So one of my goals this year was to read more books about leadership, pedagogy, children's ministry. I've read 3 books so far this year and am totally going to count the books I have to read for school. It's my blog and I'll do what I want to!
1. "I Blew It" by Brian Dollar (http://www.briandollar.com/i-blew-it-book/)
This was a really easy read. But don't get me wrong. It also WASN'T easy to read because I could see myself in a lot of the book. Each chapter details one of Brian's "biggest mistakes" of the first 20 years of his children's ministry experience. This isn't a woe-is-me or laugh-with-me book, he also goes on to show the lesson he learned from the mistake and how he's moved on. A lot of what he writes about is probably what most people would call no-brainers. But just because you know something is wrong (like procrastination) and just because you get away with it, doesn't mean that it defaults into something right. I appreciated his honesty and his frank candor. I'm one that can relay some of my embarrassing moments but my "biggest mistakes" I'm not sure I could put out there for all the world to see. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is in ministry, not just children's ministry workers. There's a lot to be learned from this man's biggest goofs.
2. "A Heart Like His" by Beth Moore
Oh how I love Beth Moore. Something about the way she can strip things down the bare essentials. This book is about the life of David. I started out highlighting and got to about the 4th chapter when I realized that I was just too moved to highlight anymore. I didn't want to take the time to have to move the marker across the page. I'm sure I'll read this book again and pick up the highlighting. I'm too much of a perfectionist not to. Anyhow, this book is actually the one she rewrote for men so it doesn't have a lot of the "dear ones" and other sweet nothings that usually pepper her books. It starts out with the time in David's life just before the whole Goliath adventure and ends after his death. It is meaty. I'm a pretty fast reader and it took me a good while to get through this book (over 6 weeks) mostly because I felt like I had to process it in small chunks. I know that there is a Bible study by Ms. Moore that covers this study and I am intrigued enough, even having read the book already, to want to go through the study. And Ms. Moore's studies are not for the faint-hearted! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand more about how someone as flawed as David could have been called a man after God's own heart. It is also a good read for anyone who has the idea that God couldn't love them because they (fill in the blank).
3. "5 Leadership Essentials for Women: Developing Your Ability to Make Things Happen" by Linda Clark
I'm not sure after reading this book that I've developed my ability to make things happen. Maybe if I'd gone through the book with someone else to be able to bounce ideas off and talk about the activities and discussion questions. I have no beef with the 5 essentials: group building, communication skills, relationship skills, conflict management and time management. In fact I think those are 5 leadership essentials for all, male or female. However, in a short a book as this is, I think it was a bit of an overstatement that it could develop anything. Good information, but pretty basic. Kind of, "nothing new to see here, folks." I would recommend this book only to someone who really had no grasp of those 5 skills.
4. (reading) "Slave: the Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ" by John Macarthur
I'm reading this book currently for my Spiritual Formation class. This book first and foremost makes me embarrassed for any Christian who ever had a part in a church split over something like the color of the carpet or the style of music during the worship service. Modern-day Christians, especially American Christians, are so lacking...and I'm holding the mirror up to myself on this one. We are a spoiled, spoiled group of people! I've had to put this book down in the middle of my reading assignment because I was convicted. My only beef with this book is that he does get a little redundant at times. There could have been a little more editing before this book went to print.
5. (reading) "Designed to be like Him" by J. Dwight Pentecost
I'm also reading this book currently for my Spiritual Formation class. This is my least favorite assigned reading. The print is so small and just seems to tax my eye. He has some awesome things to say but tends to get bogged down in "Christian-ese" a lot and, erg, uses the King James Version anytime he quotes Scripture. He also could have done with better editing as he tends to say the same thing over and over again.
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