Insight on Romans

By Chuck Swindoll




I was thrilled to see that Chuck Swindoll was going to write a series of Bible commentaries and looked forward to this first one and was not dissapointed.
This is a great commentary for those that want to learn more about Paul's teachings and is written is such a way that I can recommend it for both lay and clergy. Lay people will like it because it is written in language that everyone can understand like all of Swindoll's writing but they will still learn a great deal about this foundational book of the Bible. Clergy will find it will help them present a message that the non Biblical scholar can understand and recieve insight from.
This commentary will challenge you, make you think and encourage you as you reflect on what Paul taught the church at Rome and has been used for years to teach those of us that have followed.

It's Your Ship

Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy

Captain D. Michael Abrashoff

If you are willing to be challenged to look at leadership in new way from someone who made changes in one the most traditional rigid organizations in the world, the US Navy, this book will make you think in new ways. While serving as the captain of the USS Benfold he transformed one of the poorest performing ships in the Nave to one of the best.

This is the story of the need to change with both those that had authority over him and those over which he held authority. Providing leadership that has an impact is the center of this story. In chapters titled, Lead by example, listen aggressively, communicate purpose and meaning, create a climate of trust, look for results, not salutes, take calculated risks, go beyond standard procedure, build up your people, generate unity and improve your people’s quality of life, he leads you through the process of change that he used.

As a pastor of a church in a traditional mainline denomination I found the wisdom here well worth the time it took to read this relatively short book. We often think that our progress and ability to make a difference are too limited by the traditions and structure of the church. Here is a look at someone that worked in that environment and made a difference.

7 things he’ll never tell you {but you need to know}

By Kevin Leman









This is a book for ladies that love their husbands and want them to know it. God designed us male and female and that means we are different in many ways. In this book Kevin Leman talks about what men crave in their relationship with their wife. Most men are terrible at allowing anyone including their wife to know what they really need in life. I found myself smiling and saying things like "so I am not weird!" and "I know exactly what you are saying!" as I read this book.
"It's Thursday and I am out of words already." (But if you want to keep talking honey, go ahead)
"Think of me as a four-year-old that shaves."
"I have a purple dining room, and I couldn't care less!"
"I'm desperate for you to need me."
"I've thought about sex 33 times today, and it's not even noon."
"I told you I didn't want to go!"
"I'd take a bullet for you."
Those are the topics for the seven chapters helping you understand how to connect with your husband and tell him you love him.
This will go on my recommended reading list for couples during premarital and marriages counseling as well as those that are just trying to improve their relationship.

SimChurch

By Douglas Estes









If you are interested in the newest frontier of the church then this is a must read for basic understanding of the virtual world. I had been looking for something that would help me as a person with limited technological understanding to understand the virtual world and how the church can move into it and this book gave me a great basic understanding.
Estes says that "Today is the third most exciting time to be alive in Christian history: we're on the cusp of the third wave of the church." The first two were the advent of the Roman road system and the expansion of the written word and the invention of the printing press. Now the internet has opened up a new wave of communication possibilities in the virtual world. "Just as the church in ages past needed masons, architects, and artists to create spaces where people could feel prepared to worship God, so too does the church today need coders and futurists with contrite hearts to build new types of churches for new types of people."
There is no doubt that the internet is going to play an integral part of the future of our churches. Most of us have wanted to dip our fingers in by using a web page or maybe a social network but very few are willing to explore the virtual world of creating a church online. This book will challenge you to think in new ways about your internet presence as well as giving you some food for thought for your local brick and glass building. He is a pastor of a local church as well as working to create an effective internet presence.
Written in an easy to read non-techno style I think you will find it a thought provoking and challenging book. I recommend it.

Nineteen Minutes

By Jodi Picoult

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You should read this book! I don't often run across a book that I think could help transform a community if people read it but this is one of them. While it is a novel and so a work of fiction it is very clear that it was well researched and based on possible reality.

It opens with a young man walking into his high school and shooting, killing and wounding many students. The story really isn't about the event of the shooting, it is about what lead up to it and the immediate aftermath of this incredible disaster. If you have ever asked yourself if that kind of thing could happen in your school I think this will open your eyes to how easy it could happen. As with every event like this there is a story behind the perpetrator that most of us really don't want to hear about after the event.
Bouncing back and forth between the time of the shooting and its aftermath and the history that led up to it with the main characters she weaves a story while dealing this issues we all face every day. It will challenge you to think about our relationships with our children, parents, student, teachers and other peers. It deals with peer pressure including sex, bullying, beauty and athletics.
I hope you will take the time to read this and then talk to the kids in your life and ask the question, "How can I help make sure this doesn't happen here?"

The Shack

This is one of the most thought provoking books I have every read.

It is an easy and entertaining read that will give you a chance to reflect on your relationship with God, the people you love and those around you. It may also make you wonder if some of the things you think about God are not fully accurate what other possibilities are.

If you can read a novel and not get caught up on every little theological point that you disagree with and like to reflect from time to time on what you believe this book it worth the time to sit and read.

The Crisis of Younger Clergy

By Lovett Weems, Jr & Ann Michel

We have all noticed that there are far fewer young adults in our churches. What many may not have noticed is that the number of young clergy, those under 35, are declining at an alarming rate.

If you want your eyes opened to a situation that could be critical to the future of the church then this book is well worth the time to read. It will challenge the way all parts of the church need to look at how we are handling our new and younger members of the clergy.

The book is based on data from a study done by the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC. The number of young clergy has been decreasing for years and while that seems to have leveled out, it is still a concern for a number of reasons. The reduced number of clergy is reflecting the lower number of young people in youth and young adult programs in our churches.

One of the major considerations is the entry process that is used for new clergy entering the system in the United Methodist Church. There are a number of those entering seminary that are not willing to put in the years for seminary and then an extended time before ordination. The costs of seminary, lack of financial support and low starting salaries is also a major factors in loss of young clergy.

Many pastors graduating today are out of churches that have no relationship with the churches that they are being asked to serve in first appointments. Traditionally the majority of pastors came out of small rural churches and their first appointment was in a similar church. Today many of the pastors are entering the system from urban or larger suburban churches but are still being assigned to small rural churches with whom they have trouble relating. A part of the gap is a generation different in these first appointments.

There is also the problem that many of our young pastors are expected to bring in young people to the church but the church body is not prepared or willing to receive them. With many clergy leaving seminary with more than $30,000 in debt salaries are a large part of the problem as well.

We cannot afford to continue to watch our young clergy leave the denomination or expect those that remain in the system to save it. This book addresses these issues and more and will open your eyes to new insights on the state of the church today.