On this lovelee Valintine’s Day, I ideated 10 ways that Charles Lee is like Jeremy Lin:

1. They have pun-able last names, they realee do
2. They’ve extended their platform and visibility through social media like Twitter and Facebook: @charlestlee facebook.com/GoodIdeaBook @jlin7 facebook.com/jeremylin7 [what are you waiting for?]
3. There’s talk about their legacy already – Charles opens his book with a preface titled “Born into a Legacy of Idea Makers”
4. They’re team-players and collaborators
5. They make everybody else look good (even great!) – Jeremy for his teammates every time, Charles for creating a platform for unknown idea-makers thru The Idea Camp and The Ideation Conference
6. They’re unapologetically Asian American Christians
7. They both know what it feels like to be overlooked, misunderestimated, and being an underdog
8. They’re pastors – Charles is a has-been and Jeremy is a wanna-be
9. They’re humble and not self-promoting
10. They’re my Linspiration!

I’ll say one thing about the book. When I first heard about it and chatted with Charles by phone, the aha for me was his genius to avoid using the E-word (entrepreneurship) and empowering not only leeders but everyone to make their ideas and dreams come true! (I know I need the help as an ideator purist.)

And, Charles Lee throws the best parties, hundreds have connected at boutique events like the i2i Social Entrepreneurs Gathering at cool venues like the Toyota automobile museum. This Thursday is a book release party at the hipster Project 7 office space in Costa Mesa. This is the place to be! No cover charge! Live music! Free food! And Charles will be there in person!

What I can do is mention them and to skim them with my initial impressions of what questions the book answers, and questions I’ve got for the authors and/or about the book. Here’s 3 book previews:

Weird: Because Normal isn’t Working by Craig Groeschel

The premise of this book is that the world has its conventional lifestyle that’s normal. Being a Christ-follow aka Christian is not normal and should be a stark contrast to how the rest of the world lives. Craig is a popularly influential church leader, so the book will be popular and well-marketed. I’m not so sure the title fits Craig for me; Craig is notably innovative, and has a leadership style that appeals to the masses. When I think of someone being weird, I’m thinking really weird that’s unpredictably unconventional– more of a Joaquin Phoenix, Crispin Glover, or the sword-throwing Bible answer man.

Friending: Real Relationships in a Virtual World by Lynne Baab

This book pinpoints something about friendship I don’t recall hearing, that the central friendship skill is the ability to initiate. The author adds that listening is another important friendship skill. And these are 2 skills that can be practiced in contexts online and offline. The book goes on to unpack the various skills of relating: initiating, listening, remembering, praying, asking, giving, thanking, sharing, caring, being together, being apart, pacing, choosing, accepting, forgiving.

On the Verge: a journey into the apostolic future of the church by Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson

The 2 leading voices about the missional church team up to co-author this big volume. I know they’ve been hanging out quite a bit, even before Google+ Hangout came into existence. As for the book’s form factor, I sure don’t see many paperback books an inch thick these days, except in academia. This book covers a lot of ground.

Aside #1: What I am noticing in (some of the) newer books is discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Friending has them. Verge has them. Church Diversity has them.

Aside #2: In this day and age of shorter presentations that are 18-minutes or 6:40, or 5:00, it’s hard for me to sit for hours to read an entire book. There are a few ideas worth the extensive treatment of a book length, but not necessarily all of them — for me. And a big factor for me is interestingness – not every book idea provokes me to curiosity. That’s not to take away from the quality of the book and its relevance to (many) other people who may well benefit a bunch from one.

As I read the book (which I confess I have not yet finished), it did prompt me to consider some other elephants in the room regarding church diversity.

1. A majority of churches are still working in the shadow of the decades of teachings and thoughts on church growth and the so-called “homogeneous unit principle.” And the commonly cited cliche, “birds of a feather flock together.” For overly practical reasons, it is often easier to gather a larger group of people to sustain a church organization that’d employ staff and pay for meeting space. What will it take to rethink the purpose of church is developing fully-devoted followers and that does not mean catering an “evangelistic” message that’d concede to one’s “natural” racial preferences.

2. @scottwilliams does a great job reviewing the best practices from the business world and outlines the strategies from top innovative corporations that have leadership diversity. For churches that love and value innovation, does incorporating more diversity result in more innovation? In other words, if diversity did accelerate church innovation, wouldn’t the most innovative churches be more diverse? Diverse not only in attendance, but especially in leadership?

