Archive for Books
Primal; A Quest For The Lost Soul Of Christianity
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Primal A Quest For the Lost Soul Of Christianity is the newest book by Mark Batterson. Mark is the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC. Folks, this book is on time and on target!
I have been a reader of Mark’s blog for some time. One day he had a post asking for people who would read Primal and review it on their blogs. I raised my hand (in a cyberspace kind of way). The book arrived the Monday after my dad went to heaven. There is something about death that makes me confront my own life and Christianity. What a book to read and what a time to read it!
The premise of the book is the Great Commandment:
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. — Matthew 22:37
This is a challenge in Christianity and the church today. All too often we simply pay lip service to this, the greatest of God’s commandments.
Batterson’s book continuously challenges us to take this command to heart as well as into the every day living of our lives.
“In my experience, it’s easier to act like a Christian than it is to react like one. Anyone can put on an act. But your reactions reveal what is really in your heart. And if you love God with all your heart, you won’t just act like it. You’ll react like it. — Mark Batterson, Primal page 23(Emphasis added)
Frankly that hits too close to home in my life and way too often.
And that is just the beginning. In this book Mark delves deep into the four elements of the Great Commandment; compassion, wonder, curiosity, and power. All along the way he urges his readers to seek, find, and live out the very heart of God.
This is an excellent and challenging book. I highly recommend it. I am about to read the book again. It truly ministered to me. When I finish the second read, I will review it yet again. I would encourage every reader of this blog to give yourself a personal Christmas gift; Primal by Mark Batterson. Make it one of the first books you read in 2010. You can order the book through Random House. It goes on sale today.
My thanks to Mark Batterson and Random House for providing a copy of this book to review.
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The Imperative Of Reading
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Warren Wiersbe notes the following concerning the importance of reading for the servant of God.
“Your heart grows by giving out, but your mind grows by taking in; and both are necessary to a happy and balanced life of service. Christian workers who don’t read aren’t taking in fuel for the mind and food for the soul, and they end up trying to spin out their ministry like a spider’s web. Bees have a much better approach. They gather pollen from many sources but manufacture their own honey. Most people prefer honey to spider’s webs.”
Warren W. Wiersbe, On Being a Servant of God (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993), 86.
HT = BibleX
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Desiring God Audio For Free
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Christianaudio.com is offering a free audio download of John Piper’s classic Desiring God. Go here and use the coupon code NOV2009.
This month only.
Thanks to the good folks at Christian Audio for their generosity and vision.
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Well Intentioned Dragons
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I am reading through Marshall Shelby’s “Well Intentioned Dragons.” For me, 3 months past the church split, it is an uncomfortable read. It is a necessary read as well. Wish I had read the book a few years back. The book is intensely practical. Real life disputes with real strategies for dealing with the problems that WILL come. In Christianity, these disputes have been going on since the thime of the gospel accounts. We are fallen creatures. That is a problem. This is a good book, I highly recommend it. Sooner rather than later…….
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A Passion For God; A.W. Tozer
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Last week I started reading “A Passion For God; The Spiritual Journey Of A.W. Tozer. This is an excellent and insightful book. Although I am only 25% of the way through, I heartily recommend it. A.W. Tozer has long been a favorite of mine. In fact I am also re-reading “The Knowledge Of The Holy.”
I will post more on this superb book as I continue to enjoy it! 
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The Barnabas Factor — Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for The Barnabas Factor
- The Barnabas Factor — Part 1
- The Barnabas Factor — Part 2
Just finished reading the Barnabas Factor by J.D. Payne. It was an excellent and insightful read. The subtitle “8 Essential Practices Of Church Planting Team Members” gives some insight into this book. This book is less about about church planting and more about church planters.
What initially caught my eye about this book was the subtitle “8 Essential Practices Of Church Planting Team Members”. I was thinking church planting teams? What a concept!
We came to New England from Arizona. Quite a drive. We were poorly equipped for starting a church. We were simply trying to obey God’s leading. The learning curve has been difficult at best. One of the most difficult concepts we have dealt with is assembling a core leadership team. Oh, many are called, but few have been faithful.
What a difference a team could have made for us. Accountability, encouragement, division of duties, and so forth. For the first two years we did almost everything. This past year we have had a lot more help in set up, breakdown, and leadership responsibilities.
I could not help but think to myself what might have been as I read this book. This was a good book, I recommend it. Again the focus is more about the church planter than the church plant per se. That is an important aspect of church planting; the church planters personal relationship with his Lord. Amen?
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The Barnabas Factor — Part 1
Posted by: | CommentsTable of contents for The Barnabas Factor
- The Barnabas Factor — Part 1
- The Barnabas Factor — Part 2
Just finished reading the Barnabas Factor by J.D. Payne. It was an excellent and insightful read. The subtitle “8 Essential Practices Of Church Planting Team Members” gives some insight into this book. This book is less about about church planting and more about church planters.
It is so easy to get into “exceptional-ism.” That is, thinking that I am the exception to the principle or rule. This is how pastoral abuse begins. Discipleship and obedience which flow out of an intimate personal relationship with the Lord Jesus is more critical in the church planter than in the church attendee.
It has long been my opinion that if there is a single make or break issue in the success of the church plant it is this; the church planters personal, intimate, obedient relationship with the Lord.
In this book, The Barnabas Factor, Payne uses Barnabas as an example of the qualities necessary in church planters and church planting teams. This is an interesting concept, church planting teams. I want to write more on the subject later this week…
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