Mid-Life Manual for Men – Review

Stephen Arterburn and John Shore are both men who are firmly planted in mid-life. That’s the place every guy gets to when he hits age 40 or so. As a 40-something myself I realize I’m firmly in this demographic as well. With life expectancy creeping up every few years I know I (hopefully) have several more years of productive living left so it was with some hope to view this season of my life that I picked this book up (in audio form) and gave it a listen.

The authors spend significant time focusing on the position of the mid-life man and the preconceptions that come with this period of life. For certain I think about a time when I can’t control many things like my body’s natural aging (I can slow it but NEVER completely stop it), my value to the workplace, and my own self-image. From there, the authors begin by breaking down the archetype that most men feel they have to be, the “he-man” hero and then proceed to take the reader to the four basic types of roles all men have. That of Father, Son, Provider, and Husband. They give both the good and bad of these roles taking into account the cultural expectations of our society, what the media paints as ideal, and what is truly real, especially from a Christian perspective (The authors write from a Christian viewpoint). At the end, they summarize the four roles, give suggestions for improvement and finish by putting a balanced view of how all men should look at this time in their life as the best years ahead and not simply “getting by”.

I enjoyed this book. There were several things here that helped me see myself in a bit more humorous light. I think many men at this stage of the game view themselves as being past the point of no return where their life is pretty much predetermined based on their life decisions up to this point. That isn’t true of course but the reality is it IS harder for guys in this stage of life given the workplace expectations today. Couple that with kids growing up and a soon to be empty nest and your personal life might be affected also. To say all of this bundled up isn’t worrisome to many men would be to ignore the elephant in the room. As a pastor, I see many men hit this stage of life without a clue as to how they will navigate the uncharted waters they are facing.

If you’re in mid-life or headed there within a few years, pick this up and give it a listen/read. There’s some good material to be mined here to help you see the value of your life at this stage of the game. You don’t have to feel like you are wandering. God has great things for you in this next stage of your life.

Book Review: Radical

Radical by David Platt

What if you were asked to give everything you had for the cause of Christ. Everything. Would you do it? Could you? In “Radical” pastor David Platt asks the church to re-think its mission and purpose. No doubt many Christians have heard of this book and it’s companion follow up volume “Radical Together” which outlines a plan of execution. The premise is this: The “American Dream” has clouded the eyes of the Western church to a faith that is comfortable and nice. Jesus however, calls us to take up our cross and to follow him daily (Luke 9:23). Getting our hands dirty in ministry means more than just giving financially to a cause. It’s about sacrifice and living a faith that puts others ahead of yourself.

Platt develops this theme through nine chapters in his first book. He begins with a chapter on our obligations, weaves this theme through a call to think and then lays out the starting points of where we are today. Many have criticized him for this all out treatise on living a “radical” life of faith for Christ but what the book does is challenge the reader to examine their life and its purpose. Are we serving others as Christ told us to? Are we meeting the needs of the least of us? If not, why not? Excuses are easy to give but Platt offers no condolences or ways out of this maze of examination. The author then takes the next four chapters of his book to explain the “Why” of this new way of thinking and then the “How” in terms of what the church today can do to fulfill it’s Christ given mission. By bringing us to a starting point and then showing the reader what they can do to move into a mind set of meeting needs. He then concludes the book with a challenge and some reflection on the real work of the body of Christ.

Many have taken this book over the past year and have dissected it for it’s different way of thinking. Some have partitioned it for the parts they like. Others have responded with rejection rebuffing his words and asking “who does he think he is to question us?” The reality is we need balance in the church today. The church needs times of refreshing and worship and there’s nothing wrong with having a decent place to worship and the time to fellowship with a body of believers. But there’s also a time when the church MUST serve others and do so in a way that is uncomfortable to the masses. Christ called us to this. If we do nothing but meet weekly we are not fulfilling the vision Christ had for us. Likewise, if all we do is meet for social justice initiatives, we will burn out and nothing good will be accomplished. “Radical” was written to challenge your thinking. Platt wants to bring the church back to its first century roots. This book is a good start.

Life Without Limits Book Review

Nick Vujicic has an incredible story to tell. If you’ve flipped the channels on television recently you might have seen him on one of the Christian channels speaking to one of the many groups he addresses each year. Nick was born without limbs and his story is one of perseverance, sadness, joy, and reality. In his book, “Life Without Limits”, Vujicic tells very candidly what it was like growing up with the physical limitations most of us never have dreamed of.

