A Six-Session Investigation of the Toughest Objections to Christianity

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Author: Lee Strobel and Garry Poole

I know not everyone is interested in spiritual books so link ahead to other categories or articles here if you don’t care to explore what could be a way to discover new meaning and purpose in your life.  I’ve read several books by C.S. Lewis recently which I really enjoyed, like The Screwtape Letters, The Abolition of Man, and The Great Divorce.  The screwtape letters were wonderful and insightful in a sad and scary way while the other two were more intellectually challenging as they were a much harder to read from the sense of understanding the author, Lewis.

Anyway much of Lewis’ writings have triggered many other authors to seek their questions about God and Christianity and the Case for Faith is one of those examples, by Lee Strobel.  I’ve read several of Strobel’s other books (see my review of God’s Outragious Claims and The Case for Christ) and this book is definitely my favorite of the three.  Faith is something I have deeply grown in and it has become an important part of who I am, and it drives me to live the way I live.  It brings joy, contentment as well as turmoil and question about what I should be doing, what I can be doing and if I’m leading myself or letting God lead me?

Faith

Faith is a tough subject to write about, and even tougher to make arguments for since Faith itself is completely based on believing in something that you are not entirely sure about.  This book puts both of that into a mixture of questions around faith and Christianity, yet at the same time, providing a number of explanations and reasons why those questions are so important in the context of faith.  There are a number of interviews conducted in the book, with scholars and subject experts, both aethiest and Christian and Strobel presents them into a convincing set of apologetic answers and explanations that should be enough for any faith seeker to be convinced that there is ample truth and evidence in those many questions to warrant the faith that is then required to become a believer.

A few areas I especially liked in the book were how much of the atheist claims about science, evolution, and attempts to discredit the Word of God, have been repeatedly discredited by not only Christian research and scholars, but science as well.  I’ve learned some of this on my own researching science that has become the “standard explanation” for the origin of life and the universe.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of science taught in school as truths, when in reality, they are not proven any more than many of the cases this book argues.  I’ve met my share of atheists and even had arguments from them on this site, and surprisingly I see they have as much faith in their religion (I mean non-religion since that is what they would have you believe) as I have in mine.  That is still a clear case of faith and the ability to choose your faith should only be done with what can be believed with enough credit and evidence that you feel you can trust it, go with the uncertainly you still have and grow in that faith by experiencing the results of it.  This is where I feel Strobel’s book did an excellent job, covering in interviews how faith is not just an initial leap, but a transformation towards something through experience.  Faith leads to something you can truly know in your soul and that experience and relationship with Christ that so many discover is what separates believers in God and Christ from those who have a faith that He does not exist.  Not believing requires putting your faith in other people, scientific theory, research, scholars and much imagination, since there is no supernatural to explain the origin of life and the universe.

Strobel was once an atheist so many of his questions were formed when he was seeking answers and arguing against the requirements of faith which he now as a Christian, puts to the challenge with the evidence and arguments that he has collected to help others understand and explain some of the toughest objections to Christianity.  As with any book, and especially to the atheist, you have to understand this book is about a Case FOR Christ, it helps to steer you toward a Faith in Him that can change your life. I think the book is great for anyone seeking more answers about God, wanting to see arguments for or against their current views and to add a deeper perspective on what Faith really requires, regardless of your current believes, Christian or not.  It’s easy to read and doesn’t require you to know a lot of historical background or content from the Bible but of course that helps as many references are used as evidence but not the whole context of them outlined.  So, if Faith is either something you are lacking, want to strengthen or simply curious to explore what Faith is all about, I think you will then certainly enjoy, The Case For Faith!

Posted by Mike King under Book Reviews | 3 Comments »

The Impacts of Childish Behavior in the Workplace

Author: Nick McCormick

His previous book, Lead Well and Prosper was a big hit with me and I’ve used it for training several people in my workplace on good management and leadership behaviors that are easy to implement and measure.  This led me to be really excited about McCormick’s new book.  So, this book is a look at many of the actions that employees often carry out in the workplace, that really stem from childish behaviors.  They are examples of some of the low level thinking that goes on in the workplace not for the best possibility for the organization, but typically for some behavior learned long ago and still carried into the workplace years later.

