When I saw “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect“, I thought it was about time to try a Maxwell book again. And I must say I was not at all disappointed. This is probably the most original content I have read from Maxwell in quite some time. This book was a great read and I (and my students) have greatly benefited from it. There was so much great information in this book, that I went through the book again after I finished reading it and took notes from it which I shared with several key people.

Although this book is promoted as helpful in every area of communication (one-on-one, group, audience), I think it is truly a treasure for those who regularly speak to groups of people (pastors, teachers, others). It is indeed helpful when communicating with one other person, but is really written to the public speaking crowd.

If you do any public speaking in any form, this book will help to take you to the next level. If you have stopped reading Maxwell books for the same reason I gave, start reading again.

To the light that leads to where You are.

Now I’ve acquired these callouses

With the darkness of a cold and jaded heart.

So breathe in me, I need you now.

I’ve never felt so dead within.

So breathe in me, maybe somehow

You can breathe new life in me again.”

- Michael W. Smith

“Breath in Me”

It is because of this title that I could not wait to get “Why You Say It” by Webb Garrison. “Why You Say It” shows the stories behind over 600 words, phrases, idioms, and jargon that we use today. Have you ever wondered why we say “Flying off the handle” or “On cloud nine” or “Life of Riley”? This book answers all of those and much, much more.

What I found most interesting about this book were things it included that I didn’t expect to see, like “O.K.” and “baby” and “balk.” Who knew that the phrase ”O.K.” started with a U.S. President?

If you love trivia, you will love this book. It’s not exactly a reading book as much as a reference book, but if you are like me you will easily find yourself hooked on reading it and saying, “Huh,” a lot.

I teach business at a career college and have used this book in class when discussing idioms and jargon. It is really a great tool for any classroom and makes for a great icebreaker. Buy it and you’ll find out how many peole want to read it.

I had not yet read any of the “The Voice” translation. This translation attempts to capture the beauty and artistry of original “voice” of the Bible’s authors, trying to maintain the unique writing style of each author.

Reading “The Voice of Psalms” was like reading the book of Psalms for the first time. One of the most difficult challenges for avid Bible readers is to read the Bible in a fresh way, as if you’re reading it for the first time. “The Voice of Psalms” makes it easier to deal with this challenge and exciting to read the Bible again.

As I read, I found myself highlighting many verses and being moved by many of the passages. This translation will help many people to rediscover the beauty of the Psalms. The Psalms becomes more raw and real and clearly displays many of the emotions that David and the other writers display. “The Voice of the Psalms” enhances these emotions. Anger, rage, revenge, pain, joy, peace, worship. The full range of feelings is experienced in this unique and artistic translation.

I would encourage anyone to read this great book. You will be tempted to never read the Psalms in another translation again.

It seems to me that most churches “do” outreach in order to add people to the church. For them, the point of outreach is to grow their local congregation. The ROI for this kind of outreach is tangible. You know how many more people are coming to your church as a result of an outreach event. It is very easy to track. It is also makes for an easy excuse to get rid of one or more outreach events.

But what if we did outreach simply to share the love of Jesus Christ. For some people this is a crazy concept. What if we did outreach in our community and served people without ever telling them what church we are from? What if we served our community and didn’t care what church (if any) they started going to as a result? What if the church all over the world served, with passion, the people in their community and prayed that it would build the KINGDOM and not one congregation?

If we did that, I think we could change the world.

Those people who are dogmatic about a six-day literal creation will most likely slam this book and its content without ever reading it.

Charles Foster is neither a scientist nor a theologian. He is a researcher who has researched both sides of the debate and has presented his findings.

Foster says that the Ultra Darwinists and the Creationists are both wrong. Neither natural selection nor creationism can explain everything in the universe. He thinks that both sides need to be considering the other side and not be so dogmatic. In fact, Foster says that it is Creationism that has paid the bills for the Ultra Darwinists. He may be right.

“The Selfless Gene” is a fascinating book that presents evidence against both sides of the debate (much that I have never heard or read). The chapters seem to rotate between easy reading and scientific journal reading. The book does not flow very well, but the information is still presented well. It is a bit redundant, and takes a little too long in some places to get to the point. However, I think the reason for the latter is for the skeptical scientist.

At times, I felt as though Foster assumed too much knowledge on the part of the reader, but the main ideas of the book are well-presented and easily understood.

