Scott Cheatham’s Weblog

Author Terry Glaspey

I love to read. Many of my readers already know this. Between audio books, my book collection, and eBooks on my Sony Reader, I have hundreds of volumes in my collection. A few authors have spots as favorites on my shelf. One of those belongs to a man perhaps many haven’t heard of. Terry Glaspey. Glaspey is now an acquisitions manager for Harvest House Publishing in the state of Oregon. I first met Glaspey over 10 years ago when his book “Great Books of the Christian Tradition” was published by Harvest House. I had him on as a guest on my radio show and enjoyed the visit so much I had him back a few weeks later. He was interesting, well spoken, and thoughtful as a guest.

Over the years, Glaspey has written other books that I’ve enjoyed. His book on prayer, “Pathway to the Heart of God” , is excellent. His revised version of “Great Books..” is called “The Book Lover’s Guide to Great Reading” can be purchased used from Amazon is well worth the investment. Using the guide to help me select classic reading choices has greatly strengthened my own faith and given me a much broader perspective of Christianity through the ages. I have Glaspey to thank for that.

Most recently, I blogged about Glaspey’s pocket-sized “One Minute Bible Guide” which I’m planning to incorporate into the ministry of the church I pastor. What Glaspey’s does best is write for maximum comprehension. Some books I’ve read are what I would term difficult reads. That doesn’t make them bad but they require the reader to really take time with them, analyze them, and mine out the information in them. Glaspey’s books, while having depth, tend to be more easily digested on the first read.

If you are looking to pick up your reading as the holidays approach, I’d suggest picking up his guide and making some reading choices from it. You can’t go wrong reading a classic and Glaspey’s helpful reading lists and tips make the process even more enjoyable.

Have a great weekend.

A Fun Idea!

One of the most important skills anyone can learn is how to communicate effectively. One of the key components of this skill is learning how to craft your message to your listeners. Who are you speaking to? Do you know what type of person they are and what drives them? That’s what the book “Kingdomality” tries to solve. Author Sheldon Bowles with help from Richard and Susan Silvano has crafted a fun, entertaining way of looking at yourself and the people you communicate with.

The book features a fictional narrative of an out of sorts King whose kingdom is not operating so well. A wizard happens along to grant him a wish and the king asks for wisdom in leading his people. From there, the king is taken to another kingdom where he learns about the various guildhalls (base types) and the people who live in them (more precise types). The book groups twelve different personality types into the four guildhalls (three in each group) and the king learns about each by meeting the various types. Such titles as the “Black Knight”, “Dreamer-Minstrel”, “Doctor”, and “Scientist” make up the kingdom. A read of the book (or listen to the audio book) is necessary to understand more about the various types. Titles are deceptive. For instance, “Benevolent Rulers” are not necessarily the kings in this kingdom. Any of the twelve types can lead but the key is to learn who YOU are and then learn about those you work with or lead. When you do that, you can be much more successful in being productive and leading those around you. By the book’s end, the king is grasping the fundamentals and is already making a difference in his kingdom.

What I liked about “Kingdomality” is that the book was a brisk, fun read. As a pastor, I see great benefit in learning how to improve in communicating with my congregation. Aside from the funny titles and engaging narrative, the book provides real, applicable ideas that can be tailored to your work setting. As a bonus, you can go to the author’s website and take the Kingdomality Profile test to get a handle on your type and its strengths and weaknesses. You can take the test by clicking here. I tested as a “Dreamer-Minstrel” which suits me perfectly. My wife is most likely a “Doctor” and that gives me great insight on the way she thinks and how I can best communicate to her as her husband. When you get the basic ideas of the book incorporated into your life, it’s amazing how much benefit you can draw for such a little book.

I’ve studied many management forms and personality typing. This book was the first of it’s kind to bring a bit of lighthearted fun to the process while stressing that nobody can be pigeonholed into just one main type. Our tendencies will always be found in a type, but there are shades of grey in the typing that the author addresses.

The book was released in 2005 and is available both in print and audio versions. The audio version is quite entertaining as the book authors elected to produce the text as a dramatic performance with voice actors, music, and various sound effects. This was also a nice change from the standard reading of the text in many audio books.