3. Looks like church diversity will just take a lot more time and effort, and perhaps more books, more events, more training. Mosaix Global Network is one of the bigger efforts that’s connecting church leaders all over for collaborative efforts – most recently hosting a multiethnic church planting track at the Exponential Conference. This Church Diversity book has a pretty robust campaign to kick off a “movement.” It’s going to take a lot more of what @scottwilliams calls: “right message at the right time.”

I’ve got many more thoughts about this issue, having tracked it for years at my web page of multiethnic church resources, launched at least 5 years ago. Often it feels like we’re back to square one on this topic. But I suppose that’s where most people are, and that’s where we to help each other to learn from each other and work together with each other.

This book is an accessible and easy read. It’s filled with real-life stories of how to step out of one’s comfort zone to build real relationships with real people of all kinds: someone of a different ethnicity, a different economic class/ different pay grade, different political persuasion, different lifestyle, different religion. And interspersed with Biblical stories and guest authors chiming in too.

I know for me, if I only looked for people just like me to befriend, I’d be all alone. I’ve rarely ever found anyone who is like me. And that’s ok. It’s really a good thing to get to know people who are different. The Bible has something to say about people being made different anyways: having different gifts, different roles, different parts.

For those of us who find it challenging to step out of our comfort zone, it’s good to have a friendly voice come along, like this book, to show us how to get past our discomforts and to live out of faith and not out of fear. I know I can use the help. Thanks Eric.

What is missional-ecumenism? There’s a whole chapter in the book that describes what this is. (I wasn’t able to find a concise definition over a web search, and I didn’t want to type paragraphs from the book.) One reviewer noted that: [B]y “missional-ecumenism,” the author means that believers should have relational unity with God and one another, including unity in our mission as God’s “sent ones.” The author described that A missional-ecumenist will focus on sharing in the unity of the Trinity with other believers with the intention that the church really becomes a community for outsiders. We exist for them!

A blog tour in March 2010 had kicked off over 75 blog posts about “Your Church is Too Small,” many with thoughtful reflection and critique of the book’s subject.

In a day and age where our society is buckling under a scarcity of time (cf. attention economy) I don’t see the momentum of the American church moving towards slowing down to build into the relational equity needed for unity around God’s mission for the world. Unfortunately, there are too many pressing concerns of sustaining the organizational side of a local church and the watching over doctrinal & theological purity. As beautiful as Jesus and John’s vision may be for unity of the church, it would take more than prayer to see this come to pass.

Watch this video of Scott Wilson talk about the book (cf. extended version):

What caught my attention with Steering Through Chaos were these things:

(1) Scott quotes so many other people in this book, like a synthesis of all that he’s gleaned from other church leaders! I didn’t fact-check, but the acknowledgements section would be dozens of pages if he were to list all the names of leaders mentioned in the book!

(2) Scott shares his own story of going through a massive church transition, that included relocation, building campaign, leadership transitions, personal challenges, and managing healthy relationships. This narrative approach sure makes the underlying principles much more understandable and practical. Yes, this book covers a lot of ground.

(3) The book speaks to personal health. In an early chapter, the author lists a stress chart to honestly show the reality of what changes do to people, and doesn’t ignore or overlook this in the name of being “spiritual” or bieng a “leader.” Being emotionally healthy is vital for short-term and long-term success, for both personal and organizational health. And, it means getting the help you need, whether a life coach, counselor, or whatever. I’m glad this is weaved in throughout the book.

(4) I love the way Scott has learned to pastor in that relational kind of way while still being a visionary leader. It’s not easy to keep moving towards finishing a task or reaching a goal, while also bringing people along. The book describes how Scott met personally with a hundred key leaders in preparation for a big church change, listening to their concerns and asking for their prayers. In similar fashion, big decisions are made with a unanimous concensus of the leadership team. Not easy to do in a church of any size, much less a larger kind of church with attendance in the thousands. I don’t think he wrote it, but the concept of “leaving no one behind” is very attractive to me and I think that’s the way it ought to be.

(5) Being spiritual. Unlike other leadership endeavors, the work of church leadership is a spiritual one. So the book weaves in the spiritual dependency & discerning aspects along with the personal, relational. and organizational aspects too. I prefer to say it’s holistic, though you could say comprehensive, too.

This book lays out a very clear mentoring process to reproduce leaders of a particular type. Regi Campbell is an entrepreneural leader and knows how to get results in the marketplace. The book unpacks his value for being strategic with time, finding what works, and adapting principles from Jesus’ process of disciple-making, in order to invest in next generation leaders who have high potential to impact the world. I can see how this book will be very useful to develop mentoring programs for churches, especially with book royalties going towards funding this purpose.

