Live Love Lead by Brian Houston

"In order to build God's eternal kingdom and leave this kind of legacy, we have to remain pioneers fueled by grace, committed to explore the wild territory to which God calls us, whether that's the kindergarten classroom, the mission field in another country, or the boardroom at our workplace."

-Brian Houston, Live Love Lead

I first became familiar with Hillsong through their music in the 90's when the song "Shout to the Lord" was very popular.  Then, when we moved to Hawaii, the church we attended used a lot of their songs.  Needless to say, the worship was always amazing.  One of my favorites is by Hillsong Young and Free, "Wake."  A word of warning..don't listen to that song when you drive.

Live Love Lead, by Brian Houston, the pastor of Hillsong Church, is an autobiographical book with a message.  In the book, Pastor Brian shares his story, the story of Hillsong, the church and its music, and the life lessons he has learned along the way.

The premise for his book can be found in Matthew 7:

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the goat and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."

-Matthew 7:13-14

Jesus is that narrow gate.

Two of the amazing lessons I learned while reading Live Love Lead were:

1. Keep moving through life's trials.

2. Use what is in your hand to fulfill what God placed in your heart.

There were so many good nuggets of wisdom throughout the book.  I spent a lot of time underlining all the things I wanted to remember and refer back to.  Here are some of my favorite quotes.

"Jesus lived fully present in each moment every day."

"Living in the faith lane isn't a paint-by-numbers picture.  It colors outside the lines and sees with different eyes than the world does-eternal eyes with eternal perspective."

"When you live inside your own sphere of grace, when you lose the limitations of living up to anyone else's expectations, then you become comfortable with yourself and your life in a way that feels like putting on your favorite clothes."

"He said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)...He said that he is the way.  While I have no doubt that our path to knowing God is found only through Jesus, I also know that the message of the gospel is inclusive, not exclusive. Jesus invites everyone-men and women, Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, young and old, everyone-to accept the gift of grace by confessing that one and only name.  While Jesus declares that he is the only way (exclusive), he opens his way up to all who call upon his name (inclusive)."

"Salvation is something that Christ does in our heart that changes our eternal destiny.  It changes your reason for being, it changes your sense of purpose, it changes the way you live, it changes the reason for our gifts and talents, it changes our families and marriages. Ultimately salvation that starts in the heart has an impact on generations to come."

For me, this was a great book.  Like I said, I underlined so many things. There were some hard parts to read, when he shared some of the struggles he had been through in his life. But, through it I learned to keep moving forward through the struggle, and not be stopped by it and become a victim.

I recommend this book to everybody.  It is encouraging and uplifting and will help you develop a vision for your life.  There is so much wisdom, coming from the life he has lead and the experiences he has had.  It will instill some determination for the things to come, as well as helping you see God's vision and purpose for your life more clearly.

To learn more about the book, and read the first chapter go to liveloveleadbook.com.

Disclosure:  I received this book free from the publisher.  I was not required to give a favorable review.  The thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely my own.