Steve McCoy asks a great question of his Southern Baptist Friends, “What 5 books would you recommend for a church’s book table?” So, i am stealing the idea for this post from him…
Most of the answers there were in the Reformed circles. Some good titles there. But, I do wonder what top 5 books you would put on the back table of a church.
Here are mine:
- A Walk Through the Bible – Lesslie Newbigin (a great, short, non-churchy summary of the bible)
- Proper Confidence – Lesslie Newbigin
- A Spirituality for the Road
– David Bosch
- Jesus Creed - Scot McKnight
- Embracing Grace - Scot McKnight
There are others I’d add to the list to round it out a bit, but those are the top 5 off the top of my head.
I’d love to throw some creative fiction like Flannery O’Connor on there but unfortunately I wouldn’t know where to start.
So, what are your top 5 back table books?
Renaud said...
1I don’t know about 5, but I’d place Simply Christian or Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright. These books changed my life in how I viewed the Gospel. I’d also add The Divine Hours collected by Phyllis Tickle. For something fun, maybe something like Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz.
05/22/08 12:46 PM | Comment Link
Todd said...
2Jim, good call on those Wright books. The Divine Hours series is great too. I would add that to my top 5 if i had thought of it.
05/22/08 1:09 PM | Comment Link
Steve McCoy said...
3BLJ has been on our book table before. Sold out. And Todd, I would guess a vast majority of my readers are not SBC. I wasn’t going to correct you, but you did steal my post after all. ;)
05/22/08 1:23 PM | Comment Link
Todd said...
4Steve, BLJ? why don’t i know what you are talking about? Sorry about the SBC thing, i got an SBC vibe. maybe i was catching a reformed vibe instead… what do i know?! :)
05/22/08 1:38 PM | Comment Link
Steve McCoy said...
5BLJ = Blue Like Jazz. Sorry for the shorthand.
Maybe the vibe is no vibe at all. That’s bad news. I need to recreate my online persona!
05/22/08 1:40 PM | Comment Link
Renaud said...
6Oh yeah, The Bible would be good too.
05/22/08 5:44 PM | Comment Link
Dan B. said...
7BLJ I would go for. “Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ” by Piper meant a lot to me, as did his “When the Darkness Will Not Lift.” “Sacred Romance” by Eldredge and Curtis. And right now I’m enjoying “In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day” by Mark Batterson. Newbigin’s “Walk Through the Bible” I would agree with. I also like “The Bible for Dummies.” Really, I do.
For fiction, “A Room with a View,” and the Bourne books. (I see Bourne as a metaphor for believers) And “Lord of the Rings” goes without saying.
05/22/08 7:15 PM | Comment Link
Doug Paul said...
8I’d have to say:
1) The Divine Conspiracy: Dallas Willard
2) Glittering Images: Susan Howatch
3) Simply Christian: N.T. Wright
4) Let Your Life Speak: Parker Palmer
5) Return of the Prodigal: Henri Nouwen
05/29/08 5:39 PM | Comment Link
Jessi said...
9Don’t know about all 5, but off the top of my head…
Men & Women in the Church by Sarah Sumner
God on Mute by Pete Greig
Slaves, Women & Homosexuals by William J. Webb (though doubtful many folks would have the tenacity to get through it as it’s not exactly ‘easy reading’!)
06/2/08 12:44 AM | Comment Link
jim said...
10I really enjoyed NT Wright’s Simply Christian, but in a book discussion on it in my congregation last summer people just didn’t get it…it was almost too much for them. Makes me wonder what if anything they had been reading before I got here as pastor…
07/14/08 2:55 PM | Comment Link