• Archive of "Books of 07" Category

    Books of 2007: A few I missed in the list

    ToddJanuary 1, 2008

    I recently blogged through a series on all the books I read in 2007. Over the last few days I have found a number that I didn’t put in the list. So, I’m adding them below.

    First, if you missed the other sections here is what I posted on so far:

    Now, here are some that I missed:

    General Theology:

    Proper Confidence by Lesslie Newbigin
    I wrote a longer blog post on this one because it was so good. As I was struggling through a time where I was wrestling with faith, doubt and reason, this was a big, big help. I can’t recommend it enough.

    The Lord and His Prayer by NT Wright
    A fantastic little book by NT Wright on the Lord’s Prayer. Sometimes I think that Wright reads the Kingdom into things that it doesn’t need to be read into, and I htink he does this a few times in this book. But the book is a great reflection on the Lord’s prayer. If you haven’t done much study on it, I’d suggest this book in a heartbeat.

    Living the Resurrection by Eugene Peterson
    Fantastic book. I always enjoy Eugene Peterson and this was no exception. I lent out this book and I am having a hard time remembering specifics but I read it in a day.

    The Sky is Falling by Alan Roxburgh
    Alan Roxburgh tackles an issue that has become close to my heart. The issue is this: Young emergent minded leaders need the older leaders get that the world is changing and can’t help but address this “discontinuous change”. He calls the older guys “liminals” and the younger guys emergents.

    The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne
    Shane Claiborne is and uncool kind of cool. And so is his book. Here is a story of a guy who dared to take the Bible as literally as possible when it talks about caring for the poor. While I don’t think that everyone is called to live among the poor in the inner city (most of you know my passion for transforming the suburbs) I think that more of us are than have followed that call and I want to live as radically here in the burbs as he does there. Basically, if you feel really comfortable with your Christian life, read this book. It’ll wreck ya a bit, in a good way.

    Barth for Armchair Theologians by John Franke
    I took class on Karl Barth in Seminary and was assigned this book. My professor wrote it. Kinda self-serving isn’t it?! Even if it was, it was an excellent primer on the life and theology of Karl Barth. People really knock Barth without ever reading him. There is good reason for this, Barth is incredibly hard to read. If you want to knock Barth, at least read this book first. It’s really fantastic. (I think I actually read this in 2006 but it was at the end of 06 so I am counting it for this year).

    How to Read Karl Barth by George Hunsinger
    Yeah, so this book needs a companion guide to it called “How to Read the book How to Read Karl Barth.” Its that tough. But, it is worth it. This book shares the four main “motifs” of Barth’s writing: “actualism,” “particularism,” “objectivism,” personalism, realism, rationalism. Of course, that list of “isms” is no help to you since I haven’t defined them for you. If your interest is peaked, get the book and put on some extra bold coffee. (I think I actually read this in 2006 but it was at the end of 06 so I am counting it for this year).

    Design Books:

    A note about these design books:
    In the last three years I have noticed that there are parallel worlds in the design industry and in the church. In the church world we have a number of reform movements (emergent, missional, etc) where those involved in these movements have seen some flaws in how church is done and are looking to reform it. In the design world, there is a movement called the Web Standards Movement that is seeking to reform and fix all the horrendous practices the industry has picked up along the way. Its bizarre on just how similar these two worlds are. I think I’ll write a blog post about this later.

    Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton
    This is a book that talks about the history and serves as a guide to typography for designers, writers and editors. I am learning that web design is more typography than I first realized. We’re not talking about just picking fonts, its much more than that. If you are a designer and don’t have any formal education on typography, I’d recommend this book.

    Bulletproof Web Design by Dan Cederholm
    A friend of mine gave me this book a while ago and I finally got around to reading it this year. It’s really helpful. Really, its about making websites that work in all different browsers and in all kinds of situations, using web standards. Its nice when someone who writes a book about something is also really stinking good at it. Dan is a top notch designer who I would love to be like someday. His site is awesome.

    HTML Mastery
    Kinds self-explanitory. Its a book on advanced HTML. Very, very, very good. Highly recommended.

    CSS Mastery
    Also fairly self-explanatory. A book on advanced CSS (cascading style sheets).

