A BOOK TO READ AND RE-READ

When I met Mike Breen I had ideas. Lots of ideas. What I quickly learned is having ideas did not, and does not, separate me from anyone else. Most people I meet have lots of ideas too. And most of the time those ideas are better than mine.But Mike did not have ideas. He had experience. He had gone through the hard work of practicing his ideas for decades, and – no surprise – had learned a lot. And I quickly learned that he was more than willing to share what he had learned with everyone. The beauty is what he learned was tremendously simple. But don’t let that fool you.In its simplicity it proves to be tremendously difficult.Because it's not about doing what's always been done. Rather it's about doing what Jesus wants done. We've made the Christian life somewhat complex and easy to live. Jesus' teaching was simple and difficult to live. This is due to the fact that the way of Jesus - what he called the Kingdom - was more a movement and less an organized religion.This is what Mike has tapped into. What he speaks about is not just his experience, but also the experience of many others. The movement of which he spoke is something that has shaped and reshaped the lives of thousands, and has continued to do just that up to the present moment.After all, it's about the Kingdom. It was here long before us and will go on long after us too. The question is not about its longevity, but whether we will join with God's work on earth. This is what his latest book Leading Kingdom Movements is about. It is shared experience that will give you greater understanding into joining, forming and leading something that will long outlast any of us.The best part of this book is that it does not crush anyone’s ideas, or hamper idealism. Just the opposite. What I have found to be true about Mike is that his experience lends greater traction to the people’s ideas. I have found this to be true in my own life as a person, a disciple and a pastor. And this book is proof of that.If you feel like you have lots of ideas and want to see them move from theory to practice then you need to buy this book, read it, read it again and then give it to those you know who have all sorts of ideas. Because if we’re honest; ideas do not change the world – acting on ideas changes the world.And when we do that, we’ll find ourselves in the midst of a movement.