Hey Man, You HAVE To Read this Book!!!
I was having a conversation with my roommate Chris tonight about this project he is working on.
I’ll reveal more to you in the next week but basically it is a way for leaders to continue their growth during their “dry seasons” between conferences and while they are in the grind of their local church.
The conversation got interesting when we asked the question…
When is information too much information?
I read a book a week and I spit the info out to the people around me like my life has been changed until I read the next book.
Sometimes I feel like people actually will turn the other direction when they know I started a new book.
“Oh snap. Here comes Los. He’s reading some 17th century mystic right now. I suddenly feel the urge to crap.”
I fear that our consumer mindset has set us up for failure when it comes to this level of Tony Robbinsish consumption.
I took a break from the online noise in my life for 30 days.
I wonder how many of us need to take a break from reading about personal growth so that we can actually grow?
Los
RAIN IT DOWN
Thanks man for being the real deal…
your quick
sounds like a processing problem moreso than an intake problem.
thats how it used to be with me and podcasts. i listened to so many sermons that i couldnt remember who said what about what…and even worse what God revealed or how He challenged me. so now i try to listen to two a week instead of two a day. i decided that the Word is not as good for us if we cant remember stuff from it.
i like to break it off in chunks like a big candy bar
isn't it past your bedtime?
Sometimes I think people are just looking for that ONE book that's gonna FINALLY answer the questions and put to rest the doubts and calm the fears and make it all make sense. Maybe that's why we as a contemporary Christian culture are so into the "next big thing".
I keep forgetting that God is the only big thing. Everything else is just things He could use to speak.It's still all about HIM.
As my late Dad would say – sometime you need the stuck to the one true book: the Bible
I think we "drink from the firehose" because we want to speed process. We hate process. We love events. But we hate process. And so we read and conference and get all intense with a mix of genuine desire to grow but also fear that we'll miss out on the latest. All in an effort to fast track growth so we can get the most done as fast as we can. Probably prompted by an urgency in the mission, but also I suspect in our own dysfunctions. It's sobering to realize that Moses didn't begin to fulfill his ultimate purpose until around 80. And there was a lot of process… a whole lot of desert process before then.
I found the same issue cropping up in my life so now I try to balance my reading with fiction. My favorites are Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti. I also like to write stuff down because sometimes info that you read sounds great until you really think about it clearly and test it against the word and your like wait that sounds good but its really a load of crap.
True Los. For me man I know when I do anything in excess, like reading one awesome leadership book after another or learning anything graphic oriented all the time without stopping is probably not the smartest way to go about things. Taking that break certainly helps. Will I be disciplined enough to do it consistently, I pray I do. Its not healthy for me. Good word man.
in the fall, i realized that i was really getting nothing out of all these great books i was reading, because i was going through them so fast just to get to the next one on my list. so, i made myself slow down to one chapter of one book per week for a while. i got so much more out of the book/life when i finally slowed down.
[i'm not going that slowly now but still considerably slower than i was]
I'm in my junior year, majoring in Religion and have always felt relieved when school is out, so I could actually spend some time with God.
GO ! GO! GO! Pastor ! …(wink!)
I have been reading a discussion on Catalyst’s blog ( http://www.catalystspace.com/catablog/full/beyond_your_obedience/ ) about whether our obedience is lagging behind our information. There have been several related blog posts over the in the last couple weeks. I think that the first comment by Ben hit the nail on the head. We need to actually do something with what we read. The reading itself is not bad. But if we are not obedient to what we read then there is no reason to keep reading.
I think you are on to something. "Personal Growth" literature has become an industry unto itself. I want to read stuff that causes me to think, but doesn't give me steps, keys or whatever that "if I follow it will change my life."
At some point, I've got to put the book down and do something.
I agree!! I think most people walk around with enough information to change the world…they just don't put those ideas into action!!
Right on. There's so many books, so many sermons, it can be hard to actually let something affect us before we've moved on to consume the next 8 steps to spiritual enlightenment.
First time commenter – just wanted to say great blog.
I guess where I am at is here: I want one or two takeaways from a book, conference, sermon series that I am digesting, and I try to obey them…. I love what John Maxwell said, "Most Christians are educated beyond their obedience." Really, I think I personally would experience more growth if I would get off my lazy butt, stop reading so much, and walk out the door and DO something. Thanks for being real man!
when we grow or learn any thing new our brain physically changes, so if we are constantly downloading books, podcast, websites, t.v. etc. the brain will actually take more time to grow, change etc. then if we slowed down and focused our intake of information. The brain learns quickest when the input is focused on a particular area of study and has time to learn before we move on to a new area.
And yes I got that from a book!
Good word my friend!
i love it !….(wink!)
I doubt the issue is consuming new information. Sounds like the issue at hand is how we vomit all over people what these books are teaching us. Maybe we just need to shut our traps and let the "change" that's happening manifest itself in our actions and service instead of flapping our gums about it.
I hear you on it…I do the same thing and I've wondered if people think I'm annoying when I start talking about "this book changed my life!" I penned this little gem a while back about something on the same lines http://josiahpotter.net/2009/03/16/this-book-chan...
