• Most of us hit a point where life got full and learning got quiet. We stopped reading, stopped asking questions, stopped sitting across from people who could actually sharpen us. We tell ourselves we're too busy — but the truth is, we just haven't made the decision to keep growing. In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we're going to talk about what it actually looks like to build a lifelong learning practice — and why this one posture changes everything: your marriage, your parenting, your faith, your work, and the kind of person people see you becoming. In This Episode You’ll Learn:Why the posture of a learner changes everything else in your life
• How to find and meet with people who are ahead of you in the areas that matter
• A simple system for building a year-round reading list that actually gets read
• The one decision that puts all of this in motion — and how to make it stick

Get started here... From this episode: "Becoming or maintaining the posture of a lifelong learner definitely takes intentionality. But now you have a process for getting started and keeping this going year-to-year. The benefits to your marriage, ministry, family, and overall character will be powerful — and noticed by those around you."Each week the Big 3 will give you immediate action steps to get you started.Download today’s BIG 3 right now. Read and think over them again later. You might even want to share them with others…

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Join us on Facebook and take part in the discussion! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of this page or right below. Also, please leave an honest review for The Everyday Disciple Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them. Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Coaching and Apprenticeship in Missional Living w/ Caesar and his wife, Tina Resources for missional living and group training - Missio Publishing Get Caesar’s latest book: Bigger Gospel for FREE… Click here.

My daughter recently gave me one of the best compliments she ever did.

She says, "You and Ma, like, you're always kind of improving your life." Mm-hmm.

You're, you're… And not like self-help guru weird.

Sure.

You know what I mean?

But you're, you look at stuff and you go like, "I think we can do that better.

I think I can learn more about that," or, "That would just be a fun area to learn."

Right.

So- It's funny that you say that in light of your grandparents because as you were sharing, I was thinking about two different sets of my grandparents.

You know I come from a split home, so I actually have four sets of grandparents.

Hmm.

I could tell you one of my grandpas is about as stubborn of an individual.

I mean, he stopped learning 30 years ago.

He doesn't care to, he doesn't care to engage any new conversation over what might change culturally.

He was set in his ways.

He was defiant.

And then I have another grandparent that parallels almost exactly opposite the way he was.

Uh, my, my other grandpa's this learner, and he's asking questions, even from me as a teenager.

Like, "I, I saw you at the baseball game, and I noticed you did this. Why did you do this?" There was this… So is-

Inquisitiveness there.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's part of being a learner.

Is, is stubbornness almost the opposite effect of a lifelong learner?

Is that the result of it?

It might be.

Which one would you rather be around and feel like, "I could learn from this person"?

I could tell you which one nobody ever wanted to be around.

Right?

Welcome to the Everyday Disciple Podcast, where you'll learn how to live with greater intentionality and an integrated faith that naturally fits into every area of life.

In other words, discipleship as a lifestyle.

This is the stuff your parents, pastors, and seminary professors probably forgot to tell you.

And now, here's your host, Caesar Kalinowski.

How you doing there, Heath?

Doing great, man.

Yourself?

Great.

I'm excited for this episode, and something I've given a lot of time to, both being a learner, but also reading and, but also giving a lot of time to this episode.

So yeah, excited to get started.

Yeah, and today we're gonna talk about, uh, the process of what it actually looks like to be a lifelong learner.

Um- Cool

term.

Yeah, it's a really cool term.

Uh, so maybe you can give us a little bit of a brief overview as far as, like, where we might be going over the next 25 minutes or so.

Okay, yeah.

This idea of being a lifelong learner is important, 'cause I think so often we think of learning as what we did in school or what we did in seminary.

Sure.

And after that, it's sort of like we just pick up facts as needed or read the news or whatever so we can vote or whatever.

But the idea of being a lifelong learner is saying, "Hey, intentionally, I'm gonna put time and effort and thought into what am I learning, and am I engaging in important areas of life to be improving and growing wiser and, and maturing."

Yeah, absolutely.

And it makes a big difference.

It really does.

Yeah, I find the older I get, the less I know.

And- … you know, I used to have this theology- It's so true … sort of figured out, and I had God wrapped up exactly how I wanted him, and I could explain almost everything.

Um- I'm excited for our listeners, too, to share.

You know, I'm a, I'm a little bit older.

Get feeling older every day.

Um, and I r- I'm, I've been a reader, but it's not just about reading, as we're gonna talk about.

Sure.

It's really about being intentional in how we determine what we'll read or engage in or spend our time.

And, uh, I, I have found that once you sort of, that becomes part of your jam, kinda- Yeah

that's who you are, you will crave wanting constant, you know, learning and growth.

