What’s the point of reading if we don’t remember what we’ve read? What’s the point of reading without understanding?
It’s time to shift our way of reading. Try this. Every book you read from now on, apply these 3 steps to make it stick.
I recently read this book called “The One Thing” that helped me to focus on what that “one thing” is. Reality is, we have a ton of things that we are juggling in our lives. But what I realize is that if we don’t have that one thing as our main thing, then so many other peripheral things become our priority.
This past weekend, our family had an opportunity to visit the music center in Los Angeles and while we were there, we decided to catch a matinee showing of the classic “The Sound of Music.” We had seen the iconic movie with Julie Andrews and sang along to the memorable songs so we were looking forward to seeing this musical.
There is a difference between preaching and counseling. However, sometimes in the midst of counseling someone, it’s difficult not to be preachy because some of us are wired that way. Our bias towards action compels us to dispense solutions and fix problems, rather than to simply be an attentive listener and provide some counsel.
Counseling is not something they teach you in seminary. At least not when I was attending. Perhaps these are courses that will be helpful for future pastors working in the churches. We are dealing with more mental, emotional and spiritual issues in our ministries and it will benefit us all if we were prepared to respond thru proper training and equipping.
I’m thankful for wise Christian men who have mentored me over the years. Some of them I have never met in person but their writings and talks have deeply shaped my faith and character. People like Eugene Peterson, John Wooden, Dallas Willard, Frederick Buechner, Chuck Swindoll and Andy Stanley.
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