10 Months of Reading

Looking at my Library I am baffled at the amount of books I have read in the past 10 months. (Seminary has the tendency to do that) But, apart from much of the Bible, I read a few books - Some of them good, some of them not so good. And, some of them weren't the easy 200 page novel either...Here is a list of the best and the worst followed by an exhaustive list of all the books I have read.

Best Books I’ve read

Biblical – this book helped me see God’s redemptive plan throughout the whole Bible and how it is all about Jesus.

Theology – this book helped me understand the theology surrounding the Lord’s Supper and how we sometimes wander from the original intent of the meal.

Leadership – this book provided a crucial link for me between the two camps of “business minded” and the “bible only minded” people in the church.

Church – This book taught me that the church needs both the organized institution but also new forms of missional communities. The authors call it the need for “Gathering” AND “Scattering” communities.

Christian Living – This book taught me how to apply missional living to my everyday life, a must read for every church member.

Worst books I’ve read

This book confused the whole issue of spiritual formation and following Jesus. I call it “Agony and Intimacy”

This book was a guy complaining about the church but offering no real solutions to his perceived problems. Ironically, there was no “wind to catch.”

Here are the books I’ve read these past 10 months…all 45 of them.

Augustine, Saint. Confessions. Oxford University Press, USA, 2009.

Banting, Blayne A. Take Up and Preach. Xulon Press, 2010.

Barclay, William. The Lord’s Supper. London: SCM Press, 1967.

Barna, George. The Power of Team Leadership: Achieving Success Through Shared Responsibility. WaterBrook Press, 2001.

Barth, Karl. Natural Theology: Comprising “Nature and Grace” by Professor Dr. Emil Brunner and the Reply “No!” by Dr. Karl Barth. Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2002.

Baxter, Richard. The Reformed Pastor. CreateSpace, 2011.

Blackwood, Rick. The Power of Multisensory Preaching and Teaching: Increase Attention, Comprehension, and Retention. Zondervan, 2008.

Blanchard, Ken, John P Carlos, and Alan Randolph. The 3 Keys to Empowerment: Release the Power Within People for Astonishing Results. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2001.

Bloesch, Donald G. God the Almighty: Power, Wisdom, Holiness, Love. IVP Academic, 2005.

———. Holy Scripture: Revelation, Inspiration & Interpretation. IVP Academic, 2005.

Capes, David B., Rodney Reeves, and E. Randolph Richards. Rediscovering Paul: An Introduction to His World, Letters and Theology. IVP Academic, 2007.

Christians, the Twelve Apostles Early. The Didache. BooksAndSuch, 2009.

Cladis, George. Leading the Team-Based Church: How Pastors and Church Staffs Can Grow Together into a Powerful Fellowship of Leaders A Leadership Network Publication. 1st ed. Jossey-Bass, 1999.

Edwards, J. Kent. Effective First-Person Biblical Preaching: The Steps from Text to Narrative Sermon. Zondervan, 2005.

Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth. Unabridged. Hovel Audio, 2007.

Gelder, Craig Van. The Essence of the Church: A Community Created by the Spirit. Baker Books, 2000.

Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Present Day. Prince Press ed. Prince Press, 1999.

Gros, Jeffrey, John R. Stephenson and Leanne Van Dyk and , and and Roger E. OlsonThe Lord’s Supper: Five ViewsEdited by Gordon T Smith. . Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2008.

Halter, Hugh, and Matt Smay. The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community. 1st ed. Jossey-Bass, 2008.

———. The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community. 1st ed. Jossey-Bass, 2008.

Harper, Brad, and Paul Louis Metzger. Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction. First. Brazos Press, 2009.

Hirsch, Alan, and Lance Ford. Right Here, Right Now: Everyday Mission for Everyday People. Baker Books, 2011.

Hirsch, Alan, and Debra Hirsch. Untamed: Reactivating a Missional Form of Discipleship. Baker Books, 2010.

Johnson, Darrell W. The Glory of Preaching: Participating in God’s Transformation of the World. IVP Academic, 2009.

Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti. An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives. IVP Academic, 2002.

Lencioni, Patrick. Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business. 1st ed. Jossey-Bass, 2004.

———. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. 1st ed. Jossey-Bass, 2002.

Li, Charlene. Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead. 1st ed. Jossey-Bass, 2010.

Mackin, Deborah, and Deborah Harrington-Mackin. The Team-Building Tool Kit: Tips and Tactics for Effective Workplace Teams. 2nd ed. AMACOM, 2007.