    Posted in Book Reviews, Books of 07, General, Missional |
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    Books of 2007: Business / Fiction Books

    ToddDecember 23, 2007

    I was looking at my bookshelf the other day and realized that this year was a fairly good reading year for me. So, I started trying to remember what I read and how I liked what I read. So, I’ve decided to share that here. I was going to post my thoughts all at once, but when i was done writing I had six pages of text! That’s way too much to read so I am going to post them one section at a time.

    Book Reviews to come in the next few days:

    Change or Die by Alan Deutschman
    This book was simply awesome. He addresses the question, “Why do people change?” He gives a well-researched answer and uses a lot of great case studies to prove his point. So, what is the answer? Its simple. “Hope.” The book is important because so often we use fear and challenge and commitment to get people to change. But, the greatest motivator to a human being is hope. Hmm… seems like a pretty pertinent topic for our churches eh? (This book goes great with Ken Callahan’s discussions of motivations for giving in his book Giving an Steweardship in an Effective Church).

    A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder–How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and On-the-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place by Eric Abrahamson & David H. Freedman
    I love this book because I am a mess. He basically defends the idea that disorder can sometimes actually be more beneficial than order. I personally think he takes it a little far, but I found his argument to be helpful as it comes to my life. If nothing else, it freed me up to be a little disorganized and yet I still don’t want to get out of control unorganzied. But, when it comes down to it, there are honest to goodness benefits to disorder that order can’t give.

    The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom
    A very very important book. Deals with the power of organizations that are leaderless (i.e. the starfish) and the limits of organiatins taht are have a central command center (i.e. the spider). Lots of missional guys have given a better review than I could so go and search for their wise words. Or just buy the book.

    The Imperfect Leader by Davis Taylor
    Davis is a friend of mine. In fact, he’s on the leadership team at The Well. That being said, I’ll recommend this book with confidence. Davis is a leadership consultant that gets it. This book is a fictional account of an executive and his mentor (think: A New Kind of Christian). Worth a read and I think his website is really amazing!

    Historical Books:

    Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides
    Wow. This book was intense. It chronicles the story of the Bataan Death march in WWII and what followed after it. It’s books like this that makes me think that war pretty much sucks and we should avoid it at all costs. But, this book also had a redemptive side. It was amazing to see the moments of redemption that happened in the midst of such tragedy. If you are into reading about our world’s wars, you should pick this up. But, be prepared to vomit in your mouth a few times, its fairly graphic to what really happened.

    Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
    This is the historical fiction account of the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War. Its amazing. I read it in two days. It was amazing. If you are fascinated like I am by the lives of people during the Civil War and the emotions of war, this is quite recommended.

    Posted in Books of 07, Culture, General, Leadership |
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    Books of 2007: Pastoral Leadership

    ToddDecember 22, 2007

    I was looking at my bookshelf the other day and realized that this year was a fairly good reading year for me. So, I started trying to remember what I read and how I liked what I read. So, I’ve decided to share that here. I was going to post my thoughts all at once, but when i was done writing I had six pages of text! That’s way too much to read so I am going to post them one section at a time.

    Book Reviews to come in the next few days:

    Countdown to Sunday: A daily guide to those that dare to preach by Chris Eardman
    Wow. This book rocked my world in such a good way. The subtitle says it all, “a daily guide for those who dare to preach.” I realized after speaking at the funeral I did recently that I have taken preaching way too lightly this year. In that funeral, I was so aware of the gravity of the situation. Gary (my co-pastor) and I talked later that night about how every time we preach should be that big of a deal. I really believe that Eardman thinks that preaching can change the world and that we should approach the moment with that much intensity. Between the funeral and his book, my preaching better never be the same. The other part of this book that was helpful was that he gave me a great framework for preaching as a bi-vocational minister who doesn’t have the luxery of putting in 25 hours of study and prep.

    Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley
    I’ve had this book recommended to me by about 5 pastor friends. It was a really, really helpful book on preaching. Its not going to knock your socks off with revolutionary content, but its solid. Really solid. Some great suggestions that help teach the preacher how to communicate in a way that effects true change in those who are listening. He helpfully points out that this does not negate the work of the Holy Spirit. But rather, makes the case that we should do our best to communicate in a clear an effective way. This was a great complement to the book above by Eardman.