I recommend this book to you. Of course, as a “Dreamer-Minstrel”, I’m expected to be quite upbeat and positive about all things so my review should logically focus on the positive aspects of this book and what benefits you can draw from it! You’ll figure that out after you read it! Have fun.

A Fine Balancing Act

And masters, treat your servants considerately. Be fair with them. Don’t forget for a minute that you, too, serve a Master–God in heaven.
(Colossians 4:1 MSG)

Finding good help in church or business can be difficult. Whether you are overseeing a volunteer ministry organization or running a company, there is no shortage of people looking for positions. So why is it that mid-level managers and Human Resource professionals, not to mention pastors, struggle with keeping quality people in positions of need? Perhaps the answer is staring them in the mirror.

When Paul wrote his letter to the church in Colossae all those years ago, there evidently was a management problem then too. Sometimes the overseers take for granted the faithful workers so they can deal with the problems of keeping the business afloat. There’s a great parallel for business today as managers look to deal with costs in order to improve their bottom lines in this tough economy. Unfortunately, they are looking at people rather than systems to fix the problem. Incentives are leaving the workplace so profits can be fattened and in many cases, employees aren’t even being communicated with as to why.

The same scenario plays out in local churches as pastors sometimes fail to recognize the thankless work of their volunteers. Many times we are guilty of just nodding our head on occasion and telling them “thanks” every few months. Meanwhile we turn our attention to people who many times aren’t contributing anything to the mission of the church but who pull at our schedules wanting to discuss this and that. We do this in the name of service and because we don’t want to “rock the boat”. Meanwhile, our volunteers just keep chugging along doing the thankless jobs that are so badly needed.

It’s not that we shouldn’t be trying to connect with new people. We should. But I have learned that great churches (and businesses for that matter) are made up of people who do the little things well. I’m blessed with a church family who will take time for the little things. Wiping down a table, picking up trash, refilling the coffee pot.  All of this being done behind the scenes so everyone can enjoy worship. As much as is possible, I try to do little things for all of them to let them know I care and see. In business, we should do the same thing. Cutting incentives just to save a buck may increase profits in the short term but when quality people leave for better situations you will suffer by spending more to retrain inadequate help. Here’s a few things you can do to show your appreciation to your workers/volunteers…

• How about a coffee card for someone? Is $10 too much to let them know you care?
• Take 15 minutes and make five, 3-minute calls to people in your church/organization. Let them know how much you value them and their time. You don’t have to be long winded. Just take some time to let them know you care about them.
• Take another 15 minutes and write three brief notes to other people in your group. Thank them for their service and let them know you are praying for them.

Those three suggestions alone bless 9 people in about a half-hour. NINE PEOPLE. Can you do that?

Being a good leader means understanding that you cannot do it all nor do you have to. Understand the gold mine you have with your people and serve them today.

I recently purchased an audio resource by blogger, author, and pastor Bob Franquiz titled “The Productive Leader”.  The resource is directed at leaders in any business setting but has great benefit for pastors and Christian leaders since that is where Franquiz is serving.  The resource is a two CD set with roughly 90 minutes or so of information. In it, Franquiz shares 24 productivity tips to get you on a path to getting more done in less time.

As most of my readers know, I enjoy this type of material. I read a lot of books to help me be a better leader and lately, many new audio resources are making their way into my library. David Allen’s “Making It All Work” is a great audio book as is “Getting Things Done”.  Nelson Searcy has a similar audio resource available for leaders in churches and business that I own. I share these resources with leaders in my church to give them ways to grow. Not everyone has my love of reading so an audio resource like this one is a welcome addition.

In all, I liked what Franquiz did here. He gives you doable ideas, he’s to the point, and he doesn’t waste a lot of time. I listened to it twice in a week’s period and am now getting ready to share it with my other leaders. My only “negative” is this review is that the audio on the CD’s was each one long cut instead of “chapters”. This is a big deal for me since I rip these over to my MP3 players to use when I exercise or am in my car. I would have liked to have been able to bookmark the cuts rather than make a mental reference as to where I left off so I can fast forward there when I return. This is minimal though. I am in the process of taking the MP3 tracks I ripped and cutting them up myself into chapters for future use!

Franquiz did a nice job with this resource. If you are looking for something to jump start your productivity, then give “The Productive Leader” a try. And no, I’m not being compensated for this endorsement!