And, um, yeah, uh- Yeah … let's, yeah, let's dive into-

Maybe we can unpack, like, this, this might be a new phrase for some people.

Is it, are you talking, as you just said, not necessarily from an academic standpoint, but how would you unpack the phrase "lifelong learner," and why is it so important to remain one for our duration of our lives?

Ah, good.

Well, like I said, it's not, you know, being a, a learner is not just college or sort of, you know, taking a class now and then, or that mandatory retraining for our jobs, but it's this idea of always growing, always expanding, and then taking the time to bring intentionality to it.

And, and what I found is if you're not growing in every area of life, chances are that you've probably grown complacent there.

Yeah.

And think about it.

There's a lot of important stuff, um, but we don't necessarily give any time to getting better at it or learning more about it, right?

And if we're, if we've gone complacent in a particular topic or area of our life, you know, how do things grow if we don't feed things?

They're, they might be sliding back down the slope, right?

Mm. So important things like our marriage, parenting, uh, leadership skills, character development, they all really deserve time and effort that we give to growth and maturity.

You know, whatever we can give, it … Those are areas that deserve that type of growth.

And, and here's what's amazing, is the effect it has on others in your life, it's actually tangible and really, really powerful, too.

It's not just sort of like, "Hey, for my benefit, I feel smarter." Sure.

But it affects all of life, especially, I think, for leaders, for dads- Yeah … for everybody.

No, really, everybody.

Well, it reminds me of, uh, as you're talking now, of episode 504, about how to talk about politics without being a jerk.

And the posture was lifelong learner, even in politics, is more about asking questions.

It's a heart of humility rather than thinking you have it all together.

It's submitting- I

think that same heart's important to be a lifelong learner because as we're gonna see, one of the steps, like, so one of the sort of tricks I give you for the process is, you know, getting alongside people that are smarter than you.

Well, first off, you have to admit that some people know something that you don't know Or a little more than you do, right?

Or whatever.

And we're, and we're gonna get into that.

Here's another thing.

Studies show that, that people who have remained, you know, engaged in lifelong learning-

Mm-hmm

… Caesar Kalinowski: they actually stay productive and emotionally healthier throughout all of their life.

Huh.

Like, just, you know, the storms of life and stuff that comes at them, even well into old age.

You know, and I, I, I've watched my grandparents grow old- Sure … you know, and now they've passed.

And, uh, one set of my grandparents, I swear, they, they, uh, retired at age 62, and, um, my grandpa went on one Week-long trip to Florida, and my grandma wasn't happy about it.

And after that, that was at 63, after that, they never left the house until they died in their 80s.

Oh my.

My grandma died at 90.

I'm not joking.

Like-

That's tragic.

Like, go to the grocery store maybe, uh, you know.

It was- They're

not getting out.

There was no… I mean, it was the craziest thing.

They didn't engage in anything.

And, uh, and so you're just kinda waiting, you're marking time, right?

Yeah.

And, and that's not most of our listeners.

You know, they're not, like, waiting to die or whatever- Sure … or approaching… Some have already retired, I'm sure.

But, but yeah.

I mean, think about it.

Like, I wanna stay, I wanna stay a good learner.

My daughter recently gave me one of the best compliments she ever did.

She says, "You and Ma, like, you're always kind of improving your life." Mm. You're, you're… And not like self-help guru weird.

Sure.

You know what I mean?

But you're, you look at stuff and you go like, "I think we could do that better.

I think I can learn more about that," or, "That would just be a fun area to learn," right?

So- It's funny that you say that in light of your grandparents because as you were sharing, I was thinking about two different sets of my grandparents.

You know I come from a split home, so I actually have four sets of grandparents.

Mm.

I could tell you one of my grandpas is about as stubborn of an individual…

I mean, he stopped learning 30 years ago.

He doesn't care to, he doesn't care to engage any new conversation over what might change culturally.

He was set in his ways.

He was defiant.

And then I have another grandparent that parallels almost exactly opposite the way he was.

Uh, my, my other grandpa's this learner, and he's asking questions, even from me as a teenager.

Like, "I, I saw you at the baseball game, and I noticed you did this. Why did you do this?" There was this… So is-

Inquisitiveness there.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's part of being a learner.

Is stubbornness almost the opposite effect of a lifelong learner?

Is that the result of it?

It might be.

Which one would you rather be around and feel like, "I could learn from this person"?

I could tell you which one nobody ever wanted to be around.

Right?

Yeah.

That… Part of why I think why it works this way, Heath, is that if we… You know, okay, learning, right?

Mm-hmm.

