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The Blog has Moved

In the effort of continuous improvement and making a new start in 2010 the blog has moved to:  

http://johnmarkwatson.com/

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Let’s have a great 2010!

Mark

Is it Time for Mentoring?

As most of you know, I prefer Twittering to Facebook.  I love all the people I follow.  Some of the people I follow on Twitter are for friendship, some family, and some for the “little nuggets” they tweet throughout the day.

A few weeks ago, Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, twittered about winning a book on his blog if you would leave a comment.  The book he was giving away was Mentor Like Jesus by Regi Campbell.

The title of the book intrigued me.  I also felt that I had benefitted from some good mentors at various points in my life.  My father passed away during my teen years and some of the men that showed an interest in me during that time were invaluable.  And then later during my business career,  I benefitted again from several men, specifically from Bob Fisher, now President of Belmont University in Nashville.

Not only was I selected by Mike to receive the book, but Chris Hornsby from Next Generation Mentoring contacted me saying if I didn’t get selected to receive the book, he wanted to send me one.  Chris and I exchanged a couple of emails about Next Generation Mentoring including sending me a link for further information.

Long story short – this book was humbling.  The objective of the book is to get men into a mentor – mentee relationship.  Regi describes throughout the book a “how-to” approach to setting up mentoring groups and offers a template and materials for a year-long relationship for a nominal fee.

Here are my issues.  While I would have no problem setting up a relationship like this with eight men, I have made a TON of mistakes.  I’m pretty sure there aren’t eight men I know who would be interested in doing this with me.  There are better mentors.

With the above said, this is a great book.  Mentor Like Jesus is a perfect rationale and template for mentoring.  If you think you could be a mentor, get this book.  If you think you would like to find a mentor, get this book.  If you’ve benefited from mentoring – pay it forward!

Primal – A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity

Primal is a book whose time has come.  In this day of complexity and multiple choices, the gospel gets lost in confusion, denominationalism, and politics.  Primal is a call to reformation.  A reformation back to where you met God and God met you.

Primal is a call to live the Great Commandment . . . or Primal Commandment.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

What would happen to this world if a movement of people really lived the Great Commandment?  What if our churches were all about this Commandment and less about religion and doing church?  As Mark states, “Christianity was never intended to be a noun.  And when we turn it into a noun it becomes a turnoff.  God doesn’t reward what we know.  He doesn’t reward what we say.  He rewards the expenditure of energy.”

Implementing Primal is daring.  It’s exciting.  It ignites the next reformation of God’s people.  It’s regaining the fire that obsessed Christ’s disciples that turned the world upside down.  It moves Christianity from a noun to an action verb once again.

This book is a must read for pastors, church leaders, and small group leaders.  Read, discuss, and start a new reformation.  Make Primal the 1^st book your read in 2010!

Personal Update and Upcoming Book Reviews

I’m closing in on a six month assignment in upstate New York.  It’s been a great experience, in spite of spending a lot of time away from home.  I will return this week and then I’m home for a couple of weeks for the holidays.  I’m looking forward to catching up with friends and family.

Neither Jared, Stacie, or myself ran the St. Jude Marathon.  Stacie has a stress fracture, I had a kidney infection, and Jared contracted a stomach virus the night before the race.  Funny thing about plans. . . no matter how much you plan and prepare, our future is ultimately in the hands of the Maker.  Stacie is out of running indefinitely.  Jared and I are thinking of trying another one in late winter or early spring.

In the coming days, I will be publishing a couple of book reviews.  Both are books that I received advance copies from the publishers to read and make comments.  The reason I’m telling you this now is that in my opinion both books are sure to make a huge impact.

The first book will be Primal – A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity by Mark Batterson.  This book is so refreshing and if implemented by churches and Christendom would change the world!  More about that later.

The second book is by Regi Campbell titled Mentor Like Jesus.  This book is about the need to establish mentoring relationship like Jesus did with his disciples.  But the cool thing about this book is that it not only describes the need but also gives a blueprint for establishing these relationships.

I will post Primal on Tuesday December 15th and Mentor Like Jesus on Monday December 21st.  Please look for both these posts and consider purchasing both of these books for yourself or someone else who likes to continually learn and grow.