Books Archives - Page 2 of 6

August 20, 2015 Mark Conner Books

2015 Australian Christian Book of the Year

The Australian Christian Book of the Year Award is given annually to an original book written by an Australian citizen. The award recognises and encourages excellence in Australian Christian writing. The ACBOTY Award carries a prize of $3,000 for the author, and a framed certificate for the author and publisher. Entries are judged with an eye to the:

Original nature of the work.
Literary style, including suitability for the target audience.
Design, layout, cover, text and illustrations.
Contribution that the book makes in meeting a need for Christian writing in the Australian situation and in the Australian market.

Entries are read and judged by a panel selected by the SparkLit Council.

2015 Winner

Captains of the Soul: A History of Australian Army Chaplains by Michael Gladwin

The letters and journals of both chaplains and soldiers animate this account of the work of chaplains in every theatre of war involving Australian troops. While the role of the chaplain has changed over time, the common task remains the ministry of God’s Word and the sacraments to soldiers, burying the dead and representing an alternative reality to the conflict, chaos and suffering. Increasingly unfashionable in some spheres of society, chaplains continue to be valued in proportion to the proximity of battle. Gladwin does not flinch from portraying chaplains who behaved disgracefully nor from facing up to the problem of fatalism amongst some Australian troops. However, acts of heroism by ‘the soldier without a gun’ abound and provide Christian communicators with a treasury of inspiring, home-grown stories. This is a history of national importance and an insight into the Australian character.

To read about the other eight books short-listed, visit sparklit.org

February 10, 2015 Mark Conner Books, Leadership, Personal Development

A Personal MBA

Jesus once said that the children of this world are sometimes wiser than the children of light. That wasn't a compliment! We can learn a lot from those who achieve and accomplish things in fields such as business, arts, sport or leadership. There is wisdom to be gained from the experience of others.

In the business world, the most desired education is an MBA – a Masters in Business Administration. People will often pay a lot of money to earn such a degree, and especially from some of the most reputable universities around the world.

Josh Kaufman begs to differ. He strongly believes that self-education can be just as effective and acquired for a fraction of the cost. Check out his web site at www.personalmba.com and have a read of his manifesto. You might then want to read his highly educational book by the same title – Personal MBA. Then have a look at the excellent reading list he has compiled on a wide variety of business and life-related topics.

Worth checking out!

December 11, 2014 Mark Conner Books, Personal Development

Book Review: The Essentialist – The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

One of the best books I have read over the last few months is The Essentialist – The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown. It is a very challenging book that forces you to think through what is most important in life (the essentials) and focus on that, often requiring the elimination of the less important (the trivial).

Here are a few excerpts:

The Problem

We stretched too thin, overworked, busy but not productive, constantly in motion, never getting anywhere and trying to please everyone. The way out is becoming an Essentialist. It’s not a time-management strategy, but rather a systematic discipline to apply every time you are faced with a decision. By applying a more selective criteria for what is essential, the pursuit of less allows you to regain control of our choices so you can make the highest possible contribution towards the things that really matter.

The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials – Lin Yutang

The Way of the Essentialist

The difference between the way of the Essentialist and the way of the non-Essentialist can be seen through the image above on the left – a circle with short arrows going out from it in multiple directions compared with the same circle to the right – with a single long arrow focused in one direction. In both images the same amount of effort is exerted.

In the first image, the energy is divided into many different activities. The result is we have the unfulfilling experience of making a millimetre of progress in a million directions. In the second image, the energy is given to fewer activities. The result is that by investing in fewer things we have the satisfying experience of making significant progress in the things that matter most. The way of the Essentialist rejects the idea that we can fit it all in. Instead it requires us to grapple with real trade-offs and make tough decisions. In many cases we can learn to make one-time decisions that make a thousand future decisions so we don’t exhaust ourselves asking the same questions again and again.

The way of the Essentialist means living by design, not by default. The Essentialist distinguishes the vital few from the trivial many, eliminates the non-essentials, and then removes obstacles so the essential things have clear, smooth passage. In other words, Essentialism is a disciplined, systematic approach for determining where our highest point of contribution lies, then making execution of those things almost effortless.

