Back to blogging here next week.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Guest Blogging at Provoketive
Back to blogging here next week.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Top 10 Book Recommendations for 2012
AKA, my top 10 reading list of 2011
Let's be clear, this is the top-10 books I read in 2011 and has nothing to do with when they were published. Some are new, some are not, but all were influential in my formation in 2011.
Before I continue, let me share a little of why I read, because it strikes at the heart of what motivates me to choose one book over another, and certainly why a book makes it to this list. Many people read books that will strengthen the beliefs they already have. They know they're right and want mostly to bolster their position. Or perhaps the opposite, they know they have doubts that make them feel uncomfortable and so they want confirmation of the opinions they find most aspirational. I suspect this later reason is more common than most would admit. More and more, I find books that simply confirm what I already know to be either boring or frustrating. Boring, when they don't push me to deeper places, frustrating when they're so spot-on I wish I'd written them! What I find most interesting though, is books that challenge me to think in new ways. Sometimes this leads me to pick books by authors that I'm pretty sure I'll disagree with. I might do this because I respect the person, but not necessarily the opinion, and am curious how they get there. Or I might do this in order to challenge myself to fully understand a position different from my own in order to have better dialog with people who hold that view. I have always found that understanding the beliefs of people I disagree with is helpful in building my own beliefs. It's also often surprisingly helpful in how it helps establish empathy I wouldn't otherwise have. This is something I think is sorely missing from a lot of public discourse in general.
A brief confession. When I started writing this, I expected it to be a relatively short entry, one I'd publish in a single blog. Surprise! It's anything but short. Each entry could practically stand on it's own, so that's how I'm presenting it. I'll show the top ten list here, but to really get the full review on the books that interest you, you'll have to click to the next page on each review.
So without further blather, here's my top-10!
1. The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible
by Scot McKnight
Scot McKnight is a highly recognized theologian with noted specialties in the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. Despite his academic orientation and credentials, The Blue Parakeet is highly...
Continue reading...
2. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
by Steven Pressfield
I'll be honest, this blog would probably not exist were it not for this book. I finished it and immediately resolved to start writing more seriously, or at least more frequently. If you or anyone close to you is an artist at any level...
Continue reading...
3. Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love
by Mark Scandrette
Much of the process of growing spiritually and becoming an effective follower of Christ involves adjusting the way we think, what we believe, and the ideas that motivate our actions. Since this happens inwardly...
Continue reading...
4. They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generationsby Dan Kimball
As one who loves the church, this title was a little hard to face at first. The last thing I'm interested is reading yet another book that takes aim at "organized religion" or Christianity (not that we don't sometimes make ourselves an easy target...
Continue reading...
5. Dangerous Wonder
Michael Yaconelli
There is a danger in studying the Bible and theology. I've heard seminary graduates joke about how they lost their faith in the process. That's no joke, and none of us are immune. While I love learning "about" God...
Continue reading...
6. The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate
by John H. Walton
I came to faith as a young adult deeply steeped in evolution theory. In fact, my love of natural science had taken me further down this path than most. Fortunately I came to faith in a church community that...
Continue reading...
7. Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith
by Rob Bell
So this has been quite a year for Rob Bell, and it's the first year I've read anything he's written. So I am living proof that any press is good press. This is Rob's first book, but it's not the first book...
Continue reading...
8. Think: The life of the mind and the Love of God
by John Piper
To be honest, this is probably not a book I would have read on my own, but it set the them of a study series I helped lead over the summer for a young adult ministry I'm involved with. As it turns out...
Continue reading...
9. Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith
by Shane Hipps
There are few authors that would get me to read their book simply by their background, but that's exactly what happened with Shane Hipps. Once I found out he started his career working in marketing and advertising...
Continue reading...
10. Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived
by Rob Bell
Finally, in at number ten, the ever-controversial, "Love Wins." Honestly, I had to laugh when I put this on my list, had it not been for the meteoric rise of this book on the wave of criticism that preceded it, I'm quite sure...
Continue reading...