Overall, I think McCormick has a nack for making things in the workplace a lot simpler than many people first realize and he has done this again very well with his outline of a behavior in each chapter.  The chapters and content cover the majority of the poor things you might see in a typical office where behavior is something not managed well or where there is truly a lot of dysfunction and little positive teamwork and accountability.  I have the joy to say I just don’t have to face many of these in my work and so, ready through them, I really had my doubts if these are typical in business or not, the text certainly says so and I hear it all the time from friends at other work environments.  I’ll continue to have that luxury in my work and enjoy the lack of these childish behaviors.  For that reason, I lowered my star rating as I personally just didn’t find much value here, and it seems to highlight behavior that I can’t believe is more easily eliminated before getting the level often written about in the book.  The cartoons, while amusing add to the childish message and I thought they were over the top, losing some of the credible seriousness a business book should have.

So, keeping that in mind, there are certainly a lot of things to learn from if you have a workplace or work environment where people do act childish, there is fighting between people and groups, and where the power plays and politicking resort to childish levels.  Excuses and blame games are two of the topics, another is covering up mistakes, as well as taking more than your share.  All of these childish things are described in a work context but as the childish act and story.

McCormick has 14 short chapters in the book, one per topic and at the end of each, he outlines very clear dos and don’ts, similarly to his last book, which I really like.  These do reinforce his points in each chapter and make the book very easy to learn from and actions to take away.  So, its a very short and easy read, and simple to understand so if you face childish behavior in your workplace, then perhaps this book is the perfect guide for you (and maybe for some of the others acting childish as well!).

Posted by Mike King under Book Reviews | 7 Comments »

19 Traits of the Most Admirable, Creative and Joyous People

Author: Donald Van de Mark

Wow, it seems like a long time since I’ve posted a book review.  I must say, I’ve not been reading as much lately as I’ve spent a lot more time working freelance 3D animation with my side business, Ethereal 3D.  Anyway, that aside, I’m please to bring this review of a very good book, The Good Among the Great.  This is a book based on a couple decades of interviews and knowledge of prominent people by the author, a journalist and anchor reporter for CNN.

This book captures and clarifies 19 specific traits that are common among exceptional people.  Not that every exceptional person has them all, but of all the traits of the great, these are the ones that show up most frequently and are most common.  Van de Mark starts with a very concise introduction that you can use the book to develop some of these traits yourself and to improve yourself.  Exceptional people are not born that way, they are a result of many life choices and some circumstantial help, so the choices you make can drive you to be exceptional and the book demonstrates it and describes how that occurred for many people, who are used as examples and as stories through the 19 chapters, one per trait.

The traits are a powerful list on their own, let along exploring each one as is done.  They are as follows:

• autonomous
• loving
• ethical
• unaffected
• private
• detached
• experimental
• realistic
• laid back
• performance and process-oriented
• egalitarian
• jolly
• empathic
• dutiful
• appreciative
• creative
• exuberant
• joyous
• transcendent

The chapters are each exploring either personal stories and childhood memories as reference to people with the traits and they are told well, from a perspective that has you looking up to the subjects of each story.  There is one tough example that the response of a woman who had been raped certainly exhibits the trait in discussion, yet the whole story and her response seems very inappropriate for anyone to look up to that characteristics.  All of the other stories however, are good examples that are much easier to look up to the characteristics demonstrated.  The style the author writes with is engaging when the stories speak for themselves and the rest of the book is easy to read and learn from.  Each chapter has take-aways written at the end of it and several quotes to help frame the trait in a memorable way.

So, its certainly a book to be learned from and it is easy to pick up and take on a chapter at a time to let it sink in.  I wouldn’t rate it with 5 stars because the way it is written and even some of the stories and content are a bit dry and there is little flow from chapter to chapter aside from some scattered references to specific people and traits that lead to other related traits.  It didn’t leave me with a sense of always wanting to read a little more like any 5 star book does for me, so all in all, it is a very good book and one you can learn a lot from, if you wanting to really use it for that. If you are new to personal development books, I wouldn’t recommend this to you, but if you have read other self-help books and want something you can use to learn exceptional traits from, then this is a good book to challenge you and have you thinking about how to develop these exceptional traits for yourself.

Posted by Mike King under Book Reviews | 8 Comments »

How to Make Your Next 30 Days The Best Ever

Author : Tom Connellan

I have always enjoyed business books written with strong things to teach, but done in a fable or story context, such as Lencioni’s book, The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team.  Connellan has done the same with The 1% Solution since it is written as a story, yet with very clear elements taught to the reader.  This particular story is of a guy, named Ken who had reached a point where things seemed to be a struggle in his life and he was noticing vast differences in people around him, some doing well, some struggling.  The coach of all people on his son’s soccer team met Ken and steered him towards a new path with the help of a group of others in a 1% solutions team.

