We do have a decent library here, but there aren't many new Christian books to choose from. I already have a somewhat bad habit of reading too much secular fiction. I don't think that's wrong, but I can easily get in the rut of only reading secular fiction. And you have to be so careful of what you choose in the secular market to avoid a lot of sexual content. I need to be filling my mind with better quality material. In Spiritual Leadership, J. Oswald Sanders wrote,
"The leader who intends to grow spiritually and intellectually will be reading constantly...Leaders should determine to spend a minimum of half an hour a day reading books that feed the soul and stimulate the mind."
It's not quite the same as going into a bookstore and browsing the shelves, picking up books, reading the reviews and the Table of Contents, but I am thankful for online stores like Amazon. And thanks to a generous budget line for professional development from my church, I recently ordered and received several new Christian books from Amazon Canada.
Five of the seven I ordered came this week so I'm excited. I chose a couple on the recommendations of some Conference leaders and the rest by reading reviews on Tim Challies' blog. I tried to get a good variety of topics. I ended up with:
ESV Study Bible
Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor--D. A. Carson
The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment- Tim Challies
The Reason for God- Timothy Keller
Who Stole My Church? -Gordon MacDonald
Still to come: When Sinners Say I Do- Dave Harvey; Polishing God's Monuments-Jim Andrews.
I'll let you know what I think of them as I get them finished-some sort of book review. Whether that interests you or not, it will help me to be accountable to get them read in a timely fashion.
I'd also like to know what you're reading at the moment or have recently finished. I've put a poll question in the side bar for you to let me know what genres you prefer to read. Not a lot of choices there, but it may be interesting to see the results(you can choose more than one category). And if you have a recommendation for me, please let me know that too. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Grace and peace,
Dave
6 comments:
I too love reading, but have found in recent years that I haven't done near as much as I would like to. It's something that I would like to get back in the habit of doing.
I picked up a new book a couple weeks ago, maybe it's been a month ago now--wow time sure does fly--that I have not even cracked the spine on. It is the third book of a trilogy (though I am hearing that now that there will be a fourth) that I have been waiting a couple years for. The book is called Brisingr and is by Christopher Paolini. The first book in the series is called Eragon, and you may have heard the title as it has since been made into a movie.
The book is a fantasy novel, which I enjoy. I would not classify these books as "good", but they were books that I heard about from some students during student teaching and thought I would check them out. Paolini finally just got around to finishing up the third book that everyone has been waiting for. I thought for a while that it wasn't going to come out at all.
Paolini was only 19 years old when his first book published, and the immaturity of his writing shines through. But the ideas are good and junior high kids love them. I am guessing his youth also has something to do with the large span between books.
I heard his third was being released through some students blogs and I picked it up at Shoppers Drug Mart for 25 percent off the cover price. But I am still trying to find the time to read it.
tes are varied and eclectic...in years past I set about to devour everything extant by Stephen King and Anne Rice, and very nearly succeeded. (I was very disappointed when I finished the Dark Tower novels, only to find myself back where I started!)
Lately, though, I have reading more Christian books (the collected works of C.S. Lewis, and a scattering of systematic theology textbooks), and more on developing the skills God has gifted me with (Robert Greenleaf's essays on Servant Leadership,; John Maxwell's "21 Laws of Leadership"), as well as a commitment to read through the Scriptures cover-to-cover using the Nelson NKJV study bible. I have found all of this to be deeply rewarding and inspirational to my thinking.
Oops! I seem to have only posted half a comment! Well, the point got across; sorry about that!
I love to read, too! (So many books, so little time). :) Along the lines of the book "Who Stole My Church", you might want to check out Frank Viola's book "Reimagining Church". It approaches this topic from a different angle, goes deeper to the root of the problems and addresses them with practical alternatives. “Reimagining Church” is the sequel to “Pagan Christianity?”, by George Barna and Frank Viola. It’s endorsed by Leonard Sweet, Shane Claiborne, Alan Hirsch, and many others. You can read a sample chapter at http://www.ReimaginingChurch.org. It’s also available on Amazon.com.
Thanks for the tip on the book. I'll check it out.
Dave
Might I recommend a new book on the church of the last days? It is called The Yawning Church and can be reviewed at theyawningchurch.com
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