Malphurs, Aubrey. Leading Leaders: Empowering Church Boards for Ministry Excellence. Baker Books, 2005.

———. Values-Driven Leadership: Discovering and Developing Your Core Values for Ministry. 2nd ed. Baker Books, 2004.

McKenzie, Alyce M. Novel Preaching: Tips from Top Writers on Crafting Creative Sermons. 1st ed. Westminster John Knox Press, 2010.

McNeal, Reggie. Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church. 1st ed. Jossey-Bass, 2009.

———. The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church. Jossey-Bass, 2009.

Motyer, J. A. The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1993.

Osborne, Larry. Sticky Teams: Keeping Your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page. Zondervan, 2010.

Patterson, Kerry, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. 1st ed. McGraw-Hill, 2002.

Purves, Andrew. Reconstructing Pastoral Theology. Westminster John Knox Press, 2004.

Ringma, Charles R. Catch the Wind. Regent College Publishing, 2003.

Rosell, Garth M. Surprising Work of God, The: Harold John Ockenga, Billy Graham, and the Rebirth of Evangelicalism. Baker Academic, 2008.

Schreiner, Thomas R. An Interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:9-15: A Dialogue with Scholarship in Women in the Church: An Analysis Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15. Edited by Andreas J Köstenberger. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2005.

Schreiner, Thomas R. Two Views on Women in Ministry. Edited by Stanley Grundy and James Beck. Fourth Printing. Zondervan, 2001.

VanGemeren, Willem A. Interpreting the Prophetic Word. Zondervan, 1996.

Willard, Dallas. Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ - MP3. Unabridged. Hovel Audio, 2005.

Willimon, William H. Proclamation and Theology. Abingdon Press, 2005.

Witherington, Ben. Making a Meal of It: Rethinking the Theology of the Lord’s Supper. Waco, Tex: Baylor University Press, 2007.

Wright, N. T. Paul: In Fresh Perspective. 1st ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005.

Chronological Snobbery

If there is one thing that annoys me about current Christian literature it is what I call “Chronological Snobbery.” By this I mean, the posture that everyone has had it wrong throughout church history up until this point and now the stated author is there to enlighten us all on the true path to God. They make sweeping judgements about church history as they now stand at the pinnacle of all enlightenment and have full understanding of how to do church. As if they would have done things differently if they had been living in the 1700’s or 700’s. After all we have air travel and IPad’s now. Thank-you for finally showing up on the planet mister author and finally “cracking the code,” now we can get on with church as it is supposed to be. Too bad the billions of others that have gone before us haven’t been able to learn from your insight…heh, are they even Christians?

We see this especially in those that long to return to the New Testament church. The argument will go something like this. In Acts 2 God established the church and there were amazing things that happened at that point. They devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone had things in common selling what they had and no one was in need. In other words, they believe that it was the “Kum-ba-yah” moment on Thursday night at the end of camp where everyone is crying and fully devoted to God. And then from that moment on, man got a hold of this thing called the church and wrecked it. They raped and pillaged and destroyed this wonderful thing called the church eventually creating of all things structure, leadership and God forbid - programs! And, it is now mister author’s intent to return the church to the blissful incubator state outlined in Acts 2. They want to return the church to its roots and use the new evangelical buzz word “organic” in their attempt to justify this leap. Is that even possible? Meet every day? Sell all that you have…ah…you first. Which New Testament church should we try for, Corinth? Oh wait…

Perhaps church history has more to teach us than how not to do church. Perhaps there are Godly saints gone before us who read the scriptures just like us and truly sought to live out their faith in their context. And perhaps more pointedly, you wouldn’t have done any different if you grew up in their lifetime. Sure there might be the odd example of those going astray from the true teachings of scripture. But, does that mean we paint it all with broad strokes? We as a church stand on the shoulders of those gone before us. It is our duty to read and study about their life, teaching and thinking. Those in the high church tradition get this while we in the “free church” tend to pick and choose our heroes from the past.

In fact, most of this chronological snobbery comes from ignorance. Someone once told me that “for every two Christian books you read from an author that is living, read one from someone who is now dead.” It may be a more difficult read and may not be red hot relevant for your current longings. But, an understanding of your heritage will connect you with the larger story of Christianity. And, you may even learn something that shapes your understanding of the Christian life and application of church today. Good advice, let’s learn from our forefathers, they may have something for us.