At about 3:30 a.m. on Friday morning, June 12, I was online, as usual. My workday was beginning.
I stumbled onto a site. Who knows why? That’s what Web searching does: “lost in cyberspace.”
I spent at least an hour on it. I ordered at least six books because of it.
It’s a site on Christian leadership. It is here: http://paulsohn.org.
He grabs you with headlines: 10 this, 16 that, 21 something else. I kept clicking.
Some of the material was on target for my interests. A lot wasn’t. His list of business books cost me at least $50, and I buy cheap used copies on Amazon.
My favorite article is this one. It is on Christian leadership and Guinness beer.
While the author seems unaware of this, his article is a follow-up on this:
[Warning: this video keeps getting pulled for copyright reasons. View it while you can.]
The site has flaws. It downloads like molasses in winter. It has lots of Archives. Nobody clicks on “Archives.” No one cares that in May 2013 there were articles posted. People click on categories that interest them. But these flaws are minor.
One page really bothered me. It is a page on the five books that most influenced each of the 10 most influential Christian leaders. First, the list has obvious gaps: Rick Warren, Billy and Franklin Graham, Tim and Beverly LaHaye, and the woman who single-handedly derailed the Equal Rights Amendment, Phyllis Schlafly. Second, with the exception of R. C. Sproul’s list, the books are sporadic. Some were really weak, although traditional. One list is clearly deviant. It recommends the book that did more to undermine confidence in the historicity of the New Testament than any other in the 20th century. I felt good that I had never heard of him. But someone has.
The site is a good example of what a diligent person with a sense of marketing can do.
Go and do thou likewise.