Archive - June, 2010

book review – “Exponential”

June 14, 2010 in books, entertainment, ministry with 0 Comments

exponential

Somehow I ended up on the the email lists of a few book publishers. I get several offers to review books on my blog, but many of them just don’t interest me and I don’t have the time for the extra reading (especially on topics that don’t apply). But every once in a while, I get an offer that sucks me in. “Exponential” is one of those books.

I’ve been a staff pastor for several years. I have dreams of one day leading a church and/or planting one. When that happens, I’ll be revisiting this book for some of the ideas and concepts it contains.

“Exponential” is a book about creating and sustaining multisite ministry among churches. At the core of this is the idea of reproduction through apprenticeship. This is something that applies to every believer, not just pastors interested in adding an additional location for their church. And for me, that’s what makes this book great. As much as this is a book about church planting, it’s also a book about how to create ministries and leaders who seek to reproduce themselves in apprentices (to use the term in the book) who will in turn continue to pass their heart/vision/skill on to others.

I found this book to be very accessible and easy to read. It’s written by Dave Ferguson with some humorous notes from his brother, Jon Ferguson, along the way. It has some great personal stories/examples to balance out and illustrate the philosophical and strategic content. And there’s a lot of that here. It’s full of practical advice and tips for how to reproduce and raise up leaders and churches. This is one of those books that will end up on my shelf for future reference.

For me, a book like this challenges me on a couple of levels. First, it causes me to evaluate my current ministry assignment and find ways to improve on how I am leading and what I am passing on to others (apprentices) around me. Second, I begin to step back from my current situation and dream about what God is calling me to and where he will eventually lead me–sort of a big picture or long term vision.

If you’re a pastor interested in starting a multisite location or if you are a lay leader in your church, “Exponential” is an excellent resource for you to find ways to reproduce yourself in others and expand the Kingdom and the ministry you lead.

You can buy “Exponential” at amazon.com (if you purchase through this link, you’ll help support the blog).

For disclosure’s sake, I need to add that my copy of Exponential was provided for review by Zondervan.

goonies never say die

June 7, 2010 in entertainment, movies with 1 Comment

goonies

25 years ago today, something remarkable happened. The movie Goonies opened in theaters.

To be honest, I can’t remember the first time I watched it, but as a kid it was one of those movies I couldn’t get enough of. Few films I watched during my childhood have left as strong of an impression on me as this one.

I remember going over to my friend’s house and searching for treasure in the forest that was in his back yard. We would go on adventures for hours in there. One time we went all the way through the forest to the other side and ended up in an abandoned farm field. We walked across several fields until we came to an old one room house, entered through the broken door and searched for valuables. Of course, all we found was old junk, but the adventure was the fun of it. I think we ended up dragging a broken, rusted piece of farming equipment back to his house. I don’t remember calling it “playing Goonies”, but I remember thinking about how great it would be if we found a secret treasure like the one One-Eyed Willy left hidden away on his boat.

In honor of the anniversary, I decided to watch it tonight. I thought I’d type while it was playing but I had to pause it–I still get sucked in to watching after all these years. So enough reminiscing. Back to the movie for me.