From the opening chapter where he recalls his mother’s shock at learning her baby boy was born handicapped to his struggle to adapt to change as a young man leaving behind his home to move to the United States and then back again you will find nuggets of life’s truths that you apply to the self-imposed limits you give yourself. Ultimately, Vujicic graduated from College with an accounting degree and is now one of the most well-known motivational speakers of his generation. With all of this, he taught himself to swim, waterboard, play golf, and enjoy other aspects of life many would think impossible.

This book will inspire and motivate you. At times you might cry. At other times, you’ll laugh when you read his story of fighting a school bully (And he WON!) but you will be challenged as you progress further into the story. I don’t read many biographies these days but had wanted to read this one for several months. I’m glad I did and you will be too. If you need a pick me up, this is your book.

Audiobook Review: R.C. Sproul’s “Justification by Faith Alone”

In this well organized audiobook, R.C. Sproul does a fine job of presenting the Reformed Protestant view of Justification by Faith Alone. In his examination of this topic, he compares the Roman Catholic view of justification and highlights the differences between the two. The audiobook wastes little time getting to the debate and ample scriptural evidence is given to support Sproul’s view.

Since the Protestant Reformation, the view of justification has been hotly debated and I doubt we will see a resolution in our lifetime. Both sides have a long history and hundreds of years honing their apologetic on this crucial topic. As Christians, it’s imperative that we understand the views on this issue and the basis for each one. Sproul’s presentation here is outstanding and I appreciated the author’s ability to put a lot of information in my hands in a shorter amount of time. It would have been easy to fill the audiobook with reams of stories from the past and then add the meat of the discussion. Instead, Sproul highlights his points, gives his scriptural basis for it, and invites you to analyze. Regardless of your view on this issue, this is a good presentation of the author’s convictions on this topic.

A book like this can easily get dry and boring but narrator Sean Runnette does a superb job of voice inflection where it’s needed without a lot of overkill. His warm, clear-spoken delivery made this an easy listen.

I would like to thank the “Reviewers Program” from Christian Audio for allowing me to listen and review this work.

Book Review: Upward, Outward, Inward

Mitsuo Fukuda’s book, “Outward, Upward, Inward” is a great book for sharing a simple, effective method for disciple multiplication. As a church planter, I welcome books that highlight where God is working to build His kingdom. The Japanese church is growing and several small church networks are making a tremendous impact on converting others to Christ.

When I read books like this, I appreciate brevity. So many publishers take a great idea or two from someone and then fill the pages with fluffy anecdotes that do little to add to the meat of the ideas in the book. Thankfully Wide Margin Books didn’t take that route. The publisher, a small firm operating out of the United Kingdom, made this book available to me in ePub format for my Sony Reader for $5 and it’s a bargain for all the good information this book has.

Fukuda’s insights stem from his experience in planting a network of micro churches in Japan and his way of discipling new believers is shared in detail here. Roughly two-thirds of the book is centered around the process itself (which is where the title of the book comes from) while the remaining third of the text focuses on the all important task of leadership development.

Fukuda borrows liberally from other well-known micro-church practitioners like Neil Cole but has tweaked the ideas to bring uniqueness to the text. This isn’t a simple re-working of another person’s idea but a way of thinking about discipleship that allows a pastor to pass on an easy to remember set of principles to future leaders.

In every aspect of his way of discipling new believers (and training leaders) Fukuda focuses on the Upward, Outward, Inward philosophy he shares in the book. I like this idea for one simple reason. RETENTION. It’s easy to remember the steps that he shares here. And in each idea he goes back to the title philosophy so once you actually DO the steps, they become easier to remember and the ideas become more a part of your unique personality. That’s what I like about the simplicity here. ANYONE can do this if they take the time to remember three basic points.

I give a thumbs up to this one. A quick, thoughtful, meaty little book with good ideas to consider. The eBook formats are available for any reading device you have or you can order a traditional paper copy of this text for a few dollars more. The price was well worth the book! You can buy “Upward, Outward, Inward” direct from Wide Margin Books at their website. You can also pick it up from our good friends at CMAResources by clicking this link.

Book Review – The Starfish and the Spider

I recently finished listening to the audio book “The Starfish and the Spider” by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom. I had been wanting to review this book for some time and wasn’t disappointed in the ways it challenged me. The main idea promoted by the book was the power of a decentralized organization. Using the metaphor of the Starfish as the decentralized movement and the Spider as an established company with a hierarchy, the authors begin to share stories about recent movements that were essentially leaderless and grew exponentially. Examples include Craigslist, Skype, Alcoholics Anonymous, and eBay just to name a few.

