FREE Online Preaching Event With Andy Stanley, Perry Noble, Louie Giglio, and Others

After talking to hundreds of pastors, we’ve realized that while preachers love preaching, it’s the preparation that often hurts. So we’re going “behind the scenes” with some of America’s best preachers to find out how they bring great content week in and week out.
Would you like to hear how Andy Stanley, Perry Noble, Dr. Charles Stanley, Louie Giglio, and Vanable Moody prepare their messages? How would you like to learn communication principles from one of America’s best comedians…Jeff Foxworthy?

All of this happens on Thursday, March 15 at 1pm EST. And best of all, it’s 100% free. Preach Better Sermons is a free, three-hour, online conference focused on helping communicators prepare and deliver messages that matter. Some of the best communicators in the world will unpack these seven preaching principles.

1. Start with the Scripture.
2. Keep it simple.
3. Make it portable.
4. Show it, don’t just say it.
5. Find common ground.
6. Finish early in the week.
7. Preach with the end in mind.

It’s 100% free and since it happens online, there are no travel costs. Register for the free event here.

I Am A Follower (Book review)

I Am a Follower by Leonard Sweet is a book that tackles the thorny issue of leadership with the Church.  For decades now, we have had conferences, books and seminars on how to build better leadership within the Church.  We do need leadership but the Church cannot borrow it's leadership sylte from the world, which is what we have done.  The Kingdom of God is about the great reversal.  In the Kingdom of God, leaders are to be servants.  They are to be the least among the brethren.  However, in our society, leadership has become a status symbol, one with lots of perks.  Leonard Sweet calls us back to the primal understanding of really being a leader....by becoming a follower.  We need leaders who will imitate Christ and point others to Christ.   Throughout the book, Leonard challenges all believers to learn to be great followers of Jesus.  Often referring back to the apostle Paul's challenge to believers to follow him as he follows Christ, he issues the challenge to follow Christ in such a way that others can follow us as an example.  Being in full-time ministry now for 20 years as a "leader" I was greatly impacted by this book.  It caused me to take a new, fresh look at how I lead others.  The whole premise is the call of Jesus to "follow Me."  I cringe at some of the leadership movements within the body of Christ today.  It saddens me the way that we have almost deified pastors and ministry leaders.  If they would read and take to heart Leonard's message then true change could occur and the body of Christ could continue on it's maturity process. 

I Am A Follower moves readers:
--from leaders that are over to followers that are among
--from sages and gurus to scouts and guides
--from Saul's armor to David's sling
--from having the right answers to asking the right questions
--from architects to gardeners

I recommend every Christian to read this book.  I would highly recommend that all pastors require their staff to read this book and to do an indepth discussion on it.  Follow me as I follow Christ .... I am a follower!

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers in return for my honest review.

The Love & Respect Experience (book review)

The Love & Respect Experience is a great devotional book for couples looking to deepen their understanding of one another. It is written as a weekly devotional versus a daily devotion. Many couples might find a daily devotional hard to do, but a weekly devotional more suited to their lifestyle. The whole premise of the book is to help understand that men need respect and women need love. Each devotional uses a Bible verse and a main point to highlight love and respect. Examples are given from the Eggerichs and other real life couples that help make the main point. Each devotion also has questions for the couple for further exploration and discussion. For any couple looking to deepen their communication with and understanding of their spouse, this would be a highly recommended book.

To build this couples devotional, Eggerichs has taken the top concerns that surfaced in a survey of thousands of couples and has developed 52 devotionals around the three cycles that are at the heart of Love and Respect:

The Crazy Cycle

The Rewarded Cycle

The Energizing Cycle

This devotional is very “husband-friendly” as many men don’t like to read.  However, even if one spouse doesn’t want to read the devotional, it can be read and enacted upon by just one spouse.  Applying the lessons learned will help marriages in many different ways. 

This is the second book I have ready by Emerson Eggerichs. His whole premise is that men need respect and women need love. As a pastor, I have found this to be very true in dealing with married couples.  I would recommend anything by Emerson Eggerichs. I do not believe you will be disappointed.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers for my honest review and evaluation.

The Ragamuffin Gospel (book review)

There are very few books that I have read in my lifetime that have had such an impact upon me. The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning is one of those books. The gospel of grace is one of the most misunderstood doctrines of the Christian faith. So many Christians say they believe in God’s love and grace but do not live under God’s love and grace. Brennan writes about this grace in his book. The thing that stands out to me the most is the sheer honesty and rawness with which he writes. Some Christian books sound like the author has it all together and is a complete expert on their subject (and maybe they are). Brennan writes as a man still on a journey of discovering God’s grace. The only thing that Brennan seems to be an expert on is being a ragamuffin. Within the pages of this book you will go on a journey of discovery. You will see humanity as God sees them….the very objects of His great love and affection. You will not read about perfect people, only real people on a journey. You will read about broken lives and the God who longs to fix them. You will discover grace and love in a down-to-earth style.

I cannot recommend this book enough. If you struggle with feeling like you are on a treadmill of performance or like you just can’t please God, then read this book. If you feel like you are a failure and just can’t get it together, then read this book. If you feel that you have it all together and you understand God’s love and grace, then read this book. This book should be required reading for every pastor and seminary student. It should be on every “should-read” list. The Ragamuffin Gospel is one of those books that should be read once a year, or anytime someone begins to feel beat up by life. God loves ragamuffins and is in a furious pursuit of them. I have gotten plenty of material for sermons, blogs and articles from this book.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Christ in Christmas

So many Christians today are up in arms because stores are dropping Merry Christmas for Happy Holidays. So, we post all kinds of signs that say "Keep Christ in Christmas". I do understand the frustration of Christians that look at a culture that increasingly is becoming more anti-Christian and anti-God. However as I have been thinking about this issue, I have come up with the following challenge for Christians:

The best way to keep Christ in Christmas is to act like Christ during Christmas (and throughout the year).

An Overview of the New Covenant

In this message, I start with Adam & Eve to give an overview of the New Covenant and how it came to be. So many Christians are living in a mixture of the Old & New Testament. It's all about relationship not rules.

With a Lion in a Pit on a Snowy Day (Book Review)

In this book, Mark Batterson does a great job of challenging the reader to believe that God can do great things through "ordinary people". He takes a very obscure passage of scripture, one that most people would simply overlook, and makes a great case for the amazing things that God can do for someone who would be willing to believe. In this book, Mark gives us seven things that "lion-chasers" need to do:

* Overcome adversity
* Unlearn fears
* Embrace uncertainty
* Calculate risks
* Seize opportunities
* Defy the odds
* Look foolish

This book will challenge your faith and give you courage to face the things that come your way. An opportunity is always in front of you if you will just learn to see it and embrace it. Using stories from his own journey and the journey of others, Mark gives great examples of how to chase lions and be an overcomer.

I had seen this book recommended for a couple of years now and I had been wanting to read it. I am so glad that I did. As a pastor, it is something that every church member should read. As one that is often times afraid to take risks this book gave me courage to go after the lions in my life. Mark encourages the reader to look for opportunities before us that could advance us in our lives. You never know when by chasing a lion into a pit on a snowy day your whole life will change. So, read this book and go chase a lion.

This book is a very easy read. I had a hard time putting it down. I got a lot of great quotes and illustrations from this book. It's one of those books that will need to be reread when one needs a good faith-lift.

Disclosure: WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group sent me this book for free for this review - the views expressed are my own.