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Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: Simple Church

I think this book has a lot of value to it for church leaders. Why do we make church so complex?

Simple Church is about streamlining the pathway for discipleship, it is about cutting through the clutter we create that in the end dilutes our efforts. I think the book, interestingly enough, fits well with the Purpose Driven model (Pastor Rick is even mentioned a few times) and also fits well with principles from The Big Idea and Made to Stick.

The healthiest thing you could probably do for your ministry right now is to cut 60% of your programs and clearly identify/advertise your pathway for discipleship. I’m not sure I’m ready to jump fully into this model and cut everything except the main service, small groups and ministry opportunities – but I definitely see the value in doing less better and making the pathway plain. A good read, challenging what a church “has to offer.” B+

JG

5 View Comments October 10, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: Speaking to Teenagers

Got this new book from Doug Fields and Duffy Robbins last week at The Gathering – it comes out in the next week or so to bookstores (Simply Youth Ministry beats everyone’s price for the book at $12.89, from what I can tell). I managed to read it on the airplane and also a bit here in the early mornings of Australia since jet lag has continued to kick my soft American butt.

I’ve really enjoyed this book quite a bit. The first 3rd of the book is quite technical, dealing with the thoughts behind communication and the transactions that take place during communication. It’s pretty fascinating, if sometimes heady. After that, the book takes a turn to the intensely practical, walking you though the S.T.I.C.K. principles:

Study: Improve your content and increase your confidence
Think: Take time to reflect on your audience and content
Illustrate: Add a little color to your messages
Construct: Organize and pull it all together
Keep Focused: Crafting for clarity

S.T.I.C.K. in section two is by far my favorite part of the book – though as it heads into the home stretch covering the actual delivery of your talk there’s some great insight on room layout, where bad kids will be in the crowd and how your tone/pitch/non-verbals communicate so loudly.

A great read – feels like if you’re in front of students a bunch this book should really be required reading.

JG

Add Comment September 24, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: Simply Strategic Stuff

The only possible downside to this book is the layout and clip art – because although the content is pretty much timeless, the layout unfortunately dates itself instantly. The book walks you through 99 lessons for leading a church, with practical advice on a myriad of subjects. It’s a little like a blog in a book form, bite sized pieces of wisdom on a page or two. There’s some great examples of success leading the church, and some great failure stories as well.

Do these chapter titles interest you? Respect Their Time, You Can’t Fix Everyone, Creativity Doesn’t Just Happen, Never Do Ministry Alone, Simple Policies Simplify Life, The Staff Should Serve the Servants, Seek Ability Over Availability, Easy Access Is Crucial, Master the Art of Celebration and Volunteers Are Sinners Too.

All in all a book with solid advice, even though the layout is roaring into the 90′s.

Content: A
Clip Art: C

JG

1 View Comments September 14, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: Mentor – The Kid and the CEO

This isn’t the typical book for me, which is exactly why I chose to read it this week.

While it does have an interesting connection to The Purpose Driven Life, this is a real-life story of an inmate who experiences community through a caring mentor. I really like this book, there’s plenty of practical, earthy wisdom in it – just solid direction for someone rebuilding a life.

I can’t help but think that most people would benefit from reading it, and there’s even some downloadable stuff on their website to check out, too. The best of which is “The List,” which I would encourage you to download and share immediately. All in all this is a good story – seeing real life change is a powerful tale to behold. A-

JG

Add Comment September 11, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: Purple Cow

Just finished up Seth Godin’s Purple Cow – a book centered around one word: remarkable.

You see cows. Lots of cows. And after a while, cows just fade into the background. That is, until you see a purple one. It gets your attention, you want to see it up close, touch it, see what happens when you poke it. And you can’t wait to tell your friends about it.

The book is fantastic, really a quick read that could have lasting implications to your business. Some of it translates well to the church setting, but not as much as some of his other works. Is your service remarkable? What are you communicating to the early adopters, and are they sneezing? Once you have a Purple Cow, what can you do to develop another one before you become one of the crowd.

If you aren’t working on something remarkable, drop everything and head that direction now. Good stuff! A-

JG

1 View Comments September 10, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: Made to Stick

Just finished reading Made to Stick, a new book on making your messages stick as opposed to so many others that fly in one ear and out the other. This is not a Christian book – though many of my applications will be contextualized to the church setting – it is a business best seller. I’m not going to lie to you, this is some next level stuff – a medium-intensity read but way beyond the other more simple books I’ve been plowing through lately.