The concept from the group was clear, that doing everything in your life just one percent better and constantly striving (deliberately) to improve just one percent can have dramatic positive consequences.  The difference between many first place medals in Olympics and no metal is often as small as 1% so that 1% can make a big difference. Whether you are after an Olympic goal or not, everyone has the ability to be better than they are, and the 1% solution provides a model and outlook towards life to do just that, be better.

As Ken meets and spends time with each of the 6 people in the 1% group, he learns important concepts about learning, improving and focusing his life around becoming a better person in many areas.  The group of 6 is realistic in having Ken think about how to get better than what HE already is, instead of thinking about where he’d like to be the best which compares to others and often holds people back from improving step by step.  The messages are very practical and cover a lot of personal development aspects I’m sure many people have seen or heard.  The author puts them into context of a person’s life and tells them in a way that is compelling and believable.  Here are just a few of the examples and messages from the text:

• You can’t be 100% better than everyone else, but you can be 1% better at hundreds of things
• Not everyone can be great, but everyone can be better than they are right now
• The more you get done, the more motivated you are to do things.  So you do more things, and you get even more motivated.  It’s a self-feeding cycle!
• The way to start is by taking action – even if it’s a small action.
• Too many people who have been around for 30 years don’t really have 30 years’ experience.  They have one year’s experience 30 times.
• What sets apart the top 1% is that they cycle throughout the day between periods of concentrated effort and planned recovery.

So, there are many other messages and I think you will certainly enjoy this book.  The author covers and uses motivation and engagement topics, teaches elements of the Pareto or 80/20 principle, emphasizes Gladwell’s 10000 hours to become an expert message, covers deliberate practice to get better faster, dives into a 30 day formula to form or break habits, includes the important aspect of properly resting and recovering from 1% progress and finally includes how all this can then be passed on to others and shared again.    If you’ve read a ton of other content in personal development, you will likely not come across anything really new in this but at the very least; it will reinforce many common aspects of becoming a better person.  If you’re searched and read some content on personal development and want a book that is easy to read yet packed with useful content and tips, then this book is definitely for you. It is an easy read, fairly short and the story is well written with a good mix of dialogue where Ken learns from the 1% group and narrative writing of his thoughts and actions.  There are additional resources at the author’s website if you want more information.  I’d love to hear your comments or questions about the book if you have read it or not, as the topics are all worthy of discussion!

Posted by Mike King under Book Reviews | 8 Comments »

How the Need to Control Hurts Us And How to Let It Go

Author: Daniel A. Miller

COMMENT TO WIN THIS BOOK!

First of all, I was very happy to receive a copy of this book from the publisher and by my own mistake, I ended up receiving two from them.  So, I would like to offer the second copy I have for free to one of my readers.  To be eligible, I am going to draw from the first 10 commenters who leave an example of how letting go of control either helps them or how holding onto it has hindered them.  I’ll send the free copy of the book to you after drawing the winner!

The book itself covers the topic of control thoroughly and specific the problems of trying to control the people and events around you.  Its evident now almost everyone faces these challenges at varying levels and quite likely, you will have a lot to learn from the life experience of the author, Daniel Miller.  The two most powerful messages from this are:

• Accepting What Is
• Addressing Our Fear

Accepting What Is

There are many problems with how much and how often people feel they need to control situations.  Acceptance replaces that compulsion and puts the focus on ourselves instead of desire to change others and uncontrollable circumstances.  This acceptance in life drives a peace within yourself and state of mind that lets you connect more easily with others without the burdens and stresses we create by feeling we can control it.  Miller provides many ideas and suggestions on how a person can start to accept things openly.  Questioning the situations and impact of decision, examining what we get from seeking the control (which is usually nothing but stress), and by looking for what we can have in its place are all great methods to start the journey of easily accepting life as it comes.  No mistake is made pretending it is easy, and I easily agree that it is not, it requires a mindset shift, beliefs and new habits to truly let acceptance become your norm but in the end it is well worth it and the serenity found in doing so makes life much easier to enjoy!

Addressing Our Fears

Strong emotions are quick to control overwhelm us and emotions such as anxiety, anger and fear pressure us to manipulate people and events to get what we think we need, control!  Often this is done in situations where people are quick to decide they know what is best over other people and they close off consideration of what others may need or want for their own emotional driven desires.  Many people let these fears infiltrate many aspects of their lives and the fears can dominate what they think and then consequently, how they behave.  Fear quickly clouds judgment and can hard to detect and even harder to break free from.  It does however, start by realizing the grip fear can have and then by finding ways to address it.  Miller provides guidance here on confronting fears and how to learn to shift away from their controlling nature.

