After a summer break, please enjoy this week’s Monday Mentions!

A Book I’m Reading – Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

I am re-reading this incredible book and will lead a Zoom study through it later this month. The subtitle is compelling:

It’s impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.

The day I started learning how to grow emotionally was the day my life started changing radically for the better. Most people are unaware or don’t care about their emotional health.

Most people avoid conflict in the name of Christianity. They ignore their anger, sadness, and fear. They use God to run from God. They live without boundaries.

This book (and Zoom study) provides seven biblical, reality-tested ways to break through to the revolutionary life Christ meant for us.

Great K-Cup Pods – Tim Hortons Original Blend

While I really enjoy great local coffee, the convenience of a K-cup at home is hard to beat! We’ve been enjoying Tim Hortons for the past two months. It’s a nice medium blend, which is suitable for most people. My simple requirement for at-home coffees is that it have plenty of caffeine. 🙂

A Recent Message I’d Love for You to Watch (and share?) – Citizens of Heaven

A Quote from I’m Thinking About

Ignoring our emotions is turning our back on reality. Listening to our emotions ushers us into reality. And reality is where we meet God. . . . Emotions are the language of the soul. They are the cry that gives the heart a voice. . .” ― Peter Scazzero

A Message that Helped Me – The Bible Put to Memory

My friend Bethany Allen is an incredible Bible teacher. It’s obvious that she loves God and others fiercely.  She serves both the local church and the global church really well. She inspires me!

The link above is to an older message that I found really helpful. There’s no doubt the scripture played a central and essential role in both Jesus’ life and ministry. For Jesus, scripture was not as much a tool, instrument, or weapon, as it was part of how he viewed and interacted with both God and the world. As apprentices of Jesus, if we want to live into the fullness of the Kingdom and what God is doing in and around us – we too must be people who know and have the scriptures in us.

A Fantastic Women’s Devotional – To Know Him and Make Him Known

My friend Debbi McGrath has an incredible devotional based on the Gospel of John. Jump into the journey! You will walk with John the Baptist, Peter, Andrew, Nicodemus, the Samaritan Woman, Lazarus, Martha, and many more. From them, you will gain wisdom from studying their interactions with Jesus. As you spend 15-20 minutes each day in the Gospel of John, you will have a true understanding of God’s character and God will give you a hunger for the Word like never before.

A Recent Message I’d Love for You to Watch (and share?) – Glimpses of Heaven

A Quote from I’m Thinking About

I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again. Simple, honest, human conversation.” — Margaret J. Wheatley

A Book I’m Reading – The Secret Society of Success

This is a brand new book that has just been on the shelves for less than a week. I am listening to the audio version and really enjoying it! Tim, the author, reads it himself and does a phenomenal job. His enthusiasm is catching! If you’ve ever thought our definition of success might be flawed, I encourage you to check out this book! It is currently the #1 new release on Amazon in Workplace Culture.

From Amazon:

It’s time to redefine success.

“The book you’re about to read is an absolute game changer, life changer, and outlook changer. . . . You will never view success the same way again. And that’s a very good thing.”

— ERNIE JOHNSON JR., Emmy Award winner and host of TNT’s Inside the NBA

There’s a message getting a lot of airtime these days. It says to be successful, you have to step into the spotlight, climb the ladder, become the boss, or chase whatever version of success that’s been dangled in front of you.

But what if there’s another way? What if fame, money, and power aren’t all that we should be chasing?

In The Secret Society of Success, Tim Schurrer invites you to reevaluate your definition of success and learn a new, freer way to go about achieving it. How do you learn this approach? With the Secret Society as your guide—a community of people who know how to make an impact, whether they have the spotlight or not. The Secret Society will teach you to

• define success for yourself;
• contribute to your team without minding who gets the credit;
• make an impact that spans far beyond yourself, regardless of the size of your platform;
• navigate living in the tension between contentment and striving;
• go from feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and restless in your job to being confident in the value you bring to the team; and
• discover meaning and fulfillment in the work that you do.

Through powerful stories of people like the CEO of Apple Tim Cook, NBA all-star LeBron James, Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and people whose names you’ve never heard of, you will discover that the success you’re looking for is within your reach, wherever you are and whatever your role.

“The Secret Society of Success is an important book that everyone should read. It is not only insightful; it’s inspirational. This book captures what it really means to be successful. I am for one ready to up my  game! Thank you, Tim, for giving me this gift!”

— DAVID NOVAK, cofounder and former chairman and CEO of Yum! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut)

Chicago Style Pizza Recommendation – Rachetti’s Cafe and Pizzeria

Laura and I recently tried Rachetti’s Chicago deep-dish pizza. I was pleasantly surprised! It seems a lot of places advertise Chicago deep-dish but then it turns out to be the normal deep dish you can get anywhere. Not so here! Laura said it’s one of the best pizzas she’s had!

A Recent Message I’d Love for You to Watch (and share?) – Re-thinking Monday

It’s been said that there is a spike in heart attacks on Mondays. Apparently, starting the workweek increases the stress in many people’s lives. Work is often seen as a curse. What if there’s a different way to think about the 90,000 hours we spend at work?

This message is one that I’ve wrestled with writing for a couple of months. It seemed to strike a chord with a lot of people. I hope it encourages you!