If you don’t prioritise your life, someone else will. There are too many forces conspiring to keep us from applying the discipline pursuit of less but better. No wonder so many bright, smart, capable individuals remain snared in the death grip of the non-essential.

– – – – -

This is a book about priorities – what is truly important. But more than that, it does an insightful job at helping unpack the mentality of those who truly do what is important and those who don't. This can lead to some powerful mind renewal and eventual life transformation. This is vital for us who are Christ followers, as Jesus himself told us, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33)." When Jesus hung on the cross he cried out, "It is finished!" No, he didn't do everything that could be done but he did do excatly what the Father has sent him to do. That was enough. Jesus was the ultimate Essentialist!

December 8, 2014 Mark Conner Books, Spirituality

God is with you NOW

Here is a quote from Gregory Boyd's helpful book Present Perfect: Finding God in the Now.

When many Christians first hear about the practice of the presence of God, it strikes them as an impossible discipline. Perhaps supersaints locked up in monasteries can attain this level of awareness, but not us average folk who work nine-to-five jobs and raise families! It’s hard enough to pray ten minutes a day and make it to church once a week! For us ordinary Christians, trying to remain aware of God’s presence moment-by-moment seems like a hyperspiritual pipe dream. Are you awake? If you’re inclined to feel this way, it might be because, like everyone else in modern Western culture, you’ve been brainwashed by what is called “the secular worldview.” In this view of the world, what’s real, or at least what’s important, is the physical here-and-now. When we’re brainwashed by this worldview, we experience the world as though God did not exist, for we habitually exclude him from our awareness. We may still believe in God, of course, but he’s not real to us most of the time. Because of this we go about our day-to-day lives as functional atheists. We may pray and worship God on occasion, but these are “special times,” isolated from our “normal,” secular day-to-day life. So thoroughly are we brainwashed by the secular mind-set that the very suggestion that we could routinely experience the world in a way that includes God strikes us as impossible.

May you live with a greater awareness of God truly being "with you" today and all through the coming week!

September 19, 2014 Mark Conner Books, Personal Development

Eat Move Sleep by Tom Wrath

Physical health gives us the energy to enjoy life and carry out our God-given purpose with enthusiasm. God is interested in every part of our being – spirit, soul and body. Health doesn't just happen. It is the result of habits. Habits such as what we eat, the activity we engage in, and the rest we take.

I highly recommend Tom Wrath's practical book Eat Move Sleep which is about the big impact of small daily choices. It's an easy read but highly motivational and full of good advice for improving your health and well-being. Well worth the investment.

September 13, 2014 Mark Conner Books

The Great Bible Swindle (Australian Chrisitan Book of the Year)

A book that is not aimed at Christians has won the Australian Christian Book of the Year for 2014. The Great Bible Swindle is a book designed for Christians to give to “Uncle Fred”, a relative or friend who expresses curiosity about the Bible.

It leads the reader gently into an understanding of the wonder of the Bible. It was written by Greg Clarke, CEO of Bible Society Australia, who in the wake of a long love affair with the Bible, has a passion to share his love of the book, and the big story within it.

The “Swindle” in the title is the loss caused to a rising generation whose ignorance of the Bible cuts them off from a full understanding of our culture.

“I am delighted and extremely honoured to receive this award,” Clarke told Eternity. “I do so on behalf of those who are labouring to ensure that the Bible has its proper place in our society. For believers, this means the front-and-centre of our faith, guiding our knowledge of God and his world. But for absolutely everyone living in a culture touched by Judaism and Christianity, it means being properly educated about the numerous ways in which the Bible has shape our world. As songwriter Paul Kelly once said, “the Bible has it all—Fellini and Tarantino don’t come close”.

See more including full news story and details about the runner ups.

September 3, 2014 Mark Conner Books, Leadership

Next: Pastoral Succession that Works (by Warren Bird)

Warren Bird and William Vanderbloemen have written an excellent and much-needed book about leadership succession within the local church: Next – Pastoral Succession that Works.

