This weekend I finished both Practicing Passion and The Volunteer Revolution. Both were not exactly what I was expecting. [insert RANDOM THOUGHT] Sometimes I just have to laugh at myself. I'm can get so obsessed with "completing the task." I got kinda energized by the fact that I finished reading two books in one weekend! Woohoo! Maybe I should just stick to those Prayer of Jabez-esque books that you can read in one night. I'd probably get so excited, I wouldn't have to drink coffee anymore. On second thought, maybe that's a bad idea. [end RANDOM THOUGHT]

Practicing Passion stretched me. It is written by a youth ministry prof at Princeton. Needless to say, her youth ministry context and perspective is a little bit different than mine. It was really good, though. It was nice to see someone in youth minstry who is willing to address real issues on a philosophical/theological level. Too many youth minstry books could be titled 1,001 super cool ideas that will make your youth group really, really big. Not really into those types of books.

I found myself resonating with more of her statements than I ever would guess. There used to be this huge gap between Mainline and Evangelical churches. I think that we are more similar now than ever. We are meeting in the middle as Evangelicals are getting tired of being new and hip and Mainlines are getting tired of being old and traditional. Kinda funny how that works.

Honestly, though, the thing that I really resonated with is frustration with shallow youth minstry. It's funny, I picked up the book because of the title, Practicing Passion. I thought, "I can teach, but I have trouble motivating. Maybe this book will help me figure out how to instill passion in students!? You know, like how to make a retreat into a life-changing experience." (Okay, so I take back that statement about not being into those "super cool idea" books.) Instead, I found a book that says that youth minstries should be calling students to die for their faith. Their passion is found in the passion of Christ. Now that doesn't sound like "super cool ideas," does it? "Hey guys, invite your friends to youth group this Wednesday. We are going to bow down and worship a man who was executed by the government as a radical. We want to all be executed for being radical. Don't worry, your friends will think it's cool."

Yeah. That's what I'm talking about.

The second book was The Volunteer Revolution. I was a little disappointed. The last Hybels book I read was Courageous Leadership which I really enjoyed. Speaking of passion, the thing that I enjoy the most about Hybels is his unending passion. When I read Courageous Leadership, it was like I was laying in a hospital bed next to Bill Hybels and they were injecting life into me directly from his veins. I know that his passion runs deep when it comes to ministry by non-professionals, so I wanted to find out what he had to say. I absolutely adore my youth leaders. I would do anything to figure out how to lead them better.

So, anyway, that was my expectations for this book. Instead, I found a book that was written to the guy who goes to church who needs to be convinced that he should be in ministry. That's great and all, but two problems: (1) I'm not him, (2) if he isn't motivated to serve, what makes you think he would take the time to read this book?

Don't get me wrong, I got something out of the book, but not enough to justify the time it took to read it. The last two chapters were the most helpful. The rest of the book was mostly stories. Which is great...if you need to hear stories. Just not my cup of tea.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling. You probably don't care that much about boring books that I'm reading. In fact, if you are still reading, I commend you, you must really like me. I'll buy you a milkshake or something.