Visioning Bibliography

Resources for Visioning

All of these are wonderful books, but I'll tell you a secret that that goes to the heart of the matter. Our personal vision is given to us by God, and is birthed in deep intimacy with Him. It is not unsual to experience deep pain or suffering in the journey to find this vision - in fact, one mentor told me he does not trust the vision of another unless it was birthed in suffering. It is from this intimacy with God that we understand what God is doing in our world, and then we can see what our part is in this Kingdome Enterprise. Look at the stories of Moses and Nehemiah and see how their vision was birthed. Read the biographies of contemporary Christian leaders and see how their vision was birthed. Then you will begin to see what God wants you to do

	Townsend, Carl Catching the Wind: Finding Vision in a World of Chaos. Explores the finding of vision, purpose, and meaning in life. Includes dialog questions for small groups. For more information see Catching the Wind.
	McManus, Erwin Raphael, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment.This is Carl's favorite book of 2008. Now it's your turn to read it. There's a direct relationship between passion and initiative. How do we know, however, which of our dreams that we pursue are God's will for our life? This is a 5-star book on Amazon. For $10.19
	Stanley, Andy, Visioneering: God's Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Vision. This is one of my favorite books on vision. Based on Nehemiah, it offers easy-to-follow stories about finding vision and making it happen.
	Eldredge, John and Curtis, Brent, The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God. This was John Eldredge's first book, and was co-authored with with probably his closest friend. Brent. They dreamed and visioned together. About the time this book was published, Brent died in a tragic fall at a men's retreat. This book opened my eyes for the first time to a Gospel of love. It wasn't so much four spiritual steps to salvation, but rather a deeply initimate relation with God that needed to be the heart of my journey to meaning and purpose. This is a mind-boggling book.
	Eldredge, John, The Journey of Desire: Searching for the Life We've Only Dreamed Of. This was John's second book and was written after Brent's death. John shares here his own search for purpose and meaning in life after the lost of his dearest friend that had shared his vision - and a vision that was now being birthed from that pain. This one is 5-star on Amazon. This is an awesome book.
	Sine, Tom and Sine, Christine, Living on Purpose: Finding God's Best for Your Life. Tom is a birlliant futurist who has helped me understand forces set in motion affecting the future that I need to be preparing for in the present. More than any other person in my life, he has painted pictures of what will be long before they happen. Our purpose then, must be shaped to take these this future into account and at the same time we must know what God is doing through time and with us.
	Warren, Rick, The Purpose Driven Life.This book has been a major best seller and perhaps, more than any other, gives a discovery process for finding purpose. The reality, however, is that finding our personal vision and purpose is not a left-brain process we can reach with a workbook. but in reality birthed in the pain of our experiences and intimacy until our calling becomes a passion we cannot abandon and relinquish.
	Barna, George The Power of Vision. Explores the difference between a vision and purpose statement, giving examples and helping you define the vision for a church, ministry, or even an individual. 5 Star on Amazon.
	Barna, George Turning Vision Into Action. How to turn your vision statement into action. Buy it here.
	Malphurs, Aubrey Developing a Vision for Ministry in the 21st Century. This is the textbook used in seminaries for learning how to build visions. Buy it here for $12.91