So that's the line-up for 2011. I hope you can find something here that might pique your interest to read this year. So do you have any recommendations for me?
Let's be clear, this is the top-10 books I read in 2011 and has nothing to do with when they were published. Some are new, some are not, but all were influential in my formation in 2011.
Before I continue, let me share a little of why I read, because it strikes at the heart of what motivates me to choose one book over another, and certainly why a book makes it to this list. Many people read books that will strengthen the beliefs they already have. They know they're right and want mostly to bolster their position. Or perhaps the opposite, they know they have doubts that make them feel uncomfortable and so they want confirmation of the opinions they find most aspirational. I suspect this later reason is more common than most would admit. More and more, I find books that simply confirm what I already know to be either boring or frustrating. Boring, when they don't push me to deeper places, frustrating when they're so spot-on I wish I'd written them! What I find most interesting though, is books that challenge me to think in new ways. Sometimes this leads me to pick books by authors that I'm pretty sure I'll disagree with. I might do this because I respect the person, but not necessarily the opinion, and am curious how they get there. Or I might do this in order to challenge myself to fully understand a position different from my own in order to have better dialog with people who hold that view. I have always found that understanding the beliefs of people I disagree with is helpful in building my own beliefs. It's also often surprisingly helpful in how it helps establish empathy I wouldn't otherwise have. This is something I think is sorely missing from a lot of public discourse in general.
A brief confession. When I started writing this, I expected it to be a relatively short entry, one I'd publish in a single blog. Surprise! It's anything but short. Each entry could practically stand on it's own, so that's how I'm presenting it. I'll show the top ten list here, but to really get the full review on the books that interest you, you'll have to click to the next page on each review.
So without further blather, here's my top-10!
1. The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible
by Scot McKnight
Scot McKnight is a highly recognized theologian with noted specialties in the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. Despite his academic orientation and credentials, The Blue Parakeet is highly...
Continue reading...
2. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
by Steven Pressfield
I'll be honest, this blog would probably not exist were it not for this book. I finished it and immediately resolved to start writing more seriously, or at least more frequently. If you or anyone close to you is an artist at any level...
Continue reading...
3. Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love
by Mark Scandrette
Much of the process of growing spiritually and becoming an effective follower of Christ involves adjusting the way we think, what we believe, and the ideas that motivate our actions. Since this happens inwardly...
Continue reading...
4. They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generationsby Dan Kimball
As one who loves the church, this title was a little hard to face at first. The last thing I'm interested is reading yet another book that takes aim at "organized religion" or Christianity (not that we don't sometimes make ourselves an easy target...
Continue reading...
5. Dangerous Wonder
Michael Yaconelli
There is a danger in studying the Bible and theology. I've heard seminary graduates joke about how they lost their faith in the process. That's no joke, and none of us are immune. While I love learning "about" God...
Continue reading...
6. The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate
by John H. Walton
I came to faith as a young adult deeply steeped in evolution theory. In fact, my love of natural science had taken me further down this path than most. Fortunately I came to faith in a church community that...
Continue reading...
7. Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith
by Rob Bell
So this has been quite a year for Rob Bell, and it's the first year I've read anything he's written. So I am living proof that any press is good press. This is Rob's first book, but it's not the first book...
Continue reading...
8. Think: The life of the mind and the Love of God
by John Piper
To be honest, this is probably not a book I would have read on my own, but it set the them of a study series I helped lead over the summer for a young adult ministry I'm involved with. As it turns out...
Continue reading...
9. Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith
by Shane Hipps
There are few authors that would get me to read their book simply by their background, but that's exactly what happened with Shane Hipps. Once I found out he started his career working in marketing and advertising...
Continue reading...
10. Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived
by Rob Bell
Finally, in at number ten, the ever-controversial, "Love Wins." Honestly, I had to laugh when I put this on my list, had it not been for the meteoric rise of this book on the wave of criticism that preceded it, I'm quite sure...
Continue reading...
So that's the line-up for 2011. I hope you can find something here that might pique your interest to read this year. So do you have any recommendations for me?
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