If we can change what we think About something, change our focus or, you know, or that truth that's in our head or add to it, then that begins to change what we believe.

Sure.

Like head, you know, what we think changes what we believe, and then different belief leads to different actions and/or sometimes even emotions.

Hmm.

I've heard it called, like, head, heart, hands, right?

Okay.

So that's why part of … If you wanna live differently or you wanna have different emotional life- Sure

or whatever, part of that's being a lifelong learner.

If you stay right where you're at, that this is what I think about something- Hmm … this is what I believe, this is all the knowledge I have, this is all the experience I have, this is all the exposure to other areas of thought, then you're kinda stuck there.

And if you're not digging your life or you're not … That part of your life, area of your life isn't great-

Yep

… Caesar Kalinowski: well, that's another reason to be a lifelong learner, right?

Hmm.

And, and what I'm gonna suggest here today is that we can actually get real intentional about it instead of just going like, "You know, that kinda sucks.

I should probably, you know, read an article or two." It's like, no, let's go ahead and map out our year.

How about that?

Yeah.

And, and that's something I try to do.

I try to- It's that

intentionality, right?

Right.

I try to do that and, and I don't want anybody to think like, "Oh, man," like, "this guy's a machine," like everything I say here I just nail it perfectly all year long.

Sure.

But the basics of this, yeah, it's kinda part of how I roll now because I, I in- I intentionalize this.

I wanna be a lifelong learner.

Yeah.

I, I wanna be wiser in, you know, you pick a topic of importance.

You know, parenting, my marriage.

I want to be better next year than I was this last year, you know?

Yeah.

In five years I wanna be… I wanna have better character in my life, you know?

Sure.

And, and my family to be richer.

And so anyway,

yeah.

So you're s- you're setting this up.

I'm excited about it.

I wanna be a lifelong learner.

I don't wanna be like my grandpa that nobody wanted to be around.

I want my kids to- Sorry,

Gramps.

Yeah.

Yeah, sorry, Gramps.

He's no longer with us unfortunately, but the thing is how do, how do you suggest that we actually get to live like this?

How do we stay lifelong learners for all of life?

Can we incorporate this into our busyness every day?

Yeah, I think you can.

Okay, so here's, here's what I wanna say.

Start off by taking a bit of an assessment Of the areas in your life that are important to you.

Hmm.

Okay?

So some of our listeners are married, some are not.

Some have kids, some of their kids are grown.

Some don't have kids, you know.

So start by taking an assessment of the areas in your life that are important to you, and these'll, a- and, and these'll give you some ideas of the things that you should keep growing in 'cause they're important to you.

Yeah.

So here's a partial or potential, you know, list of areas from my own life, or in general, just to give people an idea.

Sure.

Things like health.

Okay.

Learn more about your health- Yeah … and how to stay healthy, or if you wanna lose 10 pounds.

Like, how, how do I do that as a lifestyle versus, you know, crash diet and then I gain back 12 or 15, you know?

Sure.

Uh, family, parenting, marriage, areas of your faith, right?

And that's not just, like, knowledge- Yeah … but that's like, you know, if I read a book on theology re- recently, or, uh, an area of scripture that I wanna grow in, or an attitude from scripture and dis- you know, discipleship.

That's another area.

Uh, work and career.

Are you-

Hmm

… Caesar Kalinowski: are you intentionally being a learner when it comes to your job and your career?

'Cause it says work unto the Lord.

Well, I wanna do a better and better job- Yeah … at my job every year.

Constantly growing,

yeah.

Yeah, and it's not just so you can get paid more.

That's a benefit.

Sure.

Right?

Sometimes, usually.

But, um, character.

How about the area of your character?

If you like, it's important for me to grow in my character, well, write that down.

Leadership, millions of books on leadership.

Sure.

All kinds of time management, all that stuff falls into that.

Uh, finances.

Yep.

You know?

Like, do you, uh, are you crushing your finances and you really manage it, or it's like now, like, I don't even really think about it, and it's like there's no stress?

Or like, no, I'm kinda still, you know … And even if you have, well, what if you read books on finances to help you to actually do better financially so you get to be a blessing to more people?

Cool.

Or how about history?

You know, they say, like, you know, if we don't know history, we're bound to repeat it.

Yep.

So, like, I love biographies.

They're, again, connected to areas of life that are important to me or a person.

I go, "Man, that person's life is worth imitating."

Yeah.

So I'm gonna read a biography on that person and try to learn from some of their mistakes or their experiences or the stuff they do well, right?

So those will kinda give you an idea.

So again, first step is, uh, you know, sorta do an assessment and write down what do you think are five, six, seven, whatever, areas you go, "Really important to me." Yeah.

