Monthly Archives: April 2009

“Blink” and Discernment

For those of you who don’t know me personally, reading is one of my favorite activities. I know, it seems weird to call sitting around holding onto a pile of pages as an activity. Still, there are few things I get more personal joy from.I’ve been meaning to beginning picking up books by Malcolm Gladwell, and a friend recently lent a couple to me. Tonight I started his first book, Blink (Back Bay Books, 2007). The subtitle reads: The power of thinking without thinking. As a pastor, or as a Christian in general, I couldn’t help but find myself intrigued by the title and its implications. I’ve only just finished the introduction, but I think that I’ll be pleased with the rest of the material.

There is one quick thought I`ve had while putting the book down for the night, one that I think might be a new concept to some, and confirmation to others.

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Book Review: “Branding Faith” by Phil Cooke

I just reviewed a great book that I recently finished reading, and I’ve posted it at the Christian Book Lounge. Here’s a quick peek at it:

I eagerly picked up Phil Cooke’s book, “Branding Faith: Why some churches and nonprofits impact culture and others don’t“. For many years I’ve been a proponent of the power of a brand. I worked for a national financial company for a number of years, and during that time the entire workforce went through “brand training.” I also worked in a screen printing and embroidery shop for a number of years, where I saw the impact of a visual identity. I had many expectations for this book, but they didn’t prepare me for the intensity and scale of Cooke’s message.

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RE: Spiritual Gifts (2)

We’ve started a discussion about how our we get confused when it comes to our spiritual gifts. The people around us often identify the skills we’ve acquired in life, whether for work or personal use, to be our spiritual gifts.

We mentioned that one reason this happens is because those evaluating or examining us, trying to figure out our gifts, often do so by first comparing our abilities to their own and those around us. If we stand out in an area, we must be gifted there. There is another filter that those close to us make use of, and that’s my topic for this post.

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