Books

I just got back from my youth group's Bible study. We were looking at Mark 4, and I asked them why they thought Jesus used agricultural metaphors in so many of His parables. "It's what His audience dealt with in their daily lives." We went on to talk about Jesus' audience wasn't likely schooled in deep theology, but they sure did know their seeds. ... Read More

Last month, we introduced the idea of starting a ChurchMag Book Club and with a lot of support, we are going to move forward with it! I put a poll up in our ChurchMag Facebook group on if we did the book club, which book would people want to do first and I think we had a runaway winner: ... Read More

There are many different biblical and historical models of financing the church and missionary work. Sometimes it involves direct giving to a church, sometimes “tent making” where missionaries carry out a trade to fund their work. And sometimes it involves raising support for people you know who have the funds to help out. That last one can be tricky and cause people issues but luckily Chris Staplehurst has created a super simple guide that will really help you out. It’s called 12 Easy Actions ... Read More

Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could they didn't stop to think if they should. That quote, of course, came from Dr. Ian Malcom in Jurassic Park, but it just of easily could be mentioned in Brett Frischmann and Evan Selinger's new book Re-Engineering Humanity. To be clear, they aren't anti-technology, and they aren't nearly as snarky or shady as Ian Malcom. What they are is cautious, and they expect us to be be the same. In fact, an entire chapter of their book is ... Read More

I've been toying around with the idea of doing a ChurchMag book club, something similar to what we do with the book From The Garden To The City in 2011. I'd love to put it together and read with you guys, but I am not sure which book to pick. So I need your help. Over on our closed Facebook group (you have to be approved to join), I have a poll running to pick which book we should read through for the book club. If you are interested in being part of the book club, go give your two cents on ... Read More

As I have gone into ministry and work environments, I have always thought, that you need to respect leadership, give solutions to problems you find, and give 100% for the time you are at work. Many times, this led to me getting done with my job and not having anything to do. This did not mean time to stop working, but with my need to give solutions to problems, I usually found myself trying to further the vision of leadership through opportunities I may be able to take lead under the leadership ... Read More

The premise of this book is simple: because God is a storyteller, we have been created to tell stories, though we may not all be professionals, and because God is a storyteller, we can also learn a lot about how to craft a good story by looking closer at God's great story: the Bible. ... Read More

Jon Acuff is a Christian satire legend with amazing achievements to include the Stuff Christians Like blog and going on a speaking tour with Dave Ramsey to encourage people to follow their dreams. He's recently released his latest book, Finish: Give Yourself The Gift Of Done. How does this one stack up to the rest of Jon's books and is it worth getting? ... Read More

Last year, I set a goal to read 30 books. Eric and I even talked about it on the podcast last year. (We also discussed my Facebook fast. That didn't last very long since the Facebook Groups app was mothballed.) Well, I'm happy to report that I read 39 books this year. All told, I read 18 actual books, 26 graphic novels (including two standalone comic books) and 10 audiobooks. Here's a complete list: ... Read More

There are few things as frightening as the idea that you are being watched, and yet, over the past few years, we've found out that we're being watched by our own government and private companies all the time. That's right: the scariest thing imaginable is happening, and the question we need to ask ourselves is, "How is this legal?" The short answer is that it shouldn't be, and the long answer is found in Joshua Fairfield's new book, Owned: Property, Privacy, and the New Digital Serfdom. ... Read More