From the Shelf

Greetings Faithful Readers,

It's time to take a quick glance at the bookshelf and let you know what I am currently reading...

1) Mad Church Disease - Anne Jackson - Status: FINISHED - Rating 4.5/5 - I was a little afraid to start reading this book because I thought it was going to bash the church...that the church was the bad guy and I was the victim. Fortunately I was wrong. Anne does an amazing job at presenting a realistic look at a life out of balance. The beginning of the book reveals the trials of her life and how it drove her to write a book about burnout. After just a few pages you realize that she is more than qualified to lead her readers from the land of "I can relate to that" to a place of healing. Pastors and leaders like Bill Hybels, Craig Groeschel, and Perry Noble are interviewed and quoted throughout the book to support Anne's claims. I think the point that I took away was that it isn't church that causes burnout (although there are many elements contained therein that could)...it is a result of poor choices, lack of barriers and boundaries, the human elements of ministry, and a general unspecific tendency to drift away from disciplines we know we need. Thanks Anne for stepping out and writing about something that many deny publicly but battle in the trenches of their minds and hearts.

2) Killing Cockroaches - Tony Morgan - Status: CURRENTLY READING - A cool book on leadership written by a guy that has lived it out. I love the title...and when you think about why it's called Killing Cockroaches...it makes you want to follow Tony further down the rabbit hole. As a city manager, Tony was called in by someone who needed a bug killed in her office. He got up and did it...and then thought about it. Why did he get up and do that? He was the "CEO" of sorts... Was that the best use of his time and leadership? Was he leading out of the urgent..or did he need to lead more stratigically? Was he putting out fires or moving forward? Sound intriguing...then dive into this collection of cool leadership thoughts and strategies with me and let me know what you think.

There's a few others that I'm wrapping up as well and I will post reviews soon. Topics run the gambit from children't fiction (Kingdom Keepers 2) to Web 2.0 (33 Million People in the Room) to a re-read of a book for our Internet Campus book study (Traveling Light).

See you in the bookstore cafe,
BV

Groove

GFR,

Still combing through Tribes and saw this...

"If you're not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it's almost certain you're not reaching your potential as a leader." - Seth Godin

Wow. There have been days where I have felt that I was killing it as a leader...kicking rear and taking names... I thought to myself, I'm getting pretty good at this...things are starting to feel like they should... I am really understanding how to lead and getting into my groove."

Then I read that quote from Seth...and as usual my thinking changed...

It's not about groove... it's about growth.

BV

How Was Your Day?

GFR,

Just reading through Tribes again and got hit by another amazing quote from Seth Godin:

"How was your day? If your answer is "fine" then I don't think you were leading."

So, how is your day going?

BV

From the Bookshelf

Greetings Faithful Readers...

I've been devouring books as of late...a lot of you ask me what I've been reading...so here's what I finished last week alone: (final number is my rating on a scale of 1 to 10..with 10 being the best!)

1) Inside Steve's Brain (2nd time) - This unauthorized dive into the thinking of Steve Jobs is probably my favorite book about Apple's CEO. A great leadership study of a man who knows exactly what he wants from his workers and his company. (8)

2) IT - I've got to say...Craig Groeschel owes me a yellow highlighter. Wow, this book is amazing... as close to a handbook for multisite church campuses as you can get. If you are a church leader you MUST read this. (10)

3) QBQ - A short, quick read about getting to the right question in life...The book talks about living not as a victim, but as someone who is in control of changing yourself. Pretty good book to get you to start thinking about asking the right questions. (5)

4) Groundswell - An interesting look into people's motivations of using web 2.0 tools around the world. The first several chapters were pertinent and well-researched. The rest of the book was filled with some semi-interesting case studies and implementation techniques. (6)

5) Lord, Save Us From Your Followers - Why is it that Jesus preached about love...and Christians are so hateful sometimes? That's the question that the book is trying to answer. It's packed full of interviews of people from the far right to the far left all talking about faith, love, and the state of modern Christianity. (7)


That's all in one week! Right now I'm working on Sex God and Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell... a very interesting writer with a unique interpretation of scripture.


Coming up: Click (Bill Tancer) and Guerrilla Marketing (Jay Levinson)

What are you reading?

BV

Yummy

Greetings Faithful Reader...

While reviewing a book called Eat This, Not That, the New York Times lists the 8 worst foods to eat...any of these look familiar?

• Worst Drink: Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo'd Power Smoothie. With 166 grams of sugar, you could have had eight servings of Ben & Jerry's.

I've never had a Chocolate Moo'd - I HAVE had Cherry Garcia from Ben and Jerry...

• Worst Fast Food Meal: McDonald's Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips with creamy ranch sauce. Chicken sounds healthy, but not at 870 calories.

This is the WORST fast food meal?  Anybody seen the Baconator from Wendys?  Or THIS ONE?

• Worst Supermarket Meal: Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie. One pie packs 64 grams of fat.

Chicken Pot Pie with 64 grams of fat?  Is it covered in hot fudge?

• Worst "Healthy" Burger: Ruby Tuesday Bella Turkey Burger. With 1,145 calories, not a very healthy choice.

This one killed me.  I love Turkey Burgers...I always feel like I'm eating the healthier choice.  This must be with the double cheese and bacon add-on.

• Worst Airport Snack: Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll. Packed with 813 hot gooey calories and 5 grams of trans fats.

That certain bite of the Cinnabon...you know the one I'm talking about...the very center of the roll... that has at least 600 of those calories in it.

• Worst Kids' Meal: Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni 'n Cheese. With 62 fat grams, it's the equivalent of 1.5 full boxes of Kraft Mac 'n Cheese.

62 fat grams in Mac and Cheese kids meal?  The kid's prize that it comes with must be a rib spreader.

• Worst Salad: On the Border Grande Taco Salad with Taco Beef. A salad with 102 grams of fat and 2,410 mg of sodium.

This salad will have you retaining water like the Hoover Dam

• Worst Dessert: Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream. At 1,600 calories, it's like eating the caloric equivalent of three Big Macs

3 Big Macs or a warm slice of chocolate chip pie with ice cream...why does life have to be so hard?

It's amazing what we shove down isn't it?  I think I'll go out and have a glass of water.

Although, I've heard that there are prescription drugs in the water... is nothing safe?

BV

What I’m Reading

Greetings Faithful Readers,

I get asked once in awhile what is on my book list. I am currently in the middle of this book by Larry Winget. Maybe you've seen him. He has a show on cable that helps people break out of their money crisis...

That's not what this book is about...it's title is "Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life". I'm not sure if I picked it up to read because I wanted to grow as a person or because I wanted to spend 15 bucks to be verbally smacked around a little. Probably a bit of both. I'm almost done with it and will post a review at the end. So far, there is a lot of good stuff in there..

It's been said that common sense isn't so common. This book magnifies that fact and presents simple answers to what may seem like complex problems. Boiled down to its lowest common denominator...the book tells you to take responsibility for your own actions, grow as a person, and stop making excuses.

Nothing like a 200+ page kick in the 501s....

BV