For Joy!

This may be the most seminal work recently released regarding youth ministry. It is certainly one of the top writings from the pen of Andrew Root. "The End of Youth Ministry?" verbalizes so much of what I feel youth ministry should be about. As a long time youth pastor and parent, this is what I want for my children and students. I want them to discover joy in Christ.
Taking the atypical route of sharing a parable regarding the journey toward enlightenment, Root guides readers toward enlightenment. Root encourages us to think counter-culturally about youth ministry. Rather than seeking to please the parents who want a place of entertainment that helps their children be happy, youth ministry should guide youth in discovering the joy of Christ. To do this, we must share in one another's life narratives, particularly the moments of death. When communities do this, Christ enters in, providing grace and resurrection. This book is revolutionary and should be on the top of every youth pastor's , parent's, elder's and pastor's list of current must reads! Youth ministry is for discovering the joy of the Lord within His community. Let the church discover this!

Finding a New Career

Public speaking seems a lucrative career for those with the gifts and drive to take it on. If this is you, Grant Baldwin offers the consummate guide in "The Successful Speaker." Taking, what appears to be the model for a speech or workshop on becoming a public speaker, Baldwin presents the five steps to success. In this, he follows one of the speaking models he himself uses - that of the numerical framework. Baldwin gives five steps: select a problem to solve, prepare and deliver your talk, establish your expertise, acquire paid speaking gigs, and know when to scale. In these five steps he gives clear guidance to the hopeful public speaker. If this is your career dream, you do yourself a service by reading this very understandable, instructional text.
I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.