The book is based on over 200 case studies and 50 in-depth interviews with pastors and churches who have navigated the succession territory – either effectively or badly. There is much to learn here on this essential topic.

Here are a few key insights and facts from the book:

Every pastor is an interim pastor. The day when a successor takes over will come for everyone in ministry.
Planning for that day of succession may be the biggest leadership task a leader and church will ever face.
Everyone wants to talk about succession … until it's their own.
Dave Travis, CEO of Leadership Network, defines pastoral succession as "the intentional process of the transfer of leadership, power and authority from one directional leader to another."
Equating 'succession planning' with 'retirement planning' is a major error in perception.
The best time to think about pastoral succession is now.
Most churches age with their pastor, the average age in a congregation being about five years younger than their senior pastor's age … unless certain exceptions are in place, including intentionally giving younger leaders ministry opportunity and leadership influence within the church.
'Founding pastors' (in comparison to 'successors') lead 45% of the largest 100 churches in the USA. Will they stay too long, like many pastors? Unfortunately, the average pastor steps aside only after 8-10 years of attendance decline.
Newer churches tend to draw younger people. Long-established churches are often dominated by an older age group.
The average age difference between an outgoing pastor and successor is 22 years (taken from a sample of 100 well-known pastor successions).

To check out my own take on this important subject, based on our two leadership transitions at CityLife over our 47 year history, see my book Pass the Baton: Successful Leadership Transition.

Is it time for you to pass the baton?

August 20, 2014 Mark Conner Books, Special Events

Les Miserables

Two weeks ago, my family and I attended the Les Miserables stage production at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne. It is one of our favourite productions. We have watched the 25th annviersary edition DVD recorded at the London O2 arena a dozen or so times and it never fails to move us (the finale, which is a 30 minute standing ovation and encore that brought the 1985 cast on-stage, is worth the price of the DVD). The Australian cast did an outstanding job too.

The story, based on the book by Victor Hugo, is so redemptive and it captures and portrays so vividly the full range of human emotion: betrayal, anger, grief, disappointment, as well as forgiveness, love and transformation. A great quote: "to love another person is to see the face of God."

August 8, 2014 Mark Conner Books, Spirituality

Soul Keeping

John Ortberg's latest book is called Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You. John is a well-known pastor, speaker and best-selling author from the USA. In this excellent book, he delves into the inner world of our soul, exposing what the soul needs and showing how it can be restored.

John, who has a doctorate in both theology and psychology, is an engaging writer, drawing insights from Scripture, human experience, his own personal life, as well as his unique mentoring relationship with the late Dallas Willard.

If you're looking for a challenging and insightful devotional book, then look no further.

The life of a village depends on the health of the stream flowing through it. That stream is your soul. And you are the keeper.

March 23, 2014 Mark Conner Books, Personal Development

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence

Daniel Goleman's latest book is Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence. For more than two decades, psychologist and journalist Goleman has been scouting the leading edge of the human sciences for what's new, important and surprising. In this book, he delves into the science of attention in all its varieties, presenting a comprehensive discussion on this mental asset that matters enormously as to how we navigate life.

Attention works much like a muscle: use it poorly and it can wither; work it well and it grows. In an era of unstoppable distractions, Goleman argues that now more than ever we must learn to sharpen focus if we are to contend with, let alone thrive, in a complex world.

Here are a few of his insights:

1. Attention is like a muscle. It gets stronger with practice.

2. There are three areas of needed focus: inner focus, focus on others, and outer focus on our world.

3. Your focus is your reality.

4. Distractions are both sensory and emotional (the most draining kind).

5. The brain's default is a wandering mind. Yet even here, creative juices can flow.

6. The most powerful distractor is the chatter of our own mind.

7. Mindfulness quiets our inner voices by presenting us with a focus. It trains us in attention and helps focus the drifting mind.

8. The antidote to mental fatigue is rest. Time out in nature can be particularly helpful as can activities where our enjoyment is immersive.

9. The more you care about someone, the more you pay attention to them and the more attention you give them the more you care about them.

