Category: Book Reviews

Purple Cow

by Seth Godin 

 

– All cows look the same after a while, but if you were to see a purple cow, it would definitely stand out.

– A product for everybody is a product for nobody.

– You have to find your niche on the market.

– It has to be much more than just a good product to sell, you have to find a venue that will sell your items. For example, tide would go out of business if Walmart did not sell it.

– Don’t try to cater to the masses, cater to the audience that you choose.

– The purple cow is so rare because people are afraid. Everyone wants to color within the lines, not fail or be criticized… therefore we stay invisible.

– Playing it safe might just be the riskiest thing your company does because it stays invisible.

– The opposite of remarkable is good. We might think the opposite of remarkable is horrible the true opposite is just coasting or being good.

Problems of Christian Leadership

By John Stott

 

1. The Problem of Discouragement

– We must persevere under the pressure

– 2 Cor. 12:7 — we have weaknesses in our flesh. God could take them away but does not have to take them away. His power is mighty in our weakness.

 

2. The Problem of Self-discipline

– We must retain spiritual refreshment

– Some of our spiritual problems could be physical problems… we must to take time off and get the needed rest.

– Learn the discipline of rest

– Learn the discipline of devotions — find a reading plan and go through the Bible as well as time to pray.

 

3. The Problem of Relationships.

– We must learn to treat people with respect.

– Rom 14:7 — No man lives and dies to himself.

– No man is an island.

– Treat people as Christ treats people

– Treat people as unto Christ — Col. 3:17,23

– Listen to others, it shows respect and is productive.

 

4. The Problem of Youth

– Learn to be a leader while young.

– Be an example in your youth — 1 Timothy 4:16

– Many belittle youth, so act responsible and respectful.

– Grow in spiritual maturity.

– Practice what you preach.

– Treat older men as fathers and older women as mothers; younger women as sisters and younger men as brothers.

Praying the Bible

by Donald S. Whitney

 

– Many times we, as Christians, don’t pray enough… we don’t pray enough because we don’t feel like it; we do not feel like it because we really don’t know what to pray.

– We get bored in prayer and run out of things or not sure what to say. The problem is not our lack of spirituality but our method. – When you pray the same thing it becomes a repetition, and Christ did not want us to pray vain repetitions (Matthew 6:7).

– The problem is not praying about the same things but praying the same words.

– If God commands Christians everywhere to pray, then prayer cannot be as difficult as we make it out to be. It is a lot more simple than we make it.

– There’s a simple solution to making prayer easier: pray through a passage of Scripture.

– Robert Murray McShane said to use the Bible as a prayerbook. This is certainly good advice.

– The book of Psalms is a prayer book, meant to be sung back to God. It is a beautiful book to start and sing back or pray back to God.

– Read a Psalm a day and pray it back to God.

– If you pray through different passages, no matter what book, you will never again pray the same old words and things over and over.

– One of the beautiful things about praying the Bible is that you’re not only reading it but now meditating on it.

– When you read the Bible, many times you don’t even remember what you read a couple of hours later, but when you pray the Bible you will likely remember what a verse or portion you read a day later.

– By praying the Bible you will never run out of things to pray about. You’re letting God initiate the conversation.

Prayers for Freedom Over Worries and Anxieties

by Bruce Wilkinson

 

– The Bible teaches us to be anxious for nothing. That is in the present tense, not past tense nor future tense.

– You choose to be anxious, no one or nothing can make you be anxious. Break free of the idea that someone or something makes you anxious.

– Not only is “be anxious for nothing” in the present tense, it is also a command from God, and God does not give us a command that is impossible to follow!

– If we are going to not be anxious, as the Scripture teaches us, we must obey the Scripture. We are first told, “By prayer.” We can pray and take it to God.

– Where there is gratitude, anxiousness is not present.

– God promises peace when we take it to Him. The situation doesn’t change, God taking control is what changes things.

– After God gives us peace, He tells us what to think about it. We can guard ourselves from future anxieties by thinking up on the right things.

