What are You Currently Reading?

Hey, SBC. What did you think of Simple Church. I'm still reading it (I read REAL SLOW), but I really like what I've read.

 

I am still reading it as well, but I have liked it. I think he touches on a major problem in most churches today.

 

It's made me re-think (or maybe even think for the first time) why we do what we do. I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

 

I seem to always start more that one book at a time.

I am currently reading Authentic Relationships: Discover the Lost Art of "One Anothering" by Wayne and Clay Jacobsen and Ekklesia: To the Roots of Biblical Church Life by Steve Atkerson.

They are both great books so far, I highly recommend them!

 

i'm currently reading The Coming Destruction of the Baptist People by James Beller. its great it shows the many sublime enemies of the baptists and ways that we and others are dooming ourselves. Dr. David L. Cummins my mom's former pastor recommended it to my dad while we were at a baptist history conference at Mranatha Baptist Church in Flint' Michigan. it's great and i would recommend it to any Baptist

 

The Good Life by Chuck Colson

 

I am currently enjoying "Simple Church". Not sure if all the concepts would work where we are, but I really like it. Am going to start "Worship by the Book" by D.A. Carson next.

 

Quote:
"The Good Life by Chuck Colson"

I think anything written by Colson is a good read. I am reading his religio-political book, Kingdoms in Conflict. It was written in 1987 and I am just getting around to actually reading it now.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Just finished Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll and started Breaking the Missional Code: When Churches Become Missionaries in Their Communities by Ed Stetzer and David Putman.
RR was very thought provoking and BtMC has been good so far. They both center on the concept that we are to be missionaries in our own communities and think of our communities and their culture as missionaries think about the culture they are entering....

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cbc

 

90 Minutes in Heaven - Don Piper, With Cecil Murphey.
About a pastor who "died" in a car accident, got a brief glimpse of heaven and returned to earth.

Share Jesus Without Fear - William Fay
Provides a step-by-step way to witnessing. Approach looks simply enough and effective. I just need to give it a try.

This is my first post here after monitoring the board for a while. Hello all! :wavey:

Randall

 

Welcome Brother Randall!
There are lots of different ways to witness, it's the doing part that's hard.

Just finished Harold O.J. Brown's Heresies, Heresy and Orthodoxy in the History of the Church

It made me thirsty for a real meaty church history book.
Suggestions anyone?

I just ordered:

Genesis 1-4: A Linguistic, Literary, and Theological Commentary
by C. John Collins

A History of the Synoptic Problem: The Canon, the Text, the Composition, and the Interpretation of the Gospels
by David Dungan and David Laird Dungan

Rob

 

Stroebel started as a lawyer that investigated crimes and then sometimes wrote newspaper articles.

He writes from an investigators perspective as he interviews experts in the field.

 

The Case for Christ was good. I think he made a good defense. Now Strobel has a few other "Case for..." books. He might be riding the success coattails of this first book. I found his writing style much different in "The Case for God" and didn't enjoy it as much.

 

A book I am paying a great deal of attention to right now is:
Campbell, Alexander. The Christian System. This was printed in the early 1800's during the Restoration and is being reprinted.

I am finding out the the Restoration Movement that gave rise to the Churches of Christ went very much astray with most of them. To say that Alexander Campbell did not have such a group in mind is putting it mildly.

Firsthand knowledge of Restoration works and ideas are causing many Churches of Christ to decide for a different direction than the way most have been going.

 

On the lighter side, I am reading, The Truth Shall Set You Free, But First It Will Make You Miserable, by Jamie Buckingham, pastor of the Tabernacle, Melbourne, Florida. A good read for those who take themselves far too seriously and need a jesting break.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Bruce Wilkinsons's Secret of the Vine

 

War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges. It's a short book that is excellent reading, very thought provoking. It is out of his practical observation and experience as a correspondent in several world "hot spots," including Argentina during the Falkland War, El Salvador during the revolution, Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia during the ethnic cleansing, Palestine and Israel, and Iraq during the First Gulf War.

 

It's hard to narrow-down what I am currently reading because it's a juggling act . I read a lot of books during an average week .

Nevertheless , Chaucer 1340-1400 by Richard West is proving to be very good . I find that era fascinating .

The Power Of Babel by John McWhorter is very informative . He covers some of the same material as Bill Bryson did in Mother Tongue . Lots of stuff to learn about languages around the world . I am particularly interested in the development of English through the centuries .

Tried By Fire : Exposition of First Peter by F.B. Myer . He has been an Arminian that I have admired , but this is the first book I have read by him . It is very encouraging and instructive . It is a blessing .

The Free Offer & The Call Of The Gospel by George M. Ella . Ella has the reputation of being a flaming hyper-Calvinist . I differ with him at times , but overall he is rather solid and biblical . He is quite the historian . I love his biographies on such notables as William Cowper and James Hervey among others .

Human Accomplishment : The Pursuit Of excellence In The Arts And Sciences 800 BC --1950 , by Charles Murray . Mister Murray is infamous in some circles , but I appreciate his vast knowledge and objectivity . I read a review of this book several years ago by my favorite columinist -- Thomas Sowell . Finally I bought it three days ago . His findings would upset many -- but the criteria he uses are very fair . My thoughts , not Murray's -- are that God gives certain gifts ( even to the ungodly ) . Those gifts are not distributed uniformly . A number of dead men ( few women ) in a narrow geographical area from northern Italy to England proper seem to have had distinctive giftings in the realm of the arts and sciences during the time period indicated in the title of his work .

 

Bruce Wilkinson's Prayer of Jabez. I got a three book gift set