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Dug Down Deep: Joshua Harris

March 11, 2010 in reading,religion with 0 Comments

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

I just finished Dug Down Deep, and this has to be one of the best books I’ve ever read… It shared the life of the author and his discovery of theology, or more importantly the discovery of why theology matters. This story of an awakening speaks so loudly to my soul, because he seems to not only be sharing his story, but the story of so many in my generation.

Dug Down Deep explains that theology matters not because you will get graded on your head knowledge, but because what we know about God will directly shape how we think and live. For Christians becoming sound in our theology is taking the time to understand the amazing Savior that we say we love, it is the way to create a strong foundation in our relationship. I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who is searching to know Jesus deeper.

Sticky Church

January 13, 2010 in reading with 0 Comments

I just finished reading Sticky Church by Larry Osborne, great insight on small group ministry. Good thoughts on what Sermon Based Small Groups can do for the church as far as intentionality and getting members to press further into Chist. We plan on implementing some of these practices into our RH small groups down the road.

Wondering if anyone has had experience with implementing these small groups in their ministry?

Recent Books

January 5, 2010 in reading with 0 Comments


I have been in a book reading craze as of late and here are two of my most recent books. Both by dead guys… both absolutely amazing reads.

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis is a book that would be considered in the category of apologetics, basically it is defending the ideas of Christianity. The way that Lewis goes about his defense are extremely easy and to understand and practical in nature, then he masterfully adds scripture to defend with substance his ideas. Great read I’d recommend to anyone… we should be able to defend our faith with intelligent thoughts.
The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer is easily in my top 10 books ever, it is only 100 pages in length but they are filled with deep and meaningful substance. Tozer builds this book around the idea that though God initially starts the relationship within us by calling us and giving us the faith to believe, it is our responsibility to after that initial drawing to pursue God. At the end of each chapter you will find a prayer by Tozer, and my favorite line out of the book comes from such a prayer:
“Father, I want to know you, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from you the terror of parting. I come trembling, but I do come.”

Both are great reads, check them out…

Reading Lately

October 28, 2009 in reading with 3 Comments


I am a phase driven person and have come to grips with that fact, and recently I have entered another one of my reading like crazy phases. I once again acknowledged the time tested truth that to lead you must read… So with that here are the two books that I have gone through as of late: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell & Scouting the Divine by Margaret Feinberg.

Outliers deals with the fact that greatness is not as easy as one person being great and their determination pushing them into success. Yet it discusses and breaks down the realities of greatness come many times from being in the right place at the right time mixed with a crazy amount of practice or application (the 10,000 hour rule). The book begs the question why do some people succeed and others seem to fall short, his results are pretty amazing. I have to say Malcolm’s insight kept me captivated and the book is well worth checking out.
Scouting the Divine was probably the most pleasant surprise wrapped up in a book that I have ever came across. The book was actually given to me for free after attending the Catalyst Conference and I must say expectations weren’t high, but no more then 15 pages in and the book and it’s outlook had me sucked in. Margaret looks at how the bible was written with references to culture in mind such as shepherding. Her goal was to look deeper into those cultures or practices and then look back at scriptures with references to them, and the new found meaning is fresh and incredibly deep. This manner has really unlocked what was meant in several of the scriptures that has been lost in the “advanced” culture we live in today. By far the shepherding section of the book was my favorite as it most directly dealt with how God deals with us as people. Check it out you won’t be disappointed.

Courageous Leadership

February 26, 2009 in reading with 0 Comments

I just finished reading Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels for a group called Now and Next that I am involved with through the Open Bible, and we did a summary of the book for the group and I thought I’d share part of mine because this book definitely pushed me. I have to admit this book was a page-turner, I enjoyed Bill Hybels efforts while spilling his guts about his ministry and life experience. Though some of the sections were a little unrealistic to connect to as a young leader still in the trenches trying to figure out what in the world I am doing. Most of the sections were inspiring and gave insight into areas that I personally need help in. 


