The Cruciform Leader

A good solid book with the bottom line:

Loving God and loving our neighbor - this is the cruciform way, and the world is crying out for leaders formed in this cross-shaped way. p. 10

Christlike character, proven, experience in disciple-making and evidence of spiritual gifting - are pushed down the priority list. p. 21 .

..the level of success any local church should be measured by is their level of faithfulness towards the effective fulfillment of these words of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20 "go and make disciples of all nations...") p.32

...two key overarching themes which shaped the birth and the growth of the early church - kingdom family and apostolic movement. pm 35

I agree! But isn't this obvious? 

I have an online place that I journal whatever I am thinking, and this is what I wrote about this book:

I was a bit disappointed by The Cruciform Leader though. It is a solid book, but it added nothing to my understanding of leadership as I have started practicing many of the things he purports before he was even born. But he is the next generation of authors (like John Mark Comer) who are saying the same things that have been said before, but are hitting his generation. I won't recommend it for the elders to read, but I will recommend The Other Half of Church by Jim Wilder that I am currently rereading. It is a good book for church leaders to get!

With that said, I want to reiterate that it is a solid book. I agree with it wholeheartedly, and if you want to hear from someone in his 40s who is deeply involved with the church, this is the book for you. It was very expensive for a paperback book though. 

And the funny thing is I almost lost it. We had gone hiking, and I brought it with me for the drive over to the trailhead. When we came back, I gathered all my gear and put the book on top of the roof. It rained over night, and we were going to church (the early service with no many cars on the road). We made our second right turn onto the main road, and we heard a thump. We didn't know what it was, but all of a sudden, I remembered that I had put the book on top of the roof. I said, "That might have been my book! Could we go back and see?" Low and behold, there it was on the main road: water damaged from a night out in the rain and beat up from being tossed onto the road. I snatched it up before the next batch of cars came racing down Walnut Blvd. 

I AM glad I saved it. It is a solid book. It was recommended to me by our outreach pastor, and she was blown away by it. I guess I just assume people know these things, but there have been many books that have come out over the years where I say, like my mentors of 30 years, "Don't people already know this, Carol. Why is it so popular?" I am getting up there in age, and I want to encourage the next generation to read it. And then live it!