What I’m Reading

Since I am always reading I thought I would start a page sharing the books that are currently in my backpack or nightstand, and those that were recently there.

Currently Reading:

To Save a Life by Jim and Rachel Britts

Jonathan Edwards and the Ministry of the Word by Douglas Sweeney

Recently Read (Most recently completed first, ratings out of five stars):

The Theology of the Book of Revelation by Richard Bauckham * * * *

This was a solid introduction to the theology of Revelation that touched on a number of important themes while avoiding a lot of the silliness of incorrect interpretations of the book.

 

Reading Paul by Michael Gorman * * * *

A Chorus of Witnesses: Model Sermons for Today’s Preacher * * *

A Primer for Preachers by Ian Pitt-Watson * * * *

This was exactly what the title said it would be. It was a great little book about the nuts and bolts of preaching. Pitt-Watson offered a lot of preaching theory, and then provided some helpful examples.

Preaching that Speaks to Women by Alice T. Mathews * * * *

I’ll admit it, I was presently surprised by this book. I didn’t think I’d like it much, but it proved to be very helpful. The author talked a lot about understanding your (male and female) audience as a preacher, and talked about how to reach people who think in different ways. I’ll admit that in the past I haven’t invested the time I should have in considering how my audience would respond to some of the nuances of my preaching, and this book made me acutely aware of that.

The Lost Letters of Pergamum by Bruce W Longenecker * * *

The Lost Letters of Pergamum is a collection of fictional letters between Luke (as in “The Gospel according to”) and Antipas, an individual who Revelation 2:13 says was martyred for his faith. This book was assigned reading for my New Testament 2: Acts to Revelation class at Fuller Seminary. The book does a nice job of giving some insight into the first century world. It particularly does a nice job of giving insight into the spiritual climate of the world of the Bible in the first century. For most of the book Antipas is not yet a Christian, so the letters detail his struggles with the contents of the gospel of Luke. This book was most helpful to me in that it reminded me that the New Testament was written in a context that was vastly different than my own. I, of course, already knew that, but it is easy to forget.

Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional by Jim Belcher * * * * * (I’ll be reviewing this one soon)

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller * * * * * (I reviewed this one in a blog post)

The Myth of a Christian Religion by Greg Boyd * * * *

This book was excellent, though it was a step down from The Myth of A Christian Nation (although, to be far, Christian Nation is one of my favorite books of all-time). In this book Boyd contrasts a relationship with Jesus with “religion”, and talk through 12 different societal evils that Jesus-followers are called to “revolt” against (sexism, racism, militarism, nationalism, etc.). Greg Boyd is a prophetic voice that the church desperately needs, and I am exceedingly grateful that he has the courage to write the things that he writes. His two books have helped me immensely in trying to do a better job of thinking biblically.

And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers * * * *

This was a very interesting book to read as someone who aspires to spend his life working in church ministry. It was a fictional story about a guy named Paul who is called to become the pastor of a small dying church and proceeds to build the church while destroying his family, compromising the truth of the gospel, and alienating virtually everyone around him. It was, in many ways, a story of what not to do as a pastor. While I don’t think my personality is very similar to Paul’s, it was a good word of warning for me. I would heartily recommend it to aspiring pastors. Despite the misdeeds of the main character, the book still focuses quite a bit on the gospel, which is articulated repeatedly throughout the story. As a work of literature, it was pretty good but not great. The characters were so one-dimensional and cliched that it often strained credulity, but I think that was necessary for the author to make her point. The book is definitely a page-turner, and I often found it difficult to put the book down.

Total Church: A Radical Reshaping Around Gospel and Community by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis * * * * *

This was a fantastic book written about church and church life by two guys who are, “cofounders of The Crowded House, a church-planting initiative in Sheffield, UK. As you could probably guess by the title, the book argues that churches need to be centered around both the gospel and community. The book opens with a chapter on each, arguing for their importance within the church. The gospel chapter was especially good in that it carefully distinguished between “the gospel” and “spiritual experience” The second half of the book talks about how the concepts of gospel and community work themselves out in various elements of church life and practice. There are chapters on evangelism, discipleship, theology, apologetics, success, and several others. I gave this book five stars for a lot of reasons. I appreciated the fact that it validated some of my ecclesiological thinking and challenged some of it as well. The chapters on spirituality and apologetics were especially helpful. They also prescribed church planting as the primary means of church growth. They did not condemn large churches by any means, but they made a convincing case for smaller churches that plant more churches against large churches that attract more people. It seems that often today it is those with liberal theology that tend to have innovative ideas about church, and I appreciated that this book was creative, innovative, and orthodox. This book was a call to reform that wasn’t vindictive or “preachy” and it will be of great help to me in my future ministry.

Brothers, We are not Professionals by John Piper * * * *

I admittedly didn’t read all of this one, but I read most of it. The book is divided up into short chapters, each of which contains advice from Piper for pastors. He touches on a diverse selection of topics, encouraging pastors to love their wives, pray for seminaries, pray for their people, and engage in many other practices meant to counteract the professionalization of ministry that Piper believes is destructive. This one is definitely worth reading for pastors.

