Maxwell puts together another great book to motivate us in what we do day in and day out. Recognizing that almost all of us are leaders in one way or another, this book can provide insight and thought provoking ideas for all of us.
Maxwell’s book is written based on 7 areas of inspiration based on different character traits that leader’s posse. He provides us with inspiring stories based on taking action, having vision, sacrificing, taking risk, having determination, giving service and living with integrity. Each one of these seven areas has several inspiring stories, quotes and ideas that can provide each of us with motivation and to make us think about where we are in our lives and what we can do about it.
The great part about this book is that you can just about pick it up anywhere and start reading one of the stories and get something out of it. Pages are masterfully designed with inspiring pictures reminiscence of the motivational posters you would see at many people’s offices. The stories are short and do not take a long time to read so it is not time consuming especially for someone who is busy and has very little time. As a matter of fact, I sat down and read the whole book in about 40 minutes.
Maxwell also has a well-developed faith and Jesus and provides stories where folks get to share their personal testimony in Jesus as well as stories from well known historical figures as well as some that are not so well known. He also peppers the book with some things from prior works that he has done as well.
This is the type of book that would be a good Father’s Day gift, graduation gift or something for you boss on Boss’s Day. In essence it is one of those good gift books or even coffee table book that you would have lying around. However, if you are need of a real pick me up then you will enjoy this yourself and I suggest you pick up a copy and put it on your desk or table by your bed for instant motivation.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Book Review Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Hitting the Wall and Breaking Through It
Listen folks. We all do it. We all work hard and drive to reach results and go go go go gooooooo! But then we also get to points in our lives, where we hit the wall. It is almost a gut check situation because it feels like we have lost our passion; we are worn out and tired and it seems like we are powering down without a power booster in sight. I know this from personal experience, because it really hit me a couple of weeks ago, I was just worn down. Wanted to go back to sleep as soon as I woke up, could not concentrate and get stuff done. So I tried to do some things to help and it was a balance of these things that helped me to get through the wall and feel better.
1. First, I delegated. I did a quick review of my projects and pressing items on my plate. Anywhere I could, I delegated. I had a huge sense of release, just being about to take some things that were on my desk and moving them off. (By the way, I suggest that you have a good system in place for keeping track of who it was delegated to and when it is due. Check out David Allen’s Getting Things Done for more on this.)
2. Second, I reorganized. Since I have delegate quite a bit and was trying to get a hand on everything. I went through a mini-reorganizing event where I went through my planner and made sure everything was up to date and put in its right place. (This is all based on the GTD system by David Allen mixed with some 7 Habits. You could call it a breaking through the wall weekly review)
3. Third, I dropped the caffeine. I have been trying to supplement my body with caffeine in order to get energy. It had gotten to the point where it was not working. So I went to water (except for the occasional caffeine free tea). It was hard in the beginning and I kept longing for some taste, but after awhile I started to feel better and realized that I did not crash as much through the day like I did with caffeine.
4. Next, I broke up tasks. I was spending too much time working on things. I realized that I need to take a step away from my projects to get some refresh time. I found that I was much more refreshed and able to concentrate on what I was doing, plus given the fact that I was drinking a ton of water, I had a reason to get away. :-)
5. Finally, as much as I hate it, I started to do more exercises. I am not a very diligent person when it comes to this, but I realized that when I walked about the neighborhood or did my elliptical that I was more refreshed. It does me well, even if I do not want to do it.
These are some of the tips that I use to help me when I hit the wall to break through it. What are some things you do?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
1. First, I delegated. I did a quick review of my projects and pressing items on my plate. Anywhere I could, I delegated. I had a huge sense of release, just being about to take some things that were on my desk and moving them off. (By the way, I suggest that you have a good system in place for keeping track of who it was delegated to and when it is due. Check out David Allen’s Getting Things Done for more on this.)
2. Second, I reorganized. Since I have delegate quite a bit and was trying to get a hand on everything. I went through a mini-reorganizing event where I went through my planner and made sure everything was up to date and put in its right place. (This is all based on the GTD system by David Allen mixed with some 7 Habits. You could call it a breaking through the wall weekly review)
3. Third, I dropped the caffeine. I have been trying to supplement my body with caffeine in order to get energy. It had gotten to the point where it was not working. So I went to water (except for the occasional caffeine free tea). It was hard in the beginning and I kept longing for some taste, but after awhile I started to feel better and realized that I did not crash as much through the day like I did with caffeine.
4. Next, I broke up tasks. I was spending too much time working on things. I realized that I need to take a step away from my projects to get some refresh time. I found that I was much more refreshed and able to concentrate on what I was doing, plus given the fact that I was drinking a ton of water, I had a reason to get away. :-)
5. Finally, as much as I hate it, I started to do more exercises. I am not a very diligent person when it comes to this, but I realized that when I walked about the neighborhood or did my elliptical that I was more refreshed. It does me well, even if I do not want to do it.
These are some of the tips that I use to help me when I hit the wall to break through it. What are some things you do?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
What is the emergent church?
All across the spectrum we hear about the emergent church. I have struggled with trying to figure that out. Is it missional? Is it organic? Is it about small groups? Does it have to do with church at all? I have spent time looking into to this to formulate what it means to me.