– When you choose to think about the positive, God, the negative, all anxieties, leaves.

– If we fix our eyes on money, we will never be satisfied and anxious about something.

– When we don’t guard our heart and emotions, we will be plagued by all kinds of anxious thoughts that will consume us.

– Make it a habit of helping someone else. The simple idea of taking our thoughts off of self and putting them on others to help them will alleviate so much anxiety.

– There’s a lot of uncertainty about the future, but one thing is certain and that God is in control and He holds the future.

– Anxiety in a relationship can ruin a relationship. A relationship requires trust.

– Learn to laugh, it helps with anxiety.

– If you can change or help things then change them, but if you can’t, then turn those things over to God.

– Many think God loves everyone, but we’re not sure that He loves us. Get ahold of the fact that God loves and likes you. You are accepted by Him.

– You have to let God take control by exchanging your thoughts for His thoughts.

– Loneliness has nothing to do with the amount of people around but disconnection from relationships. You must know that God will never leave us alone.  – Matthew 6:25-34 — don’t worry, God can and will take care of you.

Planet Middle School

by Kevin Leman

 

– Kids from the ages 11 to 13 are in this middle school and it is a very difficult time of life because of puberty and their hormones are up-and-down.

During the time of middle school, remember the acronym EGRS.

E – extra.

Expect there could be a mood swings and difficulties, you will need to be patient.

G – grace.

Give them room to grow and change. They may act like they hate their sibling one moment and love them the next.

R – required.

Remember what your own middle school years were like. How you did your hair and dressed and how are your moods were.

S – sometimes.

Sift through what has been said and how they have acted and realize there was a root problem, it is not that they hate you. A wise parent will listen and help find the root of the problem. A wise parent will not engage in fighting.

 

– There are times when you need to butt-in and other times when you need to butt-out and the discernment of when to do this is not easy. You are the best teacher that your children have during these years, even if you do not realize that. Be there for them.

– If you want to be part of your child’s life but they are acting awkward and do not let you in, try to be creative so that they let you in. Make a good meal and invite their friends over. Do something fun that your child will want to invite others to.

– Teach your child about how to respectfully handle a bully.

– They can want to act like a little child at one moment and act grown-up the next moment — that is middle school.

– When your child does not tell you anything, remember they’re trying to get their independence. Teach them and help them, but be patient with them.

– Middle schoolers are super-sensitive about everything, especially criticism… and especially from you. They trust you and need you so be cautious not to criticize or laugh at them. They have all kinds of things running through their mind, like: do my mom and dad love me, accept me, like me, find me worthy, think I am weird, etc.?

– The middle school world is a dog-eat-dog world so that is all the reason more why they need you as a parent not to judge them or criticize them rather to be there for them.

– Find an activity or hobby that your middle schooler can get involved in. This will occupy their mind and keep them busy.

– Focus on your child. The middle school years will pass and so will those silly styles and moods. Keep loving your child and being there for them.

– Your child wants more than anything to be long, so let them feel accepted by you always. If you do not accept them, they will find a group that does.

– Be careful about just adamantly saying no to what they ask because you might get a defiant spirit that way. Tell them a reason or show them so they are convinced themselves.

– The atmosphere at home depends on you as a parent.

– What kids really want from their parents: show me, don’t tell me; help me; encourage me; spend time with me.

– Your child needs you to be their parent, not just their friend.

– If you want your child to be kind, then exemplify kindness. If you want your child to be organized, then be organized yourself. If you want your child to be accountable, then show accountability. Whatever you want your child to be, simplify it and expect it.

– The top three needs that your child needs are to be wanted, to be needed and to be respected.

– Kids who eat together as a family usually have better grades, stronger family ties, self confidence and better communication skills.

People Can’t Drive You Crazy If You

Don’t Give Them The Keys

by Mike Bechtle

 

– Our problems usually have to do with people (they did not meet our expectations, got in our way or whatever).

– Two people can go through the same circumstance yet it affects them differently — it is not the problem but how we handle the problem.