"A dream, or an idea, is a flattering addition to the mind; it does not demand any subtraction, any sacrifice of time and effort, as reality does." Dostoyevsky
"Reading a book about doing something can be an obstacle to doing it, because it gives you the impression that you are doing what you are only thinking about doing. It is tempting in the comfortable theater of the imagination instead of the real world, to fall in love with the idea of becoming a saint and loving God and neighbor instead of doing the actual work." From Peter Kreeft, on page 12 in his book, Prayer for Beginners
It's always easier to read/regurgitate what someone else has already discovered than to put in the work ourselves. Self-help, leadership, public speaking, blah, blah, blah… It's all the same.
I know I need to get off my lazy butt and put into action what I've already decided is wisdom from books I've read. Maybe I'll start after I've finished my books from Catalyst…
Good thoughts on process. The firehose is just so much more fun!
For real…I think the American Consumer mentality has snuck into every fiber of our lives…even the good things. When I realize these things about myself it makes sense that one of the main disciplines is Silence and Solitude…Why? Because sometimes we need to stop the intake from man, although it might be truth, and begin the intake from the Holy Spirit…who leads into all wisdom.
Put down the books SIR….step away from the books Sir! I can hear the discipline police!!
Had the same experience a couple years ago. I was reading about 4-5 books at a time but never really "getting" anything from them except the feeling that I'd read something profound. I've since forced myself to move more slowly and stop buying 6 books at every conference or group I attend. I knew a church years ago whose pastor would read a book and use that philosophy to lead his church. Until the next big book and so on. Congregation probably had whiplash trying to follow all that.
Also heard a pastor say that if we actually applied the information we already possess about following Christ, we'd never have to hear another message.
I don't know much about exercise, but there's probably something applicable in the principle of rest and recovery after a certain period of intense muscular workout. Having diversity in reading material as well as input methods may play role similar to rotating between legs and arms each day.
Since I'm not in ministry as a job, I can't read and think on only spiritual things. I also have to engage in learning on professional topics, and that gives a natural rhythm to my reading and thinking.
Interesting question for sure. I started getting really involved with the christian blogosphere just last December. I can honestly say that I've been challenged more and grown more in my faith within that short amount of time than I have my last 24 years of life growing up in the Lutheran church! Thanks to you and other bloggers like you… I feel more connected with God and more zero'd in on God's plan for me than ever before!
1 book a week?! When do you find time to read? How many hours a week do you devote to reading?
You killed it with this post. As the manager of the bookstore at Central I often have to read books to pass knowledge to customers, but often I use that as my crutch as I burn through a book or two a week.
My wife said to me recently, "Nothing you read actually impacts the way you live." Ouch.
Thanks to you and her for the reminder.
What a timely post. I've been honestly thinking lately about how burnt out out I am on the whole "Christian Leadership" junk, and I've been wondering, if we all stopped being so consumed by the next thing in Christian Leadership that will "take us to the next level" and spent that much time/passion and energy on investing ourself into God's word, the church would look different, and I think it would be a good thing.
Preach it broth-uh!
BTW, I try to read a book a week but I read all kinds of stuff, mostly CS Lewis, yea, I'm a dork.
Bigger. Better. Stronger. Faster. More. More. More. More. No time to think. Gotta move on to the next great thing. This conversation won't even last a day before we all move on to something else.
My general take…unless it's actionable, it's too much information. And until action is taken…all new information is too much. Less is more. Everyone knows that. Right?
Now, you really want a good book to read? Try the 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. It'll cure your insatiable desire for information in one sitting. And, yes, my recommendation is meant to be both funny and true.
Two challenges
1. To read deaper not read more. Focus on application.
2. Stop reading books and start reading "The Book". God really challenging me to stop just reading about his word and start reading his word.
I've learned over the last several years that it is about transformation not information. I have tried to read at the speed of transformation ever since.
I was definately convicted of this recently. I was reading about 2 books per week, and the books honestly became noise to me. I decided for lent to give up reading books, podcasts and blogs (yes including yours!) so I could understand the true value of how to reflect on what I had read. I just started back reading, this time much slower and requiring myself to journal about how this book is going to positively affect me as a servant of God.
Los, you are an amazing dude! I love reading your blog for its openness and realness! Thank you for opening up your life to help us better ours!
sooo, are you reading a book now?
come on be honest.
ha ha ha
I think that I am on the other side of the scale – I need to read more.
I totally agree…However I also think that allot of times the reason we want to tell people about the book we just read is because it makes us look/feel good about ourselves. Not necessarily to effect/bring change to who we are speaking to. So I ask myself "What is the purpose behind me reading this book"
God has been really challenging me to really practice the "last shall be first" principle, however I am finding it very difficult to do.
I just found this site and OMG! I love reading your posts and all the replies…So relevant.
Los,
This article about personal growth really hit me…let me know what you think…
http://www.illuminatedmind.net/2009/04/14/why-you...
This hit the mark all to closely (as I'm looking at the current read sitting next to me on the table).
I get concerned when I'm reading more about the Bible than the Bible itself. I've been tempted in crazier (saner?) moments to race to the simplicity of Bible and nothing else. It's amazing to me how complicated our lives are because of the wealth we enjoy, including the wealth of information found in a digital age. An age where the question has become what information do I weed out rather than where can I get more.
With this most recent book, I've been challenged not to talk about it. To read it, chew on it, ruminate by the light of Scripture and dwell on it with the Spirit. That which is good will stand and become a part of me. It's hard! But maybe a good exercise.