Reading Update

I always seem to have a book nearby, eagerly wanting to finish it so I can move onto the next volume on my reading list. But I’ve noticed that I have developed a bad habit when reading—I seem to start a new book before I finish the current one! My attention may slip away from a book and be drawn to a new one, and before I know it, I have begun reading something new while setting aside the other before finishing it. My New Year resolution is to do this no longer! You will notice that I have put on the right side of my blog page the images of the books that I am currently reading. I usually keep three books going at once, and I am striving not to start a new one until I at least finish one of the three on the list. Books I want to read will have to wait their turn as I place them in a “reading queue.” There are three books, however, that I inserted into my reading list and that I want to share with you.

The first book I finished recently was the well-received work by Ed Stetzer from LifeWay Research entitled Comeback Churches. I purchased this book some months ago, but I finally cast my eyes upon and began to work through the material. The book was a summary of Stetzer’s research of common principles from churches that went through a period of plateau, but were able to “comeback” and turn things around. He analyzed more than 300 churches that went through 5 or more years of decline but then experienced at least 10% growth each year for the next 2 to 5 years. How did these churches reverse their decline? What factors impacted their new-found growth? How did these “Comeback Church” change a pattern of decline into a pattern of growth? Stetzer compares common trends in these churches and examines guiding principles that impacted their growth. After 200 pages of analysis, Stetzer summarized 5 “change factors” that enabled congregations to be “Comeback Churches”:
1. Strong leadership from the pastor and staff set an expectation for growth
2. A vibrant faith among the congregation, seeking to grow spiritually enabled numerical growth
3. Lay members became involved in meaningful ministry
4. Evangelism became more intentional and evangelistic events were given priority
5. Celebrative worship styles created an energy and excitement that fostered growth.
For the most part, I think Stetzer got it right. He was careful not to provide a “magic formula” whereby churches can just mindlessly following a cookie-cutter approach, but the common trends he discovered ought to be seriously considered by any church that desires to reach more people.

A second book I finished recently was Bill O’Reilly’s best seller, entitled A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity. Taking the name from a comment a Catholic school teacher nun made about him, O’Reilly walks the reader through his childhood days growing up in Levittown on Long Island, New York. He spins funny tales about going to the movies, painting houses to earn extra money, and playing practical jokes on his neighbors and friends. O’Reilly also describes some of his experiences as a young professional breaking into the world of journalism. A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity has a folksy feel about it—unlike many of the politically charged debates that Bill O’Reilly usually finds himself in. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I felt as if I were journeying with him through those simpler, more care-free days of childhood. Whether or not you like his top rated television show, I believe you would enjoy the stories and boyhood antics as described in this book.

The third book I finished was The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille. Browsing through our local Books-a-Million store in Statesboro, I noticed that he had just released the sequel to The Gold Coast. Having not read either volume, I didn’t want to start with part two, so I purchased both books and began with the first one—I will read the recently released sequel when it comes up on my aforementioned “reading queue.” The story takes place on New York’s Long Island (no connection to the O’Reilly book, although Levittown in mentioned in both books), and it has been described as a murder-mystery as the Godfather meets the Great Gatsby. DeMille writes great conversation, and the pages are filled with one character dialoguing with another. The mobster is not welcomed among the rich and famous of Long Island’s northern coast, but he apparently has more money than they! The story moves along quickly as the main character is drawn into a web of deceit and betrayal as he becomes the legal counsel of his mobster-neighbor. Like most DeMille books, The Gold Coast has characters that are witty, sarcastic, and intriguing—like DeMille himself, I imagine—and the book is an enjoyable escape. Not everything comes out nice in the end, so I guess I will have to read the sequel to find out the rest of the story.