Steve Jobs (Walter Issacson)

***** 5 of 5 Stars

You’ve got to read this book.  Issacson (and Kearnes Goodwin) are my all-time favorite biographers. How like Steve Jobs to identify and rope in the best biographer before his death.

I didn’t realize what a selfish, immature jerk Steve Jobs was until I read this book.  He was 100% task focused and 0% relationship focused.  This resulted in a world-class company. It also resulted in two classes of family members, friends, and co-workers: (1) those who put up with the crap  with saintly patience and (2) those who distanced themselves from him.

Back to the world-class company part. It looks like Job’s willingness to run ramshod over people made Apple great.  And he was well aware of this.  He had a singular goal: to create a world-class company that built world-class products after he was gone.  In order to do this, he had to say to someone’s face “that store looks like crap.” Or that guy is a “bozo”, fire him.  He could take it too. If you weren’t willing to push back and disagree, you were also fired.  As a result, he created a company crammed full of engineering geniuses.  He attracted people as brilliant as himself with an intense desire to innovate user-friendly, simple products.  His instinct for product design and his bull-headed management style worked in tandem to literally benefit the entire world.  And he knew it.  His story left me in awe.

This book raises a bunch of interesting questions:

1. Can you accomplish something really great without sacrificing family?

2. How can I consciously build a church whose values and structure live past me and please Jesus?

3. What primary value drives our church? (in the case of Jobs, it was great, fully-integrated products; he said other companies failed because they were run by the marketing or the money people)

4. Who do we put into leadership or take out of leadership? Why?

5. Can a volunteer-based, non-profit achieve the same kind of excellence as a for-profit business with a dictatorial, brilliant CEO?

6. Do we have a culture of honesty and high standards? Can you say “that’s crap”?

7. How would you compare Jesus’ and Job’s leadership styles?  How can you be effective and loving at the same time?

8. Could a woman get away with a bull-headed leadership style?

Radical, David Platt

***** 5 of 5 Stars

The first half of this book was a review of basic evangelical theology, some of which I agreed with, some of which I did not.  Either way, it was very theoretical.

The real value of this book lies in the second half.  He describes all the practical ways his mega-church in Birmingham Alabama is trying to obey the teachings of Jesus.  His church adopted all the DCF kids in Birmingham if I understood him right!  They go out on short term missions regularly. They cut back their personal spending to increase missions spending.  They hold “Secret Church” meetings where they read, pray, and discuss Scripture from 6pm – midnight.

He ends the book with 5 specific challenges:

Pray for the entire world (using Operation World)
Read through the entire Word (One Year or Chronological Bible)
Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose (spend less, give more)
Spend your time in another context (experience another country or culture via service)
Commit your life to multiplying community (join a decent church)

I loved the combination of idealism and pragmatism.  Excellent book despite my theological differences.

Movements that Change the World, Steve Addison

**** 4 of 5 Stars

This book challenges church planters to make sure we have a reproducible model. He used examples from church history to support his hypotheses:

• white-hot faith – particularly in the pastor
• commitment to the cause – you have to preach the gospel to people outside your church, “the crowd”, disciple, develop leaders, plant new churches
• contagious relationships – tap into pre-existing social networks
• rapid mobilization – it has to be simple and cheap
• adaptive methods – it has to fit your culture

The model I followed (Rick Warren’s “Launch Large”) failed, and is neither cheap nor simple.  Slow, steady, and obedient is my new mantra  I will keep chewing on these history lessons as they apply to our time and place.

Revolution in World Missions, K.P. Yohannon

*** 4 of 5 Stars

This book is about the founder of Gospel for Asia. He takes money from people from Western nations and uses it to fund native missionaries in India.

I was moved by his description of his first visit to the USA. I could understand the shock at seeing so much wealth hoarded here and not flowing over there where it is needed. How can we build 30 million dollar church buildings when people are dying “back home”?  How can we throw bones to the poor, call ourselves Christ followers, and still sleep at night?  Very very convicting.

I was also convinced by his argument that it’s better for Westerners to fund native missionaries than “go” to a foreign country. It’s cheaper. And natives can communicate to their own culture better than we can.

I am not convinced people who lead loving and generous lives spend eternity in hell because they don’t consciously follow Jesus. I think Jesus’ warnings were real (it’s something bad in the future), metaphorical (not literal), and targeted at people who failed to repent (regardless of personal theology). But I do believe telling people about Jesus is God’s will, it does save people, and it is true.   Exciting work.