10. Limit strenuous practice of anything to 4 hours maximum per day.

11. Move from a firefight of the day mentality to thoughtful reflection.

12. Organisation attention is vital. Effective leaders focus it when and where it matters. Leaders need to capture and direct collective attention.

13. The ripple effect: what matters to leaders guides other people's attention, not just their own.

Some related Scriptures for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ:

Proverbs 4:25-27. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. NLT

Romans 12:1-2. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. NLT

Revelation 3:6. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. NLT

1 Samuel 3:10. The Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening. NLT

December 16, 2013 Mark Conner Books

2014 Christianity Today Book Awards

Confession time. I love books! Yes, there is a certain joy in buying a new book and just putting it on your shelf … even if you haven't yet read the last ten books you bought. Fellow addicts would understand. Others don't.

So, if you are looking for a book to read, check out Christianity Today magazine's list of their book awards for 2014. There's bound to be something in there to capture your interest and its good to keep in touch with what is shaping the thinking and culture of Christianity today.

A few other books I have on my reading pile right now include:

* Paul and the Faithfulness of God by N.T. Wright. An epic work (2 volumes) on the apostle Paul by today's leading New Testament scholar.

* The Benefit of the Doubt by Gregory Boyd. A thought-provoking book about breaking the idol of certainty.

* Walking with God through Pain and Suffering by Tim Keller. Classic Keller, dealing with the age-old question of suffering.

* Center Church by Tim Keller. An outstanding book on God's purpose for the church, expounding the meaning of the Gospel and how it can be properly contextualised in today's cities.

* The Advantage: Why Organisational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business by Patrick Lencioni. A very helpful book on building healthy organisations.

* Eat, Move and Sleep by Tom Rath. A practical book looking at how our daily choices affect our long-term health and well-being.

Happy reading!

October 28, 2013 Mark Conner Books, Leadership

The Advantage: Organisational Health – by Patrick Lencioni

Patrick Lencioni's most recent book is The Advantage: Why Organisational Health Trumps Eveyrhting Else. He believes that all the competitive advantages that businesses have been pursuing over the years are gone – strategy, technology, finance, and marketing. No, those disciplines have not disappeared. They are all alive and well in most organisations. But as meaningful competitive advantages, as real differentiators that can set one company apart from another, they are no longer anything close to what they once were. That's because virtually every organisation, of any size, has access to the best thinking and practices around strategy, technology and those other topics. In this age of the internet, as information has become ubiquitous, it's almost impossible to sustain an advantage based on intellectual ideas. However, there is one remaining, untapped competitive advantage out there, and it's more important than all the others ever were. It is simple, reliable and virtually free. What he is talking about is organisational health.

Here is his Organisational Health Model:

Discipline 1: Build a Cohesive Leadership Team

Cohesive teams build trust, eliminate politics, and increase efficiency by…

Knowing one another’s unique strengths and weaknesses
Openly engaging in constructive ideological conflict
Holding one another accountable for behaviours and actions
Committing to group decisions

Discipline 2: Create Clarity

Healthy organisations minimise the potential for confusion by clarifying…

Why do we exist?
How do we behave?
What do we do?
How will we succeed?
What is most important, right now?
Who must do what?

Discipline 3: Over-Communicate Clarity

Healthy organisations align their employees around organisational clarity by communicating key messages through…

Repetition: Don’t be afraid to repeat the same message, again and again
Simplicity: The more complicated the message, the more potential for confusion and inconsistency
Multiple mediums: People react to information in many ways; use a variety of mediums
Cascading messages: Leaders communicate key messages to direct reports; the cycle repeats itself until the message is heard by all

Discipline 4: Reinforce Clarity

Organisations sustain their health by ensuring consistency in…

Hiring
Managing performance
Rewards and recognition
Employee dismissal

Patrick has an excellent web site with videos, tools and processes for implementing this organisational health model. Any business, small or large, can benefit by gleaning from Patrick's insights.

Check out the One in Jesus blog for an excellent example of applying this matieral in the unique environment of a church.

