I've Been Thinking About This…

Here’s the other half of my 2008 reading list of books focused on church and Christian growth. For the first half, go here. (Once again, the links include my Amazon Associate number, so if you want to buy the book click through the link. You don’t pay any more, and I get a teeny tiny bit. This is still good.)

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars, by Mark Batterson
 

Readability: 8

Insight: 7

Practicality: 8

As it happens, the Bible Study I was leading had just covered this piece of Scripture (2 Sam 23:20) the previous week when I bumped into this book. Great insights by Mark Batterson (follow him on the web or Twitter @MarkBatterson) to encourage the reader to grab life by the throat – don’t wind up your life piled up with regrets. Take courage, and be willing to tackle the lion in the pit.

I’ve lent the book out, so no quote, sorry.

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Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens, by Neil Cole
 

Readability: 7

Insight: 8

Practicality: 8

Excellent book about starting/planting churches. Not money but faithful obedience; not by doing the traditional but by branching out; not by calling people to the church, but by taking the church to the people in a far more gospel-centric approach to service than is typical.

Again, I’ve lent the book out, so no quote, sorry.

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Pop Goes the Church: Should the Church Engage Pop Culture?, by Tim Stevens
 

Readability: 8

Insight: 7

Practicality: 8

I follow Tim on his blog (Leading Smart and Twitter @TimAStevens). He’s worth following – he has good insights, and is generous in sharing them. This book is no different. It’s all about the need to connect to the current (‘pop’) culture if we’re to connect to the people that need Christ. Lots of examples, and a web site devoted to the book to boot – these things put into practice the things laid out in the book. Good enough, deep enough and simple enough that I’ve got his other books in the queue now.

Yep, lent it out.

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The Story of Everything: A Parable of Creation and Evolution, by John Kotre
 

Readability: 5

Insight: 5

Practicality: 5

A rather confusing story – possibly confusing only to me because I’m trying to read too much into it. Nice, though, and easy to read.

More on the book in my review here.

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The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell
 

Readability: 8

Insight: 7

Practicality: 6

An intriguing book, very well written, and keeps the reader moving forward. It came across as a pop research book. There are some interesting facts presented (Paul Revere’s ride, the Hush Puppy phenomenon, Georgia Sadler’s viral campaign in San Diego). And there is a dissection of these activities, and an explanation of the result. And the implication is that if you have these things (connector, maven, salesman), you’ll increase your chances of a successful grassroots marketing campaign. And I suppose that’s true; and I believe there is deep insight here as well. However, I’m not that comfortable with the sense of a ‘boxed solution’ – make sure you’ve got these three components and you’ve done all you can.

But it is an intriguing book. My issue isn’t with the insights but with the completeness of their presentation.

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The Wild Gospel: Bringing Truth to Life, by Rev Dr Alison Morgan
 

Readability: 7

Insight: 8

Practicality: 7

It’s fairly rare to find an academically sound book that holds the interest of a casual reader like me. I stole this one from my father. (Hey, he’d finished it already.) It is organized into three sections – the ministry of Jesus, what works and what doesn’t, and a gospel for our times. The first section adjusted and deepened my understanding of what Jesus was doing in his incarnate ministry – why He was at such pains to break down the Pharisaic way of thinking. I found the metaphor of the bricks and mortar wall extremely helpful (and now use it in the Bible in a Day course); there are many other similar insights. The book speaks of her own faith journey, including her travel into Africa and her times at home. It is personal and it is instructive. I bought several more and gave them to friends. (But I still have my father’s copy!)

“… Jesus’ challenge ringing in my ears: the challenge to look at the world … through the spectacles worn by God Himself.” (p. 162)