The Perks of Being a Wallflower

A while back, I mentioned that one of my favorite books of all time, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, was being adapted for film. I’m thrilled to see that the film has been shot and is set for release this fall. This book was a life-shaping, catalytic moment in my formative years. It’s still one of my favorite books of all time, and some of the best writing I think I’ve ever read.

To add to my excitement about the release, it looks like the book’s author, Stephen Chbosky, directed the film, which bodes well to how it’ll hold up in the new medium. It also boasts some great young actors, including a few of my favorites from other great shows/movies, including Emma Watson, Paul Rudd, and Mae Whitman (of Parenthood fame).

Thrilled. Just completely thrilled.

Tony Morgan’s “Killing Cockroaches”

On the way to Africa a week or two ago, I took the chance to read some books that had been sitting on my shelf for far too long. One of the books was Tony Morgan’s “Killing Cockroaches, and other scattered musings on leadership”. I picked this book up a few years ago when it came out, and simply haven’t gotten around to reading it. I knew it would be a good read; I’ve enjoyed Tony’s other books and appreciated the connection I’ve had with him in the past through my work with The Sticks.

Don’t have time to read the book? Why? Well, that’s probably another discussion; leaders are readers, research backs it up. For your sake however, I have your back. Here are some highlights that I had, that I thought I’d share:

• Surround yourself with problem solvers, not problem-messengers.

• “…mediocrity – it’s a place where there are very few critics”
If what you’re doing is done with excellence, the critics will come out. If you’re not garnering criticism, you’re likely not doing it very well.

• Develop a “not to-do” list for your ministry

• God reveals his plans as I begin to take steps of obedience

• People will follow vision. They won’t follow information.

• People aren’t necessarily afraid of change. They’re afraid of being changed.

• “Sometimes I think television is more concerned with reaching this generation than churches are…”

• “The reality is that there certainly is a consumer mind-set in our culture, and unless we acknowledge that and deal with it, our message – the gospel message – won’t be heard.”

• Spend less time on what’s urgent and more time on what matters.

• Are you doing it because it works, or because it’s cool?

Concerning church services and sermons:
• The topic needs to connect with a theme that’s already captured people’s attention.

• Did we address a relevant topic?
• Did we connect it to a theme that’s hot in the culture?
• Did we offer biblical truth?

• Track the attendance for each service

• If your church shuts it’s doors today, would your community know it?

• “I think we’re making a huge mistake if we assume young adults will continue to come to our buildings to experience community”.

While these cliff notes are simply some of the items that I highlighted in my first pass, I highly encourage you to read the whole thing. There are some great, practical thoughts and metrics that I’ll be implementing soon at K2, and I think you’ll find highly helpful to your ministry as well.

Can’t get enough? You can read Tony almost daily at TonyMorganLive.com.

The Christian Atheist

I didn’t intend to make the last few weeks “Craig Groeschel” reading month; it just happened.

Actually, after I finished reading “Weird”, literally the next day in a meeting, Phil Ling (of Church Solutions Group) happened to off-handedly reference another Groeschel book that I had sitting on the shelf, and thus, I picked it up.

So, my thoughts on the book…

I should start out by saying that my experience with the two books I’ve read by Groeschel are that he seems to focus on the fairly new believer. It’s not that he doesn’t provide good insight or depth for the “lifer”, it’s simply that if he falls on one end of the spectrum, it would be closer to the seeker end. That being said, take my thoughts with that in mind.

The entire premise of the book is that there are scores of Christians out there that are believing (and truly so at that) in the gospel of Jesus Christ, yet their lives are not reflecting their core convictions. As he puts it, “Believing in God but living as if He doesn’t exist”.

Some of his best writing comes in the afterword, if you want the honest truth. Craig starts writing from the gut, and his pace and style heighten with it. It could be that I just found this section more relatable, due to the fact that I’m experiencing the same circumstances alongside much of the rest of the staff at K2, and watching my own pastor walk through this, but I love this passage:

“Finally, on one very normal Saturday afternoon, by faith, I gave this last part of my life totally to God. I sacrificed a fear that had held me hostage since I was a child and made a promise to God that I’d never take it back.
I crossed the third line…
…No fear in my heart is greater than the fear of God. I desire nothing more than I desire all of God…
…I am a different person.”

What I love about this passage is that he’s describing a moment long after he had “given his life to Jesus”. The cliche that following God is a journey, not just a simple quick decision rings true here. Not only that, but I would suggest that to follow someone, something, anything…you have to be moving. The very definition of following implies movement from both parties. If you’re not moving, you’re not following.

The book spans a whole host of issues where we believe in God and don’t act it out. I’ll spare you the cliffnotes and let you read it if you’re interested. Overall, it was a good read, but I wouldn’t put it up on my “favorites” shelf or anything of the like. It was relatable and reads quickly, and has some very practical insight. What I missed in the book is that I felt like Groeschel could’ve gone a bit deeper. He shares experiences from his life, for sure, but, to be honest, it reads very…pastorally. The stories, even when they’re close to him, lack depth of emotion at times. I never got lost in his emotion or in the moment. There was always a clear, foreseeable reasoning he was laying out the story. To put it this way, it was clear all along that these were sermon illustrations.

What kind of story is your life telling?

“If you aren’t telling a good story, nobody thinks you died too soon; they just think you died. ” – Donald Miller

So I finished up Donald Miller’s “A Million Miles in A Thousand Years” Saturday evening. I thought I’d share a few thoughts that I highlighted as I went through.

“Somehow we realize that great stories are told in conflict, but we are unwilling to embrace the potential greatness of the story we are actually in. We think God is unjust rather than a master storyteller…”

We cannot live a great story without conflict. Without hard stuff to go through. Without inexplicable occurrences that make even the most devout question the purpose of life. Think of every great story you’ve ever known, and you’ll find gut wrenching conflict in it. Yet, when we deal with God, we think a great story comprises of happy times, and God, the One who is literally writing time, has other plans for our stories.

“I’ve never walked out of a meaningless movie thinking all movies are meaningless. I only though the movie I walked out on was meaningless. I wonder, then, if when people say life is meaningless, what they really mean is their lives are meaningless. I wonder if they’ve chosen to believe their whole existence is unremarkable, and are projecting their dreary life on the rest of us.”

There isn’t much to expound on here – this is just fantastic writing.

“…it’s a terrible thing to wake up and realize the person you just finished crucifying didn’t turn out to be Jesus…”

Relationships are messy, and yet we compound the issue by throwing all of our sin and guilt and shame on the people closest to us, only to find out that they’re not Jesus. The nice thing, in our calmness, is that we realize that Jesus already carried the guilt, the shame, the crap the we really can’t handle, and yet we put more trust in those closest to us in relationship. What ends up happening is that we crucify them with our mess. 

“A good storyteller doesn’t just tell a better story, though. He invites other people into the story with him, giving them a better story.”

This is true in life, this is true in faith, this is true. If you’re telling a good story with your life, then other people are a part of it. Great stories are not made up of loners. They’re not made up of rogue rebels or mavericks, they’re made up of people that from their very insides desire to share their good story with others, and involve them. Miller puts it this way:

“It’s as though God is saying, Write a good story, take somebody with you, and let me help.”

That’s the message of the gospel in real, straight terms. This was a great read. There is insight here that rocked my head, made me think hard, kept me up later a few nights. Definitely worth your read.

What I’m reading…

Here is one of those posts where some will look and say,

“Hey, there goes that guy with all his pretentious reading and whatnot…”

Others will look and say,

“Hey, that last statement while tongue-in-cheek made the whole thing even more pretentious…”

It’s not like that. Just the books I’m reading and why.

1. Decision Points – George W. Bush

Without overly politicizing the thing, it’s an interesting read whichever side of the aisle you fall on. I’ve been reading this since just after Christmas, and made some massive headway, and have sort of slowed down. It’s definitely an interesting insight into the man’s thinking, and dare I say at times…funny, though not always for the reasons he intended, that is, if he intended at all.

2. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years – Donald Miller

Donald Miller is one of my favorites. Absolutely, hands down. Many will tell you that the quintessential read of Don’s is a little book called “Blue Like Jazz”. While phenomenal, the book that I love the most of his is “Through Painted Deserts”.

This book is a great read so far. I’m 6 chapters in, and I find that I have to stop only because at night when reading, my eyelids begin involuntarily shutting, not because I want to. His writing reads like someone would think, and that is a hard style to do well. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years picks up on Don’s recurring theme of wanting to live with meaning, which is ironic coming from a guy who speaks into so many people’s lives with eloquence. Good read thus far.

Problem here is there are SOOOOO many more books I’d like to be reading right now. My amazon wish list is a mile long, I have a stack of books at home horizontally, which is how I lay them on the shelf till they’re read, and my iBooks app is full of samples (my apple version of a wishlist).

Too many books, not enough time to read.