These are important areas of life, and I would love to grow in them.

That leads me to a question that, um- As we've talked, and you know my family, we've got four kids.

We're in the thick of it.

This comes up a lot in the podcast.

Would you say five, six, seven is great, or would you say, hey man, your season of life, pick two or three and then reassess in a year?

Or would you go, throw out as many as you want and do a book a year in each one of those?

Or would you say, no, really try to focus down from 10 maybe areas to, to maybe two for this next three months?

Well, I, you know, I think some of it's gonna have to do with your own, uh, capacity for reading.

Sure.

You know, and, and reading, which we're gonna talk about, is not the only way.

Mm-hmm.

That's, that's one aspect of it, okay?

Okay.

So really, let's, let me park reading for just a second and say, I think at first, create the categories.

Okay.

Just start with that.

Create … Hey, you know, for some people, that's gonna be a revelation.

Like, I've never taken the time to actually sit down and write out what categories of my life are important to me.

Sure.

You know, I could, I could knee-jerk and go like, "Well, my family and, and my church."

Yeah.

Okay, but what about it?

You know, like, I'm gonna grow in the area of church.

You know, like, no.

Yeah.

Specific.

What about, what area specifically in your faith?

Yep.

You know, I wanna grow in prayer.

I wanna grow in my understanding of grace.

I wanna start being a more merciful or generous person.

Great.

But there's, there's ways- Books on that, yeah

to learn to be.

And not only books.

There's other things.

Yeah, TED

Talks.

Yeah, all kinds of stuff.

We're gonna talk about that.

So anyway, I'd say go ahead and write 'em down.

And then I'd say, um, once you've done that-

Okay

… Caesar Kalinowski: right, the areas that you, you know, you wanna be growing in, um, then prioritize them into, like, your top five or six.

Okay.

Okay?

You know, maybe that's a good start.

Some people are gonna go like, "No, I, I read like crazy," or, "I have all kinds of time.

I'm retired, so I'm gonna put down 12, and I'm gonna get after 'em." You're still gonna have to start one at a time, so.

Sure.

You can always add, you know, but I'd say at least, you know, put 'em into the area, give 'em a priority of, like, your top five or six.

Okay.

Or maybe you take the whole list, and you put 'em in the order of most important to least important in your life right now.

So you go, "I'm gonna start at the most important." Like, this area of life, if I could, if I could tip the scale up a little bit-

Yep

… Caesar Kalinowski: big results, big benefit.

So, you know, like, if you're

You know, you like, "You know what? If I could grow in my area of parenting in the next couple years, it's gonna change my family's life a lot."

Yeah.

We're not doing that great a job, or I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm just having kids.

Great.

Sure.

Or in the area of marriage, it's like, you know what?

That's gonna pay off huge dividends.

So I'm gonna put that up higher on the list than, like, reading a good historical biography.

You know what I mean?

Sure.

Absolutely.

Right, so things like that.

Or finances, you know.

Like, if you're just like, "Oh my God, our life is so freaking stressed 'cause my finances are a mess.

I don't know what to do about it," let's put that higher on the list.

Yeah.

Right?

So maybe you, you know, you got a long list.

Prioritize it that way, you know, just most important to least important, okay?

Okay.

So things like, you know, health and family and marriage, if you're married, and parenting and faith and character, make sure those are up closer to the top.

Maybe then go after finances and other areas, okay?

Okay.

That's great, man.

Okay?

So then what you wanna do is you wanna look at being a learner in these areas, and I'm gonna give you three powerful ways to do that.

Okay.

Okay?

You've kinda hinted at one, uh, and that's reading.

I'm gonna get there, okay?

But here, what I wanna say first is, okay, first powerful way to do it is who do you know that's stronger or wiser than you in these areas?

And then I want you to schedule time with them right away to talk and learn and ask for their recommendations for continued learning.

Hmm.

Chances are someone you see in your life that you admire 'cause you go like, "Wow, I wanna have what they have in that area," I bet they have pretty good recommendations.

It's probably not accidentally.

Yeah, absolutely.

Right?

And they're gonna give you at least the next step or two.

It, it might not be 30 years worth of learning- Sure … in that area, but go for it.

And you know what else?

They'll be honored that you asked them to do that.

Hmm.

And you think about it, someone comes to you and goes, "Heath, you're really good in this area, man.

This is the area I wanna grow in."

Yeah.

You're not like, "Get away from me, kid." "I got no time for that," you know?

Sure.

Right?

They wanna help.

Yeah, and so they're gonna wanna help you, okay?

Next thing is, so first way that we stay a lifelong learner is get around people that are better at us at something with intentionality.