Letters to A Young Evangelical by Tony Campolo * * *

There was a lot that I really liked about this book, but there was also quite a bit that I found boring. The book is a collection of letters to two fictional young people in which Campolo discusses a number of different issues, from Fundamentalism to homosexuality to war and peace. Some of the chapters were outstanding, and provided some important foundational information about the history of evangelicalism. Others were outstanding because of the perspective they offered was very different from perspectives offered by (politically) conservative evangelical Christianity. Some of the other chapters were very basic, and some focused on issues that aren’t terribly important.  I think Tony Campolo is terrific, and he is certainly an important voice, but I don’t know that I’ll be using this book much now that I’ve put it back on my shelf.

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies * * * * *

This short little book was tremendous, probably my third favorite of 2009. Challies talks through the issue of spiritual discernment, an oft neglected but critically important aspect of the Christian life. This book has the potential to be a fantastic mentoring resource, and I plan to use it in the future. I was challenged by this book to re-evaluate my own thinking in light of Scripture, and I believe it will challenge you to do the same.

Making Wise the Simple: The Torah in Christian Faith and Practice by Joanna Van Wijk-Bos * *

I had to read this one for my Pentateuch class at Fuller. It certainly helped me develop a more thorough understanding of the Pentateuch, and I found it to be very accessible. The book’s main strength is the way that it talks about the focus on the stranger that God places in the Pentateuch and the implications of that for today. That being said, this book has several important theological errors, which will keep me from recommending it to others.

The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Require of Us? by Richard Stearns * * * * *

I’ve reviewed this book three times (once on my blog, once on Amazon, and once for the SEMI, Fuller’s student newspaper), so I won’t say much here, other than that I loved this book and you should read it.

The Cross-Shattered Church: Reclaiming the Theological Heart of Preaching by Stanley Hauerwas * * * *

I’m a huge fan of Stanley Hauerwas, and I was very excited when I heard about this book. It is a collection of some of his best sermons, and it made for great reading. Hauerwas comes from a tradition very different from my own, so his sermons have a very different feel than those that I have heard or given. While the preaching might not be the style I am used to, the content was tremendous. Hauerwas shows in this book that the sermon is an important place for theological work.

Crazy Love by Francis Chan * * * *

This book was vintage Francis Chan. I’ve listened to so many of his sermons that there wasn’t a ton of content in this book that I hadn’t already heard, but it was still good. Chan always challenges me to increase my commitment to Christ, and for that reason I am so glad that this book has gained such wide readership.

Lost and Found by Ed Stetzer * * * *

This book is about churches that are reaching unchurched young adults. It presents quite a bit of data, and is a bit dry at times, but it does a very good job of showing what young adults are looking for when they go to church. The first half of the book presents important data, but it is the second half that is the strength of this book. It presents all sorts of great stories from churches that are effectively reaching young adults. As a 26-year-old reading this book I didn’t read much I didn’t already know, but this book will be immensely helpful to ministry leaders from the generation before ours. I wrote a more thorough review of this book on the blog, which you can find my searching for it.

Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs by Bill Hybels * * * *

I liked this book a lot. It was 70 brief entries about various aspects of leadership, each of which was only a couple of pages long. Hybels is a leadership expert, and he masterfully uses stories and experiences to make his points. This is a terrific leadership resource. My only reason for giving it four stars instead of five is that there were so many different topics covered in the book that it was almost overwhelming to the point where it made applying his leadership principles difficult. This is a book I will keep on my shelf for a long time.

Jesus, the Final Days: What Really Happened by Craig Evans and N.T. Wright * * * *

A good historical treatment of the last days of Jesus.  There is a lot of focus on Jewish custom in this book, which is enlightening for those interested in history.  There is some good apologetics material to be found in the book as well.  It didn’t always make for the most riveting reading, but it was good information.

The Myth of A Christian Nation by Gregory Boyd * * * * *

This book was absolutely magnificent.  Probably one of my all-time top three favorites.  I wish I had read it when it was first published.

Finally Alive by John Piper * * * * *

Until reading the book above, this one was my favorite of 2009.  Excellent theology, and  a very thorough yet readable treatement of the all too important theological concept of the new birth.  I will be handing this one to people seeking book recommendations for some time.

Experiencing Healing Prayer by Rick Richardson * *

The Hidden Link Between Adrenaline and Stress by Archibald Hart  * * *

The Emotionally Healthy Church by Peter Scazerro * * * *

Prayer by Richard Foster * * * * *

The Truth About You by Marcus Buckingham * * *

Snapshots at St. Arbuck’s by R.G. Ryan (a.k.a. Ron Gollner) * * * *

Soul Cravings by Erwin Raphael McManus * * * *

The Love Dare, by Alex and Stephen Kendrick * * * *

Teaching that Makes A Difference: Teaching for Holistic Impact by Dan Lambert * * *

Pastoral Theology by Thomas C. Oden * *

Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne and Jonathon Wilson-Hartgrove * * * * 1/2

Growing Souls: Experiments in Contemplative Youth Ministry by Mark Yaconelli * * * *

Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change by Mark Lau Branson * * *

Purpose Driven Youth Ministry by Doug Fields * * * * *

A book you’ll actually read On the New Testament by Mark Driscoll * * * *

Starting Right: Thinking Theologically About Youth Ministry, edited by Kenda Dean, Chap Clark, and Dave Rahn * * * *

The New Media Frontier, edited by John Mark Reynolds and Roger Overton * * * * *

Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell and Don Golden * * * *

Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and  Revolution of Hope, by Brian McLaren * * * * (don’t agree w/ a lot of McLaren’s theology, but appreciate the fact that he asks a lot of tough questions that we need to wrestle with)