My Amazon Review of Unleash!

Perry Noble has earned the “right” to write this book. From humble beginnings, God has uniquely gifted him with the capacity and desire to pastor one of America’s largest and fastest growing churches. In reality, Perry has experienced first-hand the kind of unleashed living that he explains in the book.

The book itself will challenge your current condition and compel you to embrace God’s unleashing grace. You don’t have to be stuck in duty-oriented religion or in the chains of your past experiences. You can move forward, see triumph in tragedy, and take your next step in your relationship with God.

This book is filled with practical principles as well as Perry’s personal experiences. The book flows well, and it’s an easy read. You will stay engaged, especially because of Perry’s storytelling abilities. Because of these things, it’s worth the read. You will get something out of it. In fact, here is one of my favorite excerpts:

One of the quickest ways to forget what God says about me is to focus on what the enemy says about me.

Buy the Book

This is just a small sampling of the message of the book. Get your copy today!

(Click here to buy the book right now, using my affiliate link.)

Go to the Unleash Conferences!

As an aside, I have also personally benefited from attending Perry’s Unleash Conference in the spring and the NewSpring Leadership Conference in the fall. These are great church leadership events. Google these event names to learn more. The NewSpring folks are hospitable, and I promise that you will learn something from your time in Anderson, SC. Invest in these experiences. You won’t regret it. I promise.

Stay Tuned for More

In the coming days, I’ll be posting a review that includes my personal insights and favorite quotes from the book. In the meantime, keep reading!

Sun Stand Still

God has gifted each of us with the capacity to do great things for him. But, unfortunately, some of us never reach our fullest potential. Lack of faith can be a big factor in our falling short of our potential. In Sun Stand Still, Pastor Steven Furtick challenges us to step out in audacious faith in our Great God and do big things for Him.

(Buy Sun Stand Still right now using my affiliate link to Amazon)

Book Highlights

Here are a few key passages from the book that might be thought-provoking for you. As a mini disclaimer, some of my notes below are direct quotes and some of them aren’t. I have the audio version and was listening in the car. It’s the best I could do :).

• If the size of your vision for your life isn’t intimidating to you, there’s a good chance it’s insulting to God.
• Our God isn’t intimidated by long-shot prayers.
• If the dream in your heart isn’t biblically-based, focused on Jesus, affirmed by the key people in your life, and tethered to your passions, gifts, and life experiences, chances are that you are way off prompt. The best way to avoid being duped by a counterfeit is to make sure you’re familiar with the real thing.
• Audacious faith begins with sanctified naïveté.
• If you want to see God do something impossible in your life, you must open your heart and mind to God’s vision for your life.
• My vision defines the parameters I live by.
• A sun stand still prayer applies audacious faith to a clearly defined need or goal that requires God’s supernatural involvement.
• The sun stand still prayers you pray will often be temporary and specific, but they will always flow from God’s vision for your life.
• Audacious faith isn’t some new extra-biblical faith. It’s a return to the core of Christianity, trusting Jesus completely in every aspect of your life.
• Extraordinary moves of God begin with ordinary acts of obedience.
• 55% certainty that you’ve heard from God is enough to take the next step (cf. The Perhaps Paradox of Jonathan and his armor-bearer)
• Divine vision creates divisions (cf. Joseph of Genesis)
• He who lives by the approval of others will die by the absence of the same.
• When you want what God wants for the reason He wants it, you are unstoppable.
• The scope and depth of your vision isn’t based on how big God is, but it is based in how big you believe God is.
• Audacious faith is all about the Living Word. Hearing the Word initiates faith. Speaking the Word activates faith. Doing the Word demonstrates faith. This is the process of faith formation.
• Sometimes God let’s the sun go down so that He can be our only light.
• There is a clear distinction between hope and faith. Hope is a desire. Faith is a demonstration. Hope is the blueprint. Faith is the contract. You can’t just stand in hope. You must walk in faith.
• Part of the answer to your sun stand still prayer, just might be you.

Final thought: Get the book. It’s worth the challenge.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been listening to a leadership book recommended to me called Mavericks At Work by William C. Taylor and Polly Labarre. Listening to this book in the car while i’m driving really maximizes what would otherwise be dead-time for me. Audio books aren’t for everyone, and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend them to college students who need to be able to highlight passages and offer quotes word-for-word, but for me, this works. I just have to keep a notepad handy for thoughts and quotes that I’d like to remember.

With that in mind, I’d like to offer you my take-aways from Mavericks At Work

• If you want innovation, hire outside your industry.
• When you have distinct values, you more easily reject the status quo.
• When you agitate people and they complain about you, it can actually be a good thing because it creates discussions about you.
• Never focus on the “competition.” Instead, refocus on the customer.
• What you think affects how you talk (Use Strategic Vocabulary).
• if your business went out of business, who would really miss you and why?
• None of us is as smart as all of us.
• The smartest guy is not in the room.
• The best ideas come from the most people.
• To maximize your effectiveness, promote an atmosphere of participation and collaboration, especially from outside your organization.
• The open source movement proves that the more smart people you can persuade to work on a problem the more likely it is to be solved.
• You cannot motivate the best people with money. The best people are motivated by passion.
• innovation is all about networking.
• There is always demand for something distinctive.
• You must be willing to ignore (even offend) those who aren’t integral to your mission.
• Brand is culture. Culture is brand.
• Great people want to be surrounded by and challenged by other great people.
• Great people want to be part of something greater than themselves.
• Culture is about head, heart, and guts. Head – You have to think it. Heart – You have to believe it. Guts – You have to act it… 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The book is filled with compelling case studies and sound research. This makes it a little more dry than the leadership book by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, the parable entitled Who Moved My Cheese?, but it still has stories and glimpses of interactions between the researchers and business leaders. It is a book in the style of Jim Collins, author of Good To Great. Mavericks At Work is definitely worth the read…or in my case, it’s worth a listen. Check it out for yourself.

Buy Mavericks At Work Now

Click the link above to get the book right now through Amazon