Humble yourself and be with them And then next, what experiences could you engage in or sign up for, right, get involved in that will give you practical experience in learning in those same areas?

Okay.

So I don't know, uh, top of mind, i- is it like a marriage conference, you know?

Yeah.

Or a parenting conference?

Tina and I, uh, for years, like every year or every other year, we would go to, uh, family life conference, marriage sort of enrichment thing, right?

Yeah.

And some years we were just going complete tune-up, like things are great.

Other weeks were, you know, other years we're going like, "Uh, yeah." We

need it, yeah.

"Time for some help here." You know what I mean?

Sure.

But we, we prioritize that 'cause we realized this is not an area that we were raised real strong in or had all knowledge and … But we knew super important.

Yeah.

So that was an experience, right?

It was like we carved out the time.

We had to s- kinda save up the money for the conference and hotel, right?

Yeah.

There's parenting conferences.

Um, you know, maybe you wanna go on a missions trip 'cause you wanna understand mercy or the rest of the world better.

Yeah.

Or you wanna get more generous, and so you wanna go see people that don't have much.

Yeah.

And so-

That's great

… Caesar Kalinowski: right?

Or maybe there's a, uh, an activity in your city of serving that you can engage in.

Like, I really don't understand.

Like, I see homeless people on the street or someone begging, and it creeps me out, you know?

Yeah.

And I'm like angry.

Like, I wanna grow in that.

Well, go serve.

Go serve somebody and get to know their story a little bit, and guess what?

It's gonna change your whole perspective.

Yeah.

So-

It's helpful.

Yeah, right.

Uh, what about another way of getting experience is what about you enroll in a class, like at a local college or something?

Hmm.

Tina and I are actually, uh, thinking about i- if, you know, if it all works out with travel, we're, we're gonna take, uh, Spanish classes.

Oh, cool.

Right?

So what, you know, what big f- … That's not one of our heavy categories.

It's more of a bucket list thing, but it's an area we wanna grow in because the world is big and changing and so much of it speaks that language.

We're like, "You know what?

My son speaks that language." I'm like, "We wanna learn it."

Yeah, absolutely.

So part of being a lifelong learner, too, and I'm thinking, I read somewhere that, like, when you learn language, it's just like music.

We're both musicians and songwriters.

Sure.

Uh, there's like synapses that, you know, get built, rebuilt, reinforced.

Yeah.

And so as I'm kinda getting old and feeling forgetful I'm like, "Maybe if I learn another language, you know- That, that'll help

it'll prop me up a little bit." Okay?

And then here's the third way to, like, engage in lifelong learning, and this was the one you, you kinda, you dipped into, and I think a lot of people go there, and it's probably 'cause it's the easiest to engage in today.

Sure.

Lifelong, lifelong, you know, learning and, and low-hanging fruit.

And that's, um, pick a good book to read in each of your top categories each year And then read it.

Like finish the thing.

Yeah.

I'd say most people have like five or six books, you know, like, like two or three chapters and they're… Right?

And I'm gonna advocate, don't be that person.

Throw those out if you need to- Sure

or put them back on the shelf for recategorization.

But I, I really think part of being a lifelong learner, there again, intentionality, pick the books in each category that you wanna read, and then read those things.

And maybe even give yourself a deadline, like, "I wanna get this read this month," or maybe that's too fast, so, "In the next eight weeks, I'm gonna finish that book."

Have you found it helpful to stick with that one book rather than going- Yep … "Oh, I got four books open at

the same time." That's what I'm saying.

Yeah.

So if you're going like, okay, you know, like, it's… I think it's really solid if you're married, read a book on marriage.

There's a million really good ones out there.

Sure.

Every year.

You're gonna… Trust me, you're gonna learn something, you know?

Yeah.

And your spouse, you know, your husband's gonna be grateful, your wife's gonna be grateful.

And so read that book through to completion.

Now, there again, it's not the task of, "I read the book, check." It's like engage that learning.

Yeah.

Part of being a lifelong learner, engage it.

So talk about it with others.

Talk about it with your spouse if it was a marriage book.

Sure.

If it's something to do with your career, engage people at work about that.

Talk to your immediate supervisor, your boss, whatever, and say, "Hey, I'm learning this.

How will that help?

How can I best apply that to be a benefit to the team here- Yeah … or this company?" Right?

And that's, that's, you know, also modeling something.

But I'd say finish it and super engage it before you move on.

Yeah.

Kathleen and I had done that a while back with a book on marriage actually, where I knew that she would go to bed and read about a chapter a night, and I said, "Hey, let's read a book together."

