Heredes' Book Fair

Nothing like good books to keep your brain working and your skills sharpened. Now with diploma in hand, I've been having a blast catching up on my personal reading and participating in some staff book studies. I have finished "The Spark" by Cirque Du Soleil's creative team for a second time! - It's a fun, fast, creative read - you can read more about it in a previous post here. I have also finally finished "The Simple Church" by Eric Geiger. I have been meaning to finish this book for a while now, and had only read 3/4 of it. Geiger is a pastor at Christ Fellowship in Miami. I have had the privilege of meeting with Geiger several times and truly admire his leadership and work in South Florida. His book "simply" explains the power of Clarity, Movement, Alignment, and Focus in our churches. He challenges the church to return to a simple process of discipleship leaving behind all the clutter of programing and events that simply distract the church of it's purpose. Through in depth research beside Author Thom Rainer and even some humorous real life experiences ( i.e. Pastor of Extreme Worship Arts) - Simple church is a must read for church planters, leaders and those looking to focus in on the simple process of discipleship laid out by Christ. Check out his blog here.

As summer kicks in .... here's whats on the list.

Made to Stick
I am half way done with "Made To Stick" by Chip & Dan Heath. They explore the question of why some ideas stick and some don't. The book is not very dynamic , but it sure is sticky... from it's packaging to it's use of urban legends and real life examples of companies and their marketing approaches. Two great points worth mentioning so far - Heath talks to us about the "Knowledge Curse" - when we communicate our ideas - we must assume that people can't hear the "tune in our head when we tap it out for them". We have knowledge they don't have. Clarify and Explain! Another point: Ideas that stick have "actions attached to people" in them. In other words, the old basic teaching method of application (verbs and subjects). Ask people to do something about it- don't leave them hanging - Duh! Great book so far... will have more on it when I'm done.

Raving Fans
The subtitle of this book should be : Because a Satisfied Customer is just not good enough! All the FRC worship pastors have been reading this together... (most of us that is ... ::wink wink:: Vaughn) It is a very short book and we will be done with it by next monday. So far we have learned the two secrets of creating raving fans; #1 Decide what you want # 2 Create a vision of perfection centered around the customer. The book is a must for all "First Impression" leaders and teams. It puts us in the seat of the customer/first time guest/member and challenges us to not only satisfy a customer , but create raving fans that will wave the banner of your organization/church and be the best resource an organziation/church could have: positive word of mouth.

The Starbucks Experience
Just bought it this week .... read 6 pages so far. No comments thus far. Looks very good and comes highly reccomended. I'll read this one over several Venti Skim Lattes with a triple shot.

A Resilient Life
I just started this book yesterday and have tackled 5 chapters so far. The author, Gordon Macdonald, has a very powerful story which he shares in his other book "Ordering Your Private World" - I wont get into details about that here. However, this book is a look at the traits and characteristics of those people who lead resilient lives. The ones who persevere and never quit - No matter what! Here are some essential principles I've picked up in the first 5 chapters: #1 Developing resilience is demanding, normally done in secret , often humbling, not always fun #2 The pursuit of resilience never ends. It is a lifelong calculated adventure. #3 The search for resilience is dampened if one coasts on their natural abilities and talents #4 The pursuit of resilience is difficult to measure on a moment by moment basis. It is a long term investment in life. I look forward to applying these principles in my life immediately for the long run. Let me also invite you to join this book-study if you'd like. We meet every Wednesday at the Doral Starbucks (107th Ave) at 7 AM. There's still time to join - only five chapters (30pgs). Email me for more info....

I will end this extensive "book fair" post with a quote from "The Resilient life" that will hopefully challenge you to grow, read and get moving. :)

" One of the saddest experiences is to awaken at old age and discover that one has been using only a small part of self"

Any one reading out there? Any suggestions?