June 3, 2013 Mark Conner Books, Spirituality

Rob Bell’s Book: “What We Talk About When We Talk about God.”

Rob Bell's latest book is called What We Talk About When we Talk About God.

Mark Galli, editor of Christianity Today, has recently reviewed the book and offers these insightful thoughts …

As far as I can tell, any classic, middle-of-the-road Christian can offer a hearty "Amen" to a great deal of Rob Bell's theology.

The former pastor of Mars Hill Church believes God exists and can be experienced and yet cannot be contained by rational explanations. He affirms the divinity and humanity of Christ, as well as the Resurrection. He believes the Spirit is active in our lives and in the world. He believes the Bible is authoritative at some level—that is, he always tries to understand his life in light of his reading of the Bible. He is indignant about self-righteousness and injustice, and contrary to popular opinion, he actually believes in a judgment: He says people who abuse and exploit others and creation will not participate in the glorious restoration of heaven on earth. Yes, he holds out hope that perhaps everyone will someday be saved, but in one sense, so do many evangelicals. Even God is said to wish that no one should perish.

So unlike some of my other fellow believers, I cannot say, "Farewell, Rob Bell." Instead, I think of him as my brother in Christ.

This may surprise readers who believe I wrote God Wins to refute Bell's controversial theology. Only in part, though that part is not insignificant. I mostly stumble over his epistemology—his understanding of how we come to know what is true, and by what method we determine how to live authentic lives. As I argued in the book, this is precisely my concern about evangelical faith as a whole. The thesis in my book and in this essay is that in this respect, Rob Bell is not only an evangelical, but an evangelical's evangelical, the evangelical par excellence.

The thesis in my book and in this essay is that in this respect, Rob Bell is not only an evangelical, but an evangelical's evangelical.

This is admittedly a sweeping and dramatic assertion, which cannot be worked out in the course of an essay. But let me sketch in broad terms what I mean. I'll use Bell's latest book as the primary example—not because it is unusual, but precisely because it so perfectly represents what's going on in large segments of Christianity today.

Read the rest of the article here, in which he offers a challenge to followers of Christ to focus on living a life of love, not just a life of experience.

December 7, 2012 Mark Conner Bible, Books

A Letter to the Church at Laodecia

Here is a challenging message from Jesus to the church at Laodecia:

Revelation 3:15-19. I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, I am rich. I have everything I want. I dont need a thing! And you dont realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and e discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. NLT

This church had become lukewarm – complacent, indifferent, lethargic, apathetic and lacking in passion. Apathy means “without emotion” or “a lack of feeling or concern.

Satan knows that once we lose our passion we become ineffective. Once we lose our passion, we lose vision and perspective. We become critical and apathetic and instead of doing good we start becoming destructive. There is nothing he likes better than an apathetic Christian. One definition of lukewarmness is “serving God in such a way as to not offend the devil.”

That’s why we need to guard the flame within us. This passion of God is a consuming fire within you. Protect it ferociously, realising it is the enemy's target.

How is your passion for God? Burning brightly, just burning or burnt out? What may have caused this? Was it complacency, familiarity, difficult circumstances or maybe an unbalanced lifestyle (sometimes the pace we live at damages God's work in us)?

What steps can you take today to ignite your passion? Some ideas: associate with passionate people (fire-lighters not fire-fighters), stir up your spiritual gifts (they are Spirit-energising), return to your first love (do the things you did in the beginning), and pray for passion. After all, God is a fire-lighting God!

November 26, 2012 Mark Conner Books, Preaching, Religion

Christmas Resources

Believe it or not, Christmas is only four weeks away! For followers of Christ, and especially for those of us who pastor a church or speak from time to time, Christmas presents another excellent opportunity to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ. But how do we share this timeless message in new and fresh ways that capture people’s attention and interest?

J John from the UK has put together a variety of resources specially related to the Christmas season. Check out his web site for further details. Of note, is the recent release of the book Proclaiming Christmas, a compilation of Christmas sermons from communicators all around the world. I was privileged to contribute my message from a few years ago called “What would Jesus say to Santa Claus?”

Enjoy your Christmas preparations!