And so she'd lay there and I'd read the chapter, and we'd be able to discuss it.

And so it was something that together we were doing, and it also fit a rhythm of life that built into the, her, her love language of quality time.

It, it was a win-win across the board, and it did help in that season making us feel like, man, we're actually firing together.

We're… It's not, "Heath, you've read this really great book on marriage. I don't get what you're talking about." It was a really helpful way for us both to engage that.

Yeah.

And you might not have even believed or agreed on everything in the book you read- Nope … but then you discussed it, so you still learn from it.

See what I mean?

Like- Yeah, absolutely … "I don't know if we really believe that or agree with that," you know?

So either way, you, it was a benefit.

So some people think like, "Well, I'm just not a reader," or whatever.

Um, uh, I think you can be, you know?

Yeah.

Most people, you know, most people probably hearing this podcast have read and do read, and maybe they've fallen out of the habit of it, or they only saw learning and reading as like when I had to-

Yeah

go to college or whatever, something at work.

Um, you know, I'm not talking about reading, you know, like eight hours a day.

I'm, I'm s- I'm saying most people could finish a book a month- Yeah … if they read, uh, about an hour or so, two to three times a week.

Yeah.

And in my own life, I'll just be honest, when I'm not kinda like, "Why am I not finishing these books?"

I can almost… This is me.

I can almost draw a perfectly straight line to a lot of TV watching lately.

Hmm.

So, like, do I really need that rerun of that, or do I need to pick up that brand-new show?

Like, oh, it kinda looks interesting, or you go like, "No, I'm not gonna," 'cause that'll be an hour a week-

Sure

forever that I could just go ahead and put into that book, and I guarantee if I grow in that area of my life, way more benefit to myself and others and the kingdom and all that.

Now, where would you, where would you put in like a, uh- time or energy to things that are just not books, like we talked about.

Like great DVD series, great parenting series that we could sit and watch for 45 minutes

I mean, I think if a person was really clever and, you know, wanted to be creative about this, take these three categories, so time with people who know more than you, right?

Right.

And some sort of an experience that you can go out and learn in, and book reading, and map, map all of those into your categories.

So go, "You know what? I think the best thing for, like, this area would be an experience going out and serving the poor or something like that." Yeah.

Or, or a marriage conference, right?

And then that's, "I, I'm gonna do that this month, so I'm not even reading this month."

Yeah, that's

good.

Don't feel like you have to overlap everything in the whole world, right?

And, and you know what I mean?

Yeah, absolutely.

We're not, we're not trying to win anything here, like, or be in a contest or show everybody our list and it's amazing, you know?

Yeah.

What we're just saying is you're, you've, you've taken the time to prioritize the categories in your life Now that'll immediately give some intentionality, and you're saying, "Let me slot something in," maybe like one a month-

Sure

into one of those areas.

Sounds great.

Yeah.

All right.

So now you've got like, um, the bait and- Does that kinda make sense?

Yeah, it makes total sense.

Great.

And I, uh, I've bit the hook, and so my question is, like, uh, what are you reading right now?

What recommendations… I'm assuming you have some for people that are listening.

Uh-

Well, I might just.

Why don't you share with us what, what's in your mind?

Yeah, surprise, I might just.

Well, I read a pretty wide range of authors.

Okay.

It's kinda like my music listening.

People are like, "Wow, I was just looking through your iPod, dude. You have so…"

You know,

it's like- Yeah … yeah, I love classical, and I really love super heavy, you know?

Guitar stuff.

Anyway.

Sure.

Uh, it's, I'm all over the map.

Same with writing.

And, um, so, um, I read a pretty wide thing.

Some are newer, some are already dead.

Actually, I really love reading, you know, dead guys.

You know?

Yeah, me too.

And, uh, anyway, or gals, whatever.

So, um, here's the thing.

I put together a list of my top 20- Okay

like, books.

I don't have time to go over them all right now.

Sure.

But let me give you just a few to kinda give people an idea.

Yeah,

absolutely.

And if they, if they download The Big Three, which we'll talk about in a minute, part of The Big Three this week's gonna be a link to my sort of like uber top 20 list.

And that- Oh, sweet … and if people trust me at all, you know?

Yeah.

And trust us, then it's a good place to start.

Okay, so let me just real quick kinda give you a few to kinda give you the idea.

Great.

Top marriage book to get on your list for this year, The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller.

That's a fantastic book.

Wow, I mean- Yeah … he, when… I read that book, and I remember thinking, "Okay," I'd been married like 20 something years when I read it, you know?

Yeah.

I wish I'd have read it a really long time ago.

I gave it to my son before he got married, and him and his now wife read it.

