I’ve followed Tony Morgan‘s writing for quite some time now, from the Simply Strategic books (fantastic) and his blog as well. I love that Tony is obviously a very intellectual guy but also deeply practical in his approach to life and ministry, and his writing shows it! It makes everything he writes easy to take and internalize and apply immediately. Killing Cockroaches is one of those books you could crack open at any point and start reading and you’ll immediately be putting the nuggets of truth you’re learning into action. This book is laid out much like an encyclopedia or dictionary- it’s alphabetized by title and features short articles about each particular topic. If you’ve read the Simply Strategic books, you’ll love the short nuggets of truth you get. This is the type of book any leader could pick up and read 3-5 entries a day to help stay focused on the important, big-picture items of church leadership.
Here are some of my favorite quotes/thoughts from the book…
- ”It’s amazing the kind of grief you get when your sole purpose is simply to point people to Jesus.” (11)
- “We learned long ago that to try to make everyone happy, you have to be comfortable with mediocrity. It’s a place where there are few critics. It’s also a place where few people have become really passionate about ministry and their relationships with Christ.” (11)
- Tony loves to make lists- they are throughout the book, from 10 Easy Ways to Make Church Services More Boring (my favorite), 10 Things I’ll Remember after Experiencing Disney, to 10 Signs You’re Not A Rock Star.
- “For me, hearing stories of the real pain in others’ lives increases my sense of urgency. It helps me realize there’s no such thing as “normal.” It forces me to become more intentional about how I interact with people.” (194)
- Speaking of Starbucks, he says, “we complain about and try to discredit the ministry of churches that are approaching 40,000 people while this company (that’s just trying to sell more coffee) is trying to open 40,000 unique locations. Aren’t we thinking too small?” (207). This article is probably worth the price of the whole book.
Tony effectively discusses leadership, family, communication, marketing, and best practices in a way that is easily approachable and grasped. His mixture of “smarts” combined with practical application and his humility and candidness make this an extremely engaging read. You may not agree with every idea he has, but he does an excellent job at getting leaders to think through what they do and make sure they are focused on the right things!
Go buy your copy of “Killing Cockroaches” today here… and if you’re not already following his blog, you can catch it here.