David asked me to write an ongoing series that explores books that have the potential for really pushing your buttons, disturbing your thinking, or challenging how you lead your church. If you don’t want that, then don’t read this book! Stop reading right now, lean back in your cozy chair and continue napping. I wouldn’t want to disturb your routine! However, the following book could give you some tools you need to continue growing into the XP that God designed you to be.
Remember how you felt when you first saw The Matrix? That “I-don’t-know-what-I-just-saw-but-my-mind-is-definitely-blown” feeling? That’s what the book, The Extreme Future: The Top Trends that will Reshape the World in the Next 20 Years, did for me. James Canton leads a futurist think-tank that studies present-day trends in order to best determine how these trends affect life in the future. His track record is remarkable, as are the advances in science, technology, medicine, the internet, and life together that are presumably just around the corner: nanotechnology, education reform, artificial life, and more. Even more importantly, this book discusses what happens when organizations (or churches) and nations ignore present-day clues and wake up to discover they are irrelevant, at best, or have ceased to exist, at worst. What’s even better, however, is learning how to “see” what’s going on around you today so that you aren’t just reacting to changes too late down the road. This can enable you to actually be able to help your church today be as flexible and fast-moving as possible. Canton even packs this book with exercises to do with your team to help everyone keep an eye on the horizon.
