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O Book Review: Crave

February 9, 2010 in Blog, Ministry, O Book Reviews with 6 Comments

Crave Cover

Overview:
Crave. I love that word. The analogy the author of Crave, Chris Tomlinson, uses is that of a slightly chubby child with a big spoon and an even bigger tub of ice cream. And he can’t get it in his mouth fast enough. That’s how Chris wants you to see God at the end of this book: you can’t get more of Him fast enough. And I must say that he has done an amazing job of it. Chris uses stories, quotations, and original thoughts to draw you to the place where you want God on a giant spoon.

Originality:
Chris’ book is one of the most original I’ve read in a very, very long time. He uses a unique method of tying images to his big ideas to make some great points. His thoughts on suffering and joy are beautiful. In the originality department, he gets an A+.

Overall Readablity:
Reading Crave is unbelievably easy. He does a good job of breaking up the text with stories, quotes, Scripture, and personal opinion. As with many books for the Christian market, it does assume some background in Christian-ese. And he quotes John Piper, who I find it increasingly hard to take seriously the more I follow @fakejohnpiper on Twitter. So that makes me chuckle at inappropriate moments. Other than that, very readable.

Quotes, recommendations, and more, after the jump!

Continue Reading…

O Book Review: Free Book by @briantome

February 6, 2010 in Blog, Ministry, O Book Reviews with 0 Comments

Free BookOverview:
Free Book. Sadly, it doesn’t mean free as in no cost, but free as in totally and completely focused on freedom. Not American freedom, but Christian freedom. Freedom to live life to the fullest as we’re empowered by Christ. It’s a crazy powerful message. It’s a message I am head-over-heels in love with. The author, Brian Tome, does a great job communicating this throughout his book. Let’s look a little more at how he does it.

Originality:
The discussion over whether Free Book is original or not really depends on what kind of original you mean. Is it original in the sense that the things within its pages have never been said before? No. Its basic principles and ideas are straight from the pages of Scripture. Is it original in the sense that the things within its pages haven’t been said enough? Absolutely. We as the church tend to get so caught up in the “dos and don’ts” that we forget the freedom that Christ has brought us. That’s Brian’s whole point. We need more voices like his to speak out and stand for freedom.

Overall Readablity:
There isn’t a lot to be concerned about here, but the book is definitely written to a college-educated audience. It’s not hard to read by any means in the terms of vocabulary used- it’s actually rather easy. There are just a few analogies that Brian employs at times that require some back knowledge of either major religious figures, Bible stories, or philosophers, but nothing that changes your ability to grasp the meaning of the book. It was a very enjoyable read.

Outstanding Quotation:

If you’re focused on maintaining balance–trying to satisfy all the people in every area of your life and just skating by with a little energy here and there–you probably aren’t moving, and you probably aren’t experiencing the blessings that come from a life lived in freedom.

- p. 148

Observations:
Brian isn’t afraid to be brutally honest with you in this book. He shares with you about mistakes he’s made, mistakes a lot of people make, and just generally stupid things people have done. He doesn’t try to beat around the bush. He’s especially clear about this in the third chapter, when he really gets down to defining freedom. He talks about the American definition of freedom, meaning absolute freedom from restrictions. However, he slaps that idea upside the head with his definition: “Freedom requires a decision to follow someone, because freedom is not about your isolation and independence.” Throughout the book he shares personal stories of times when he hasn’t lived life in total freedom. He’s not afraid to show you his true colors.

On the other hand, I think that at times he can take his brutal honesty too far, even to the point of “cliche” Christian honesty. One of the very first of these cliche traps he falls into is on the very first page: pastors who curse to be “cool.” I can’t fully know his intention for it, but seeing as it’s the only time in the entire book that terminology like that is used, it just feels a bit like it’s there more for bragging rights than because it actually makes a point. He also makes repeated reference to drinking beer with his buddies. While I’m not going to get the whole alcohol debate started here, it again feels like it’s more of a “look at me I’m a drinking Christian” show than actually serving to further his point.

All in all though, I think Brian has done a great job with Free Book. He’s spoken a message too many are too scared to proclaim. Freedom.

Own It:
It’s found a permanent place on my shelf, and I think it should on yours too.

O Book Reviews Rating:
3.5/5 stars

O-cquire your copy at:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Extremely Boring Yet Legally Required Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers 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.”

Fresh Paint

February 6, 2010 in Blog, random, Site Updates with 0 Comments

In case you hadn’t noticed, my blog has gotten a fresh coat of paint. Purty ain’t it? I’m helping John Saddington beta test his brand new, thoroughly customizable, rock-your-face-off awesome theme called Standard Theme. I’m loving it so far. I did some super-duper color switcheroos from his standards, but other than that the awesomeness is all Standard Theme-powered.

That said, it is still a beta, meaning you may perhaps spot a few glitches here or there. If you do, let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to squash them like the annoying little bugs they are. Any other comments about the redesign can be posted in the comments too.

Adjectives

February 4, 2010 in Blog, Ministry with 3 Comments

Watch the following video, then come back and join me.

OK. Did you notice something? That was nearly 3 minutes of adjectives and not much else. This isn’t the first time a video like this has been made, it’s just the most recent one. Apple keynotes are filled with adjectives that describe and give life to what Steve and the other presenters are saying. They could completely eliminate the multimedia from their presentation and chances are they would be just as amazing, because the adjectives draw the picture for you. However, take out the adjectives and pretty much all you have left is a boring, drab bunch of techie speak.

It’s amazing to me what adjectives can do to transform a speech or lesson. Everyone, and kids especially, loves adjectives. We like having pictures drawn for us in words. A little adjective can take a story, lesson, or presentation from snooze-worthy to exhilarating.

So why do we ignore them so often? Because they’re extraneous. In a day and age where we’re all about speed and getting info out quickly, adjectives take up space and time we don’t want to use up. Twitter lends itself to the lessening use of adjectives due to space restrictions. The same with texts and many other forms of modern media. But we need them. Adjectives help us connect the visual and speech centers in our brains, connecting our learning in ways that we simply cannot any other way.

Don’t neglect the poor little adjectives. Give them a home when you teach a story to the kids in your ministry. Give them a home when you’re trying to persuade the pastor to let you use the auditorium for a sliming event. Give them a home in your everyday speech. Love your adjectives.

Communication

January 18, 2010 in Blog, Everything with 2 Comments

I learned something very interesting in a communication class last fall. The Latin root for both the words communication and community is communis- to make common, to have a common faith, or to experience together. Communication is literally the art of making a message common, or shared. Of sharing what you believe to be true. It’s also integral in community. Without communication, community can’t exist. The two are nearly synonymous.

So I decided to do a little research. For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently a freshman at Indiana Wesleyan University double majoring in Christian Education and Public Relations. I visited IWU’s online catalog and looked at the bachelor’s programs offered by the School of Theology and Ministry. Of the 12 ministry-related majors IWU offers, none of them include any communication-related classes.

I’m sure it’s the same at other Christian universities as well. We have devalued what good communication means to community-building, which is sad. Our goal and passion as the church is to build the community that is the church as well as the community around the church. Without communication, we can’t do either. I wonder at times how the effectiveness of the church would differ if we would learn to communicate effectively in a Christ-centered manner.

What does your church do to train its leaders in communication? Have you taken any courses or learned anything at a conference about ministry communication that you found especially helpful? Do you think I’m totally off base with this whole “communication is vital to community” thing? Talk to me in the comments.

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