And our Facebook winner:
1. Joshua Maddin

And one extra copy, because her story in yesterday’s comments was so powerful:
Faye Bryant

*Twitter and Facebook winners were numbered off in order of their comments and [...]]]> Congratulations to our Twitter winner:
19. Brandon Buchannan

And our Facebook winner:
1. Joshua Maddin

And one extra copy, because her story in yesterday’s comments was so powerful:
Faye Bryant

*Twitter and Facebook winners were numbered off in order of their comments and chosen by the random number generator at random.org.

It’s a horrible place to find yourself, because you have one of the greatest jobs on the planet, and you basically work for God, so you’re not supposed to be able to burnout. But I found myself physically, emotionally and [...]]]> About two years ago I was totally and completely burned out as a pastor.

It’s a horrible place to find yourself, because you have one of the greatest jobs on the planet, and you basically work for God, so you’re not supposed to be able to burnout. But I found myself physically, emotionally and (worst of all) spiritually empty.

After a week of decompression, I worked with some people around me to craft a year-long recovery plan. And launched on a journey that ultimately lead me back into deeper relationship with Jesus and healthier rhythms of living here in this world.

When my friend Michael Chanley emailed a few months ago and asked me to write a chapter in a book on how the church can reach families, I immediately thought of my journey.

Because as I’ve talked to pastors around the country, I’ve realized that I’m not alone when it comes to working myself into a spiritual and emotional deficit. And my theory is that if the church wants to reach families, then it’s going to need pastors who aren’t burnt out.

So, i joined with over 30 other pastors to write a book called Collaborate. It’s a multi-faceted view of how we, as the church, can work together to reach the families in our communities. My story of recovery is just one of the many practical chapters on how to design your life and ministry to connect with this generation.

Our prayer is that this book would unite churches together and that our crowd-sourced ideas would lead to life change in the next generation.

Collaborate is available today and to celebrate, I am giving away two free copies – one on Twitter and one on Facebook.

Tweet this to win on Twitter: Excited to check out #CollaborateBook. @ardentvox joined 34 others to write it! Win a copy & find out more here: http://bit.ly/aD9CCH

Post the link to the Collaborate FB Page with this text to win on Facebook: Excited to check out this new book. My friend, Steven Dilla, joined 34 others to write it! Win a copy & find out more here: http://bit.ly/aD9CCH

Playboy was right.

The book is about a group of highly trained counter terrorists in a unit called SFOD-D [...]]]> In January I started reading a book that would change my perspective on nearly everything. The first recommendation inside the cover comes from Playboy Magazine and says you wont want to put the book down.

Playboy was right.

The book is about a group of highly trained counter terrorists in a unit called SFOD-D – or Delta Force for short. I found out about them through a documentary on the guys involved in Black Hawk Down. One of the Army Rangers they interviewed said he had been shot in the leg and, along with what was left of his unit, he was trapped in an alley with enemy forces closing in. He was in a dead panic. Then he saw a member of Delta Force come around the corner.

The Ranger looked into the documentary camera and said, “When I saw him, I knew everything was going to be okay. Those guys are like Jedi Warriors.”

The Delta operator grabbed him by the collar, drug him down the alley, kicked in a door, secured the room and led the unit in holding their ground until backup came (which was a long time).

I instantly wanted to know everything I could about the guys that could make panicking Rangers calm down.

Inside Delta Force tells their story.

I’m not a big military buff, but this book struck me as powerful because you see in it why the Delta Force is the so powerfully effective.

They are most highly trained surgical attack force in the world. They have finances and equipment available that make them the best outfitted warriors on earth. They are physiologically superior to most people you’ll ever meet. But none of those things are what makes the men in SFOD-D superior warriors.

There’s something there that is beyond physicality, training and equipment.

After reading the first-hand account of Inside Delta Force, I am convinced a single Delta Force operator could probably infiltrate and dismantle an entire terrorist organization using nothing but a spork.

These guys have a resolve that is unimaginable for most of us. A desire to keep going that comes from so deep in them that it changes their perspective on everything. And that is what makes them capable of doing things that no one else on earth can.

They want to. They need to. And so they push themselves past what most of us would consider to be normal, or even possible.

I can’t recommend this book enough. Buy it. Learn from it. Let it challenge your views of discipline, perseverance and will. Because the fact of the matter is, we could all use a little intestinal fortitude.

The problem is, of course, the risk part. Risks are easy when we are young, responsibilities are limited and collateral damage from failure is minimal (or not our responsibility). But there are enormous pressures not to take risks that pile on us as we get older – [...]]]> Many people are one risk away from greatness.

The problem is, of course, the risk part. Risks are easy when we are young, responsibilities are limited and collateral damage from failure is minimal (or not our responsibility). But there are enormous pressures not to take risks that pile on us as we get older – especially if we succeed (at anything).

So people stagnate. They begin to rationalize their life without dreams. Maybe this is what God wanted for me.

Deep down we know we were made for more.

A few years ago I read the book Seizing Your Divine Moment – and I would never look at risk, or life the same. There is a freedom to be found in the ideas the book discusses, a new way of viewing what’s next – and most importantly, a passion to pursue it.

Passion is one of the lost values of our culture.

When we embrace our dreams with passion, we live the lives God designed us to live. We find a richness beyond what we knew possible and we take part in the story of God and his work to restore the world to himself.

For most of my life, I [...]]]> Last week was all about prayer, so this is a good segue post into a new topic. There have been a few books that have significantly impacted my faith and how I live it out daily – the first of which was a book that taught me how to pray.

For most of my life, I knew how to pray what I heard everyone else praying. Ultimately these prayers never became personal for me.

I used them as formulas.

Methods.

Scripts for interacting with God.

Until I found a workbook called Experiencing God. This book was so basic in its method, and I actually never left a single pen stroke in it. But I dove into what it was saying. Deep.

Experiencing God taught me to pray.

It challenged me to leave the safety of my routines and find a personal experience with God unlike I had before.

I learned to give things up to him. I learned to surrender where I needed to.

Most importantly, I learned to listen.

Where do you find yourself? Has your prayer life fallen into routine? Have you been challenged through a personal experience with God? How do you discipline yourself to listen?