What I am reading

Very often I am asked "Mike what are you reading" so here is a list of things I have read recently. No they are not all "Christian books" - I like to read widely

1. Ancient Rome: The rise and fall of an empire - Simon Baker
2. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
3. Confession: A novel - John Grisham
4. Dangerous Wonder - Mike Yaconelli
5. Erasing Hell - Francis Chan
6. Fields of Gold - Andy Stanley
7. Getting Naked - A business Fable - Patrick Lencioni
8. Humilitas - John Dickson
9. Hybrid - Braday O Grady
10. A long way gone - Memoris of a boy soldier - Ishmael Beah
11. Not a Fan - Kyle Idleman
12. Off Balance -Matthew Kelly
13. Radical - David Platt
14. The Rhythem of Life - Mattehew Kelly
15. Untitled: Thoughts on the Creavtive Process - Blain Hogan
16. Wonder: From Emotion to Spiritualty - Robert Fuller
17. Recapturing Wonder - Ravi Zacahrias
18. 11/22/63 - Stephan King
19. Alter of Eden - James Rollins
20. Your Church in Rhythm - Bruce Miller
21. Your Life in Rhythm - Bruce Miller
22. The Contrarians Guild to Leadership - Steven Sample
23. Deliberate Simplicity -Dave Browning
24. Glittering Images -Susan Howatch
24. The Innocent - Vince Zandri
25. Love Wins - Rob Bell
26. The Nasty Bits - Anthony Bordain
27. No Good Deed - Anthony McDonald
28. True North - Bill George
29. The Real Mary - Scot McNight
30. The Orthodox Way - Callisto Ware
31. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality - Pete Scazzaro

Three types

There is an old saying that predicts there are three kind of people in every organization:
1. risk-takers - reach out to new and innovative ideas;
2. care-takers - status is quo;
3. under-takers - they bury everything, especially every new idea

Living in Today

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that is why it is called the present" - Oogway, Kung Fu Panda

I am surrounded by circumstance that remind me to fully live in today. To be thankful in today and the blessings that come with today. I see lots of pain. In my work I am surround by people in pain and I try my best to walk with them.

I have been following the journey of a little girl named Kate (you can see her story here) . Kate has brain cancer. I do not know her, I have never met her and she lives in a different state, but through a series of circumstances I was made a aware of her and her family. I pray for them ever week.

For the last 5 months or so I have been volunteering at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. I am confronted each week with children and families going through the unthinkable.

So today I live fully. Things are good for me today. Yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery. So today I choose to live to the fullest....today

What it takes to write a "sermon"

Sometimes people ask me what I do all week. I have heard the comments..."It must be nice to only work on the weekend"..."It must be nice to sit around and read the Bible all day”. If you only knew….

One of my most important duties is to write a sermon (some call it "the message" or "the talk") whatever you want to call it here is the process that I go through each week.

1. Prayer - I need to hear from God.
2. Research - Lots of reading of scripture, tons of reading in both topical and theological texts.
3. Regurgitation - I sift through the research and use the valuable information.
4. Reflection – Time to think, and talk with others. I bring my outline to our Worship Design Team each week and we talk though the material.
5. Writing – The message needs to be written in a logical flow, application and next steps need to be added along with timely relevant stories.
6. Rehearsal – I practice the message out loud at least one time (sometimes two).
7. Delivery – We curtly have 3 weekend gatherings (4 beginning in the fall) so the message is delivered 3-4 times in a row.

8. Nap – By Sunday afternoon I am trashed and it is time for a nap

What is "deep preaching"?

Where Have I Been?

Where have I been? I know...it has been over a month since I last posted. I have no excuse. I will probably never become a famous blogger. Here is what has contributed to my absence. I spent a couple of weeks in India, good times, great ministry. Got back from India and had surgery (don't ask), that put me out for a couple of weeks. Things have been super busy at Northbrook as we gear up for a great fall. We are adding a 4th service to free up some space, along with a couple of other exciting things coming down the line. I have been spending time at Children's Hospital as volunteer, that has given me perspective on life and I really enjoy helping there. Spending time with my family has become a HUGE priority for me so lots of my time is going there right now.

So now you have it. I plan to be online more...lets see what happens.

Video From India trip 2011