What's Best Next

You are here: Home / Archives for Matt Perman

Live Blogging Catalyst This Week

by

This is part of the series Catalyst 2013.

I’ll be live blogging Catalyst today through Friday. The labs are today, and the main sessions are tomorrow and Friday.

I’ll shoot to post a summary of each session, highlighting some key points and giving some of my reflections.

For those who are headed to Catalyst this week, here are 16 things you need to know to help you make the most of it from Brad Lomenick’s blog.

To keep up with things, stay tuned to my blog, follow me on Twitter, and follow Catalyst on twitter.

 

Malcolm Gladwell's New Book: David And Goliath – Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

by

Malcolm Gladwell, author of the classics The Tipping Point and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, has a new book out today: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants.

Here’s the Amazon summary:

In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks.

Gladwell begins with the real story of what happened between the giant and the shepherd boy those many years ago. From there, David and Goliathexamines Northern Ireland’s Troubles, the minds of cancer researchers and civil rights leaders, murder and the high costs of revenge, and the dynamics of successful and unsuccessful classrooms—all to demonstrate how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity.

In the tradition of Gladwell’s previous bestsellers—The Tipping Point, Blink,Outliers and What the Dog Saw—David and Goliath draws upon history, psychology, and powerful storytelling to reshape the way we think of the world around us.

You can also watch Gladwell talk about the story of David and Goliath in his recent TED talk, below. And if you are heading down to Catalyst this week, you can also hear him speak on it in person.

I’ve always admired Gladwell’s incredible insight. When I heard him speak at Catalyst the first time a few years ago, I came to admire not only his insight, but also the openness and respect he seems to have towards issues of faith. I’m looking forward to hearing him at Catalyst again this week.

The Funniest Part in Isaacson’s Biography of Steve Jobs

by

I’ve been meaning to blog this for two years now. From Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs:

Even when he was barely conscious, his strong personality came through. At one point the pulmonologist tried to put a mask over his face when he was deeply sedated. Jobs ripped it off and mumbled that he hated the design and refused to wear it. Though barely able to speak, he ordered them to bring five different options for the mask and he would pick a design he liked. The doctors looked at Powell, puzzled. She was finally able to distract him so they could put on the mask.

He also hated the oxygen monitor they put on his finger. He told them it was ugly and too complex. He suggested ways it could be designed more simply. “He was very attuned to every nuance of the environment and objects around him, and that drained him,” Powell recalled.

That is absolutely hilarious. Here is Steve Jobs, barely conscience and virtually fighting for his life, and he asks the doctors to bring in five different options for the oxygen mask because he doesn’t like it’s design. Hilarious!

And, awesome.

Corruption: The Opposite of Leadership

by

It is worth subscribing to Poverty Cure’s Youtube channel, whose aim is to encourage solutions to poverty “that foster opportunity and unleash the entrepreneurial spirit that already fills the developing world.”

Their latest video describes what corruption does to a nation. Lydie Hakizimana of Rwanda, who is being interviewed in the video, points out that “When there is corruption in a country…there is no hope. People don’t see themselves successful in the long-term.” “With hope you can think of a better future,” but when the leaders are corrupt, the entrepreneurial environment is killed and replaced with an environment of fear.

This caught my interest because in describing the effects of corruption, she has just described the exact opposite of leadership. As I’ve blogged before, the essence of leadership is precisely to give hope and “rally people to a better future.” In contrast, as Lydie points out, extreme corruption in a nation takes away hope, and causes people to cease believing that they can have a better future.

That is the exact opposite of leadership. What a tragedy it is when those entrusted with the responsibility to lead — to give hope and rally people to a better future — turn that responsibility on its head by turning it into an opportunity to enrich and advance themselves at others’ expense. Whenever someone does that, no matter what their title is, they have ceased to be a leader.

Here’s the video. And for more on Poverty Cure, see their website.

The Gospel Transformation Study Bible

by

The Gospel Transformation Study Bible releases today from Crossway. I have found it to be a fantastic resource so far. Here’s the gist:

The apostle Paul summed up his whole ministry as existing “to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). That single-minded goal is the heartbeat of the ESV Gospel Transformation Bible. Produced out of the conviction that the Bible is a unified message of God’s grace culminating in Jesus, it is a significant new tool to help readers see Christ in all the Bible, and grace for all of life.

And here’s my blurb for it:

Filled with amazing insight and yet highly accessible, this is an outstanding resource for understanding what it really means for the gospel to be at the center of our entire lives—and why this matters.

Learn more at the Gospel Transformation Bible site.

 

Live Like a Narnian

by

Joe Rigney, Assistant Professor of Theology and Worldview at Bethlehem College and Seminary, has just released a new book on what C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia have to teach us about Christian discipleship. It’s a very innovative and enlarging book, and Rigney is a great guide. It’s called Live Like A Narnian: Christian Discipleship in Lewis’s Chronicles.

Brandon Smith has a good interview with Rigney over at Gospel-Centered Discipleship, as does Trevin Wax over at his blog. Rigney is also doing a message on Lewis this weekend at the Desiring God national conference which, of course, is on C. S. Lewis.

Needless to say, this sounds like a great weekend to dive back into the world of Narnia. So, here’s one more resource for you: a while back, Andy Naselli compiled a list of Ten Narnia resources he found most helpful when he took his daughter through the books.

 

 

 

An Interview with Malcolm Gladwell on His New Book, David and Goliath

by

Catalyst interviews Malcolm Gladwell on David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, his new book.

Gladwell’s answer to this question sums up his aim in the book:

What do you want people to take away from David and Goliath?
I want people to understand that much of what is beautiful and important in our world comes from adversity and struggle.

Read the whole thing.

An Interview on the Gospel-Productivitiy Relationship

by

Last summer I had the privilege of discussing my upcoming book on the gospel and productivity with Loren Pinilis for his podcast on Christian Time Management.

Part two is now posted, where we talk about:

  • How to balance our competing roles in the modern age of knowledge work
  • The importance of aligning lists with roles
  • A process for reducing workload
  • Spatial thinking as it relates to time estimates and priorities
  • A realistic model of using plans
  • The common but wrong disdain many Christians have towards hard work
  • How we should and should not respond to someone who is having problems managing their time
  • How workaholism and laziness both reflect idolatry
  • The importance of rest in a biblical framework and how to practically incorporate rest into our lives
  • A biblical call to mission statements and understanding our mission
  • A fascinating, biblical approach to delegating out of love
  • Some tips for delegating in the home and family

(You can also find part one here.)

Crazy Busy, and a Hilarious Interview

by

I cracked up watching this interview between Justin Taylor and Kevin DeYoung regarding Kevin’s new book, Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem. It is truly hilarious!

I’ve been reading Crazy Busy off and on over the last month or so, and I’ve been really enjoying it. It’s very well done and fun to read. As always, Kevin does a great job combining biblical truth with a very accessible and engaging presentation. I commend the book to anyone who is dealing with being crazy busy (which is all of us!).

HT: Between Two Worlds

Global Leadership Summit Highlight Video

by

Here’s the highlight video from the 2013 Global Leadership Summit.

Note also that, though the live event is over, the Summit is actually just getting started! This is because “in the months ahead 350+ cities in 100 countries will host the Summit—which is translated into 45 different languages.” This would be a great item for prayer. “Please pray with us as we watch what God does this year around the world.”