There are more controlling factors, not just fear and Miller covers these topics as well, although not as thoroughly:

• Anger / Resentment
• Avoidance
• Parenting Control
• Love Control
• Sports Control
• Work Control
• Creative Control

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is a great book.  It’s really aimed at people who struggle with control in the first place and that is the only reason I didn’t enjoy it as much as many other reads.  I don’t struggle with control at all, fears or not accepting life as it comes.  Those things are easy for me now and while the advice in the book may not have applied, I can certainly see how I could have used it years ago when I did face more of those challenges.  My experience in changing those aspects in my life and now easily having that serenity and peace, does however make it easy to recognize the value of this book and Miller’s techniques.  The only difference that I have learned is really a new definition of control.  With emotions out of the way affecting one’s life, I define control very differently now and it seems to me that true control of your life and ability to enjoy it and connect with others comes when you get to that state of serenity and don’t let negative emotions take over your life.  In my mind, when negative emotions steer your behaviors, you have NO control whatsoever.  The desire to control others as this book covers so well is true, but eventually the control comes back to yourself, your emotions and your reactions in life.  Once you have that, in a way, it is not loosing control at all, but actually gaining control of what matters more in your life, your feelings, your connections and your reactions to circumstances.  All that gives you more peace and serenity, and the control is in a completely different place, that’s all.

So, I think you will enjoy the book as well and it would be especially useful if you relate to another of those fears and negative emotions and feel out of control.

COMMENT TO WIN THIS BOOK!

Again, to win a free copy of this book, you need to comment below and leave an example of how letting go of control either helps you or how holding onto it has hindered you.  I’ll send the free copy of the book to you after drawing the winner!

Posted by Mike King under Book Reviews | 7 Comments »

Edward Stern is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and a writer on accredited online degrees for the Guide to Online Schools.

Author: The Arbinger Institute

The esteemed Arbinger Institute has done it again with Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box. A book for anyone in a leadership position but particularly those heading up an office or corporate team, the book seeks to make readers better leaders through doing what is truly the right thing—and not making excuses, or deceiving oneself, when what is right is not done.

The messages and morals of the book are told through a story. Tom, a straight-edged, by-the-book company guy who does good work, has just been hired as an executive at the fictional Zagrum Corporation. During his leadership training from two senior executives, Tom is shown how he is in the box without even being aware of it, how to get out of the box, and subsequently how to be a better leader, employee, and person. The box is limiting, and only by knowing how the box encapsulates his being and how to get himself out of it can he grow and stop deceiving himself.

Basically, “the box” confines because of the limited view of the person confined. This person has an inflated self-importance, often due to their status as a leader, and is not personally accountable. The person in the box makes excuses when tasks aren’t carried out completely, when promises are broken, or when team members are left out to dry. These excuses make the person believe they have done the right thing, it’s not their fault, or there was nothing they could have done to change how things turned out. People in the box avoid responsibility and accountability, and lie to themselves that they are doing right when they know, deep down, that they could be doing a lot better.

Rather than just purely about leadership, the book demands introspection and a rejuvenation of the self to get out of the box and to stay out of it. Doing so makes for a better person, which is necessary for one to lead other people and have them follow suit. The book takes a unique approach by identifying one source of where lack-luster leadership stems from and what it is, and how to identify it in other people and oneself.

The book also takes a unique approach by veering into fiction and teaching lessons through a narrative. Leadership and Self-Deception takes an approach equal parts show and tell. Tom is a relatable character, and it is very easy to see parts of oneself (especially less than glowing ones) in him. It makes the introspection happen a little bit easier, and it makes for a more spirited read than other dry self-help books that just tell you what to do in a dense non-fiction style. Like a really long fable or a philosophical discourse from the great Greek minds, the messages come out the reader regularly but do so through a story and through characters, one we can all identify with and, by the end of the book, strive to be.

Still, it’s this style that also keeps it one star away from a perfect score. The dialogue, and the writing in general, is very simple and can be unintentionally funny in how watered-down and elementary it sometimes is. Great literature this is not. Also, anybody expecting a neat conclusion will have to wait—the senior executives tell Tom there are three steps to getting out of the box and staying out of it, and as the book abruptly ends, he’s only completed the first step. Smart move by the authors to create demand for a sequel or two, but maddening for the reader.

That said, there’s a lot of good stuff in Leadership and Self-Deception and it deserves several readings to grasp its full message. It strives to help the reader become a better leader through first being a better person, and that is noble in and of itself.

Posted by Mike King under Book Reviews | 4 Comments »