daddy4ms

We, as a pastoral staff, are reading through Jesus Outside the Lines by Scott Sauls.   I have appreciated greatly its perspective. I am only halfway through but it might be a book that churches should go through together to help them learn to lovingly disagree with one another.  In his chapter on judgment and accountability, Sauls had some great thoughts: We run from criticism, even constructive criticism, because we know that a single word of criticism possesses more emotional power over us than a thousand praises. We know that we are not perfect. But there's something in all of us that still wants, even needs, to feel and be seen as perfect. For those who believe in Jesus, the Cross moves their Judgment Day from the future to the past. the compassionate Jesus speaks sharply and loudly about judgment so we will "flee from the wrath to come" as we flee into his merciful arms. The good news is that anyone who fears God will never have any reason to be afraid...

As men, we often find it hard to have another man in our lives who knows us well.  And I mean knows all about us--the good and the bad.  This is one area that I have not invested a lot of time in over the years.  Obviously, I share with my wife, fellow pastors, and others within leadership.  But what about someone else. As a pastor, it is nice to have someone outside of my church to share with openly and challenge me. I don't like to use the word accountability because it tends to focus on trying harder or relying on self rather than being empowered by the Holy Spirit.  A great book on this topic is Gospel Centered Discipleship by Jonathan Dodson. He has a great section about what he calls "fight clubs." You can view posts about the book here & here. I have been meeting for several weeks now with a guy who is helping me in this area.  I share openly about how I am doing spiritually, specifics about marriage & parenting, what is going on in the ...

I finished reading Intentional Integrity by Garnett Reid today.  The cover of the book states, "Ten Life Strategies For Wholeness From the Book of Job."  In the book, Reid looks specifically at Job Chapter 31 where he sees ten areas of integrity that should be present in our lives.  These ten areas include: purity, honesty, contentment, loyalty, equity, compassion, worship, forgiveness, confession, & stewardship. Each chapter has the same format: What Job Says, What We Face (our culture), & What We Must Do.  The format made the book easy to read in many aspects.  However, I kept wondering to whom would I recommend this book.  The first part of each chapter at times became cumbersome and difficult to wade through.  However, due to the predictability of each chapter, I kept going to the less academic sections which looked to culture and application.  Reid is an Old Testament scholar and it shows in those sections of the book.  But I k...