Yeah.

He goes, "Changed everything, Dad.

And no offense, a lot of this I don't think you knew when we were little." I'm like, "No, totally didn't." Yeah.

But it's really affecting my… You know, so I, it's like top, okay?

Great book.

Um, top book on parenting, um, that you're gonna wanna look into, I mean, there's so many, right?

Um, but especially if you got- if you're younger parents, uh, read Grace-Based Parenting by Dr.

Tim Kimmel.

Okay.

So the first one was Dr. Tim Keller.

Okay.

But Grace-Based Parenting's Dr. Tim Kimmel.

Here's a book that is older, okay?

Okay.

Like, it's been around quite a while, but it's a must read, or it's a re-read.

Like, and it hits family, marriage, parenting, all of it, and it's The Five Lung- Love Languages by Gary Chapman.

Gary

Chapman, yeah.

Five Love Languages, right?

Uh, talk about an oldie, but a goodie.

Sure.

And they re-up it, and they tweak it, you know, every couple years.

I was just listening to him on the radio the other day.

I was like, "Who's this guy? It's so fresh. Oh, it's Gary, yeah." You know?

So if you've never read it, you must.

And if it's been years, I'd say re-read it.

Sure.

And I re- you know, I originally read it for, like, my, my marriage, but then we read it in light of our kids.

And I think they even have, like, you know, Five Love Languages- Yeah, they do have a version for kids, yeah … for kids, for teens and all.

Super powerful, okay?

Yeah.

Uh, top book for growing in character, um, and this is from my favorite author ever.

It's the book Humility by Andrew Murray.

Yeah, speaking of the old dead guys

Right A great book I mean, Andrew Murray wrote like 150 books.

They're all pretty short.

Like, but they, they'll peel you like a grape.

Like, literally you go like, "That's the shortest chapter I ever read, and I have to stop now because I-

I'm like undone."

Brain is fried.

Yeah.

It's, it's so good.

So I mean, Humility by Andrew Murray, um, I need to read that again.

I used to try to read it every year.

I haven't read it in a while.

Hmm.

Um, here's one of my other annual reads and, and I try to read it all the time, and it will forever change your prayer life.

It's The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.

He was a monk.

He wrote this book as, like, a series of letters to his family and friends over, like, 300 years ago in France.

Sure.

And it's very short, and it'll completely change your whole understanding of prayer and practice of prayer.

I'm not joking, so.

Wow.

And I … Can I add my own book Transformed to the list for people, you know, if you wanna grow in the area of community- Absolutely … discipleship.

So that'd be … You know, it's been a blessing to a lot of people, and you can get that, you know, anywhere you want, okay?

So.

Yeah, that's great, man.

Uh, as we start to wrap up and we think about our big three, we try every week to do the three takeaways that people can leave with and be encouraged by.

Yep.

You can get that download, actually, of the big three that would also include your list of, like, stellar books for this- My top 20, yeah … your top 20.

That's gonna be part of this.

The

power list.

The power list, for free.

All you have to do to get that is go to everydaydisciple.com/bigthree.

Yeah, you'll

see- So

easy … a big banner that says big three, click, free, done.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Get it.

Caesar, uh, talk us through the big three for this week.

Okay, number one, big, this is big, determine that you wanna become or stay a lifelong learner.

First step, you know?

Yeah.

If you just go like, "Well, I'm gonna look at a list and, you know, maybe I'll read a book this year," it's like, okay, better than not, but actually determine, "I wanna, I wanna be a lifelong learner." Okay.

Okay?

For yourself, for those that, you know, in your life that you love or those you lead, and also for the next generation that's gonna follow you.

Make a commitment.

Uh, tell people that are important to you in your life that you've made this decision.

You know how it is.

You know, if you start share something, listen, I'm gonna really be trying to-

Some accountability

there … yeah, I'm gonna be engaging some smart people.

Yeah.

I'm gonna be engaging some new books, some new experience, and I'd love it if you'd ask me how that's going.

Maybe we can do it together, right?

Yeah.

Get a friend, learn, you know, a lot of commonalities with, do it together.

Um, and, and, you know, make that decision and calendar some reading time into your week as a rhythm right now.

Just like- Yeah … you know, we calendar in lots of things.

Yeah.

'Cause, you know, you gotta go to work, you gotta pay the bills, you gotta, you know, get your kids up at a certain time, gotta make lunches, clean the house.

Yeah, there's a lot going on.

There's a lot.

So schedule it in if it's important to you.

So that's, that's part of that becoming, you know, deciding to.

And then find an hour or two in the next three to four days, or even today, to prioritize the areas of your life that you wanna start to grow and learn in.