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, Rhoda Janzen

**** 4 of 5 Stars

This book reminded me of taking my 14 month old to the zoo for the first time.  I couldn’t wait to see her delight with the wonder of the elephant bathing himself in dirt or the giraffe’s long tongue reaching for leaves or the humorous antics of the chimps or the ostriches running.  But she was oblivious and unimpressed.  Her favorite part of the zoo?  A chicken.  Maybe because it was her size?  She was delighted every time the chicken flapped her wings.  I now have a greater appreciation for the chicken but was disappointed she wasn’t old enough to appreciate all the other wonders.  That’s how I felt about Janzen – God was everywhere in her Mennonite community (albeit with imperfect human fingerprints) but she didn’t get it.

Hey wait, you say. That’s the same thing you wrote about The Year of Living Biblically! Yes. For me, this book was a very similar reading experience. Great writing. Hilarious humor (she’d make a great comedian).  Refreshing honesty. I loved the part about whiffing “group think” at the age of 13 and choosing to think for herself. But how could she go to the zoo and not see the wonders?!

You are What You Love, By Vaishali

** 2 of 5 Stars

I listened to this book because it is supposedly a condensed version of the theology of Emmanuel Swedenborg. I heard about him from the biographies of Helen Keller and was curious if his teachings are from God or not.

I can’t comment on Swedenborg as I have not read his writings but I thought this book was way off.  The first red flag was raised when the opening paragraph said something like “what if I told you there was a man who knew all the secrets of the Universe, saw all the heavenly kingdoms and future, and wrote them down for us . . .”  It went on and on about this all-knowing guy with secret knowledge that will save your soul.  The punch line: Emmanuel Swedenborg!  I let out a huge belly laugh!  Maybe because I had just read Colossians that morning and it was making the point that we don’t need to run after the latest and greatest new spiritual teachers. That everything we need for spiritual growth and righteousness can be found in the teachings, life, and spiritual indwelling of Jesus.

Most of the book was a repeat of Buddhist theology – which doesn’t sound like anything I thought Swedenborg taught. But again, I haven’t read his works.

All this being said, there was one image that I found worth thinking about. She said that we imagine each human and each piece of creation as independent but the truth is we are all connected. So what I do to you, comes back on me.  And the way I treat you is really the way I treat myself. We only see the crests of each individual wave but the truth is we are all part of one big ocean.  I have to say, when I look at people this way, it does help me do what Jesus said: love my neighbor as myself.

Alexander Hamilton (Ron Chernow)

**** 4 of 5 Stars

Fascinating man. Dry writing style.

Alexander Hamilton was a brilliant man and a gifted communicator.  The power of his pen and oratory reminded me of Churchill.

Hamilton’s vision of a strong central government conflicted with Jefferson’s “we the people.” But, it’s easy to see how our country needed Hamilton’s influence at that particular time. The financial system and the military were inoperable and the country broke.  It’s funny how people who grew up poor (Hamilton) prefer leadership by a few elites and people like Jefferson (born into an elitist Virginian family), actually trusted the common man.

This tension between centralized and decentralized power reminds me of case studies in business school. Sometimes a company needed more central control and other times the parent company needed to relinquish control and give more freedom to the subsidiaries and product line managers. In the best companies, the pendulum swung back and forth as if seeking some mysterious balance. Churches are the same way:  Roman Catholicism with a strong central government, UCC and ABC with local freedom.  So, this book reminded me of the need for advocates on both sides to achieve balance and situational leadership.

I think Hamilton’s personal flaw was his adversarial nature and his tendency to take things personally. He was always getting into scrapes and holding grudges.  Sadly, ending his life in a duel was not out of character. I also wonder if he didn’t go through with the duel with Aaron Burr because he was still depressed over the death of his eldest son (in a duel!) who he had groomed to follow in his footsteps.  Too bad he didn’t read more Jesus on loving your enemies and Paul on soul freedom.  His spiritual life was difficult to discern. He displayed fervent faith in his youth but then seemed to sideline it as an adult.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lax (Rebecca Skloot)

*****5 of 5 Stars

This was one of the most interesting and unique books I have read in a long time.  It is about Henrietta Lax, a woman whose cervical cancer cells are used by the billions in cell research today. It’s a great starting point to discuss:

-          Privacy laws

-          Tissue ownership and consent

-          Tissue ownership and money

-          Causes of poverty

-          Public responsibility for lingering effects of slavery

-          Child protection

First of all, I knew next to nothing about cell research before I read this book. Now, I want to take a biology class. Second, the Lax family is a microcosm of the still lingering cultural effects of slavery and the problems of poverty.  Who would think the two would ever combine to make a provocative book!

