After watching the movie, which I thought was great, I really wanted to read this.  Besides, two people told me I definitely need to read it after they saw my movie post.

I read it to Riley, and it was fun seeing how many differences between the movie and the book (of which there are plenty) Riley could see, and walking her through the ones she did not catch.

And it is not often that I say this, but I think the movie is better than the book as far as how the story plays out and the subtleties of the characters and of the character relationships.  I don’t want to put any spoilers here, so if you want to find out the differences, you can contact me directly, or just read the book and watch the movie to find out yourself.

I highly recommend both the movie and the book for parents and children.

This is a very technical (i.e. textbook-like) book.  I have learned a fair amount of anatomy from my knee journey over the years, visiting doctors, physical therapists, structural integration and rolfers, etc., but this book still had a ton of information about the knee that I do not know — not to mention the rest of the body.   It is probably more geared to yoga instructors than practitioners, especially those yoga instructors that really get into anatomy and working with those who have injuries and/or are trying to prevent injuries.  However, for those that are working towards their own practice, or to take their own practice to the next level, it would also be beneficial.  The nuances of muscle usage within each pose that is discussed is very detailed, so that you see how the slightest overuse of a muscle in a given pose, or rotation here or there, can have dramatic effects on other muscles and alignments.

I read the 1st few chapters in detail, and then started working through the poses.  But I quickly discovered that you really need to work each pose while reading — or read, then do the pose, then read a little more, then do the pose again, etc.  So that is what I now plan to do for many of the poses in this book.

This is one of the best, most profound, non-fiction books I have ever read, and I plan to read it again in the future — maybe a year or so from now.  I also need to spend a little time leafing through it and looking at all my highlighted passages and dog-eared pages.  It is the type of book that needs time and reflection to let it really sink in.

I was going to say that I wish I had read this book two years ago, but after thinking about it, I have decided that sometimes, reflecting back with the new knowledge and ideas gained from a book may be more edifying than having gone through certain situations with the book’s knowledge in hand (head?).  Or, to put it another way, the book probably would not have meant much to me two years ago, whereas now it means a lot.

I have read a few business books, and a few leadership books, but never one written from the viewpoint of how a Christian should be called to lead.  Much of what is discussed in the book is leadership in terms of being a pastor, or being the leader of a religious school, but all of the principles can and should be applied to leadership in any situation.  And really, as Allender points out, all of us are leaders to some extent, whether it is with our children at home, or any time someone looks to us for guidance in any particular situation.

Just last week I had dinner with a friend who is an agnostic, but had read Wild at Heart (see my post on that here) based on my post about it, but he was able to put aside the religion in the book and still take something away.  I applaud him, or anyone, for being able to do that, especially when many of the main themes and examples are all religious based.  For any atheist or agnostic leader out there, if you can do that with this book, I would highly recommend it.

It is almost impossible to give a short synopsis of  this book, as there is a wealth of information beyond the basic premise that as a leader, it is best to acknowledge your short comings to those you lead (as well as yourself!).  But beyond that, there is tremendous wisdom in how to structure an organization, how to grow the people within the organization (in terms of character) and the organization itself, how to create the vision and mission of an organization, etc., etc., etc.  Highly highly recommended!

A few quotes that stood out by themselves, but these are just minor one-offs compared to larger sections, themes, and ideas presented throughout the book:

The person who merely puts up with life becomes a manager or a bureaucrat, not a leader.

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms.  It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die.  [ This is Allender quoting G.K. Chesterson…]

We always predict the future by reading the present from a frame of reference that was established in the past.

… a dogmatic religious fundamentalist is more similar to a dogmatic atheist than he is to people who share his beliefs but are still seeking greater clarity in their beliefs.  The common link between contradictory ideologies is rigidity or the refusal to remain open to new beliefs and new ways of understanding old convictions.

… growth in character occurs to the degree that we accept being forgiven as a greater gift than life itself.  If the greatest gift is not what I see but how I am seen by the living God, then my gratitude knows no limits.

I have been digging deeper into various Christine doctrine recently, and have been really drawn to systematic theology as part of that.  In fact, I have been spending more my Systematic Theology book by Wayne Grudem, and listening to a systematic theology class I downloaded off of iTunesU.  For some reason I have been drawn to Reformed Theology, and I have heard great things about R.C. Sproul before, so this looked like a good book.  Turns out it is a good book, but is lacking in a few areas.

First, what I have heard about Sproul is true — he is a great writer.  He can really explain very complex issues in an easy to understand way, in a relatively short amount of space.  Second, the book is great at explaining concepts using comparisons to other Theologies, such as Roman (Catholic), Arminianism, etc.  This was especially helpful to me, as I am still learning about each of these and still need help separating them from one another.

But when I finished, I found it lacking in a few key areas (though I still would highly recommend it to anyone that is interested in exploring theology deeper and is not very familiar with the Reformed view).

One issue I found is that some key words and concepts are never explained.  I would expect an “Understanding the Basics” book to spend a little more time defining theological terms that a person that is not a student of theology would not know.  Sometimes terms were defined, but often they were not.   Key concepts of Reformed Theology were explained at great lengths and explained very well.  But I found some terms were not defined at all.

Also, while this book covers the key concepts of Reformed Theology very well, it hardly ever mentions key issues that the doctrines arise.  For example, nowhere does he mention how, or why, the Reformed still need to follow the Great Commission in light of the Reformed’s understanding of God’s elect.