This book is a great read for those who have struggled in their faith because of Darwinism or those who are skeptical of the idea of a six-day literal creation.

Wilson also includes a bit of theology in regards to each city (Wilson is, partly, a theologian). This makes for an interesting addition to each of the stories of the city.  Although a quick read, Wilson manages to put a lot of fascinating information in each chapter without the chapters being just a timeline for each city. Wilson writes as if he is creating five biographical sketches for five human beings. He is able to write in such a way that each city has a remarkable story he is telling. And he does a very good job of doing it.

This book will clears up some misconceptions about the various cities and even provides some interesting trivia (i.e. why is a marathon 26.2 miles). Reading Wilson’s account of these five great cities will make appreciate the power and influence of our cities today.  Wilson’s summation in the closing chapter is really the best part of the book and by itself makes the book worth reading.

In his new book, Primal, Mark Batterson takes on the momentous task of helping us to reclaim the “Lost Soul of Christianity.”

Mark takes the theme of loving God with our heart, soul, mind and strength and applies it to all of Christianity. Using real-life stories, information from science and medicine, and Scripture, Mark makes the case that Christianity has lost some of its original passion and calls for a new reformation. A reformation of love in action.

This book is similar in its passion and brevity to “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day,” and I would rate them both about the same. Mark is a good writer who is able to be compelling and interesting in a book that is not very long. Hopefully, this will cause it to be read by more people than usual and would also make an interesting small group study.

Overall, this is a very good book that touches on some key concepts about the future of the church that are being discussed in many circles but have not yet become a mainstream conversation. This book could be a good tool to bring the idea of love in action to the mainstream.

There were really only two negatives to this book. First, is that it is slightly predictable in layout. You know each chapter will have a story, something from science or medicine and then a conclusion. This is certainly not bad, but became a bit redundant for me. Secondly, if you follow Mark’s blog (as I do), several sections of the book will sound very familiar.

I think Mark’s best asset as a writer is that he is able to transfer his passion to the reader and make them want to act. So, buy the book, read it, and then act. Make it the first book you read in 2010 and it may make all the difference in your life.

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It is sad that many churches, by choice, are not even a part of the conversation that is taking place in the dark. Many would rather gather around others who are part of the light and argue over the finer points of the light and whose light is brighter.

We must never forget the point of the Light. The Light is not to lead us to everyone else who has the Light so we huddle together with them. The point of the Light is to shine it into darkness.

If our gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost. – 2 Corinthians 4:3

1. Clergy – This is the top of the class system. Fundamentalists treat clergy different from other “lower” people. These are the “men of God” (because a fundamentalist wouldn’t let a woman be clergy).  They talk and act differently around clergy. They even have developed titles for them (and many clergy insist on people using these titles). They are closest to God and farthest from being human.

2. Deacons – Deacons are just below clergy in the fundy class system. These are the “church leaders”, who make decisions on church matters (even though that’s not biblical). That automatically makes them a step above others.

3. Sunday School Teachers – Although closely tied to deacons (and sometimes they are the same person), the Sunday School teacher is still a step below the deacons because they have very little authority (and authority goes a long way in fundy land). Sunday school teachers are like second string clergy, and they can only hope to rise into the clergy class someday, which only a select few are ever able to do.

4. Fellow church members – The next level down the chain are the other members of the church the fundy belongs to. Even if they don’t really like the person, they are still a part of the “tribe.”

5. Members of other churches – This only applies if they are a member of another church “of like faith and practice.” If you are a Baptist and a fundy, it’s the other people of your church first, then people from another fundy Baptist church.

6. People who go to church – These are the people who are dressed up on Sunday and you just know they have been to church.  Regardless of the church they’re going to (as long as it’s Protestant), fundies know that these are better people than the ones who sit at home on Sunday.

7. Unsaved – All people who don’t go to church on Sunday are put into this category, because all fundies know if you don’t go to church on Sunday, you are definitely not saved.

8. Catholics – Fundies consider Catholics lower than the unsaved. There’s nothing worse than being unsaved than being WRONG.

9. And last, there is only one group that a fundy could ever consider as lower than a Catholic…Liberals. This includes  not only Democrats, but even Republicans that Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity consider “libs.” To a fundy, not even Satan himself is as bad as a liberal.

Now that you know what class you are in, you can better understand why you are treated they way you are by your fundy friends.