reading? How did God use them to shape your heart and your ministry? What speakers is God using in your life right now?" I want to share with you below some of what God has been showing us. Some of these resources would be a great place for you to continue your own growth as well. Get a few friends together and dig in.

Joe replied that he'd enjoyed an online audio series on the book of Revelation. The series was led by Shane Wood and can be found here in the free audio resources section. I also know that Joe enjoyed Mark Moore's Acts series that can be found at that same site a while back. If you're looking for some great teaching about the early church, and what it means to us 2000 years later, this is a great place to start. Joe also spent some time this year listening to messages from Francis Chan and Mark Driscoll, and he commented that "Their love and passion for taking Christ to the lost is contagious."

In his reading this year, Joe mentioned Soul Cravings from Erwin McManus, Elijah from Charles Swindoll, and Max on Life from Max Lucado. He noted that what stood out in these books was how God is in control and we can be willing even when we don't understand all the details of what He's doing.

Willie noted Max DePree's Leading Without Power, Jim Putman's Church is a Team Sport, Mike Cope's One Holy Hunger, and Juan Carlos Ortiz's Disciple. He said he was also encouraged or challenged by messages from Shane Philip of The Crossing in Las Vegas, Andy Stanley of North Point, Steven Furtick from Elevation Church, Erwin McManus of Mosaic, Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill, and Tom Gerdts of Rockingham Christian Church.

Shane said that 4 books came to mind:
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning was a great reminder that God's love and grace are so much bigger than our self-doubt and hate and shame. He desires the best for us.
Radical from David Platt and Sun Stand Still from Steven Furtick were both used to teach that God is strong and mighty and desires us to join Him in His holy plan. We need to follow and obey to the best of our abilities and depend on Him for the impossible.
Activate from Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas was a very practical book in planning for small groups ministry.

Marshall said, "I only read the red letters." Just kidding - he didn't say that at all. He did mention Celebration of Discipline from Foster, which he called the "best spiritual growth book I have studied," and Terry Bowland's Make Disciples (which offered some help understanding some steps to grow in our own discipline & help others at the same time).

For my own part, I'd put Platt's Radical at the top of the list. I haven't commented much about this book here because I'm still chewing on the implications, but this was definitely the highest impact book I read this year. It's very challenging to someone like me whose grown up in the church and just accepted as normal some things that Jesus would probably rather do without in His church. The American Dream has blurred the vision of the North American church in ways that we have to correct. Now. What kingdom are we working to build? This is a great book that you should read.

I also liked 10 Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing from Geoff Surratt. If you're serving the church in any kind of leadership capacity, it's a good look at some things to avoid. I posted more about it in a series of posts

I didn't ask about it, but if I had added film category, Love Costs Everything would be at the top of my list. It's an eye opening look at what it's like to follow Jesus in parts of the world where doing so is not the norm, but rather is a dangerous & persecuted act. We'll be showing the film here at WestWay on March 11th.

"Love Costs Every Thing" Trailer from CIY Move on Vimeo.

If I had to pick a theme from all of this from our staff, it would be digging in to the question of what it really means to be a disciple of Jesus. Pray with me that in 2012 we'll continue digging and finding what God wants to show us.

So, what's God teaching you?

Driscolls' Real Marriage - Review

Last week, I received a free copy of Mark & Grace Driscoll's Real Marriage from BookSneeze. Basically, the publisher sends bloggers free books in exchange for their honest reviews. (I haven't been required to give a positive review, just honest feedback.)

Having been married for 17 years, I'm always interested in teaching that deals with life together as husband & wife. We want our marriage to be continually growing, and that doesn't just happen by accident. Having worked in the church for most of that time, I'm also always looking for resources to help me help young people prepare for that life together as well. In addition to these reasons, I am usually pretty challenged by Driscoll's forthright approach, so was looking forward to the book.

It's broken into 3 sections, and while the 2nd one will get all the attention and spark a lot of debate (it's the section primarily about sex), I found a lot of more practical teaching in the 1st section, and some great points of discussion in the 3rd.

Part 1 is essentially focused on the relational aspect of marriage. It talks about improving your marriage by being a better friend to your spouse, understanding differences you may have with your spouse, and dealing together with the sin in your lives. There's a great emphasis on being more than just two people living parallel lives.