Much of stuff that I have read comes from Brian McLaren as he seems to be one of the cutting edge writers on this subject. While the movement has been a polarizing one, I think that the key is that there is a shift that needs to occur in the church. In essence, the movement began as a look at what it means to be called to go and make disciples in a postmodern world. Things have changed in 2000 years. This is not the world of Jesus and we have to accept that. As McLaren put it “it had its genesis in a desire to share the Gospel in a changing social climate.”
Not only is the social climate changing, but with the advent of social media and things like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, the way we communicate and talk in today’s world is completely different that it was in the past. It is not about just making the church culturally relevant through updated buildings or new music and worship. Instead it is about looking at the tired old stale theologies that we have tried to use for 2000 years. We have to move towards updating the way we think theologically, issues around who we are as a culture in a postmodern world and also how we are going to deal with the social justice issues that we face. After all that is what Jesus did, he worked with the poor and the outcast to provide ways for them to have better lives.
Live is more diverse and church should be too. The emergent church has to focus on the fact that church life is much more diverse that it was today. Churches need to break down the walls that silos off groups that look alike coming together in church. I think that it is the silo mentality of our churches that make it difficult for us to really see the marginalized since we are so insulted with people who look like us and act like us that we are blinded to the real issues in society.
Dan Kimball is another person on the forefront of this emergent church idea. He also points out that “When the whole emerging church discussion began, it was primarily about evangelism and mission to emerging generations.” I think that the point here is that we need to make sure that if we are working on being emergent that we balance what started the movement and not forgot in an effort to address some of the very important theological issues that need to be redressed, renewed and reinvigorated.
So this is my look in to the emergent church. Regardless, we cannot do church like we always have and we need to consider what that means for us today and find ways to reach out to those who need it.
God bless.
Much of stuff that I have read comes from Brian McLaren as he seems to be one of the cutting edge writers on this subject. While the movement has been a polarizing one, I think that the key is that there is a shift that needs to occur in the church. In essence, the movement began as a look at what it means to be called to go and make disciples in a postmodern world. Things have changed in 2000 years. This is not the world of Jesus and we have to accept that. As McLaren put it “it had its genesis in a desire to share the Gospel in a changing social climate.”
Not only is the social climate changing, but with the advent of social media and things like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, the way we communicate and talk in today’s world is completely different that it was in the past. It is not about just making the church culturally relevant through updated buildings or new music and worship. Instead it is about looking at the tired old stale theologies that we have tried to use for 2000 years. We have to move towards updating the way we think theologically, issues around who we are as a culture in a postmodern world and also how we are going to deal with the social justice issues that we face. After all that is what Jesus did, he worked with the poor and the outcast to provide ways for them to have better lives.
Live is more diverse and church should be too. The emergent church has to focus on the fact that church life is much more diverse that it was today. Churches need to break down the walls that silos off groups that look alike coming together in church. I think that it is the silo mentality of our churches that make it difficult for us to really see the marginalized since we are so insulted with people who look like us and act like us that we are blinded to the real issues in society.
Dan Kimball is another person on the forefront of this emergent church idea. He also points out that “When the whole emerging church discussion began, it was primarily about evangelism and mission to emerging generations.” I think that the point here is that we need to make sure that if we are working on being emergent that we balance what started the movement and not forgot in an effort to address some of the very important theological issues that need to be redressed, renewed and reinvigorated.
So this is my look in to the emergent church. Regardless, we cannot do church like we always have and we need to consider what that means for us today and find ways to reach out to those who need it.
God bless.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Book Review: Mystically Wired by Ken Wilson
When I first got this book from Thomas Nelson through BookSneeze.com, I remember thinking to myself that this has to be interesting especially with something titled mystically. We do not general accept mystical in the realm of Christianity, so I was intrigued as to what the book would say in respects to this.
What I got out of this book is that the author, Ken Wilson, is trying to prove the point that we are “wired” for prayer. That is as beings created in the image of God, our human instinct is for prayer and something that we need as part of our survival. It is a vital part of who we are and a vital part of how to stay connected to the Creator.
If I am to be honest, the first half of the book is a little tedious. It is written to explain the science behind being hardwired for prayer. It was refreshing from the stance that the author was addressing this, which is generally not what Christians do, but I was ready for and looking for tips and ideas for having a better prayer life. I did get this in the second half of the book, which was basically the handbook to improving your prayer life. The author even proves some simple prayers to get you focused on increasing your prayer life.
This book is not a traditional self-help Christian book. It really focuses on the science behind it and is uncommon in the way that it presents ways for you to improve prayer. This is probably difficult for many Christians who have a hard time intermingling the science and the divine together, but Wilson does provide some solid research and understanding behind prayer. This type of approach could also be very upsetting to some Christians and make it difficult for them to want to read.
The good part about this book is that Wilson really tries to walk you through understanding prayer, his journey with prayer and he really tries to make you understand that it is not about just doing it, but why it is an important part of who we are as a created being. He pushes us to prayer as the importance of who we are and the relationship we have with God, not just because we are supposed to do it. The practical suggestions are also very helpful and I look forward to integrating a few of them in my life.
The negative part about it was that the scientific part could be a little difficult to wade through and hard to comprehend. Even as intriguing as the concept of praying having a physical impact on the brain is, it was still hard to get to that point of understanding it with all the information Wilson provides. I even found myself have to read some passages several times in order to get it.
All in all it was a good book, I might not have picked it up in the book store, but it is worth a read if you are interested in prayer, but if you are not interested in the science you might want to skip the first part.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Book Review Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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