What the author means by mentoring may not be what some people mean by mentoring. This excerpt contrasts the typical commonly-held meaning of mentoring, and what Regi means by mentoring:

Traditionally, the mentoring relationship is almost always initiated by the mentoree. He has something he wants… a felt need… for guidance, wisdom, advice, or help. Most often these conversations get started around job stuff. The younger man needs advice or access to the older man’s network of contacts. Sometimes it’s a crisis at home… a breech with a wife or child; and the less experienced person wants to confide in someone who’s “been there, done that.” …

Now, is this a type of mentoring? Yes. Is it what Jesus did? No. Jesus initiated the mentoring relationship with His disciples… [p.120]

I don’t know how many people have described what Jesus did with his disciples as mentoring. I have heard of many people who describe what Jesus did as disciple-making or discipling. Certainly what Jesus did with his disciples has changed the world forever. If the goal is to change the world through intentional formative relationships, the terminology doesn’t matter.

One reviewer of Mentor Like Jesus noted the confusion of terms:

It’s no secret that the word “mentor” is a loaded term and can mean something wildly different for people. Some may think of a mentor as someone who meets with them weekly to speak about their professional lives, others may imagine someone on more of an on-call basis who gets together a few times a year. What are healthy expectations in a mentoring relationship?

And that’s what it is. Get clear expectations on both parties, the mentor and mentoree — do you want mentoring in the traditional sense or mentoring in the disciple-making sense?

This is a great book to get everyone on the same page for mentoring as disciple-making, to have a reproducible process that you can “add water and stir” and run with it to pour into leaders who change the world.

The incident regarding Deadly Viper had set the online world ablaze, and very uncomfortable words of pain festered in the open space [cf. read this summary]. My prayer was that the key leaders at the core of the conflict would resolve it privately, walking through their respective pains together with each other. This direct conversations has since happened offline in private, and an appropriate resolution is in the works. A public statement has been issued. I commend all involved for giving of their time and energy to walk thru this via dolorosa.

There’s already quite a number of thoughtful reflections about this incident posted::

• Jonathan Brink, who linked to reflections from Dan Iwao, Todd Thomas, Marian Wang, Edward Gilbreath, Dave Ingland, LT Tom.
• Eugene Cho, Charles Lee, David Park, Shaun King, Glennis Shih, Skye Jethani, Rudy Carrasco, Drew Hyun, Ed Cyzewski, Daniel So, Jim Gray, DK Daniel Kim, Kathy Khang, and more…
• [update] more from David Swanson, Church Marketing Sucks, Ken Fong, Joel Hamernick, Benson Hines, Scott McClellan, Andrew Lee, Dave Diller, Jessica Pegis, Melody Hanson, Jonathan Tran, Bo Lim, Amy Moffett
• [update 11/19] Zondervan Statement Regarding Concerns Voiced About “Deadly Viper: Character Assassins” via @eugenecho‘s Zondervan Pulls Deadly Viper from Stores and the Deadly Viper website shut down by authors Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite; Dave Gibbons’ thoughts Zondervan Issues Apology for Publishing ‘Deadly Viper’ (CT Liveblog); open letter response from Eugene Cho, Ken Fong, Helen Lee, Kathy Khang, Soong-Chan Rah, Nikki Toyama-Szeto

I want to offer a few more ideas in debriefing, with which I’d anticipate some people would disagree with. Conflict in the open was a good thing for 3 reasons [cf. The Necessity of Open Disagreement by Stephen Shields] ::

• This shows us what conflict resolution can look like. Conflict is not a pretty thing. We’ve all seen how ugly it can get, how destructive it can be, how it can ruin relationships. By being in the open, via social media, we saw how the conflict surfaced and moved towards live offline discussions, apologies, forgiveness, working towards resolution. There is a better way through the conflict. After all, conflict simply is. And I for one am tired of overly-positive spin that’s all too common in evangelical circles; I think the younger generation can smell spin a mile away.
• We heard new voices open up their heart and soul. While I did not read every single comment in the initial blog posts, a wide range of voices from new names spoke up, both Asian and non-Asian. It is not easy for anyone to share their pains, particularly Asian Americans, for fear of being misunderstood, misrepresented, or shamed. Asians tend to be a little more (or a lot more) sensitive than non-Asians because of its shame-based culture. Social media empowers anyone and everyone to speak out. This helps us to empathize with the offended much more than signing a petition. (Now, not every Asian American finds this publication offensive, granted.)
• We’ve got a long way to go with racial sensitivities in the church. A loooong way. Conflict that arose up over a relatively minor incident, in the whole scheme of things, shows how little experience we collectively have to just start any discussion about faith and race. And, yeah, these issues are complicated and messy. They don’t sell books nor increase conference attendance nor make churches grow rapidly in size. It doesn’t fit neatly in the systematic theology section.

