Category Archives: Books worth reading

Pursuing Christ, Creating Art

I haven’t done a ‘books worth reading’ post in a while, but I am really excited to share this with my readers.

I’m quite sure that I’ve never read a book like the one I’m recommending now; My friend Gary Molander has written a book for anyone who works in the production of church related media, Pursuing Christ, Creating Art; Experiencing Life at the Intersection of Faith and Creativity. I’ve had the honor of knowing Gary for a couple of years now, and his influence has caused me to change the way I think… the way I approach my own creative process, by simply helping me understand the proper order:

  • Pursue Christ with all that I am
  • Create my art as a response to who He is and what He means to me.

I must admit that I’m at a bit of a loss as to where to start on this little review; This book is so good that I might end up quoting everything in it and then Gary would make no money and his wife and kids wouldn’t eat, and no one wants that.

Simply put, Gary understands us. He’s done his time as a church pastor and knows first-hand what we as producers and artists go through as the weekends keep showing up right about the same time every week. After 17 years in pastoral ministry, Gary resigned from his church to what was initially an unknown future. He eventually formed Floodgate Productions, a video production company that produces short films and other visual media for churches all over the world.

We don’t create art for God. He doesn’t need it. We create art in response to God because the world needs it. -Gary Molander

Gary’s words will challenge and encourage you. He isn’t trying to prescribe a new “how to” on creativity, but rather what might be a new thought process where we all need constant reminding that we are not our ministry, we are not what we produce, and that our relationship with our Creator is much more critical than anything we could ever create.

At the core, being an artist is a heart condition, not a job. And art created from that place is intended to be more mission-related than we’ve ever dreamed.

I also love that he enlisted the help of some other folks who do what we do to get several different insights on faith and the creative process.

Get this book. Read it carefully. Read it and mark it up with a highlighter and a pen. In six months, go back and read it again.

He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:3

Wasabi Gospel

wasabiweb2While I’m sure that I could be accused of being quite the apple-polisher by pimping my boss’ newest book, Wasabi Gospel, I can say with complete clarity… He does enjoy a good apple… but more so than that, he is a great writer! I count myself rather blessed to work with Shawn Wood and have access to his unique way of looking at what it means to follow Christ.

What I appreciate most is Shawn’s view of things that we all deal with; he goes right at the topics without sugar-coating anything. If you are looking to examine your own faith from a very realistic point of view, this is a book you should read. I will tell you that your first tendency may be to put the book down after reading the first chapter: Shawn takes a look at a short, seemingly simple scripture:

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7

He goes on to elaborate on three levels of forgiveness… I didn’t even want to know what happened in levels 2 and 3… but the truth is that I needed to read them and take another look at how I’m not forgiving the way that Christ would have me forgive.

I recommend this book for anyone who has found their faith to be just like that of so many others… imperfect, lacking, and in the amazing process that brings us closer to God regardless of how many times we fall short.

Final Leadership post of ’08

As I ponder all that has happened in the past year, my head starts to spin! Not that I’m claiming to have been through things that others haven’t been through, just in awe of how it all came together. A few things come to mind for me in the category of leadership:

1. I’m amazed at how much I learned about good leadership after experiencing bad leadership. I recall a situation from a long time ago when I worked in a manufacturing plant… I had to deal with some one from another department on a regular basis who seemed to have no concept of good communication or problem solving skills. In trying to find a solution to the ongoing woes between myself and the other individual, I went to my boss to see if he had any insight on how to deal with the daily conflicts. To my surprise, he didn’t offer a great answer to that particular problem, but the wisdom he shared that day comes ringing back to me now:

“You can’t change how people treat you, but you can learn about what kind of leader you want to be and how you want to treat people when you’re in similar situations”.

Wow. I really can’t believe how those simple words have come true! While I don’t want to be perceived to be dwelling on the negative aspects of the year, I can truly say that I have learned the most about good leadership via bad leadership. I can honestly say that I feel well armed to deal with many things now because of what I have seen in the way of poor leadership.

2. Good leadership is practiced every day. Just like being healthy in your mind and body requires daily attention, so does good leadership. I firmly believe that good leadership doesn’t take days off… not to say that there isn’t “down time”, but truly good leadership leaves evidence on a daily basis… it becomes who you are, not merely what you do. I have had an incredible privilege of working around some amazing leadership in my current job! People that strive for excellence in all that they do, professionally and personally. I am blessed!

3. Good leadership is easy to follow. When a passionate leader lays out a map and a time-line, the followers have little opportunity to stray from it. The plan becomes the “thing” and the filter by which everything is judged. Any additions or subtractions can be quickly weighed by how they affect the plan… to me, this means that we are able to remove the emotional decisions without diminishing any of the passion of the project.

