Going Deep

Gordon MacDonald is one of my favorite authors, and his latest book, Going Deep (Becoming A Person of Influence), revisits the fictionalized format he employed in Who Stole My Church? The book uses a series of e-mails and discussions with friends and church members to portray a pastor and a church that learn to intentionally cultivate spiritually deep people.

The book is filled with MacDonald's signature depth, insight, vulnerability, affability, and maturity. And, while the format does succeed in taking the reader on a journey, I found myself wishing that it was shorter and more to-the-point. It needed both an editor's knife and a novelist's flair for the dramatic. Along those lines, it would have profited tremendously from a more realistic depiction of how change occurs in a church; it seldom happens as smoothly and good-naturedly as MacDonald's fictional church managed it.

Having said all that, however, I would like to see every pastor and church leader read the book, learn from its wisdom, and chart a similar path for intentionally cultivating deep people and solid church leaders.

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(Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher, for review purposes. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”)