And I love it. I love the examples of what sticks. I love figuring out why they stick. And I’m dying so that mine will stick, too.

The book focuses on principles of simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotional and story. The results are astounding, and I’m putting a ton of it into action in my communication tasks even today. I can think of 5 things I’ve done differently the past 10 days directly related to my learnings in the book. A great, well-illustrated book that will help the message stick. A+

JG

7 View Comments September 4, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: The Blogging Church

Just wrapped up what is now my favorite book of the past month – The Blogging Church by Brian Bailey and Terry Storch. If you’re wondering a) what this whole blogging thing is about, b) how to can take your blog to the next level or c) if a blog can be helpful or hurtful to your church – this is the book for you.

It takes you on a journey from the beginner to the advanced principles that make blogs work. The framework for the book is firmly the church and it really gives both sides to the question of whether or not a blog is right for you. Of course, the authors are great bloggers so you can see where they’ve landed on the issue personally. And obviously I’m super pro-blogging, so most of it was singing to the choir for me.

Two things really stood out to me – the first being lots of practical advice and strategy. If you have a blog, even a pretty good one, there’s lots in here you should grab on to. I know my blog will be changing some due to my learnings (notably shaking up my blog roll and adding in a formal disclaimer). Secondly, I really enjoyed the interviews and advice from top bloggers. These are the people that have been there from the beginning or at the very least are very, very good at it. Lots to learn from the authors and from the people they interviewed for the book.

This is a book that needs to be in the hands of anyone who communicates (internally to a team or externally to the community) and the people that control your church’s destiny on the web. Highly recommended.

JG

Add Comment August 23, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: Jim and Casper go to Church

Several friends of mine read this new book an insisted I get it – so I did and read it over the past two days. In a word? Aggrivating. Inspirational. Motivational.

The premise is that two guys – a former pastor and an atheist – visit a dozen churches across the country and record their feelings, conversations and impressions. The whole first chapter is dedicated to Saddleback – and in fact, you can read it for free as a PDF right here. Keep in mind this review takes into account the whole book, not just “our church” specific parts.

This book is really a wake up call to the church. It has the courage to say some pretty bold things. Some things that aren’t pretty and some that even sting quite a bit. But they need to be said. What is your church’s call to action? What is your church doing? What is the impression your building/grounds/greeters give off? Are they performers or worship leaders? Why do we have to be told to welcome others? Is the language we use “insider”?

Let me also caution you that the book is somewhat unfair – they visited churches on a random Sunday morning and only went to the large group meeting. No small groups, no seeking rest of what the church has to offer as a whole. But I guess that’s the point, as hundreds of people like them visit church each week unannounced – and probably attend just the big church experience. Maybe it’s more fair than I care to admit.

This is essentially a “thin-slicing” of the big church experience. All in all this is a good book I hope we learn from as a church and in general as Christ-followers.

JG

Add Comment August 19, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: The Power of Nice

Just finished up the quick read Power of Nice. It’s a great book that really focuses on being kind to others, loving your enemies, and putting other people before you.

Sounds like another book I read once.

There’s some great stories that remind us that kindness is contagious and being nice will return exponentially to the giver. There’s also some solid ideas at the end of each chapter to put niceness into action. Some of this comes naturally for me and perhaps my personality, but I always need to check myself and hear from someone else that everyone else is more important than me.

My hope is that this would all be old news to a Christian, and that we would be living in a world of kindness and care for people automatically. But let’s be honest, we all need this reminder, and thankfully the message is packaged in a current and well-illustrated way.

I can think of a few people who could really use this book. Would it be nice to leave a copy on their desk?

JG

Add Comment August 14, 2007

Josh GriffinMore Posts Book Review: Confident Parenting

Last on the stack of books (since I still haven’t been able to find Blogging Church in a local bookstore here on vacation) was Jim Burns’ Confident Parenting. Each chapter starts with a story that introduces and contextualizes the principles in the following chapter. Kinda a 1/5 parable and 4/5 instructional book – and a good one at that.

Rather than focusing on connecting with a lost child like the other parenting book I read this week, this book is about starting right, course correcting and winning at parenting. The theme is confident and the writing style is definitely confident as well. These are winning proven strategies techniques and values a parent must have. It focuses on a couple of the same principles, pace of life and what matters most, like this other title from this week.

This is the first non-youth ministry book from Jim I’ve read, and I think this is a solid effort. Plenty of stories help move you through the book, and great content to go with it.

JG