I learned that, yes, slavery really does still affect some African American families today.  The Lax slaves became the Lax sharecroppers, excessively dependent on their boss . Next, they became the Lax steelworkers who likewise expected their white boss to take care of them – and the company did! Now, they are mad nobody is taking care of them.  I don’t know what the excuse is for sleeping around and cheating on your spouse and beating and neglecting children, however.

I was shocked by the research done on low-income black patients in the past!!!  The book also made you understand how difficult it is for medical professionals to communicate with low-education patients of any race.

I also learned that the hospital does not need your consent even to this day to use your tissue in research. Once removed from your body, tissue is no longer legally “yours.” While today the identity of the tissue donor is anonymous, they could trace your DNA.  The privacy issues are troubling.   But the benefits of the research enormous.

Personally, I don’t think the Laxes or anybody should get money for their tissues.  A Muslim friend told me once that there is a hadith that you should only receive money if you earned it through work. That strikes me as a good principle.  It’s not like you worked hard to make your tissue.  And the descendants certainly didn’t do anything to earn income from the tissue. All their troubles traced back to a negligent father who allowed them to be abused and who killed his wife with HPV, gonorrhea, and syphilis (assuming she was faithful).

I loved Deborah. She was intelligent and good and eager to learn and give.  This, despite, all of her innocent suffering.  She was also funny, chugging the benedryl with hives and mania.  Rebecca Skloot deserves an award or something for her persistence and trustworthiness. Normally, I don’t like it when the author makes themselves part of the story but in this case it made the story even deeper.

Finally, there was something spiritual about the whole story. Good guys, getting rewarded in the end. Bad guys finally learning hard lessons.  Can you believe there was a history making storm that blew the roof off the barn the day Henrietta was buried?

War (Sebastian Junger)

****4 of 5 Stars

War is an intense and addictive experience according to Sebastian Junger.  Junger was embedded in the Second Platoon in the Korengal Valley (between Afghanistan and Pakistan), a violent and dangerous address.

I’m still mulling this book over but it led me to conclude war does bad things to a soldier’s soul.  According to Junger the experience of violent war socializes broken men (most of the soldiers did not come from happy homes) into fierce and efficient killers who are unable to reenter civilian life.  They miss the intense bond with the other guys in their platoon. They miss the clear purpose and significance of every action.  Civilian life feels pointless and lonely.

I suppose war is a necessary evil. As the Prophet Mohammed said (or I think I read this in the Quran once), “God hates war, but He hates injustice even more.” Nevertheless, I mourn the spiritual casualties.

There was just something wrong with the sub-culture of the platoon.  Their only goal was to protect each other from being killed. They cheered killing the enemy, not because of some lofty international goal, but because it’s one less guy who could kill my buddy.  Everything about their lives was oriented around the goal of  “don’t kill my buddy.”  Call me a Jesus Freak, but there’s got to be a bigger, better goal in life than that.

On a more positive note, wouldn’t it be somthing if groups working for more laudable goals demonstrated the same willingness to die, the same attention to A+ performance, and the same awareness that every minute matters?  These guys are hyper-motivated . . . and we’re just not.

St Francis (Thomas Nelson), The Little Flowers of St Francis (anonymous disciple), and Peace of Heart (John Kirvan)

**** 4 of 5 Stars

St Francis is a “modern-day” John the Baptist, preaching repentance to a dead church who had long ago lost its spiritual center.  Each one of these books was good in its own way.  The Christian Encounter version gives a good overview of the historical person.  The Little Flowers of St Francis captures the power of the Spirit in his community, albeit I suspect true stories had begun to morph into teaching stories with a twist of legend by the time it was written 100 years later (even later than the New Testament).  Peace of Heart wasn’t as good as St Julian of Norwich in the same 30 Days with  a Master series, but here and there it drilled home the lessons of his life. St Francis left me with five lessons:

NON-OWNERSHIP and SELF-DENIAL – Poverty left St Francis, Franciscan monks, and the sisters of St Clare fully dependent on God and impervious to corruption (which was rampant at the time).  While I don’t think God is calling me to literal non-ownership, denying the demands of my body and surrendering all I own to God’s service are spiritual disciplines I am trying to exercise.

PRAYER – Every time I pray in the woods I feel a communion with St Francis who loved to do likewise.  Instead of trusting his own opinions, he wrestled in prayer until he had peace that he know the mind of God on the matter.

NATURE – Every time I see an animal suffer or a habitat destroyed, I think of the interconnection St Francis sensed.

OBEDIENCE – St Francis’ radical and literal obedience challenge me to be bolder in my obedience.

FOREIGN MISSIONS – Interfaith and intercultural encounters bless both parties when done in a humble spirit.