Don’t lead them to their death; it’s straight out of Proverbs just a paraphrased version. Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained.” Bill did an excellent job at stressing to me the importance of casting a vision for the people so that they know what it is we are trying to do. I think I struggle sometimes in wanting to take time to be able to articulate what God has put on my heart, and that is something I need to work through. For me it’s as if God has put this emotion in me as my vision. It’s this sense that if I can lead a body of believers to sell out to the gospel and live as he intended, that he will work in ways we could never imagine. It’s a feeling to me, it’s a promise of what could be. That feeling is enough for me to go on, it’s enough for me to devote my life to. But the reality is that it may not be enough for all the people that I lead, they need more step-by-step directions. How to get from point A to point B, how to start sanctification in their lives, how to get a building, how to evangelize, and much more. Becoming a better vision caster must be a priority, I’d hate to neglect that responsibility and lead my people to death. 

Check it out if you want to be challenged, parts are great others are a little unrealistic but I think anyone in church leadership would grow through it…

Bible Study Method 101

December 17, 2008 in bible,life,questions,reading with 0 Comments

I had some questions on the Bible study method that I talked about during the Saturday/Sunday services at House of Freedom, so I will try to outline some of that in the entry. You can listen to the entire seminar online at thevillagechurch.net, click on the Saturday Seminars and it will be the top 2 selections.

Here are some of the basics:
20/20/20 method of studying scripture

20 minutes for Reading

  • Pray first for some revelation during your time of reading, that God might stir your heart through your efforts.
  • Read and underline what sticks out to you.

20 minutes for Journaling

  • Write down scriptures read (Matthew 1-4), and date the entry.
  • Observations: write down observations from the text, the who, what, where and possibly the why. Start writing what sticks out to you, what you are noticing and what patterns you notice.
  • Application: Jot down some notes on what tangible things you could do or pray to help you with what you have read.
  • Breathe/Listen: give the Holy Spirit a chance to teach you or speak to your spirit.
  • Title it: make a funny or appropriate title that encompasses the subject of what you just read.

20 minutes for prayer/sharing your observations

  • Pray for a time asking God to help you apply what you have read, keep in mind the heart of prayer Christ asks for, don’t just ask for him to give you stuff….
  • Share your observations with your spouse or room mate, this will help you grow together and give you insight you might not have caught otherwise.

This method of studying is just what I use, it has proved fruitful in my life and I hope will help you as well (assuming you are looking for help in the study area). Studying the word of God is essential no matter what method you use though, so dig into it.

Presence vs. Favor

September 15, 2008 in reading,religion with 1 Comment

Glory When Heaven Invades Earth, by Bob Sorge.  I have started going through this book along with talking about it with a mentor of mine and parts of it have consumed my thoughts as of late. A portion of the book deals with God’s presence vs. his favor, and how we might be satisfied with one instead of both.


I have heard people all of my life pray for the presence of God, asking that it show up in a church service, that it be present in a life, that it would show itself to a sinner and so many more similar expressions. And that’s interesting because we don’t have to pray for God’s presence to always “show up.” 

In fact Matthew 18:20, tells us where two or more are gathered in God’s name, there his presence will be.  Meaning we don’t have to always pray desperately for his presence, his presence is with us when we gather.  But we need to start enjoying his presence and asking to be moved forward into his favor and glory.

An example of this situation is the Israelites when they left Egypt, the presence of God was with them daily.  God provided mana (food from heaven), water and was with them daily.  They had the presence of God, but due to their unbelief they did not have the favor of God, and the ability to move to the promised land.  Instead they wandered around the desert for 40 years, on a journey that should have consumed all of 2 weeks in time.  

How many times do we act exactly like the Israelites, doing the same old thing for an incredible amount of time.  When maybe God is asking us to believe in him a little more and move with him past his presence and into his favor.

Doing the same old thing and thinking God’s presence was enough, cost the Israelites their lives….
(I think this is going to be my next message…)