End of Book, Beginning of Book

I went to blog some more on Just Walk Across the Room by Bill Hybels and found I had no more highlights!  I remember enjoying the whole rest of the book so much I couldn't highlight all of it.  I really enjoyed it.  If you're wanting a soft launch into sharing your faith, this may be the book for you.  It's gently written with lots of real-life examples.

I've started my next book and like it very much so far.  When Greg saw what I was reading, he said, "He's a really great author!"  It's titled You See Bones, I See An Army by Floyd McClung.  The subtitle is Changing The Way We Do Church.  Part of the Foreword reads, "You See Bones unapologetically presents us with the challenge of church-planting."  Got me right there. 

The title comes from Ezekiel 37:1-10.  Here it is in The Message version:

God grabbed me. God's Spirit took me up and sat me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones.  He led me around and among them - a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain - dry bones, bleached by the sun.  

He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

I said, "Master God, only you know that."

He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones: 'Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!'" 

God, the Master, told the dry bones, "Watch this: I'm bringing the breath of life to you and you'll come to life.  I'll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You'll come alive and you'll realize that I am God!"
  
I prophesied just as I'd been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone.  I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.
  
He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, 'God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!'"
  
So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army.

If you're like me, one of the first things you read when considering a book is the Table of Contents.  Here it is:
Forward
Five Beliefs that Changed the Way I Do Church
You See
God Grabbed Me

Part One:  Simple Church
1.  Holy Frustration
2.  Asking the Right Questions

Part Two:  Courageous Leadership
3.  Courage to Change
4.  The Next Bono - or Is It Billy Graham?

Part Three:  Focused Obedience
5.  Watch Out for the Camels

Part Four:  Apostolic Passion
6.  Big Cars with Very Little Engines

Part Five:  Making Disciples
7.  The Heart of Everything

Appendix A:  Five core practices to Start and Multiply Simple church Communities
Appendix B:  Suggestions for Starting Two- and Three-Person Discipleship Groups
Appendix C:  The Three Core Values of the Kingdom
Appendix D:  Recommended Books for Further Reading
Notes
About All Nations

I can't wait to finish this book, who know, it just might be the next book we have our leadership team read!

Blessings on this sunny Wednesday!