Yeah.

That's step one.

So commit to it and then s- make that list.

Number two is glean the wisdom of others.

Kinda already talked about that.

So contact people you know from your church or work or friends or teachers or professors or you could even read an article, like, in a paper or magazine and contact the person, you know?

Yeah.

And say, "Hey, could I get on the phone with you? Could I get with you? I really wanna learn and be better in this area." Tell you, people are flattered by it and they, and they wanna do it.

And, um, here's another tip, too.

So first off, get those meetings scheduled.

Okay.

Prepare questions that you wanna ask them in advance of your time together so that it's valuable, right?

You're not just like, "Well, man." Wasting

their time.

Yeah, right?

Or, or your own, right?

And then take notes of what they say.

Or like record your sessions so you can kind of follow up, listen to it again.

That's great.

Drive and hear it a couple times, right?

Okay, number three then, and we talked a lot about this, probably the lowest hanging fruit, is make a list of the books that you plan to read in the upcoming six or 12 months.

So take your categories or, you know, and, and it's like, okay, on these ones it's gonna be a book.

Is it every other month?

Is it every month 'cause you read fast?

Whatever.

Yep.

And, you know, and remember then pick a killer book in each of your top categor- categories each year I kinda like to do that even if you're doing experiences in those areas.

Sure.

But, but, you know, time is limited, right?

Yeah.

So do what, do what you need to, and then commit to time to read each week.

Get started on one right away.

Yeah.

Like pick, you know, get my list, or maybe you already know some books, whatever, and pick your categories in and pick a book and get started.

And I wouldn't be, like again, uh, like we said earlier, I wouldn't be the person who's got four or five books going all at the same time.

Sure.

And, uh, yeah.

See, that's great.

So that's, that's what I do.

And by, and like you said, if people wanna download the big three, my top 20 list will be right there included with it.

Man, I haven't even seen your power list yet, so- … as soon as we're done here, I'm going to sign up- Cool … so that I can get that.

Very cool.

'Cause I'm excited to see what you read and what you're suggesting.

Some of it's new and some of it'll be like, these are classics, and like, I either, you know, read them all the time or reread them, or you, if you haven't, like start there kind of a thing.

Okay.

That's great.

Unfortunately, time is up.

It always goes so fast.

Man, flies.

Like, I look at the clock and I'm like, "I don't, I wanna keep going."

But I like being this, you know?

We get a lot of feedback like, "Wow, you guys pack a lot into like under a half hour."

Yeah.

So good.

I hope, I hope this one- Hope it's helpful for people … has been the same.

Great.

Yeah, so thanks for joining us.

Uh, if you want that free download of this week's big three takeaways, go to everydaydisciple.com/bigthree, and we're gonna send them right to your inbox.

And, uh, one thing that's super helpful for us as we're sitting here recording these podcasts is to hear what you're thinking about them, and one of the ways that we wanna get this podcast out to even more people is that iTunes really recognizes when you subscribe and you rate and comment, review the show.

So if, if you don't mind doing that, jump over to iTunes, give us as many stars as you feel generous to give us.

Well, just doing that helps, you know, get it out to, like you said, other people.

Yeah.

And it blesses us when we're not, you know, the show's free, the, you know, like- Yeah … you know, the classes are, you know, we're giving it away, but that like, you know, kinda pay it forward kinda idea, right?

Yeah, and then another way that you can engage the conversation even further is, uh, if you just jump on Facebook and you search for Everyday Disciple Podcast, we've got a group on there that, um, we discuss some of these episodes and there's some good comments.

You and I are both engaging in the conversations.

Yep, so if you wanna see us, talk to us, ask us questions about the show- Yep … that's the place.

Go, just and say, "Hey, I wanna be invite…" You gotta, you know, like join.

Yep.

And then y- you get approved, like, you know, a couple hours later, whatever, whenever we see that pop up in our Facebook.

So yeah, just look up, uh, Everyday Disciple Podcast on Facebook, and it's the only one.

Yeah.

Hey, next week is gonna be a good week.

We're gonna talk about how to have a much bigger gospel, one that touches absolutely every area of life.

'Cause as we've shared in the past, the gospel's not just a ticket to get out of hell, it's infiltrating every part of our lives, which is why we even started this podcast.

Yep, it's so much bigger, and so we're gonna, yeah.

That, that's gonna be a really fun, cool episode.

Yeah, lots to learn.

Thanks for joining us today.

For more information on this show and to get loads of free discipleship resources, visit everydaydisciple.com.

And remember, you really can live with the spiritual freedom and relational peace that Jesus promised every day.