Author: Randy Elster

I’ve always loved to read. I have a memory from my childhood of Mom bringing home boxes of books that she saved from being destroyed. She worked for the county school resource office at the time (mainly caring for and sending out films and filmstrips–remember those?), and they were getting rid of old books from school libraries to make room for new ones. To someone else, those boxes may have seemed like trash. But to me it was a treasure chest.

Later, in early adulthood, I went through a time where I said I loved to read but finally realized I wasn’t really reading. I think schooling does that to you. You have to read so much that you really don’t want to read that you don’t have time for what you do want to read, and you just get out of the habit.

That’s when I started making reading goals and began to really read. And over the years, I keep learning how to get more out of what I read.

I can truly say that reading is one of my favorite things to do. It’s a place of comfort for me, but also of challenge.

I’ve known so many people over the years that were like me years ago: a desire to read more, but they just need a little push. A little accountability.

That’s one of the reasons I’m starting a new group this semester that will be different from any other group we’ve done at NorthStar. It’s called the 2016 Reading Challenge.

Here’s the lowdown:

Day: The last WEDNESDAY of each month
Time: 7:00-8:30pm
Leader: Randy Elster
Location: NorthStar campus

• We will read one book a month.
• We’ll meet once a month, at the end of the month, to discuss the book.
• During the month we’ll stay in touch via email, this blog, and possibly other means to encourage each other and make sure we’re on track.
• This will be a year-long group focused on a theme, so that each book that year will be tied to the one-word theme. The 2016 theme will be “courage.”
• Even though it’s a year-long group, the commitment is month to month. So you can drop out and back in when needed, or if you don’t like the book that month.
• The books will not all be Christian books. They will include Christian and secular, fiction and nonfiction, and include many genres: history, biography, business, leadership, self-help, and more.
• Though not all the books will be Christian, we will approach each book and discuss them from a biblical perspective.
• The group will support a habit of lifelong learning and part of the discussions will be around how we grow personally and apply what we learn.
• The group, as the name implies, is a challenge both to read more and to read more thoughtfully, taking every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5).

This group is for:

• Readers who want to have a little more structure to their reading and want to discuss what they are reading with others to gain new insights and to see how what they are reading compares to a biblical worldview.
• Nonreaders who want to read more but would like the discipline and accountability that a group like this would give.

And here is the tentative book list:

• 02/16 Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado
• 03/16 Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters by Jon Acuff
• 04/16 Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown
• 05/16 Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
• 06/16 Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
• 07/16 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• 08/16 Brave: 50 Everyday Acts of Courage to Thrive in Work, Love and Life by Margie Warrell
• 09/16 The Courage Quotient: How Science Can Make You Braver by Robert Biswas-Diener
• 10/16 The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
• 11/16 Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality by Henry Cloud
• 12/16 Brave Companions: Portraits in History by David McCullough

Interested? Join us!

Register: northstarchurch.org/group
More info: randy dot elster at northstarchurch dot org