Will the growing eBook market go through the same piracy pains that digital music has in the past decade? According to a report from the New York Times it already is seeing a trend toward pirated ebook files on sharing sites similar to the well known Napster over a decade ago.

From my perspective I can see this happening but if publishers handle this situation correctly, it needn’t escalate to the levels the music industry took to try to quell piracy. Were restrictions needed? Certainly but not to the extent that the music industry took. Level heads can prevail and all can benefit if a few things are considered.

First, the cost of eBooks needs to be discussed. Seth Godin has discussed this issue on numerous occasions in his blog and in a post written fifteen months ago, mentioned the silliness of book publishers wholesaling eBooks to Amazon at the same price as their printed versions. They do this even though there are no additional shipping, production, paper, shredding, or warehouse costs with digital files. Clearly the eBook can and should sell for less. Once the file is available, it’s a matter of downloading it to your reader device or computer. Other than the server space used to store the file and maybe the relatively small cost of operating an online store, there’s not other cost involved. As a user of the Sony Reader, I pay anywhere from ten to fifteen dollars per eBook download and while I don’t totally mind the expense, I will say that I do budget myself and buy much fewer books as a result. If the cost of eBook downloads could be reduced to say five to seven dollars per download, I would be more apt to buy eBooks and more of them. Why can this not be done? Publishers first need to stop operating in a paradigm of paper. Understand that the eBook division is a different enterprise with different rules and allow for them. Trying to bind all the book sales into one does nothing but stifle eBook growth.

Second, the eBook market needs to agree on a standard file for readers. The ePub format is a start and I’ve downloaded a few files to my Sony Reader to try out. Most notably, I have the entire ESV Study Bible (footnotes and all) on my Reader in ePub format. I believe Crossway Publishers (Owners of the ESV translation) did this so they could control distribution. The format works on both the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader (as well as other brands I’m sure) and there is no noticeable difference in quality from the proprietary formats of either device. The point is that once I’ve purchased the eBook file, I should be able to have the freedom to read it on a device of my choosing. If the Sony Reader I own needs replaced and I want to change brands (I wouldn’t at this point), I should have that freedom without worrying if my eBook library will transfer to the new device.

It’s going to take some creativity for the publishing industry to embrace the different book sale paradigm that eBooks allow. Lower the cost and establish an industry standard and watch your sales soar. Better yet, give away some of that product to encourage sales and attract customers you might never have been able to previously. Will there still be piracy issues? Yes but they will be reduced substantially. I would rather pay for a commercial download that I’m guaranteed is error free without virus worries than I would a pirated file that isn’t guaranteed to be the entire file or one riddled with errors.

If the publishing industry acts now with a proactive plan including the ideas I’ve mentioned, I doubt it will see the problems that some claim are coming. Let’s not ruin a good thing folks. The eBook market is primed to change the way we think about publishing. Let’s enjoy the diversity rather than stifle its creativity.

I was talking with a pastor friend of mine about my thoughts on the blog this week when he shared an awesome vision for his church. He didn’t even realize he’d done it but I got excited just hearing him talk from his heart about his burden for the work and where he could see it going. The problem is, would others even buy into it? That’s a big question.

Building a culture in your church is an investment of time. Sometimes it takes years before you’re ready to make that bold move. It just depends on people. As I’ve shared this week about the cost of following Jesus and why it should be a joy for us, I’m painfully aware that sometimes, that isn’t the case. People don’t always buy in. They criticize the dream. They tell others and can potentially shipwreck any voyage into the depths of God’s amazing blessing. These “vision villains” can be anyone, including your family. They can really stifle your dreams if you let them.

I encouraged my friend to write down his vision and do it while it was fresh in his mind. Patience is the key in many instances. When we model a life of sacrifice to others, some will get on board. As others see the numbers increase, their influence will also increase and your “dream team” takes root. Jesus started with 12 disciples and left them to evangelize the world. It can happen!

When we understand the reality of the gospel and internalize it. When we make a bold stand for the Lord and strive to follow only Him. When we really pull up anchor and not look back. When all these things stir our hearts, then God can begin to work. He just calls us to a step of faith. A step that has no guarantees. It’s excited, scary, and refreshing all at the same time. Do it and you’ll never be the same.

Follow God boldly where he leads. You might be surprised just how far He’ll take you!

Be blessed this weekend.