As I mentioned, Part 2 is about sex. I wonder how many readers will be either so distracted (because they're too focused on sex) or offended (because they don't want to hear anything about sex, or at least not that much) by this section that they'll miss out on a lot of really good stuff in the rest of the book. The Driscoll's didn't write to avoid criticism, so this section will be too much for some. Which is too bad, because the book has some helpful things to say about this important part of the marriage relationship. While many in the church are uncomfortable talking about sex, this section will probably swing the pendulum too far for some to find the real message.

Part 3 makes the point that the most important day of your marriage is the last one. This is a point I could not agree with more, and one that I emphasize with young couples a lot. Our culture places so much focus on the wedding day... but what about the last day? Will it be full of regrets or bitterness? Or will it be a day where life together can be celebrated even amidst the sorrow of the death of a spouse? The Driscolls give a great list of questions for couples to discuss as they seek to live a life that makes the last day the best day. This section of the book will lead to some great (if difficult) discussions and in my opinion is the highlight of the book. It's unfortunate that many will stop reading before they get here, or won't be willing to do the work to actually have this conversation.

Some critics will be put off by the Driscolls' frankness when it comes to talking about sex, but overall, I think Real Marriage could be a very useful tool. Going through the last chapter alone could be invaluable in helping young couples avoid becoming just one more set in the discard pile of broken marriages.

Kawasaki's Enchantment

You already knew that, right? Right? I've been reading Guy Kawasaki's Enchantment and this is the conclusion I'm forced to draw: I am enchanting. (Or at least I was until you read that statement!) Well at least my mom thinks so... and I passed a test to prove it. (This is going downhill already isn't it?)

In the interest of full disclosure, and in deference to Kawasaki's 3rd chapter, I received the book in exchange for reviewing it here on my blog. Why would writing this blog earn me a free book? Because my blog is listed on Kawasaki's Alltop (halfway down the page somewhere between Eric Bryant and Ragamuffin Soul, two very enchanting guys whose blogs you should be reading way before this one), which puts me on an e-mail list for the offer of a free pre-release book. Why is my blog on Alltop? Because I submitted a form and someone at Alltop deemed my blog sufficiently stocked with content to warrant inclusion on their site, I guess, but this is getting way off track - we'll be taking no more questions at this time.

The point is this: If you want to hone your skills in "the art of changing hearts, minds, and actions" this book has some great content. It's not a ministry specific book; in fact, some ministry minded readers will probably be ticked off by a few things, but it is very applicable to ministry, where changing hearts, minds, and actions is definitely our hope. And if you get so ticked off by something like this that you can't get anything out of it, you're probably not very enchanting, so you should probably read the book so you can learn how to be less prickly.

I've been told that I'm really good at talking people into doing things they don't think they can do. (There are mountain peaks with teen footprints, and cliffs where their fingers clutched granite to attest to that.) And in a sense, that's Enchantment, or at least my own spin on it - helping someone see a potential they didn't see before and helping them find a compelling reason to step into it.

Kawasaki's stature in the business & finance world (Apple, Alltop, Garage Tech Ventures... and a whole bunch of other stuff he's got a pulse on) affords him access to a lot of great stories from enchanting people and places all over the globe. He shares these often in the book as examples of the principles in action. Similar in theme to Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People", Enchantment is the attempt of one guy who's winning to help other people win, too. And in the process, he'll make a lot of money and do good things with it... right, Guy?
In all seriousness, this is a pretty good book if you're in any kind of position (like living & breathing) to influence action. Read it.
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It occurs to me that I have one more thing to disclose. Not only did I get the book for free in exchange for reviewing it, but if you buy the book from the Amazon links I've provided in this post, I'll receive about 53 cents or something as an Amazon affiliate! I'm not enchanting at all... I'm a paid shill. Oh, man...
Seriously... the positive nature of my review has not been influenced by the fact that I'm about to get rich by telling you to buy the book and read it. I promise.

Too Easy...

I still remember the first time a teacher really joined my parents in pushing me to want to do my best. Mostly I'd been coasting through most of my classes - satisfied with doing better than others (instead of doing my best). I wonder who is pushing kids today to do their best? Who is coaching them to raise the bar of their own expectations?

It seems like everything is rewarded these days, to the point where very little is actually expected. Attendance awards, certificates of completion... I think I was in the first wave of recipients of the proverbial "participation ribbon". I was in about 4th Grade competing on the swim team. I did ok, but was definitely not culling a lot of blue ribbons from the pool! While my little brother won almost every backstroke race he entered, I mostly took home these ugly purple ribbons that boldly labeled me a "participant". (I have a theory that connects the genesis of Barney the dinosaur to the ubiquitous recycling of hordes of these purple "awards for showing up"... just a thought.) Who were they kidding? I didn't feel better because I got to take home such a "prize", I felt like a chump who didn't belong with the real swimmers.

