A Book Read - Bonhoeffer - Eric Metaxas

If ever there was a perfect storm for evil - surely 1930's Germany was it? How did a country with such a proud intellectual and cultural history descend into such a base level in-humane path? And how could the whole nation be swept up in it?

Well as this book points out, not everyone was swept up in it, in fact a number of people at great risk to themselves actively opposed this great wrong. This story is worth every minute of reading, what a fascinating man, in a fascinating time, involved in some extraordinary actions against an extraordinary evil - in the name of his crucified Lord...

I loved this book 9/10.

A Book Read - Church Planting is for wimps

I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to post again about books - because there has definitely been some read since Feb last year!!!

Anyway - this one by Mike McKinley is a good read, a sensible call to move beyond 'celebrity church planting' that seems to be an increasing influence in evangelical circles, and coming from a young guy - who should by current form be more up for the celebrity way of doing things.

All in all a lot of commonsense about the task at hand in being involved in a small church trying to get it together. I liked what he had to say, much of which I had come to the conclusion of previously, such as not really needing a mission statement:

"Look, if you don't know what you're supposed to be doing as a church planter, if you need to write out a statement in order to remember that your church is supposed to evangelize the lost and help Christians grow in Christ, friend, your shouldn't be a church planter. How about casting the vision the way Protestants have cast vision for the past 500 years! teach God's word! Explain it to God's people, and tell them God's Mission and vision and values and strategy for their life. Don't refer them back to some mantra that you make sure everyone in the congregation has memorized. Teach them what the Bible says about what it means to be a faithful Christian and a faithful Church." p62.

Definitely worth the couple of hours it took to wander through it - I'd say a solid 7.5/10!