Month: October 2018

Book Reviews, Influence Podcast1 Comment

Leading Healthy, High-Performance Teams | Influence Podcast

georgepwood

It’s been said that teamwork makes the dream work. That’s true for any organization, but it’s especially true for churches. After all, the business of Church isrelationship — with God and with others. Unfortunately, many churches experience relational dysfunction in the leadership team, the congregation as a whole, or both. They also often fail to realize the vision for the Church laid out by Christ in the Great Commission. In High Impact Teams, Lance Witt explains why churches don’t have to choose between relationships and results. He then shows how to bring those two things together for greater effectiveness in … Continue reading Leading Healthy, High-Performance Teams | Influence Podcast

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Moana Fashion Kit | Amazon Review

georgepwood

Making Moana-themed wooden-bangle bracelets with my young daughters is an hour of my life that I will never get back. I’m an older dad–nearly 50, while my girls are 6.5 and 5 years old–and not particularly crafty. But, while my wife was out of town over the weekend, my girls begged me to do this with them. So, I did. They had a blast! They painted the bangles. It took about an hour for the paint to dry. Then they each picked a sticker. My biggest complaint about this kit is that the sticker edges don’t lay flat on the … Continue reading Moana Fashion Kit | Amazon Review

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With God in the Valley of the Shadow of Death | Influence Podcast

georgepwood

Psalm 23 is one of the best recognized and most loved passages of Scripture. For three millennia, its words have comforted believers in good times and bad. In his new book, Grace in the Valley, Heath Adamson explores a baker’s dozen of lessons the psalm teaches about life and ministry under the Shepherdhood of God. Heath Adamson serves as chief of staff at Convoy of Hope, “a faith-based, nonprofit organization with a driving passion to feed the world through children’s feeding initiatives, community outreaches and disaster response.” He also serves in leadership roles for Empowered21’s Next Gen Networkand the Next Generation Commissionof the World … Continue reading With God in the Valley of the Shadow of Death | Influence Podcast

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The Prodigal Prophet | Book Review

georgepwood

If people know anything about the prophet Jonah, they know he was swallowed by a big fish. Consequently, because we live in an anti-miraculous age, people tend to dismiss Jonah’s story as just another fish story, the product of an ancient, credulous imagination. That dismissal is a shame, for the Book of Jonah tells a story with a timely message for people who live, as we do, in a moment of resurging nationalism. The timeliness of that message is evident throughout The Prodigal Prophet by Timothy Keller. The book grew out of a series of expository sermons Keller preached at various … Continue reading The Prodigal Prophet | Book Review

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The Well-Read Pastor | Influence Magazine

georgepwood

Pastors wear many hats in their congregations. On any given day, someone may ask them to explain a particular Bible verse or help mend a marriage or supervise an audit of the church’s finances. No wonder the average U.S. pastor buys four books a month, according to a 2013 Barna report! Pastors have a need to know. Because reading is so important to ministry, pastors must think carefully about what and how they read. Over the years, I have developed 10 convictions about my own reading habits that may be helpful to you. Reading is a spiritual discipline. A spiritual … Continue reading The Well-Read Pastor | Influence Magazine

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Two Dozen (or So) Arguments for God | Influence Podcast

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Publishers harvested a bumper crop of atheist book in 2006 and 2007. Letters to a Christian Nationby Sam Harris, The God Delusionby Richard Dawkins, Breaking the Spellby Daniel C. Dennett, and God Is (Not) Greatby Christopher Hitchens come readily to mind, among many others. Each of these book claimed in one way or another that belief in God was intellectually deficient, a matter of faith rather than reason. The philosophers who contributed to Two Dozen (or So) Arguments for Godbeg to differ. They think there are good reasons to believe that God exists. In Episode 155 of the Influence Podcast, I … Continue reading Two Dozen (or So) Arguments for God | Influence Podcast

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High Impact Teams | Book Review

georgepwood

Ministry is a team sport. Too often, however, ministry teams don’t play to their full potential. “The best teams are both healthy and high performing,” writes Lance Witt. “They focus on relationship and results.” To help ministry teams achieve their potential, Witt outlines a Christian approach to ownership, self-leadership, productivity, relationship, conflict resolution, and culture. If you’ve played on a high-impact ministry team, this book will explain why that team worked well. If you haven’t played on such a team, it will explainhowto up your team’s game. Either way, High Impact Teams is insightful and practical. Book Reviewed Lance Witt, High Impact Teams: Where … Continue reading High Impact Teams | Book Review

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Christians in the Age of Outrage | Book Review

georgepwood

Google the word “outrage,” and this definition appears: “an extremely strong reaction of anger, shock, or indignation.” Not just anger, shock or indignation, mind you, but an “extremely strong reaction” of those things. Outrage is anger kicked up to 11. Contemporary Americans live in the Age of Outrage. We are outraged by what those on the “other side” of just about any political, cultural or religious issue say and do, and we take to social media to “destroy” them. Not dialogue civilly, let alone rebut or refute, but destroy. Outrage destroys. In Christians in the Age of Outrage, Ed Stetzer … Continue reading Christians in the Age of Outrage | Book Review

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The Storm-Tossed Family | Book Review

georgepwood

After a years-long journey from foster care to adoption, my wife, son and I welcomed our two girls into their forever family on Friday, December 9, 2016. Family and friends crowded into the courtroom to witness the formal adoption ceremony. Afterward, we trooped over to our house for cake and presents for our daughters. Their adoption was a joyous event, well worth celebrating. And yet, as is always the case with adoption, a tragedy lurked in the shadows. You cannot build an adoptive family unless a tragedy, neglect or abuse has broken the biological family first. And though our girls … Continue reading The Storm-Tossed Family | Book Review

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The Hospitable Leader | Book Review

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People don’t tend to link hospitality and leadership. Hospitality is for the home, leadership for the organization. Terry A. Smith thinks decoupling hospitality and leadership is a mistake. “A hospitable leader creates environments of welcome where moral leadership can more effectively influence an ever-expanding diversity of people.” Smith roots hospitable leadership in Jesus’ teaching and example, but he shows how it has wide application in the church as well as other contexts. “Our world needs leaders who, like Jesus, sit in the middle of a great celebration and invite people in.” The Hospitable Leader shows readers how to do just that. … Continue reading The Hospitable Leader | Book Review