    Working the Angles by Eugene Peterson
    This is another top 10. In fact, I read this book every year. I’ve said before that it usually makes me physically ill because it is so convicting and challenging. I keep coming back to it because it is such a great reminder about what the pastorate is about. If you are a pastor and you have not read this book, I’d strongly suggest it.

    Off-Road Disciplines by Earl Creps
    I got this book for review and found it a good read. I blogged about it here this year so I won’t re-write what I said there.

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    Books of 2007: Church Leadership

    ToddDecember 17, 2007

    I was looking at my bookshelf the other day and realized that this year was a fairly good reading year for me. So, I started trying to remember what I read and how I liked what I read. So, I’ve decided to share that here. I was going to post my thoughts all at once, but when i was done writing I had six pages of text! That’s way too much to read so I am going to post them one section at a time.

    Book Reviews to come in the next few days:

    Organic Community by Joe Myers
    This, along with Joe’s first book (The Search to Belong), has been one of the most helpful books I have read when it comes to leadership. I personally believe that if we let the stuff that Joe writes about sink it, it will dramatically change the way we approach community and leadership. His chapter on power was worth the price of the book. I think the problem people find in this book (and his second book) is that he seems to be dealing with small issues. But, I’ve come to realize that its these small issues that make a huge difference to how people see and respond to our leadership as pastors.

    Giving and Stewardship in an Effective Church by Kennon Callahan
    If I could recommend 10 books to a church planter this would be in the top 5. I know the title makes it sound old school and out of date. But that is so far from the truth! I personally believe that one of the biggest issues in the “emerging church” or “missional church” is our horrible way of dealing with money and offering. We’ve made it an embarrassment to what we do instead of an incredible opportunity to generously give to what we care about. In this book, the best thing that Ken does is share how people respond to language when it is used in the invitation to give. Seriously, get this book. I believe that if you buy into what he is saying it will change not only your church budget but it will give you a language to invite your people to be generous well beyond your budget. (Note: Ken has a different writing style. It takes getting used to. If you want to really learn about these issues join me in Atlanta in February at his conference.).

    Intuitive Leadership by Tim Keel
    Tim is one of those guys who, within the first 10 minutes of meeting him I knew was the real deal. In getting to know some poeple who are well-known in our small world of church ministry, I am sometimes so dissappoitned as i realize these people are really more interetsed in being known than they are pastoring people. Tim is one of those guys who I could tell just loves his church and loves his people. I loved this book because his story and my story are not too far off (though, they do depart in some major ways). I am not sure if this book gave me any big new insight, but man was it encouraging and I’d recommend it to anyone (I’d especially recommend it to anyone who is trying to figure out what in the heck postmodernism is and what it means for the church).

    Effective Church Leadership by Kennon Callahan
    Ken Callahan is a 70 year old who gets what it means to be missional and I don’t think he even knows it. He doesn’t really know too much about emergent. He doesn’t have to. He just gets it. This book addresses the tensions that many of us are feeling, “how do we structure and cultivate a missional environment?” He gives some good (not perfect, but good) advice and thoughts on just that in this book.

    Twelve Keys to an Effective Church by Kennon Callahan
    Lest anyone think that I think Ken can do no wrong let me say this. This book is fairly outdated. The title says it all does it not?! But, let me also say this, chapter 1 is worth the price of the book and the other chapters are worth it to if taken with a grain of salt.

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    Books of 2007: General Theology

    ToddDecember 14, 2007

    I was looking at my bookshelf the other day and realized that this year was a fairly good reading year for me. So, I started trying to remember what I read and how I liked what I read. So, I’ve decided to share that here. I was going to post my thoughts all at once, but when i was done writing I had six pages of text! That’s way too much to read so I am going to post them one section at a time.

    Book Reviews to come in the next few days:

    This second section is what I read in the area of General Theology:

    A Walk Through the Bible by Lesslie Newbigin
    Wow. This little book is a pure gem! If you are looking for a quick summary of the narrative of scripture you have found your resource. This is not only great for those of us who grew up in the church to read through and reframe our lives, but it is great for someone who doesn’t know the story at all. I bought about 10 copies of this book and gave them away to people in the church. In fact, I need to do that again… be right back…

    Church Dogmatics 4.3.2 by Karl Barth
    Okay, so I didn’t read this whole entire volume. But, I started to and have read a decent chunk of it. I’ll tell you what, this section of the dogmatics is pure gold when it comes to understanding the church and its role in the world. I actually referenced it a few times in my paper on the missional church in suburbia. If you are feeling brave, pick up this volume from amazon. In my opinion, its well worth the time, money and effort.

