No Fluff Books

To Give or Not to Give?

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:31:35 +0000

To Give or Not to Give? This book had wonderful reviews. “Must read!” – written by many popular authors. I would review this book, but in fact it was such complete rubbish that I am hesitant to even summarize it. I would be too tempted (irresistibly so) to add my own counter arguments at each and every point. The author paints such a false question and premise to the book, that he get’s off on the wrong track and never reaches any meaningful destination. The middle of the book has some value regarding the approach we should take when partnering with overseas ministry partners, but the rest of the book is SO BAD that it completely overshadows any “OK” parts. This post doesn’t even deserve a photography.

No one who is serious about missions is asking the question, “should we give or not?” They are asking the question of “when should we give, why should we give, to whom should we give and not give, for how long should we give” etc. He submits that many Christian leaders are questioning support for overseas church plants because they want to keep their money for themselves. This might be the case on some instances, but I would submit that those involved in great mission endeavors are seeking to give to those areas where they see the greatest long-term sustainable impact.

The highlight of this book’s worthlessness is when he compares the need for missions money to the money needed to rebuilt Europe after WW2, and the social welfare programs of the US that came out of the great depression and postwar period. WHAT!?!? If we were trying to construct cities, I would agree with him. But we are not. He picked the two worst examples I could imagine to try to motivate me to give. They infact, have the opposite effect. The United States helped to rebuild Europe for a number of reasons, none of which have to do with following a spiritual mandate to evangelize the world…and if you want to get “long-term” about things, let’s look at what happened to Christianity in Europe with the onset of financial prosperity, helped tremendously by giving to rebuild and modernize the continent. Now, even a few months ago, at the World Missions conference in Tokyo, Europe was being viewed as one of the darkest continents on the planet spiritually.

To Give or Not to Give? is way off base. He tries to discredit solid wisdom and principles that have helped missionaries and missions agencies make better decisions about money. There are many, many easy targets if one wanted to try to address areas of great need in the world of missions thinking and philosophy. He happened to pick the wrong side of an important argument, and he attacked progress that is leading to greater indigenous ministry.

I have marks and exclamation marks with the word “STUPID THINKING” on almost every page. Don’t read To Give or Not to Give?, unless you want to get angry…like I did. Or unless you are a communist. Or unless you think money is the one key to God reaching the masses. Or unless you think throwing more and more money is the way to solve problems without really thinking about the problems origins. Can you tell I am miffed. To Give or Not to Give? is truly rubbish reading.

Posting Delay

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:01:05 +0000

I have not put a summary up in almost 2 months. That does not mean I am not reading…I have read 2-3 books in the meantime, but none of them lent themselves to summarizing. They were all about the history of International Development and the need for (or lack there of) such organizations. I recommend one particularly good book to you if this topic interests you…Lords of Poverty by Graham Hancock. Warning: if you are already skeptical of International Aid Organizations (especially the big ones like the IMF, World Bank, USAID, etc)…this won’t help.

The Three Signs of a Miserable Job

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:51:25 +0000

Good story…perhaps one of Lencioni’s best. It’s down to earth and more realistic for those of us who are NOT working in Fortune 500 companies. The suggestions he has are simple, and easy to implement. They are tied more to human nature and basic needs than they are lofty and strategic business ideas. Enjoy the short summary.

The Three Signs of a Miserable Job – MSWORD

The Three Signs of a Miserable Job – PDF

Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars

jonathan — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:10:00 +0000

Good book. Not as captivating or as well written as many of the other books by Lencioni, but still worth a look. The concept is the same as presented in his Frantic Family book, but it is applied here to businesses. This book was written first, and then the book applying it to family was written afterward. I think the family oriented book is better overall, and the application can be made easier on both sides. Again, the summary (4 pages) is provided in MSWORD and as a PDF. I created 2 diagrams to help explain the main concept. Enjoy

Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars – MSDOC

Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars – PDF

The 3 BIG Questions for the Frantic Family

jonathan — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:49:44 +0000

This book was not Lencioni’s best, but it was a good application of the many business principles into a family situation. I think the tool provided at the end, which you can find saved in the supplemental, PDF document below, can be very helpful in finding clarity for our families. I wished he would have provided some more practical help in actually relieving ourselves of many of the activities we find create this frantic state. There is no question, that we cannot keep up with everyone else, and remain sane. We have to pull back. We have to say no. The problem is that we lack the courage and ability to do so. It would have been helpful to have some more discussion along those lines. Nevertheless, it’s a good application, and I think you’ll find the summary below to be both succinct, yet robust enough to be helpful.

