Super blogger and pastor Tony Morgan gave mention to Jeremy’s review of his book Killing Cockroaches. Tehilla Music blog is a new collaborative project for worship leaders, audio leaders, musicians and more who share their ideas and practices here. Thanks for the mention, Tony!

I am a horridly slow reader. I think the last time I finished a book this fast it was called Pirates Don’t Change Diapers. And even then it was the abridged version. If I’m honest I’m not that much of a reader. After spending years reading technical PDF’s on acoustics, music industry business and electronics theory to the tune of f=c/2 √p2/L2 +… you need something a bit fun. Which is probably why I’m drawn to pirates.

This is not a formula book. If you want a formula book, buy a physics textbook. But as with many other social sciences, leadership can’t be reduced down to a set of formulas. If your looking for a formula, then what you’re actually looking for is a formula for your church your ministry and your team. But looking for a formula means you are looking at other people’s formula that worked for them. It’s probably not going to work for you because you are not them.

You don’t come to this book looking for answers, you come looking for ideas, challenges and questions that you can ask about yourself as a leader or about why you are thinking the way you are thinking about ministry. Why do we do ministry the way we do? Are our methods really effective?

I’m sort of struggling with this book, if I were to be honest. “Killing Cockroaches” doesn’t seem the appropriate title for the book. While Mr. Morgan adequately defines the title and purpose of dealing with issues as a leader within the church it’s more of what novelists would call a sub-plot. His main issue he talks about is strategic leadership. But who can blame him seeing he is that is his day job. It’s like criticizing Brad Pitt for… doing whatever it is he does, looking smug mostly.

Tony’s book is a combination of harsh truths, challenging thoughts, brilliant ideas and mishaps with Mustangs. I’d recommend the book for anyone looking for a fun read and a bit of a challenge. Heck, it’s better than watching pirates change diapers.