I will add that in the end chapters of the book, the authors also show the benefits of a hybrid model that include some layer of centralized command with several connected departments that are decentralized. They used General Electric as an example of this with well known leader Jack Welch breaking up the company into decentralized units that were accountable to themselves to be profitable while at the same time, all working under his leadership. The main thrust from the book was for us to consider a model of decentralization where individuals can respond quicker, are accountable, and growth isn’t stymied by one person.

I began to think about this in terms of the church (since I AM a pastor) and what a leaderless decentralized movement would look like. It occurred to me that Jesus launched what could be considered as the first decentralized movement when he took the power out of the hands of the religious leaders of his day and put it into the hands of ordinary men. The Starfish metaphor was chosen by the authors because if you cut up a starfish to try to kill it, each piece only grows into a new starfish. You can’t “cut off its head” to stop it’s movement. Going back to the early church, we could reason that Jesus poured his life into the disciples knowing that the religious leaders would try to stop his movement by killing him, in essence, trying to cut off the head of the group. In doing so, the religious leaders spawned a starfish movement by his disciples that overtook the entire known countryside within just a few generations. The political leaders tried to kill off individuals to quash the movement but in doing so, they only generated a greater response.

Leaders in many different types of organizations may feel threatened by a decentralized movement but the reality is that it is already taking place and we will likely have to deal with it at some point. The hybrid that the authors point to near the end of the book seems to be ideal in that when some accountability is needed, centralized authority must develop. The authors point to eBay as a perfect example of this model. They are very decentralized but build trust in the user base by using paypal and other verification systems to validate sellers so that people have a lessened chance of getting ripped off. That layer of accountability is what keeps eBay popular with its user base.

In all, The Starfish and the Spider is an excellent book for your reading and/or listening pleasure. I would highly recommend it.

Book Review – Church 3.0

Neil Cole’s latest book on church will again be considered controversial by many Christian Leaders. This is pretty much par for Neil’s ministry as his other works at times have been labeled “heretical” by some in the mainstream. Church 3.0 is his latest book and if I had to summarize it, I would say it’s a catch all book for answering many of the questions I’m sure he and his CMA Resource organization have fielded over the years.

Whether or not you are a proponent of Cole’s style of “micro” church he will make you think though some things you might never have considered otherwise. Church 3.0 is no exception. Building on a base that the early Christian church was version 1.0 and that modern church today is version 2.0, Cole builds a thought process around a simpler, people focused type of church structure called version 3.0. Cole discusses such issues as leadership, teaching, children in worship, and money. Throughout the book, Cole gives thorough explanations for why he feels as he does and gives his biblical support for it. For certain, Cole’s church structure is his base but he does not demean any other type but merely asks the question as to how you could make it better? At the very end of the book, he even gives advice on how the thoughts he shares could be implemented in different types of settings but ultimately finds the true freedom of them in his model. This is to be expected.

Much of Cole’s thoughts resonate with me as a church planter. Well known author Francis Chan, in the introduction to the book, even advises pastors from any church style to read and digest this book and consider the implications for their own churches. Chan does not utilize the exact model Cole’s emphasizes but does find common ground on many issues with him as have I.

In the past year, I’ve read and/or listened to “Organic Church”, “Search and Rescue”, and now “Church 3.0″ by Cole. I’ve found myself going back to favorite portions of each work again and again and wrestling with the thoughts from each. If you’ve read Cole’s earlier works, this one is different in the information it provides. Cole still speaks with a conversational tone but you don’t find many of his famous “lifeguard” analogies in this work. This is a “nuts and bolts” type book that can be read cover to cover or digested in smaller bites depending on what you’re looking for.

Overall, I recommend the book to you with this caveat: You will be challenged in your thinking. To dismiss what Cole is saying would be easy for people who want to criticize him, but the reality is that what he is talking about in this book is what is happening all over the country and church leaders WILL be forced to interact with the ideas whether they agree with them or not. I prefer to have an educated background about this process so I can discuss it with others and not just blatantly slander someone like I’ve seen Cole slandered by people who’ve never read his books. It’s not biblical and it’s just plain wrong.

Of the three books I’ve read by Cole, this one took me the longest to get through because I really wanted to interact with these ideas. You will too and I think for the better if you read this book!

Book Review – It’s All Too Much

I recently re-read Peter Walsh’s 2007 book “It’s all too Much” as I began to put together a plan to de-clutter several rooms of our home. The idea behind the book is that clutter affects every area of our lives, including our health! Walsh argues for simplicity in our living space focusing on only the things we really want to keep and not hanging on to every bit of “stuff” in our homes because of an emotional attachment.