    Embracing Grace by Scot McKnight
    Top 10 book. Ever. The thing that I love about Scot is that even though its clear that he is brilliant, he writes books that are both very readable to the non-academic and very helpful to the average person sitting in the pew. We’ve been using this book in my small group this year and I can honestly say that his discussion of the gospel of embracing grace has cultivated a lot of life change in our small little group. I feel like the best thing this book did was to give me language to explain how I have understood the gospel for so long. In fact, I think I am going to go and buy it as a gift for someone who reads this blog. Be right back….

    A Community Called Atonement by Scot McKnight
    Scot continues to write about important and deep issues in ways that are not incomprehensible. I am actually only about 1/2 way through this book at the moment but have found it really, really helpful as I think thought the different views of the atonement that have been proclaimed and argued throughout church history.

    The Great Omission by Dallas Willard
    Dallas Willard is pretty much a go-to kind of author. I had to read this book for a class I took early in the year and found to really to be helpful as we think about the lack of real discipleship that happens in the local church in America.

    The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard
    I read this in 2001 (I think) and it was completely transforming to my understanding of salvation, faith and well, pretty much everything. I had to re(skim) it again for a class and it was better the second time. If you haven’t read it, you really should. If you have already read it. Pick it up for a few hours and take it in again. Its that good.

    Posted in Book Reviews, Books of 07, General, The Church, Theology |
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    Books of 2007: Missional Theology

    ToddDecember 13, 2007

    I was looking at my bookshelf the other day and realized that this year was a fairly good reading year for me. So, I started trying to remember what I read and how I liked what I read. So, I’ve decided to share that here. I was going to post my thoughts all at once, but when i was done writing I had six pages of text! That’s way too much to read so I am going to post them one section at a time.

    Book Reviews to come in the next few days:

    This first section is what I read in the area of Missional Theology.

    The Open Secret by Lesslie Newbigin
    Simply put this is a top ten book of all time. If you are looking for a good (yet deep) and well thought out introduction to Missional Theology this is a decent place to start. I posted a paper I wrote on this book here. Newbigin is the one who all the missional guys were reading first. He was a missionary in India for 40 years and when he came back from the mission field was struck by how Europe was now a mission field unto itself. This dude’s thinking is amazing. I’ve made a goal to read everything he has written in my lifetime. I’m pretty sure I’ll never do it, but its nice to think about.

    The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch
    I loved Hirsch and Frost in The Shaping of Things to Come. This was no let down. The two most helpful and meaningful sections were on “Jesus Is Lord” and his explanation and discussion of apostolic leadership (as i feel like he explained me fairly well there).

    Exiles by Mike Frost
    Again, this was a great addition and follow up to Shaping of Things to Come. I have thought a lot recently about how our church needs to see it self in more of a mentality as an exile. I read this early this year so its not quite as fresh but I’m sure I’ll be referencing this again before too long.

    The Great Giveaway by David Fitch
    David is a smart dude. That’s all I’ve got to say. I ran into him when I was in Chicago visiting my family this summer and I was happy to say that I like him even, and this book, even more now. Its funny, I pictured him as a young, 35 year old, but in all reality he’s old! (Ok, so 40 something isn’t old but he was nothing like i pictured! Don’t worry, I told him that to his face!). Regardless of all that, this book is well worth the time and he really speaks a good prophetic voice that the american church needs to at least listen to and consider.

    The Like Jesus but Not the Church by Dan Kimball
    I don’t know Dan at all but I have heard great things about him. If nothing else I really, really appreciate his continual call to not let us forget about the importance of evangelism! That said, this book didn’t do too much for me personally. But, it was very insightful and I have recommended (and gifted) it to a few pastor friends who are trying to catch up with how our culture views Christianity and the church.

    Okay, that’s it for now. More reviews to follow in the next few days.

    Posted in Book Reviews, Books of 07, General, Missional, The Church, The Well |
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