 

– You’re at one of three steps to take back control and not be driven crazy:

1. Change the circumstances — do whatever you can to try to get things back on track and under control. Can you give an alternative so the situation changes?

2. Change your attitude — if you can’t change the circumstances, you have to change your attitude towards the person or problem. When you can’t change a personal problem, realize you can’t change gratitude.

3. Leave the situation — leaving a job, relationship or place should be the last resort when many times it is the first resort for people.

– Realize that your relationship with God can help you with your relationship with others.

– It’s our perspective on things that make it look good or bad. Some of the happiest people are some of the poorest people and some of the richest people are the most miserable — it is their perspective on life.

– Stop and see from the other persons point of view. Until you see from the other person’s viewpoint you cannot totally understand why they’re doing what they’re doing.

– The possibility of changing someone else’s attitude and actions is very slim, but we can take control of our attitude and actions.

– We cannot eliminate all the drama around us, but we can learn to live responsibly instead of reactionary.

– Relationships are messy and none of them are exactly the same. Every individual is uniquely different.

– Trying to change another person, their thoughts and ways, is like trying to fight a grease fire with water… it’s a disaster. When we think we will be happy when the other person changes, we are giving them control of the situation.

– Relationships take work and time.

– Having healthy relationships does not mean they will be drama or stress-free and that everything will be perfect.

– God doesn’t allow the magic wand to be waived so that problems in relationships just go away, but God does give us wisdom on how to deal with people, problems and situations.

– We cannot change others, but we influence them when we take control of ourselves.

– If we want to get the best use out of our car, we read the manual for the car. And if we want to get the best use out of relationships with others, we should read what God, the designer of relationships, wrote about them.

– It is not our job to fix other people, but we seem to spend a lot of time, thoughts and efforts trying to do so.

– Learn to talk to a person not about a person. Talking behind someone’s back is called gossip and will only hurt others.

– Gossip does not promote healing, the Gospel does.

– Our attitude cannot depend on what others do.

– If we expect for other people to change, we will be disappointed.

– God never intended for everyone to be the same. Just as there is variety in nature, so is there variety in people and personalities.

– We like a symphony because there is a variety of instruments playing together. It would be pretty boring if everything was a violin or the same instrument. The same goes with people. A tuba will never be a violin, it will always be a tuba. Wishing that a tuba would be otherwise, does not change it, it will only frustrate you.

– The key to manage our emotions is to manage your thoughts. When you think someone did something to hurt you or meant something bad, you react wrong.

– Changing ourselves, as opposed to trying to change others, does two great things for us: it puts us in charge of the situation and it allows us to influence others because we are not controlled by them, emotions and the situation.

– When we genuinely change on the inside, we will react to people differently on the outside.

– Emotional stability is determined by where we put our focus. We can focus on crazy people and/or problems, focus on ourselves or focus on truth.

– If you focus on what the other person does/did, on anger or revenge, you’re allowing the other person to control you.

– If we want different feelings come out we have to have different thoughts.

– We can choose not to think about or worry about what’s wrong instead of what’s right. Don’t allow stressful things to enter you (many news radio, negative reading material, etc.). Allow the positive things to influence you.

– Changing ourselves changes everything.

– Don’t place too high of expectations because it only leads to discouragement.

– The past is permanent and we can do nothing about it no matter how hard we try, so don’t dwell on it.

– Don’t be the victim, change yourself.

– There’s always hope for relationships because God is the One working on individual lights. Go to Him and let Him do the work.

– We don’t have to become victims. People cannot drive us crazy unless we give them the keys.

Parenting Scripts

by Amber Lia and Wendy Speake

 

– You must ask God for the wisdom to help your children.

– It might just be that God wants to start the change in your life, are you willing to let him?

– God may want to work in you before he works through you as a parent.

– You should speak to your children more about what they should be doing instead of what they should not be doing. If all you do is gripe and give negative feedback, you are giving the wrong message. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 should be the example here.

– There’s not a one-size-fits-all way in raising kids (naps, chores, discipline, etc.), but whatever you do, you must be consistent!

