I recently finished reading “Creature of the Word” by Matt Chandler, Josh Patterson and Eric Geiger. I’m not sure why it took me till 2014 to hear about and read this book since it was written in 2012. That’s too bad. I wish I had read it sooner. Then again, since I believe God’s timing is never askew or haywire, maybe it is just the right time to read it. It took me awhile…something like a month to read. Not that it was tedious. It wasn’t at all. It was thought-provoking.

I realize this is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I have a plan (and that is dangerous). I’d like to give a brief review of “Creature” in this post. I’ll give a brief reminder next week, then starting the following week I plan to use one post a week to cover some of the material in each chapter. The book consists of 12 chapters so there you have it. 12 weeks. 12 posts. Unlike this week I plan to post on Tuesday night at 8:00 so it will cover all day Wednesday. I’d love for you to join me if you care to. Just let me know. We can share links.

I have written before how I was the victim of “program death.” I would go from this conference to that conference seeking inspiration and encouragement, not really knowing I was falling prey to the “next best thing” syndrome. I used to attend a Pastor’s Conference at Overlake Christian Church in Kirkland, WA almost every year. I was blessed beyond measure, but as I look back with “maturity” I also realize I was falling into the trap of looking for a program to pull me through. I finally wised up and stopped with that nonsense. If I attend a conference now it is one dealing with my situation (like TheSticks).

What I liked about “Creature” is what it was not. It was not a book on a program. It was not a book of “this is guaranteed to grow your church.” It was not a book of “how to.” If anything, it downplayed that concept. Simply put:

The “Creature” is the church.

This is a book about being a Jesus-centered church. No programs to buy or follow. Each chapter was challenging and eye-opening, some obviously more than others. It never talked about church growth or even church health. It never said, “Do this and you will thrive.” It simply took the every day areas of the “creature” and always pointed to Jesus.

If you are a pastor, I’d like to challenge you to read it. If you love your pastor, I would suggest you get it for him as a gift (with an explanation). 🙂 If you want to join me in blogging about it on Wednesdays, let me know. I’d love to have you.  Interested? You can check out the book here.