Now a personal confession. I knew about an earlier edition of this book back in September 2007. I did not get a copy of the book. I did not look out for the authors to review their book to find out how the Asian motifs were being used, in case it might come across racially insensitive. I did not bear the burden for my fellow Asians Americans (the sensitive ones, not the insensitive ones). For my part in this neglect, I am sorry. [No if and or buts.]

Watched a movie on a date recently. I wanted to let the movie speak for itself. I did not go read up on all the reviews and view the trailer and read the Wikipedia entry and pre-release buzz. The neighbor was kind enough to let our son hang out. The movie? Julie & Julia.

And wouldn’t you know it… a movie about a blogger! A blogger who writes (types) for an anonymous audience. Over time, the audience grows. The bloggers’ confidence grows too. The blog entries get edited and supplemented into a book. And if that book gets lots of eyeballs too, then maybe it can become a movie. Here’s a link to Julie Powell’s original blog, Julie/Julia Project. And her current blog.

It took all of my restraint from elbowing my companion, since I’ve been a blogger since 1999 myself. Not that I’d want to have a movie made about me or anything.

Aside: The people that comprise the world’s market will reward (pay) for what they find valuable (be it entertainment or service or product). And for the rest of us who have value that doesn’t quite sync up with what the market price will bear, we still have value, lots of value. Just that it doesn’t translate into cash.

The real Julie Powell and the movie Julie Powell. Note that the real Julie Powell loves to use a lot more colorful language: “… I really ought to warn you about the language. I happen to believe that curse words are vital parts of the language, and I write accordingly. If you are not one of those people, you’re probably not going to be thrilled with J&J: The Book …” cf. Surreal is the new normal.

When will they make a movie based on Twitter?

djchuang >> I don’t readily know of books on forgiveness or anger, not that I don’t need help in those areas, but that I haven’t read books specific on this. Like other mortals, I’d search through the amazon.com catalog and see what looks good.

Based on reputation, Total Forgiveness by R. T. Kendall, looks to be a thoughtful treatment on forgiveness. And, if you have theological latitude, The Shack by William P. Young is a great perspective on dealing with the unideals of life. The best sermons I’ve heard about forgiveness are by Tim Keller, my bias noted. Here’s a handful of sermons from the Redeemer Store about forgiveness.

Anything you would add? Know of any good books on anger and/or forgiveness?

Dave’s clear on the mission of the church, and cuts out the complexity that can so easily distract. The book takes its time to unpack how the church has gotten so complicated, filled with many stories and examples of what happens with this complication. Then proposes a simpler way to be the church, and the basic ingredients (or principles) to have a simple church that’s scalable and shifts the focus towards the people being the ministers. Having met Dave on several occasions, I can see how he lives that out, as he is very approachable like an everyday average Joe; he doesn’t come across domineering dominant as some leaders seem to project that kind of a personality.

Follow the blog book tour via Google Blog Search.

Get a copy of Deliberate Simplicity: How the Church Does More by Doing Less via amazon.com .

See the book website at deliberatesimplicity.com.

See Dave Browning’s blog at deliberatesimplicity.blogspot.com where he archives his weekly “Dmail” to leaders.

Watch video of Dave describing why he wrote the book.

[disclosure: the book is a part of the Leadership Network Innovation Series & I'm an employee of Leadership Network]

djchuang: What’s been your most surprising reaction to someone who’s read your book?

Dave: That they love it! I honestly thought the book was okay. I guess we’re our worse critics.

djchuang: How do you encourage (the majority of) people who don’t like change, especially in the midst of a changing culture & changing world?

Dave: It’s definitely the work of the Holy Spirit! To ask people to enter into pain and suffering, eat foods they don’t like, hang out with people that make you uncomfortable is counter-cultural. I would say the key is for the one who does understand third culture to start living out the third culture life. Personally, before the movement became church-wide, I felt God telling me I had to live it out more intentionally. So my family and I moved out to Bangkok. It starts with leadership and prayer. As one engages real suffering and poverty, clarity emerges.

