recent books i’ve read

as the summer began, i realized that my reading needed to be a little less in the Google Reader & a little more in the paper page. this is what i’ve read in the past few months:

Vintage Jesus // Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears

Crazy Love // Francis Chan

Death by Love: Letters from the Cross // Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears

Getting Fired for the Glory of God // Mike Yaconelli

currently reading:
Finally Alive // John Piper

2009 goals update

last year i decided to start working on tangible goals, both for the year & for my life as a whole. whilst i’m still working on that whole life goal list, i wrote my 2009 list at the start of the year. here’s an update:

- read the Bible in a year (i’m using the YouVersion.com plan w. my small group) // going really well. last year i only made it halfway through the NT when i tapped out. the accountability of other men is awesome.
- drop under 200lbs (i joined a gym today) // i started the year @ 221 lbs, the most i’ve ever weighed. as of this morning i’m @ 208. my buddy Mark & i have a competition going, and yes – i’m winning. again, it’s really the accountability.
- read 10 books (reading Vintage Jesus by Driscoll right now) // working on it; it’s difficult for me to prioritize leisure reading time.
- get back to Peru (working on that) // august 6-16!

this year

it’s not a resolution. they’re goals.

- read the Bible in a year (i’m using the YouVersion.com plan w. my small group)
- drop under 200lbs (i joined a gym today)
- read 10 books (reading Vintage Jesus by Driscoll right now)
- get back to Peru (working on that)

more to come.

in one sitting

today was landmark – i finished an entire book in one sitting. i popped on over to starbucks with The 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley. 3 hours, 4 pages of notes, and 2 cups of komodo dragon later i was done. this was a big deal. i don’t know if i’ve ever read a whole book at once before. i’m also now one book closer to my personal goal of 10 for the year on my list of 2008 goals.

but most importantly, it was huge for me in personal ministry ways. i’m wrestling a lot with just what does/should/can the middle school & college ministry @ first church look like. this really got me going today – i literally couldn’t read this book fast enough. it was a good morning.

2008 goals update

back at the beginning of the year i wrote about having a list of personal goals for 2008 [part I and part II]. these took a while to come up with, and include both personal, ministry, and family goals. here’s an update:

- read at least 10 books (3 down, currently reading 2 more)
- read through the Bible (not included in the 10 above) (finishing out Numbers; i need to step up my pace on this one)
- get back down to at least 200 lbs
– build up an emergency fund (DONE!!!)
- rebuild the wall in my kitchen
- recruit at least 2 new regular committed leaders in each of my two ministry areas (1 down)
- win a poker night (Friday, March 14 – thanks Spence, Jon, Mike

i’m pumped about the emergency fund. this was a huge one that honestly i thought would be more of a struggle than it was. thankfully i have a flipping amazing wife who is also flipping amazing at our finances. now that our emergency fund is cranked out, we’re working on our debt snowball to pay down my two student loans, our jeep, and finally our house. the writing and leadership of Joe Sangle and Dave Ramsey have been key in our getting our finances on track. check them out…now!