WHAT ARE YOU READING THIS SUMMER?

I love to read. I guess you would call it a hobby of mine. I probably read about 75-100 books each year. (Many of these books I borrow from the library. A good library can be a great resource and great bargain!) I read books about history, science, politics, coins, economics, business, fantasy fiction, and Louis L’Amour westerns. (Unfortunately, Louis is dead and I’ve read all of his books about 3 times) Of course, I read many Christian books and books about church planting.
Here are a couple of books that I’ve just finished reading:

How The Mighty Fall by Jim Collins.
This is a business book written by the author of bestselling Good to Great. I know that we don’t get our principles of ministry from the business world. I think that is a mistake. But I do like to see if there are principles in business that are transferrable to church work. In this book, Collins deals with the question of why big and prosperous companies failed. He lists 5 stages of decline.
1. Hubris Born of Success
This certainly sounds Biblical. Proverbs says that “Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
If you have some success and start thinking, “This community and the Home Missions Dept are lucky to have me,” then maybe danger is lurking.
2. Undisciplined Pursuit of More
3. Denial of Risk and Peril
Under markers for stage 3, he lists Externalizing Blame. “Rather than accept full responsibility for setbacks and failures, leaders point to external factors or other people to affix blame.”
Now that can easily apply to church work. It’s easy to blame the culture, or our location, or those other Christians, or the sorry people in my church. But that way leads to death.
4. Grasping for Salvation
5. Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death

The YBH (Yes, But How) Handbook of Church Planting by Roger McNamara and Ken Davis

This is a pretty thick book (over 650 pages) that deals with just about everything you can think of in starting a church. It is subtitled A Practical Guide to Church Planting. Here are a couple of excerpts:

From the chapter on Dealing with Problems:
“Problems are synonymous with churches and church planting. You cannot have a church without encountering problems because churches are comprised of people and people have problems.
Don’t go around with a ‘persecution complex’ or feeling everyone is against you, but do recognize that trials and problems are a normal part of life and ministry. Even with good people there will be misunderstandings and differences of opinion from time to time.”
Then the chapter talks about the specifics of dealing with problems. I like the parts about teaching people how to forgive and teaching people how to handle gossip. Those two ought to be taught in every church.

From the chapter on Developing Lay Leaders:

Just the Right Person

Great people are ready to help me,
At the right time,
In the right way,
People I don’t even know yet.

I promise I will never give up
Because I don’t have the help,
But I will trust God to provide.

God has the resources to help me
that I have not even considered,
and multiplied thousands of persons
with all sorts of talents, skills, concerns, and contacts.
That God can bring into my life to fulfill His plans.

So I will open my eyes and see the faces
of people around me.
I will open my ears to hear what they are saying.
Today, tomorrow, next week
I’ll meet someone,
someone who is just the person I need.

And that right person will come along
to fulfill just the right place,
at just the right time,
and I will marvel knowing that God
arranged it so beautifully.


What are you reading? I’d be interested in having people who read this blog to post a comment and tell what you have been reading and what it has that is good.