– You should allow natural consequences to teach your children lessons in life. Allowing them to suffer some natural consequences does not hurt them, it teaches and prepares them for life.

– Your tone, looks and body language are much more important than the words we speak to our children.

– It is humbling to go to your children and apologize, but it is that humility that will build and strengthen a relationship.

– In the moments that your children argue with you and/or say hurtful things, decide not to return cursing for cursing rather blessings for cursing. You can respond right and set the example.

– Contentment does not come natural, it must be learned, and it’s your job as a parent to teach it to your children.

– Teach your children that the only person that they can control is themselves. Getting mad or trying to change or fix others will be in vain, they have to learn to react correctly.

– When your children fight, wait and then ask them what they think they need to do to correct and maintain a right relationship with their sibling. Let them give advice instead of telling them what to do.

– The road for independence is one of the hardest for parents to manage — allowing them to go to bed later, more freedom on technology, etc.

– Learning to give your kids independence is boiled down to trusting — trusting the Lord and trusting your children. – Parenting on the same page with your spouse is paramount in child-raising.

Move Your Bus

by Ron Clark

The book is parable-style. It gives four groups of people that ride on a bus (going through life) and then gives advice on how to be a better rider.

 

– Runners

• Those that move things along and are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

• Those who work hard should be recognized for it.

• You must be careful not to break the spirit of your runners or they will not run anymore.

 

– Joggers

• Those that push some but want the credit for it. They remind everyone of their sacrifice.

 

– Walkers

• Those just taking their time and not in a hurry. Love to criticize and tell everyone the problems.

 

– Riders

• Those that are dead weight just sitting there. Do just enough to not get fired, definitely do nothing to help.

– It doesn’t matter how smart you are, if you don’t have a strong work ethic, you are just slowing down the bus.

– Dress sharp no matter what and you’ll make better decisions, be received better, feel better and look better.

– Keep your space clean. You might be fine with a messy workstation, but others might not be fine with it.

– Be happy and polite. Great people when you see them don’t walk around texting and ignoring people.

– Be around and sit with the right kind of people. Everyone needs someone to learn from and someone who can make them smile. Don’t hang around the depressive and bad-attitude people.

– Don’t be afraid to ask for help. You might accomplish more and arrive to the goal quicker if you will simply humble yourself and asked someone to help or explain something.

– Accept criticism well. When your boss corrects you or when you receive criticism, learn from it instead of trying to justify yourself or come up with a good excuse. Learn to be humble, open and willing to accept criticism.

– Keep your mouth shut unless you are going to ask a question or answer affirmatively to help out in a certain area.

– Stay in your lane. Do not try to run everyone else’s area or remind them what they are supposed to be doing. Don’t drift into other people’s lane, keep your eyes in front of you and accomplish your tasks and allow others to accomplish their own.

– Change the conversation. If negativity starts ruling a conversation, change it. When someone tells you how they have it and how horrible things are, tell them you’re sorry to hear it instead of trying to one-up them sharing how bad you have it. A positive conversation brings positive results and can empower others around you.

– No excuses, just solutions. Anyone can find a problem, but not just anyone will find a solution to get it fixed.

– Realize that you are not entitled to your job. We give everyone participation trophies they do not deserve, so we have created an entitled-attitude culture. We do not deserve anything, we must work for it. There’s nothing wrong with confidence, but it better match your performance.

– Be credible. Do not say something and not follow through with it. Honor your commitments, do not make commitments that you cannot keep.

– Pay attention to the details. It is the small things that make a difference to people.

– Don’t let your personal issues affect your work. Put them to the side so that you can work hard and do what you’re supposed to do.

– Don’t assume that you are awesome. You think people should praise you and that you’re doing a great job, but others might not think you are doing as good as you think you are.

– Don’t just be good at your job, be professional at it.

– Go right to the source when there’s a problem.

– Show appreciation. If you will not show appreciation for the small things that people do, you will never do it when bigger things happen to you. When someone does something special for you, show appreciation quickly and genuinely. How you handle appreciation will determine on future events being repeated.