Artie Davies, one of the most influential Christian leaders today, pastors Cornerstone Church, a growing multi-campus church based in Orangeburg, SC. An avid blogger, he also leads the movement called “The Sticks Network” that empowers and develops pastors from small cities. He’s one of my favorite bloggers and has one of the coolest websites around.
His first book, Craveable, comes out this week and it’s a winner. Ron Edmondson, another influential pastor, blogger, and leader wrote the foreword. His endorsement speaks loads in itself.
Although I’ve never met Artie, as I read the book I feel like I’m sitting by the fireplace in a winter lodge listening to an old friend share a “fireside chat” with me. Fireside chats were the informal radio talks that President Roosevelt broadcast to help our country weather the Great Depression. They were enormously successful. I expect Artie’s book will be enormously successful as well.
What’s it all about? Essentially he challenges us to live a Christ-like life that captures the hearts of those far from God. Four key concepts form the backbone of the book.
- Listen as He listened
- Look as He looked
- Love as He loved
- Lead as He led
Artie organizes Craveable into 40 easy-to-read chapters. You could actually make this a great devotional by reading a chapter a day. Each chapter begins with a thought provoking target statement that summarizes the chapter. After he unpacks the concept, he closes out the chapter with a suggested action point and a zinger question that really makes you think. My favorite quote is, “There is no Plan ‘B,’ just you and me.”
Here are five reasons I think every Christian and especially every Christian leader should read Craveable.
- It’s thoroughly Biblical.
- It’s simple, yet challenging.
- It’s an actionable paradigm pastors can use in their churches to develop a healthy missional culture.
- It’s disarming. He gets across a strong message in ways that make you want to listen and heed. It would be a great book to put in the hands of every staff person and volunteer leader.
- It’s desperately needed for Christian leaders today. Sometimes we get bombarded with multiple church growth techniques that can miss the essence of the Gospel: Jesus is everything and when He is our everything, everything changes.
Put this book on your reading list. You’ll be glad you did.
Related Posts:
