25 Books Every Christian Should Read (and a book giveaway!)

The following is a conversation part of the Patheos Book Club for 25 Books Every Christian Should Read.  To interact more, click this link.

—————————————————–

My spiritual journey continues to be informed by people like Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, and more recently – Jan Johnson.  These folks are part of a wonderful organization called Renovare, which focuses on equipping followers of Jesus to become more like their Messiah.  My personal reflections on the issue of inward transformation and how such expresses itself outwardly, are written in an article called “I’m Done With Living Like a Christian.”  There, you will get a glimpse into why I appreciate the Renovare approach to spirituality.  Bottom line: know Jesus more.

Recently, I was sent a book to explore and reflect upon called 25 Books Every Christian Should Read.  My initial thought was that I wondered about the criteria for such a list, wondering if this list was a bit restrictive.  But, as I read the rationale for selecting these books (which represent the broad gamut of Christian writings from St. Athanasius to Henri Nouwen), I became convinced that the Renovare board was on to something.  They state:

This book is not the list of the best Christian books ever written or a list of the top twenty-five devotional books; it isn’t even the list of the top twenty-five classics, although we believe all of the books on the list are or will be considered classics of their respective genres.  the books we have chosen to include are, instead, the books that the board judged served as the best guides for living life with God.  Cumulatively, these books embody a rich treasure of wisdom and counsel for how to live the Christian life. (x)

With that as the criteria, here is the goal: “reading primarily for formation rather than for information” (xii).  This certainly is a challenge in a day when reading is focused on information intake and data overload.  This book, which is a guide for introducing readers to a lot of other books, will take discipline to get through.  In fact, the books is set up in chronological order, but the hope of the compilers is that readers will seek to read particular works that resonate with where they are in their faith journey at the time.  This book truly is a guide to point you in a direction and not a book to “charge” through in a short amount of time. [Read more...]

Are You the One Who Is To Come? (Review – Lawrence Garcia)

For one whose surname is essentially “Messiah”, it is quite startling that the historical Jesus never actually out-and-out stated, “I am the Messiah.” This curious silence on the part of Jesus has led some corners of scholarship to conclude that, in fact, Jesus never conceived of himself as Israel’s Messiah, and that the messianic portrait of Jesus in the Gospel’s is a post-resurrection invention of the early church. Thus, in the book entitled Are You the One Who Is to Come?: The Historical Jesus and the Messianic Question, Michael F. Bird (fellow Patheos blogger) sets out to make sense of Jesus’ seemingly messianic reticence while at the same time challenging this serious charge against the early church’s so-called invented Christology. Bird states:

What I am going to do, rather, is argue that Jesus saw himself in messianic categories, as enacting a messianic role or a messianic vocation as part of his aim to renew and restore Israel through his various activities (pg. 29).

What I immediately appreciated was that Bird did not fall into the apologetic pitfall of merely proof-texting for passages that prima facia validate his pro-messianic assertions.  Rather, he sets out to demonstrate, from within a “critical analysis of the authentic traditions in the Gospels,” that Jesus’ “intentions and identity” can be properly labeled as “messianic.” After all, if Jesus deliberately set out to evoke messianic categories, then this should be easily traceable within our most uncontested sources for the historical Jesus. Before accomplishing this task, Bird judiciously examines and details the various messianic expectations throughout Second Temple Judaism—as found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the “messianic trajectory” of the Old Testament, Josephus, etc.—in order to reconstruct the proper register for hearing Jesus’ actions as consciously messianic. Bird concludes: [Read more...]

It’s Hip to Be a Purple Christian? Reflections on “Left Right & Christ”

NOTE: This book review is part of a Patheos Book Club Symposium.  For more articles and resources about the book, click here.

I recently read a book that I highly recommend to any Christian interested in American politics and faith.  If you read my articles on a regular basis, you know that this is a subject that comes up from time to time.  I am not a republican or a democrat – my voter registration states “independent.”  This is because my allegiance is to King Jesus and no platform fully fits his kingdom agenda.  In this way, I consider myself a “purple” Christian – because my views, with God’s grace, are informed by how I understand the agenda of king Jesus.

Yet, I would be lying if I didn’t put my cards on the table: my politics tend to lean to the left (with some important exceptions).  So, naturally, my resonances lie with Lisa Sharon Harper (“democrat”) rather than D.C. Innes (republican) in their book Left, Right, and Christ: Evangelical Faith in Politics.  With that admitted, Innes clearly loves Jesus and articulates his convictions well.

The book rightly begins with the two foundational issues of politics in America: 1) the role of government and 2) the role of business.  [Read more...]

When Children Become Sex Slaves & People Turn a Blind Eye: Reflections on God in a Brothel

 

 

NOTE: This article is part of the Patheos Book Club for God in a Brothel.  The book was provided for me to review.  Check out Patheos for ways to interact with the issues the book raises.

I noticed that many of the older girls, twelve and thirteen years old, had lost all life in their eyes.  They appeared to be in a trance or under some kind of dark magician’s spell.  They moved with a slow resignation; no amount of smiling, warmth or kindness on my part could draw them out.  The systematic and prolonged sexual abuse of children and young people is perhaps the very worst crime against humanity because, as I saw day after day, it strips them of their heart and soul.  It murders the person but leaves their bodies alive. (God in a Brothel, 89)

The above quote is one that I read more than once.  It speaks to the gradual dehumanization that system injustice leads to.  Not only does it shock me to read that the “older girls” were 12 or 13, but that such young people are walking around in a state of death.  This quote of profound truth breaks the heart of God and ought to shatter the heart of the people of God. [Read more...]