Introduction to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

$8.54 on Kindle

In his landmark book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change (1989),

Stephen R. Covey says that while preparing lessons for a leadership development program he "became particularly interested in how perceptions are formed, how they govern the way we see, and how the way we see governs how we behave." 

He continues, 

"This led me to a study of expectancy theory and self-fulfilling prophecies or the “Pygmalion effect,” and to a realization of how deeply imbedded our perceptions are."

"It taught me that we must look at the lens through which we see the world, as well as at the world we see, and that the lens itself shapes how we interpret the world." 

Covey's book is separated into the four parts of: Principles & Paradigms, Private Victory, Public Victory, and Renewal which explain and describe how practicing the 7 Habits will restore the "character ethic" which has been replaced in American culture over the last 50 years by the more superficial "personality ethic."

Concerning private victory and public victory, Covey says that private victory must precede public victory on the "Maturity Continuum" from "dependence" to "independence" to "inter-dependence," because only independent people can become inter-dependent which is the ultimate goal.

Reasons Why Churches of Christ Are Not 'The Church You Read About in the New Testament'

"What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up" (1 Cor. 14:26, NIV).

"Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged" (1 Cor. 14:29-31, NIV).

"It is a universal tendency in the Christian religion, as in many other religions, to give a theological interpretation to institutions which have developed gradually through a period of time for the sake of practical usefulness, and then read that interpretation back into the earliest periods and infancy of these institutions, attaching them to an age when in fact nobody imagined that they had such a meaning."--Richard Hanson

The liturgical assumptions which form the basis for hierarchies, the truncated Lord's Supper, governmental style church buildings, and mandatory collections--none of which are found in the first century church--also apply to the style of preaching that we inherited from previous generations since the close of the first century.

Book Review: Runner's World: Performance Nutrition for Runners

Runner's World: Performance Nutrition for Runners: How To Fuel Your Body for Stronger Workouts, Faster Recovery, and Your Best Race Times Ever by Matt Fitzgerald ($ 8.79 Kindle Edition) is a resource that every rookie runner needs. Less than 250 pages in paperback at $ 8.79--you are getting a steal! (I paid double the Kindle price but I do not feel cheated at all).

I refer to it as a resource because I have referred to it numerous times since reading it a few weeks back. I underline (and some would say ruin) every book I read, so that I can return and review the parts that I found most useful. Be sure to use the "highlight" feature in your digital reader to avoid being unable to refer others when asked, because you will be telling others to read it!

I have full confidence in saying this because RW:PNFR was written from a fact based perspective--not by a salesman, unless you count being "sold" on running. Most runners are, and when it's more painful to lie on the couch than it is to run, you won't mind his assumption. We runners know, that it is not a matter if I will run, but how can I sustain my running? RW: PNFR will teach you how. The only drawback in the book for me being a "young earth" Christian were the numerous explanations for why humans are the way they are from an "old earth" macro-evolutionary perspective with which I disagree. Other than that (and it is only for the first chapter or so) this book is very hard to put down.

The Best of The Total Money Makeover

$12.99 on Kindle

"Myth: You can get a good deal on a new car at 0% interest."

"Truth: A new car loses 60% of its value in the first 4 years; that isn’t 0%."

"A good used car that is less than three years old is as reliable or more reliable than a new car. A new $28,000 car will lose about $17,000 of value in the first four years you own it. That is almost $100 per week in lost value. To understand what I’m talking about, open your window on your way to work once a week and throw out a $100 bill."

"USA Today notes that the average car payment is $464 over sixty-four months. Most people get a car payment and keep it throughout their lives. As soon as a car is paid off, they get another payment because they “need” a new car. If you keep a $464 car payment throughout your life, which is “normal,” you miss the opportunity to save that money. If you invested $464 per month from age 25 to age 65, a normal working lifetime, in the average mutual fund averaging 12 percent (the seventy-year stock market average), you would have $5,458,854.45 at age sixty-five. Hope you like the car!"