A Quote from I’m Thinking About

God cares not only about redeeming souls but also about restoring his creation. He calls us to be agents not only of his saving grace but also of his common grace. Our job is not only to build up the church but also to build a society to the glory of God. As agents of God’s common grace, we are called to help sustain and renew his creation, to uphold the created institutions of family and society, to pursue science and scholarship, to create works of art and beauty, and to heal and help those suffering from the results of the Fall.” — David Bruce Hedgeman

A Book I’m Reading – The 100X Leader

This is a great book about leadership. I picked it up because of work I’ve done with GiANT Worldwide in the area of coaching. The principles of leadership found in this book resonant so much with me.

From Amazon:

Become the leader others want to follow.

Forget everything you know about motivating others and building a harmonious workplace. If you want to get the best out of people, you must be willing to fight. But, that doesn’t mean you become a dominator, nor does coddling others work.

The best leader you’ve ever had in your life was a liberator—someone willing to fight for your highest good, even at a personal cost. Inside, global leadership experts Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cockram explain what made that leader so unique, how to become that person yourself, and how to share the same gift with others.

• Be one of the few that people actually want to follow
• Learn the lost art of leadership—the intentional calibration of support and challenge for everyone you lead, your team and your family
• Become a multiplication master as you learn to bring the best out of people for their highest good and that of the whole team
• Overhaul entire cultures by focusing on the transformation and empowerment of sub-culture leaders

The 100x Leader will help you become—and build—leaders worth following.

A Planter Laura is Trying – VegTrug Raised Planter

Laura has been thinking about growing fresh herbs for a while now: rosemary, time, basic, etc. She recently purchased this raised planter with some birthday money. I’ll let you know how it goes!

A Recent Message I’d Love for You to Watch (and share?) – Life Within Limits

None us wake up and think, “Today’s the day I want to have a melt down.” Yet we have all been there. We have unlimited potential but we don’t have unlimited energy. Check out this recent message for some strategies for dealing with the overwhelm.

A Quote from I’m Thinking About

Everything negative–pressure, challenges–is all an opportunity for me to rise.” — Kobe Bryant

A Book I’m Reading – Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership

This is a very transformative book — especially for those in that serve in the ministry. One of the lines that sticks out to me is this: “The best thing any of us have to bring to leadership is our own transforming self. Why? Because engaging deeply in the process of spiritual transformation and choosing to lead from that place gives us the opportunity to forge a powerful connection between our souls—that place at the center of our being where God’s spirit is at work, loving, transforming and guiding us—and our leadership.”

Have you read it? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

From Amazon:

“I’m tired of helping others enjoy God―I just want to enjoy God for myself.”

With this painful admission, Ruth Haley Barton invites us to an honest exploration of what happens when spiritual leaders lose track of their souls. Weaving together contemporary illustrations with penetrating insight from the life of Moses, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership explores topics such as

• responding to the dynamics of calling
• facing the loneliness of leadership
• leading from your authentic self
• cultivating spiritual community
• reenvisioning the promised land
• discerning God’s will together

Each chapter includes a spiritual practice to ensure your soul gets the nourishment it needs. Forging and maintaining a life-giving connection with God is the best choice you can make for yourself and for those you lead.

A Book I’m Going to Start Soon – How to Heal Our Racial Divide

This is a brand new book from Derwin Gray that comes with high praise. While there is plenty I don’t know about this topic, I do know the gospel is meant to bring healing. I look forward to digging in very soon.

From Amazon:

“I was moved by what I read. I saw things in Scripture I’d never seen before, I saw truths about God and humans and injustice and myself that were new to me, but radically important.” —Annie F. Downs, New York Times Bestselling Author of That Sounds Fun

Why must everything be so black and white? Like many of us, Derwin Gray is weary of the racial divide in our society. He longs to see hurts healed, wrongs corrected, and trust replace distrust.

The good news is that the Bible has a lot to say about how to heal our persistent racial divides. In this book, popular Bible teacher Derwin Gray walks us through Scripture, showing us the heart of God—how God from the beginning envisioned a reconciled multiethnic family in loving community, reflecting his beauty and healing presence in the world. This message is central to the gospel itself.

After reading this book, you won’t read the Bible the same way again—and you’ll want to walk through this eye-opening scriptural journey with your friends or small group.

As founding pastor of Transformation Church, a multiethnic church located in the Charlotte metro area, Derwin knows firsthand the hurdles and challenges to the reconciliation that Scripture commands. That is why he carefully outlines in this book how to establish color-blessed discipleship in your own church.

Together, we can become the change that God yearns to see in this world.

A Recent Service I’d Love for You to Watch – Good Friday at SHC 2022

Good Friday is one of my favorite services to be part of each year. It provides an intentional way for me to slow down and properly reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice for us. This year, I had the privilege of teaching with my good friend Mau Menesses. We have heard some powerful feedback from those that attended. Our team did a great job of creating a unique experience throughout the teaching. I’d love for you to check it out.

A Quote from I’m Thinking About

A leader is a person who must take special responsibility for what’s going on inside him or her self, inside his or her consciousness, lest the act of leadership create more harm than good.” — Parker Palmer