A Maze Of Grace (book review)

August 22, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I’m not one for “chick flicks,” and I’m usually not one for “chick books” either. But every once in a while a movie or a book comes along in these categories that grabs my attention. Trish Ryan’s A Maze Of Grace did just that.

This book is part II of Trish’s memoirs. At first, I thought I would be missing out on something by not having read part I, but that wasn’t the case. Right from the opening words where Trish confesses that her husband Steve has just lied to her, I was hooked.

I love the concept of God’s grace. I try to remember grace by using the acrostic: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. In other words, God lavishes us with more than we deserve. Trish’s memoir of her walk through grace is a constant reminder to not settle, to not give up or give in. Instead, Trish tells how she came right to the point of just accepting, “This is all there is,” and then daring to hope and trust in God’s grace again. Sometimes we read how God showed His grace to Trish and brought her into something bigger and better. And sometimes we’re left without a resolution, still hanging on in faith to God’s grace.

All in all, this is a delightful memoir. I told my wife that I think there are some emotions and insights that she would probably relate to more than I did, but I would still recommend this book to anyone who is still on the journey. Anyone who has ever come to the point where they thought, “This is it: I’ll just have to settle for this,” will be encouraged by reading this memoir to trust God for one more day.

As Trish says in her closing words:

“Not just for me, but any of us. A maze of grace. Amazing Grace. Amen.”

I am a Faith Words book reviewer.

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Patton: The Pursuit Of Destiny (book review)

August 17, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

Disclaimer: I am a huge admirer of General George Smith Patton, Jr. So it should come as no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed Agostino Von Hassell and Ed Breslin’s biography Patton: The Pursuit Of Destiny.

It’s also no surprise that I relished reading about Patton’s military genius and his relentless preparation to be a man of destiny. What did surprise me was the candor with which the authors dealt with the shortcomings of Patton. For all of his military genius, there were areas of his life that always seemed to get the best of this general. On the battlefield, he had few equals, but away from the heat of battle, his insecurities could get the best of him. I appreciated how the authors showed Patton playing to his strengths while still struggling with his weaknesses. While many biographies show great men and women overcoming their struggles, Patton shows the general living with his struggles and still achieving greatness in spite of them.

I also learned more about Patton’s family lineage in this book that helped me understand what drove this military hero. I read about a man who was a voracious learner, highly competitive, and a man who set extraordinarily high standards for himself. His biggest weakness: he couldn’t abide those who didn’t share these same lofty goals for their own lives or profession.

If you enjoy military history, a study of a larger-than-life leadership persona, or a biography with an unflinching look at a great man’s angels and demons, you will enjoy reading Patton: The Pursuit Of Destiny.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

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Goals & Strategies

August 13, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

I’m in the midst of a fascinating biography about General George S. Patton. As I wrote yesterday, I love borrowing the brains of other great men and women and adding some of their finer attributes to my life.

Years after Patton had died, his son donated his father’s books to the West Point Military Academy. It was then that a notation in Patton’s own hand was discovered on the last page of his Elements Of Strategy textbook. He wrote: “End of last lesson in Engineering. Last lesson as a Cadet, thank God.” But then on the back cover, he had also written—

Qualities of a Great General

1.  Tactically aggressive (loves a fight)

2.  Strength of character

3.  Steadiness of purpose

4.  Acceptance of responsibility

5.  Energy

6.  Good health and strength

George Patton

Cadet

April 29, 1909

Here’s what I love: he wrote these down years before he was ever given the command of anything! He put his goals and strategies in writing and dedicated himself wholeheartedly to achieving them. And achieve he did!

Years ago I took some time to write down a similar challenge for myself. Reading this about Patton reminded me that I haven’t reviewed my list in a while, and it was high time for me to reacquaint myself with those goals and strategies.

What about you?

Do you know where you want to go?

Do you know what it will take to get there?

Have you written down those goals and strategies?

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Borrowed Brains

August 12, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

“We should not only use all the brains we have, but all that we can borrow.” —Woodrow Wilson

It’s so important to learn from others—to borrow their brains. I try to take something from other people’s brains every day.

  • Every morning I begin my day by studying the timeless truths found in the Bible.
  • Then I pray to ask God to give me the mind of Christ for my day.
  • Throughout my day I learn from the brains of other business and ministry leaders. People who have been-there-done-that and are willing to share are an invaluable source of wisdom.
  • I also consume a regular diet of biographies and autobiographies of past and present leaders. I try to put myself in their shoes to see why they made the decisions they made.
  • And I have some close friends that can give me their honest insight and critique.

One of the saddest things is to hear someone say, “I’m a self-made man” or “I’m a self-made woman.” Really?! That’s rather limited, isn’t it?

So whose brains are you borrowing? 

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Lead Like Ike (book review)

July 27, 2010 — Craig T. Owens

There is so much to like about Lead Like Ike by Geoff Loftus!

If you like military history, you will love the narrative of the strategies and implementation that Dwight D. Eisenhower (or “Ike”) oversaw. It is an amazing retelling of how Ike had to balance so many pressures from not only the Germans but within his own ranks as well, to lead the Allies to victory in Europe during World War II.

If you like business strategies, you will enjoy the way Loftus renames the military build-up in Europe during WWII “D-Day Inc.,” and assigns titles like Board of Directors, CEO, C-level staff, and competitors to the battles in Operation Torch, Operation Overlord, the Battle of the Bulge and others. You will see how Ike functioned as an effective CEO to lead D-Day Inc. in their head-to-head challenges with their German competition.

And if you like biographies about strong leaders, you will see the incredible leadership principles that Ike employed in his personal life and in his military career. You will see a man firmly fixed on his goal, but also a man who felt deeply about the individual soldier, sailor, and airman under his command.

Sprinkled throughout the book (and summed up nicely at the end of each chapter) are strategies for success, implementation plans, and tips for personnel management.

The only thing that disappointed me about this book was that it came to an end! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I believe you will too. I give it five-out-of-five stars.

I am a Thomas Nelson book reviewer.

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How Far?

May 27, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

How far are you willing to go to make sure someone learns something from you?

I’m reading a biography about Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan. As you may have heard before, Annie taught Helen how to communicate using her hands and fingers to spell out words. But after Helen heard about a deaf-blind student in Norway who was learning to speak audibly, Helen was determined to speak this way as well.

How do you teach someone who is deaf how consonants, vowels, blends, and words are supposed to sound? Eventually, Helen could “listen” to someone speak by placing her middle finger on the speaker’s nose, her index finger on their lips, and her thumb on their throat.

To get to this point of “listening” Helen had to know how sounds and words were formed with the lips and tongue. Initially, Annie would place Helen’s fingertips on her lips as she made sounds, but that only works so far. One of Helen’s cousins wrote, “Many times it was necessary for Helen to put her sensitive fingers in Teacher’s [Annie’s] mouth, sometimes far down her throat, until Teacher would be nauseated, but nothing was too hard, so Helen was benefited.”

“Nothing was too hard.” Not even being gagged by an eager pupil! What amazing dedication!

So how far are you willing to go to help someone learn something valuable? Can you find a new way to say it? Are you willing to humble yourself to make yourself heard? Will you find a new way to communicate? A way that’s outside of your comfort zone? Can you communicate without even using words?

The Apostle Paul communicated the good news about Jesus this way: “I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!” (1 Corinthians 9-:22-23, The Message)

How far are you willing to go to make sure someone hears the good news of Jesus from you?

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