As you live out third culture, invite others with you on the journey. I still remember taking a group of friends with me on a third culture vision trip about 5 years ago. We have never been the same. The impact now goes beyond personal to people all over the world.

Also visit the other 10+ blogs that are part of this blog tour, where Dave answers other questions. Plus, you can watch my 15-minute interview with Dave Gibbons, visit his website at DaveGibbons.tv, and download a free sample chapter from The Monkey and The Fish. (or via Scribd)

By the way, davegibbons.tv is now powered by wordpress too!

Plus, Eugene Cho interviewed Dave this past weekend; watch the video at eugenecho.com >>

A book published in 2006 opened it up — Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers. The authors, Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, posted their book’s content on a blog, and invited feedback on the draft version. Leaning into the power of the wisdom of the crowds, the book was polished in the open, and got published into a hardcover book. And the book still sold well. (How well I can’t say; I don’t have access to those numbers.)

The authors blogged milestones in their publishing process, Publisher’s Proposal 1.0 + Not Quite Fully Transparent + Publisher’s Update + We have our publisher! . And as they wrote, the book‘s (draft) content’s was posted online:

• Table of Contents (revised)
• Foreword by Tom Peters
• Introduction
• Chapter 1
• Ch 2—Why Blogging Matters
• Ch 3– Word of Mouth on Steroids
• Ch 4– Direct Access
• Ch 5– Little Companies
• Ch 6– Consultants who get it
• Ch 7—Survival of the Publicists
• Ch 8—Non-English blogs
• Ch 9—Thorns in the Roses
• Ch. 10—Doing It Wrong
• Ch 11– Doing It Right (corporate blogging tips)
• Ch 12– How to not get Dooced
• Ch 13– Blogging in a Crisis
• Ch 14– Emerging Technologies
• Ch 15– The Conversational Era

Defies conventional thinking that they could post a book’s (draft) content free online and then get that book’s content published in a book format that still sells. (Also, portions of the published Naked Conversations can be viewed and searched via Google Books Search.)

In a world where so much content is free and readily available on the Web (cf. the notion of free economy that Chris Anderson is articulating, in articles like “Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business“), what is the value in the printed book, then? In attending a conference? The value is shifting from obtaining the content towards something about the experience and format. Just my preliminary speculation.

Now, as we speak (blog), Shel Israel is working on a new book, tentatively titled Twitterville. Overview at Twitterville Notebook: My Book-Writing Process and you can follow along the book’s content being developed in the open at
Twitterville Notebook.

Your feedback would be welcomed, both there and here!

The organizers are using new media to spread the word. Here’s what they’re asking help with:

• Visit ChristianBookExpo.com for the scoop on this first-ever show
• Check out the social networking links (MySpace, etc) at the CBE website. Bloggers can join group/s and tell friends about CBE.
• Blog about the idea of a Christian Book Show for the public, the panel topics and panelists, etc. The first 200 people to publish a CBE blog post of 100+ words will receive complimentary admission to the show! Send the link to your post to be eligible.
• Interview Mark Kuyper in advance of the show for a blog post.
• NOTE: Press registration is for professional members of the press only. However, coupons for $5 off admission are available at Family Christian Stores in the DFW area.

Read a copy of the full press release >>

Looking at the conference registration pricing, this blog post has a retail value of $59. Now I have to figure out if I can go, then how to get there & where to stay & how to get around… looking at the 10 results at Google Blog Search, there’s still plenty of room for more bloggers to get complimentary admission.

The press release mentioned “Controversial Panel Topics” so I had to take a look. Here’s the list of panels, being sponsored by Christianity Today:

• Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make? A Debate. Featuring anti-theist Christopher Hitchens debating apologist authors: Doug Wilson, Lee Strobel, William Lane Craig, Jim Denison, Stan Guthrie (moderator)
• Living Christianly in a Post-Christian Culture, Featuring Donald Miller, Ruth Haley Barton, Randy Frazee, Mary E. DeMuth, Andy Crouch (moderator)
• A Guided Tour of Heaven and Hell, Featuring Don Piper, Sam Storms, Randy Alcorn, J I Packer, Mark Galli (moderator)
• What is the Gospel? Featuring Richard Stearns, Mark D. Roberts, Tullian Tchividjian, Justin Taylor, Darrell Bock (moderator)
• The Emerging Church, Featuring Kevin DeYoung, Tony Jones, Scot McKnight, Mark Galli (moderator)

Maybe my tolerance threshold for controversy is dulled, I only find 2 of the above 5 panels controversial. Good topics, nevertheless.