I could churn my short little arms and skinny little legs as hard and fast as I wanted to, my ribbons were mostly going to have high numbers (or "participant") stamped on them. Then I discovered the long races. At every swim meet, there seemed to be a break time, where everyone just kind of sat around and did nothing. Long periods with no starting sounds, no cheering... maybe just a Popsicle and a wet towel to use for a bleacher pillow. One day I noticed that while almost everybody was sitting around, there were about 5 kids still in the pool - just plowing their rows back and forth in the water. These guys were doing what most of the rest of us wouldn't do... the longest races... the hardest races. I decided that was what I was going to do. If I couldn't swim faster than they could, I'd swim farther that they would. Suddenly, my ribbon collection was tinted blue. I was winning races.

But even that wasn't because I was a great swimmer... it was because I entered races that almost no one else wanted to do. They were too hard. There was little competition. It's easy to get the bronze when there are only 3 racers! Sometimes, you win by attrition... everyone else quits because it's too hard.

We need to be challenged to higher expectations - not just for young people, but for all of us. Just showing up is too easy. You can coast through life if you want to and stick to the status quo. That's exactly what a lot of people and churches do. But what if we didn't? What if we refuse to settle for the ordinary? What if we decided that the status quo is not good enough?
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Self-destructive Tragedy

Forcing the somber beyond the macabre,

the mob beyond the insanity,

is an imp whose name is Poe.

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I owe what could be called a mild fascination with Edgar Allen Poe to a red haired raven known as Mrs. Washenfelder. My first introduction to the man was through her voice, as she read and recited The Bells and The Raven and led our sophomore American lit class in discussions of Amontillado and Usher. The Poe unit with Mrs. Washenfelder was legendary in our school.

Despite the spark of interest, I haven't really dug into Poe's life in the many years since my high school days. But recently, I came across Ackroyd's biography Poe: A Life Cut Short at the library. Having read the biography, I really want to read more of Edgar Allen Poe's writings.

It seems like Poe always felt that he was alone in this world. His literary vision bordered on insanity. He seemed to some a decent enough man, but to others he was ever under the control of his inherited demons - his mother's early death, alcohol, and at least an occasionally loose grasp on reality. His writing wasn't always welcomed with other writers and editors of the day, but that seems to have been as much a result of a caustic and self destructive personality than of literary merit. He felt himself rejected, orphaned, abandoned, and alone most of his life.

Ackroyd's final paragraph details a few accolades and tips of hats from literary giants like Tennyson, Yeats, Arthur Conan Doyle, James Joyce, and even Nietzsche and Kafka. "The orphan, in the end, found his true family."

Shouldn't there be something better for today's orphans than the recognition of tomorrow's voices - voices they'll never know?

There is...

Unequivocally Me?

"If you can't speak your mind on your own blog, you might as well give up and stay on the porch." - Guy Kawasaki, quoted in The Blogging Church

I read this last night and it made me think of the way I've censored myself here on my blog.  I don't always speak my mind as clearly as I probably should.  I find myself backing out of things I think I should post because I might tick 'the wrong people' off.

Sorry I've done so much equivocating.

I'll quit.

Strike One for Random Selection

Around this time last year, I decided to take some time and only read the Bible. I missed reading other books, but felt like it was important to focus a little more attention on Scripture for a couple months. Lately, I've been wanting to read a little more of a variety of books. I read a lot of books geared for youth ministry and leadership, but wanted to do some reading outside of those realms.

I don't really have the funds to just be buying books that I may never even look at again, so I decided I'd go to the library. I went to the section that has somewhat new additions to the library for this foray into randomness and noticed a book there about the First Emperor of China and his Terracotta Warriors.

Let me just say that I would love to be able to go to the site of the Terracotta Warriors. The history of it all is fascinating and the fact that these thousands of oversized warriors lay hidden in the ground until only about 35 years ago only adds to the aura that makes a curious person like me want to know more.

I was excited to dig into the book and quench that thirst. Sadly, this particular book has not done justice (at least in my opinion) to its title. The book is supposed to be an introduction to the ruler, but hasn't been as informative as I'd have liked.

Strike one for random selection at the library...