Monday, January 18, 2010

'The Most Loving Place In Town'

book review...

I've decided one of my goals this year is to read 50 books...about one/week. One of the first I've tackled this month is "The Most Loving Place In Town" by Blanchard & Hodges.

Labeled as a 'modern day parable for the church' I think it's dead on! Generally speaking 'the church' has lost it's first love and that is what this book is about. A quick read, we follow Elder Tim and Pastor Mike on a journey (led by God and the Holy Spirit) to help them reclaim the first love in their lives and in their church.

Several bullet points and Scripture references make this a book that has a take away message for any Christian and hopefully for every church.

A great read I would recommend. Here are a few thoughts/quotes from the book:

  • Get out and about. Learn as you listen. Ask the H.S. to help you fall in love with God's people again.
  • Living with the unconditional love of God means surrendering your life to Him with the trust and joy of a child.
  • It is never too late to turn a wayward heart back to God.
  • Forgiven Much, Love More.
  • Daily habits of solitude, prayer, and application of Scripture help you stay focused on being a true servant leader.
  • Without love, nothing's going to work, no matter how brilliant we think our ideas might be. Love is the common denominator...
  • Jesus modeled servant leadership in four dimensions - the heart - the head - the hands - the habits.
  • EGO = Edge God Out ~ have you checked your ego today
  • All lasting change starts with clear vision and direction
Hope you'll check it out - and let me know your thoughts after you've read!
~C



1 comment:

Jeff said...

I think my favorite part about the blog-or at least the one that slapped me in the face was the meaning of EGO in his book: Edge God Out. In my blog, at least in a few of them I have talked about how we rationalize too much of your day in relation to God. We have excuses for everything these days-not just when it comes to God, but our friends and family...
I think the thing that burns me the most is when psychology gets in the way of living in theology.