The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family_MSWORD

The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family_PDF

Frantic Family Model

Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours

jonathan — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:59:47 +0000

All I can say about this book is “WOW!” Classic does not begin to describe the contents of this book and how he nails the issues on the head. Contemporary does not begin to describe how in touch he seems to be with the current struggles within missions…and he wrote this in 1912. He admits in the introduction that the church would not be ready to receive his message until the middle of the century. Many are still not ready. If you are involved in missions, be it church planting or para church work, by sending money, giving money, on the field….if you know how to spell missions, you need to read this book. I cannot believe no body recommended this to me earlier. Having said that, you will not like many of the probes that Roland Allen uses to touch the soft spots. You may even find yourself getting angry at certain portions. Got your attention! Good. Read the book…or the summary. Just be warned, the book is not an easy read. It’s twice as short as most of the books I read, and it took me at least twice as long. You can’t be distracted when you read this book. You could get through my summary in about an hour or so, but if you plan on reading the whole book, you’re going to need a good 10-12 hours…if you want to digest it.

One last comment….the principles in this book apply to more than just missions…international business, child-rearing, etc. The principles and observations are timeless.

Missionary Methods – St. Paul’s or Ours_ MSWORD

Missionary Methods – St. Paul’s or Ours_PDF

Death By Meeting

jonathan — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:55:27 +0000

Great book. Very clear, and fairly concise. I have condensed the summary down to about 6 pages, but I reproduced a diagram from the book, and added another table of my own in at the end that shows a comparison of time spent in meetings if we do it Lencioni’s way, and the typical way most organizations do it now. Curious? Download the summary and read it. It’s free! The story he writes is well written. But, what are summaries for? If you don’t have time, you can still get the jist and detail of the main purpose of the book, which is to avoid killing people with pointless meetings, by reading the summary. As always, the summary is available in MS WORD or PDF format.

Death By Meeting – MS WORD

Death By Meeting – PDF

The ASK

jonathan — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:43:31 +0000

“The ASK” is a long read. A little too long. The summary is long as well, because there is a lot of good detail in the book, but also alot of fluff. Each chapter has Exhibits which summarize some main points. Then the author goes into too much detail of each one, sometimes not providing much more clarity than the summarized list provided. But, the examples and general overviews of the various types of asks is helpful. For planned giving, much more detail is needed for those not already familiar with the technical issues related to the various planning giving vehicles. Over all a good book, and worth a read for those interested. I do not agree with every perspective she takes, but there are different approaches when it comes to asking people. It cannot be a perfect science. Enjoy the summary!

The Ask – WORD FORMAT

The Ask – PDF Format

Submissions

jonathan — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:24:20 +0000

As much as I wish I could read a book a day and post each summary, it doesn’t quite work like that. I do have reading time worked into my work schedule because it is an important part of what I do…but some days it slips through the cracks. At any rate, if anyone is interesting in having their summaries posted on this site for others to use, that can be arranged. Please follow the same format you see me using, submit to me a WORD and a PDF format and I will review it, post it if applicable, and contact you to let you know it’s posted. Please look at the Reach Us page to find the email address.

The Fundraising Habits of Supremely Successful Boards

jonathan — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:41:33 +0000

This short book by Panas is another good one. It’s hard to go wrong with Jerry Panas. His excitment, enthusiasm, and experience are all helpful. There is overlap from book to book of his, but each one is helpful in it’s own way. This time I decided to break the summary down by chapter because each one was sort of a self contained topic. I took only the main points from this book, and there are even a few chapters where the title says it all, and you will see none of my personal notes under those. If you feel the summary is not enough, you can always by the book by clicking on the visual link below. But, you might as well give the summary a try…it will only take you 5 minutes to read!

Fundraising Habits of Supremely Successful Boards – MS WORD

Fundraising Habits of Supremely Successful Boards – PDF