Chasing Daylight

Finished the book Chasing Daylight the other day. It's not my typical style of book as it's basically just some guys thoughts as he was dying. Lots of great thoughts, though, on how to really enjoy life, have perfect moments, live in the now, and appreciate the relationships we have. JM

New Books

I'm going to order some books tomorrow. I haven't been reading, and it's definitely throwing off my creativity and inspiration. I would borrow books, but then I can't underline and use the book, because I have to give it back.
I'm already way behind on my book reading plan for the year. I should have already finished my second book, and I haven't even started my first. Time to do some catching up. JM

Organic Community

I just finished reading Organic Community by Joseph Myers.  Amazing book that covers a lot of the same stuff that A New Kind Of Youth Ministry talked about as far as making sure people don't have to follow your 5 step plan to find God, but designing a structure in which they can discover God in their own way.  It was a good read and I know it's shaped a lot of the ideas that our high school guy and college guy are implementing now, so I'm definitely glad I read it.  JM

A New Kind Of Youth Ministry

I finished this book by Chris Folmsbee last night and loved it. The author argues that so much of what we do in youth ministry is focused on the youth minister by focusing on things that will inflate his own ego. What Chris argues for is a kind of youth ministry that focuses on the students needs and recultures youth ministry to encourage students to live among the needs of others.

This is different from caring for the needs of others because when we do that we see the other as "them" and something to be won. When we live among their needs, we instead empathize and build deep relationships with them for the purpose of living life and nothing else.

He then takes this principle through every area of youth ministry. The more I think about it, the more I was challenge by it and amazed by his insight. One of my favorite parts was when he was talking about student mission trips. He was on his way back to Minneapolis after spending a week ministering to the homeless in Nashville. He pulled into a gas station and saw another youth minister with a group of kids on their way back to Nashville after spending a week ministering to the homeless in Minneapolis. Reminded me of Brian Regan's bit about log trucks.

If you are at all involved in ministry to students, I highly recommend this book. JM

Communicating For A Change

I finished this book on our staff retreat. It's divided into two parts, the first is a narrative that puts the information they're trying to communicate and embeds it in a fictional story. The second part was just the information with some analagous stories and kind of how Andy Stanley developed this process. The book is basically about how he organizes all of his messages around one point and the basic outline he uses. It's an amazingly practical book. I hated the first half and loved the second half. It was especially annoying because the second half was just a reitiration of the first half without the narrative. Good book though with some great ideas. Just skip the first half of it. JM

The Big Idea

Finished The Big Idea by Dave Ferguson today. Great book. Great ideas. If you're unfamiliar, the main thought is that each week your church should strive to communicate one big idea to your people. This one idea is touched on in every aspect of the large group gathering, in small group curriculum, and anything else your church produces.
Love the ideas on collaboration. Definitely check it out. JM

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

I finished book 6 tonight. The last 150 pages or so were great. Pretty exciting, intense stuff. I just keep thinking these books would be a lot better if she cut out about 100 pages from each one. But, yeah, book 6 was great. I'm now ready to finish the series.
As I've read the Harry Potter books, I've taken about a 6 month break after each one, but I may try to read the last one fairly soon. I just don't normally read a lot of fiction, in fact I don't read any at all.
I've heard that book 7 is great from several people. I'll have to borrow it from somebody fairly soon.

Contemplative Youth Ministry

This book is amazing. Easily one of the best youth ministry books I've ever read. I want to underline each sentence, which would totally negate the value of underlining. It's been a while since I read anything that resonated with me this much. I'll post more about it when I finish it within the next week or so. JM

Free Books

I love the internet. I ran across this tonight. It's 22 books by John Piper that you can dowload the PDF's of for free. Man, how cool is that. I'm going to start reading "When I Don't Desire God" as soon as I finish "Contemplative Youth Ministry". I'll have to try to finish that this week because I need to read the Half-Blood Prince before the new Harry Potter comes out on July 21. JM

Next Book

I'm debating what book I should start reading now. I have two that I want to read "small is the new big" and "Contemplative Youth Ministry". I started contemplative youth ministry about 3 months ago, but haven't read anything on it since, so I would probably start that one over. But I think I'm going to read small is the new big first. I'll let you know what I think when I'm done. JM

Out Of The Pit

I just finished In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day. Pretty good read. I definitely enjoyed it, but I don't really think that I'm the books target. It seemed to be more of a "Go get 'em tiger" sort of book, and I'm more of a here is what needs to be done and here is how some people are doing it. My enjoyment level of it rose tremendously after hearing Mark speak the other night.
My greatest takeaway thought is "People who live in prayer mode see opportunities that other people don't even notice." That sentence and that whole section of the book really spoke to me since I'm really trying to organize my prayer life. Now I'm on to The Prayer Of Jabez. Not really a new book, but I've never read it, and I'm trying to focus on prayer. JM

New Book

I started reading my next book today. I'm reading "In a pit with a lion on a snowy day" in December with your grandma. I added the last part, but that stinking title is way too long. I'll read the first chapter tonight. I know it's trendy right now, but the reason I'm reading it is twofold:

1. They are hosting a men's event at my church on 01.25.07 where Mark Batterson will present his "lion chaser's" message.


2. I need to find a book for this year's Crucible guy's rite of passage.

So that's what I've chosen. Hopefully it's good. Everybody else seems to think so.