Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Book Review: Confessions of a Reformission Rev.

In this book, Mark Driscoll, who Pastors Mars Hill Church in Seattle, chronicles the journey he has taken overseeing the fastest growing church in Seattle's history.

From 3 families who totaled 12 people meeting in his living room, to hundreds of families who total over 5000 people meeting weekly, Driscoll gives us an inside glimpse into the growth of one of the 50 most influential churches in America.
From planting just over 10 years ago, to growing around 150% a year, its been a whirlwind for Mars Hill and the leadership team there.

This book is a great read. If church planting interests you, or if you're already in some form of church leadership, you'll do good to read Driscoll's book. This book is also good for gaining an inside view on how Pastors view people in their churches and how to best serve their Pastors in their roles as spiritual leaders. Understanding the dynamics of how a church plant functions, or how any church functions for that matter, will make you a much desired commodity in the church you attend.

Driscoll's approach to teaching doesn't appeal to everyone, but from someone who's grown under his sermons now for almost 10 years, I can assure you that what he says in this book is worth knowing. I especially like his emphasis on reaching the Men in his church. Driscoll understands that by reaching the Men you reach the culture, and by growing the Men you strengthen your church.

Driscoll is also the President of Acts 29, a church planting network that he founded to train Men who have a desire to plant missional churches.

If you've read it, post a comment and let us know what you thought!

To purchase off amazon or to view the chapter titles, which are hilarious, click here.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Book Review: The Total Money Makeover

When I finished this book, I thought "this is doable". Dave Ramsey lays out his plan for achieving financial success in his very popular book, "The Total Money Makeover."

For those of you like me who began your education after finishing public school, you'll like Dave's approach to money management. It's straight forward, clear, and achievable. It's not easy, but achievable.

So if you're looking for help in the area of money management, or just enjoy learning about the whole area of finances, go ahead and pick this book up.


Dave's 'baby steps' as he calls them to achieving financial victory are as follows:
  1. Save $1,000 fast.
  2. The debt snowball.
  3. Finish the emergency fund.
  4. Maximize retirement investing.
  5. College funding.
  6. Pay off the home mortgage.
  7. Build wealth like crazy.
  8. Live like no one else.
As husbands who are responsible for our homes, we should see that our financial lives are in good order. Though you may delegate the job of handling the money to your wife, you can never relegate that job to her. As the covenant head of your home you remain responsible for the financial condition of your home. So educate yourself in this area, you won't regret it.

To order this book of Dave's website click here.

If you've read this book post a comment and let us know what you thought of it!

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

The Joys of Fatherhood

Yesterday was a good day for me. I got home from work about 10:30am and after greeting my family I began attacking my "to do" list for the day. The first order of business for me was to re-build and erect our mailbox, which was destroyed about a week ago by a run-a-way car. For this job Ravi(5) and Stephen(7), helped me out. We measured and cut the wood needed, screwed it together, and carried it across the street to put it up. It went well and the boys really enjoyed helping out.

Next on my list was to take a load of old items to the dump in the my truck. Again, Ravi and Stephen helped out. They brought the old chairs, ottoman, box spring, etc., out of the garage and I loaded them in the truck. We also took 6 hay bails from our harvest party, and a swimming pool ladder that's been sitting around for a while. We strapped it all down so it wouldn't fly off as we drove and off we went to Ravi's favorite place in the whole world...the town dump!

The boys had a great time climbing to the top of our stuff and pushing it off so I could throw it in the dumpster. Stephen slid under the wing back chair we tossed while trying to pull it off the truck, then fell off the truck when he tripped on the gate cable trying to jump off. He wasn't hurt, so me and Ravi enjoyed a hardy laugh at all of it.

After unloading everything, we headed for home and on the way stopped off for a snack. I bought the boys a pack of cookies and a much needed bottle of 'bug juice'. They were extremely delighted to receive the snacks. I told them, "when men work, they get to eat, so enjoy it."

After some rest at home, June took our two oldest daughters, Janai(14) and Naomi(9), along with one of our twins, out for some ice cream. She wanted to bless them for being such good helpers. All the work that the boys and I did outside was only made possible by the work the girls did inside; lovingly caring for our baby twins Christian and Josiah, along with Joy(4) and Joshua(2). What a tremendous blessing it is to have daughters who love their siblings and love the Lord Jesus.

While June and the girls were gone I moved on to next item on the list which was to repair a dresser in my daughter's room. For this job Joy decided she was going to assist me and did her best to help and keep me company. The conversation was good and we both enjoyed the doing the job together.

At the end of the day I thought about how the Lord has blessed me with such a wonderful family and how being a Father truly has it's rewards. So if you're a Dad, truly embrace your role and savor every moment you can with your kids, because as you can see in the picture above, they won't be little forever!