Now, I am certainly new to some of these concepts…  The Baptist churches we have been a part of are typically light on the doctrines that tend to separate different denominations of Protestantism.  But I will put forth the MAIN difference between Reformed and others here:  In the Reformed view, the Holy Spirit instigates Faith in Jesus within the Believer, whereas other views tend to hold, for the most part, that the person himself makes the decision to have faith.   And here instigates is probably not the proper word, as I think both Reformed and Evangelical would hold to that.  With Reformed, it is the Spirit that believes — so God is really doing all the work in his elect to bring the person to salvation.  The believer does not make the choice at all.

I certainly see where the Reformed view comes from in light of the Scriptures presented by Sproul in this book and in other resources I have been looking at, but I still need to dig deeper.  In fact, this is a book I will read again in a year or two, after I have had time to read other sources and grow my understanding.

I’d love to hear from anyone in the comments if this main difference I am perceiving is accurate.   (And I do know there are other differences, but it seems to me this is the key difference.)

Two quotes:

The ultimate form of idolatry is humanism, which regards man as the measure of all things.

The disappearance of theology from the life of the Church, and the orchestration of that disappearance by some of its leaders, is hard to miss today but, oddly enough, not easy to prove.  It is hard to miss in the evangelical world — the vacuous worship that is so prevalent, for example, in the shift from God to the self as the central focus of faith, in the psychologized preaching that follows this shift, in the erosion of its  conviction, in the strident pragmatism, in its inability to think incisively about the culture, in its reveling of the irrational.  (Here Sproul is quoting from No Place for Truth by David F. Wells.)

Last year was a year of much secular philosophy, mainly due to reading four Ayn Rand books, so this year I thought I would go the other way.  I have gotten very interested in Reformed Theology recently, so I plan on working through a few books on that including the original Institutes of Christianity by John Calvin.

Here is my current list, in no particular order.   A few of these I have already started, and I am sure more will be added as the year goes on.

1. The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan
2. In Depth Study of Romans
   • For some reason, Romans has come to me from a lot of angles the past 6 months, starting with an unexpected, long theological conversation I had with a Catholic Priest at Gatwick airport.  Since that time, it continues to work its way to me one way or another…
   • Have not picked one out yet, but I’m looking at this one.
3. ESV Study Bible
   • I picked this up as a Christmas present for myself, and would like to work through it all, but I will probably go for a 2 year plan on this rather than the one year — my reading list for this year is already pretty substantial
4. The Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin
   • Reformed21 is doing a year long blog study on this, but my book won’t get here until 1/16!  😦
5. My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers
   • This is a daily devotional type book so I probably won’t read it all this year, but I would like to get it at some point and have it around.
6. CCIE Security book
   • Need to pass CCIE Security written by 7/1!
7. Chi Running. Danny Dreyer.
   • A book on running form, hopefully to continue to work on my knee issues.  I have been running more and have not felt the knee too much.
8. What is Reformed Theology, RC Sproul
   • I am already 1/2 way through this — excellent so far!
9. Yoga Anatomy
10. Leading with a Limp
11. The Screwtape Letters
    • I’ve already read this, but I’d like to read with Kelly
12. The Tale of Despereaux
    • I think I need more fiction!  This was a great movie…
13. In Cold Blood, Truman Capote.
    • After watching Capote a few weeks ago, I definitely want to read these.
14. Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Capote.
    • Ditto above…

I think this is a fairly balanced list (workout/athletic, Bible + Bible Study, Biblical based fiction, “fun” fiction), though it is a little short on fiction and is unfortunately missing a “classic” — along the lines of the the books listed in “100 Must Read Books List.” I normally do try to read one or two of those a year.  Hopefully I can fit one in, but right now this list is daunting enough!

Last year I came across a book of short stories that mentioned The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake, and I finally got around to reading it.   Pancake’s stories garnered a lot of critical acclaim, yet he committed suicide at the age of 26, and these short stories are all he left behind.

I have to admit that I was not that impressed in the 1st half of the book, but thought the 2nd half was much better.  However, the 1st half was read about 20 hours into the 40 hour trip back from Australia.  So I decided the re-read the 1st several stories, and they were better than the 1st read!

The writing is direct and often dark, but engaging.  Worth a read if you like short stories, which seems to be a lost art these days.

This is the story of a husband who decides to marry a different lady each night, and have her murdered in the morning, so that he never has to worry about their “deceitful” ways.  Along comes one woman who tricks him into keeping her alive by telling him stories each night.  I was familiar with most of the individual stories she told, such as Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, but had never read them as told here, intertwined within the larger story.

I have been wanting to read Jack London since reading/watching Into the Wild, and finally got around to it.  This version has Call of the Wild, White Fang, and five other stories.  All of them were quite good.  I especially liked the contrasting developments in White Fang compared to Call of the Wild. In one, the dog goes from civilized to wild, and the other from wild to civilized.  And I liked “To Build a Fire” a lot as well.

One quote from Call of the Wild:

There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise.  And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.  This ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living, comes to the artist, caught up and out of himself in a sheet of flame; it comes to the soldier, war-mad on a stricken field refusing quarter….

Ok, this is the last Rand book I plan on reading for a while, and this is the first book she wrote.  There is a tremendous difference in her writing ability between this and Atlas Shrugged, but that should be expected since she was only 25 when she started We the Living, and it was 25+ years later when she finished Atlas Shrugged. First – if you have this version — DO NOT READ the forward by Leonard Peikoff before you read the book. There are big spoilers in there and no warnings! Second, this is a somewhat depressing book, but what it portrays is the Soviet Union just after the revolution and the start of communism, so I don’t doubt its truthfulness.  But the picture it paints of the country and the people is not pretty.

Third, this book is not nearly as deep as Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. It is a good book, but there is only a tiny glimmer of depth here and there compared to those two works.

I had a couple of dog ears for potential quotes, but after re-reading them now, they are not that that thought-provoking so I won’t include them here.