Why I finish books

As most of you know, I love reading. What you may not know is that I have a personal discipline to finish any book that I start. Even if it is bad. There are books that convince me otherwise, but thankfully that doesn’t happen often. In fact, I can remember the last book that I gave up on, even years ago. A lot of times, the book will pick up speed (like my last one), or will at least have something of value buried in it that you won’t catch otherwise.

The downside to this of course, is that sometimes I end up enduring a lot of crap in hope of something of redeeming value that never comes (flashback to Simple Church…) The upside, as marketing genius Seth Godin points out in a recent blog, is that there are a lot of valuable parts of books, or movies, or sporting events, or even TV for that matter that you don’t get by skimming. Click here to read his thoughts on this.

And here is what I’ve noticed: it is the details that set you apart. Most people can summarize a book that they haven’t read (remember your English papers in school?) Most people keep up with the big ideas around them, but fewer keep up with the details that make the big ideas. It is these details that will set you apart. So don’t skim. And keep reading even when it hurts…

200 Pomegranates

I just read Shawn Wood’s first book, 200 Pomegranates and an Audience of One, and found it to be an encouraging read. Shawn is one of the teaching pastors at Seacoast Church. I’ll admit, I think that the book starts slow and I even thought his main premise was a bit of a stretch. But, as I got into it more, I think he explains his point well and leaves you thinking of your life in a new way. This book would be great for any person who ever feels that their life is full of things that seemingly don’t make a big difference (don’t we all feel this at times?)

“It is a very lonely place to be when you realize that if you didn’t show up tomorrow, the world, your home, your workplace, and your community would be exactly the same. It is during those lonely moments that we all realize, despite all of the wealth we may accumulate, despite the power and prestige we may gain at work, and even in spite of how much we may love God, our most basic desire is to have some influence on our world. When we feel that we are not having this influence, our inner two-year-old comes out and we demand any attention we can get.”


Congrats to Mitch and Aimee!

snv10815On Saturday I officiated the wedding of our friends Mitch and Aimee. Yes, they even got me to wear a pink tie. It was a nice ceremony…short and sweet. Jared sang a song at the wedding so we unofficially dubbed it the first 3F wedding.

Gavin even went all-out and busted out his sweater-vest for the event. He is one good looking kid.

Team of Rivals

Team of Rivals - Abraham LincolnI just finished my 750 page book on Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet members, Team of Rivals, and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. I wouldn’t say that it is an easy read or even remotely a quick read, but it was well worth the time and energy spent on it. Not only am I even more fascinated by Lincoln as president, but I felt a surprising sense of remorse over how things ended. He had just accomplished the greatest challenge of his life and then didn’t have the opportunity to build from there. The insights from this book concerning Lincoln’s leadership and character with others is something that has shaped my own views and will continue to for years to come. Here is a quote from Leo Tolstoy in the book:

“Now, why was Lincoln so great that he overshadows all other national heroes? He really was not a great general like Napoleon or Washington; he was not such a skillful statesman as Gladstone or Frederick the Great; but his supremacy expresses itself altogether in his peculiar moral power and in the greatness of his character. Washington was a typical American. Napoleon was a typical Frenchman, but Lincoln was a humanitarian as broad as the world. He was bigger than his country–bigger than all the Presidents together.”

The Green Bible

The Green Bible

I recently purchased a new version of the Bible called the Green Bible. It is in the NRSV translation (New Revised Standard Version) and focuses on how God’s truth applies to our environment and earth. I am going to read through the New Testament in this Bible to see how the NRSV words it and also to see this Bible in more detail. There are two things that stand out about this Green Bible.

  1. It is printed “eco-friendly.” The paper is made using ten percent post-consumer content. It is printed with soy-based inks and the all-natural 100% cotton/linen cover material is produced in a green friendly environment (all air is purified before exhausting into the atmosphere and all water is purified and recycled.)
  2. Passages that speak into God’s love for creation are in green ink. This is similar to how many Bibles print Jesus’ words in red ink.

My initial blush at this is mixed. On one hand, I like that they are showing a new aspect of God’s word that many people have overlooked. And they aren’t changing the wording, it is still NRSV. I even like the feel of the Bible and knowing how it was printed. However, it makes me slightly nervous to create a culture of printing Bibles focusing on whatever you want it to focus on. Especially since some of the green passages I’ve seen don’t appear to speak into God’s care for creation (which means that there may be more green passages than are arguably warranted). This hesitation of mine is similar to why I don’t quote the Message in sermons, as I think of that more like a commentary than a Bible itself.

Will this open the door to other versions with other colors of ink to highlight things?

UFC On Ice

snv10744Michelle and I were given amazing tickets to the Coyotes hockey game last night. We were sitting in the Toyota Club section and were right behind the Coyotes bench. In addition to the great seats we had, we also were able enjoy an all you can eat buffet (including lamb).

I found myself constantly observing the legend himself, Mr. Wayne Gretsky, as he stood just a few feet from us. He was surprisingly mellow throughout the entire game.

Living up to its stereotype, we even got to see a fight break out. And I have to say, it is kind of odd to see how it plays out in person. Everyone else on the ice, refs included, stand around and wait for the fight to end or go to the ground before anybody intervenes. As Michelle put it, it’s kind of like UFC on Ice. I had a lot more fun than I expected and I also realized that hockey is one major sport that I really don’t understand.

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