For a New Generation by Lee Kricher

This book reads like something from Andy Stanley. Similar to his Deep & Wide.

A great read on how a pastor made changes to a church and began effectively reaching the next generation.

It is very easy to get comfortable in any circumstance and church life is not an exception. Once things are going along, it's easy to want to keep things as they are because they seem to work. But Kricher explains that as church people, we need to be constantly looking forward to those coming of age.

He identifies 5 areas/strategies that he and his leadership team adopted and implemented in order to accomplish this.

It isn't another "church growth" book. This isn't simply about getting more people into your church as if your church were a business selling products. This is about not allowing the church to become like Joshua's generation.

Remember Joshua? The guy who led the people of Israel after Moses had died? Most know of Joshua as the guy who led them into the promised land, but many may not be familiar with how the story of Joshua and his generation ended.

In Judges it reads that another generation came after them who didn't know the Lord.

This is the big thrust for Kricher and his church and why he feels it should be for all churches. He believes every church should do everything they can, the best they can to reach the next generation for God.

This is a good book in that he outlines why he did these five things and how they implemented them. He doesn't sugarcoat things. He points out that people left the church because of these changes and that you should expect the same from your church if you make similar changes. But how important is it for the next generation to know God?

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Zondervan.

A Preacher's Guide to Lectionary Preaching

This was a fascinating read as I have never attempted to do Lectionary preaching.

This is an excellent guide for week-by-week sermon ideas. Or you could go all out lazy and simply speak the words they provide in the book.

It's quick enough reading that most pastors will feel the urge to add their own thoughts and ideas to the framework provided.

It gives simple series outlines and big theme suggestions. It also has options for church holy days.

It doesn't feel dated (OLD) but quite relevant while including practical application. This would be a great help in churches.

Pastors should add it to their library if, for nothing else, they want additional idea assistance or simply an aide when they're in a preaching pinch.

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Westminster John Knox Press.

Star Trek vol. 11 by

This is a graphic novel telling continuing stories from the JJ Abrams reboot films while incorporating/retelling stories from the original series.

This volume tackles the Tholian Web episode. As with the previous comics, the original story has been twisted a bit to fit in with the reboot. These tend to be hit or miss but you won't be complaining about the artwork nor the characters.

The second story included in volume 11 has to do with Sulu on his first away mission - feels like a typical Star Trek story.

The third story has all of the doctors (most I should say) from the shows combining their forces.

This is enjoyable and quick as I think they tend to be written for the summer reads.

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by IDW Publishing.

Punderdome: A Card Game

The idea of a card game for pun lovers is amazing.

However, I think most punners will end up throwing out the official rules of this game and create their own. It is more difficult than I realized; perhaps I am not the best pun creator out there, but I struggled coming up with puns that actually fit with the words on the cards.

You select cards that have words on them and you are supposed to come up with a pun that incorporates the words.

On the back of the cards are random puns for your enjoyment, and they are hilarious. (most of them)

It is a semi-enjoyable game. But I unless you are quick with creative puns, you may decide to read the ready-made puns and laugh a bit.

It is a challenge.

This game was provided for review, at no cost, by Clarkson Potter.

Serving a Movement by Timothy Keller

What does it mean for a church to be missional?

This is the new buzz word for Christian circles and, as Timothy Keller points out, it has come to mean multiple things. And the combination does not really help each other out.

Keller attempts to outline how we shouldn't be simply about promoting our churches for the sake of growth but that we should be using the church for the mission of Jesus which is to bring peace and reconciliation to those around us and with God through Jesus.

How do churches equip the people to do the work? It seems as if most Sunday's boil down to information transference. What if we could get deeper than that? What if churches intentionally cultivated a culture of ministry that goes out and connects people?

Like many of Keller's books, I enjoyed reading his thoughts and ideas. I did not care for the additional essays from other people. However I found that they helped flesh out some questions that might come up when pondering Keller's words. And when Keller would respond to the essays, it provided additional insight.

This wasn't as good as Shaped by the Gospel but I enjoyed reading through it nonetheless.

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Zondervan Publishing.

Shaped by the Gospel by Timothy Keller

Pastor Timothy Keller tackles some misconceptions about being a Gospel-centered church/minister and the disconnect with saying it and actually living it out in the church setting.

He spends some time unpacking what the Gospel of Jesus is and what Christians have claimed it to be and the differences as he sees it.

This was a very enjoyable read. I like how Keller can unpack an idea and then builds upon it in an articulate manner.

What I didn't enjoy was the alternative essays as a kind of response to what Keller had written. Then Keller responds to those essays.

I get that you provide alternate approaches and that may help flesh out your own understandings, but I was simply interested in reading Keller's thoughts. (Call me biased)

Enjoyable read that helped me solidify an understanding of what the Gospel ultimately is and what it actually isn't and how to flesh that out in ministry life.

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Zondervan Publishing.

For Better or for Kids by Patrick and Ruth Schwenk

Loving your spouse with kids in the house.

A fun read with enjoyable personal anecdotes from the authors. These two offer advice to keep the marriage bonds strong while living the exhausting life of raising kids.

The advice given is practical and absolutely relateable. While not going too deep, they do provide some interesting insights, using Scripture, that I hadn't thought of.

For example, the passage used in weddings: "what God has joined together, let man not separate" is used in this book to include children. "let children not separate". How often do marriages feel the strain because the kids are quite demanding?

This isn't a bad thing as long as the two adults continually return to work on their relationship.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was a quick, fun read with very good words of encouragement, challenge, and insight.

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Zondervan Publishing.