Men's Ministry or Men Of Ministry

Much is written today and there are many good people working to help churches build strong, vibrant men's ministries. But what's the purpose of a men's ministry? What's the purpose of the particular men's ministry you're involved in? Do you know?

Sometimes I think the purpose of many church and para-church men's ministries is to give some men an opportunity to minister to men. Then the ministry is measured by the number of men "receiving" ministry - showing up at the breakfasts, or attending the classes. Please understand that I know many churches that do not take this specific approach. If you're fortunate enough to be in one of those churches, that's great. Many other churches however are dissatisfied at the lack of involvement, passion and growth of the men in their congregation. They're always trying to get more men "involved" or "growing" or "participating." Is that a problem your church faces? If so, this is one possible solution.

Since when did men need to be ministered to as a rule? I realize we all appreciate some help when we need it, but Proverbs 27:17 says that "Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." In my mind, that means at least half of us are ministering to someone, now and the other half will be soon. Robert Lewis, in Men's Fraternity, calls us "action figures." We're to be initiators, as Larry Crab said in The Silence Of Adam, not passive, but active, stepping into chaos, and bringing order. In Wide Awake, Erwin McManus suggested that when we're passive; when we're unconnected with the world around us; when we're not ministering, we fail to honor our call. We shortchange the world because we fail to fulfill the work God prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). We are made for a purpose; to make a difference within our sphere of influence. As John Ortberg stated in God Is Closer Than You Think, we're made to bring "up there down here." Sure we could use some help. We're not supposed to go it alone. But if the purpose of the men's ministry is to try to grow us through involvement and attendance, we'll come up short.

We're not to be full-time students. We are not to experience a relationship with Christ from a classroom, or vicariously through our church staff and men's ministry leaders? No one ever made a difference sitting in a church service always being a hearer. We are called to not only be hearers, but also effectual doers. We need to stop being taught and begin to actively learn. We need to learn on purpose and for a purpose. The ministry we need must make us ministers.

So, how can you become a minister? Maybe you're one now. If so, great. Pray for the rest of us. As for the rest of us, if you hear a still, small voice in you telling you it's time to get up and get going, do it! Listen to God. Ask God today to make you a minister. Ask Him to show you where and how to make the world a better place, one person at a time. Then, whatever you think he's telling you to do, DO IT! Will you mess up, probably. But you're messing up not doing anything anyway. Ask God to direct you, pray for the people around you and watch what God does. He's almighty. He'll direct you if you're sincere in your desire to follow Him. Ask a couple of men to keep an eye on you so you don't get too far off base, but go for it. Before you know it, you'll be in real men's ministry.

100 Best Business Books Of All Time

The more I learn about Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten of 800-CEO-Read, the more I agree they are qualified to claim The 100 Best Business Books of All Time: What They Say, Why They Matter, and How They Can Help You (Portfolio, 2009). Their website explains much of the history of their passion for business books. Out of that passion, the authors present quality reviews, reasoned standards of excellence and an appreciation for business books that deliver new ideas, or timely solutions in fresh ways. The book clearly honors the subtitle. You will learn what the books say, why they matter and how they can help you.


In the introduction the authors demonstrate they are all business. They created a set of standards to justify the claim to the best books of all time. Their first standard was to "ask each book the same set of questions: Is the author making a good argument? Is there something new that he or she is presenting? Can we use this idea to make our business better?" The second standard is how applicable is the topic, does the book apply to business people here and now? And the third standard relates to accessibility. How accessible is the information? I appreciate this standard as most executives might. What is the cost to acquire the information? Most of us don't have weeks to commit to learning a new idea.

From that point forward, the book is immensely creative and useful. The books are arranged by categories but also in priority order. The categories are:

1. You
2. Leadership
3. Strategy
4. Sales and Marketing
5. Rules and Scorekeeping
6. Management
7. Biographies
8. Entrepreneurship
9. Narratives
10. Innovation and Creativity
11. Big Ideas
12. Takeaways

The reviews are concise, yet deep, thoughtful and informative. The reviewer is identified so you know if it was Jack or Todd doing the review. I noticed no repetitive content. Each review is fresh, containing quotes when helpful and the reviewers opinion of the highlights of each work. Often, the reason for inclusion is also explained in the review. Each review is between 2-4 pages except for the 12 books listed under Takeaways, which are one page each.

Four features provide the "But wait..." bonus you probably would not expect from reference such as this:

1. The first chapter - You;
2. The final chapter - Takeaways;
3. The sidebars.
4. The Where To Next entries at the end of each review
   

The You chapter contains books to make you a better business individual. Examples include Getting Things Done by David Allen, How to Swim With The Sharks by Harvey Mackay, The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, How to Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie, and Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. (Yes, that's right. Read the review to understand. I can't wait to get the book.) The Takeaways chapter contains 11 reviews (one for each chapter) of unique, bonus-value books. Examples include What The CEO Wants You To Know by Ram Charan, Lucky Or Smart by Bo Peabody and Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko. The sidebars provide a variety of interesting facts including articles such as Leadership in the Movies, Found In Fiction, Classics, Deming's 14 Points Of Management, and Quotes. At the end of each review there are at least 3 suggestions for Where To Next. Thoughtfully, the authors have provided a less-structured-but-not-random alternate path through the reviews. For example, The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team is in the Management section, but the recommendations take you forward to the section on leadership, back to an entry on starting a business, and to the one-page Takeaway description of The Team Handbook by Scholtes, Joiner and Streibel.


This book challenged me and shamed me. I am ashamed at how few of the 100 Best I've read. Clearly, too many of my selections have been from those books ranked 101 and below. I have a lot of catching up to do. But I'm challenged as well by the how the authors studied, learned from, documented and shared the benefits of each book. This book takes a special place in the library. It makes me focus my learning, eliminate waste, and concentrate on getting the best bang for my business book buck!