4. Good leadership thrives on good communication. In Seth Godin’s book, Tribes, he states,

“Great leaders create movements by empowering the tribe to communicate. They establish the foundation for people to make connections, as opposed to commanding people to follow them.”

With poor communication comes mistakes, misunderstandings and loss of motivation. Good communication has great benefits: a clear understanding of the tasks, ongoing encouragement, and ultimately, high praise for achievements.

5. Good leadership is contagious! With good leadership calling the shots, I firmly believe that your organization will thrive at unthinkable levels internally… and will continue to attract the attention of others externally who want to learn how to improve their own organizations. Good leadership is also ready to dispense their wisdom for the betterment of anyone who asks.

I’m thankful to so many people who have poured so much into my life in the past year… you will find many of them listed in my blogroll and quoted in previous leadership posts… these are amazing people who realize that leadership is not a position, but a great responsibility… it’s who they are, not what they do. Thank you all!

What have you learned about leadership in 2008?

churched (Win a free copy!)

churched-1OK… I’m WAY behind on this… my apologies to Matthew Paul Turner and Waterbrook Press. At long last, HERE is my contribution to the churched blog tour!

I recently completed “churched” by Matthew Paul Turner… What an incredible book! Anyone who has spent any amount of time in church (or several churches, as the case may be) will get a kick out of this great story! I say ‘story’ because while this book would qualify as non-fiction, Mr. Turner has a brilliant style of writing that made me feel like I was watching a new season of the Wonder Years. Mr. Turner re-caps an odd life-journey where he started as a Methodist, transitioned into a Fundamental Baptist church, and ultimately landed at non-denominational Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN. I have no problem in recommending this book; first, just for sheer entertainment! There are countless times in this story where you will laugh out loud! Secondly, it will cause you to re-cap your own church journey… and make you wonder how you survived any of it!

Until I read this book, I had never really thought about the many ‘stops’ that I have had along the way. I grew up Catholic, then in high school, a pretty girl introduced me to a different kind of relationship with the God that I thought I knew (I was so thankful that I married her!). From there I had stints in Pentecostal/Assembly of God churches, a Lutheran church, and a handful of multi-flavored non-denominational churches. I’ve had some great experiences with God, and a bunch of good and bad experiences with people who work for and with God… all who have had a hand in shaping the Christ-folower that I am today. While I can see a great value for the person who spends their whole life in one church, I’m also very grateful that my own experience is the culmination of an odd patchwork of church experiences that are now a rich set of memories that I will always cherish!

Now, here is where you come in. I have a brand new copy of churched to give away for FREE! All I ask is that you drop a comment here, and include some insight to your own churched life…and you are entered to win! Just leave a funny story or odd moment that we can all enjoy! I will take comments/entries until Thanksgiving Day (11/27/08) at midnight Eastern time. The winner will be determined by a random drawing on Friday, November 28, 2008. Make sure that you leave a valid e-mail address so that I can get in touch with you for your mailing address. So, leave your own story and tell your friends to stop by too!

200 Pomegranates

In an effort to enrich my mind, I have been trying to read more… cool thing is that in my new job, I seem to be surrounded by published authors! One such writer is my friend, Shawn Wood, who has recently released 200 Pomegranates and and Audience of One.

This is a simple yet challenging book that will cause you to re-evaluate who you are and what you are doing in God’s story. Shawn has done an amazing job at examining the life of an old testament character named Huram (1 Kings 7:15-17, 20-21, 22b NLT) who was asked to use his gifts to help build King Solomon’s temple. Through these few verses and some great stories from Shawn, you will see how God has wired each of us to do something great… and that our greatest achievements will bring glory to God and not ourselves.

There comes a point in your life where you have to decide if you will continue to live a life centered on yourself or if you will make the difficult choice of investing in things that will last. Do not be deceived by the ease with which I was able to write and you were able to read that last statement — this is the hardest thing that any human has to do in his or her life. It’s a pretty scary moment actually — maybe some of you can remember the moment in your life when you had to make that pivotal choice. You found yourself making a decision based on what was best for another person rather than what was best for yourself. You decided to give away your time, talents, and financial resources rather than look for a way to keep them for yourself. You may have even given up your right to a dream so that the dreams of others close to you could be met. It is during these times of decision that we have to really look inside ourselves to see who we are. We call this process “self examination” in the area of spiritual disciplines. It’s a time when we see who we are and choose to be better or to be worse. There is no staying the same. (pp. 60, 200 Pomegranates and an Audience of One)

Please, do yourself a favor and get a copy of this book. I believe that you will gain a new perspective on how God has uniquely gifted you to do amazing things… and how when you offer those gifts back to him you can know what it means to perform for an audience of one.