Tag Archives: Books

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2009-2010 Reading List

2009-2010 Reading List

2009-2010 Reading List

Each year as I wrap up the busy summer and start getting geared up for the school year, I try to take stock of where I’m at spiritually. Each August, I try to limit my activities and spend time with my family and spend some time alone to refresh and renew my spiritual life.

It’s at this point each year that I set for myself several goals that I want to accomplish. And that includes putting together a pretty extensive reading list. In fact, I leave tomorrow for two days of solitude and simplicity. I’m going camping. Just me, God’s Word, and a few books from this list.

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Book Review – Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury has managed to create a world which is science fiction and yet seems eerily familiar all at the same time in Fahrenheit 451.

Guy Montag lives in a world where it is illegal to read books.  Books have been banned, and firemen are there to enforce the law.  Firemen don’t put out fires; they start them, in homes of lawbreakers.  Montag lives in a society that is swallowed up by their addiction to a futuristic version of the television.  And all else has been lost.  Life has no meaning, no purpose.  And any type of social activity is strictly prohibited.

Montag meets a seventeen year old girl named Clarisse.  She teaches him that people hold value, and are meant to be in relationships with one another.  And Montag meets an elderly professor.  Professor Faber teaches Montag that it is all right to think for himself; and he casts a vision for Montag of a future where thinking is encouraged once again.

While Fahrenheit 451 is a book which was written 50 years ago, about a society far in the future, even from today, and completely centered on censorship and defiance, it haunts the reader with frighteningly accurate glimpses of reality today.  And not simply in the area of censorship, though that is familiar enough.

There’s a spiritual element in Fahrenheit 451 that shouts to be heard over the noise of a godless society.  In Montag’s world, people have no purpose or meaning.  Individuals have lost their individuality.  People have become purposeless drones, drowning in their own sorrows, and covering up their shattered lives by wearing masks. 

In a very real way, this describes us, today.  We wear masks, hiding who we really are, and we’ve done this so long that we’ve forgotten who we really are.  We need people like the group of old men Montag meets at the very end of the story.  People who seem to represent pastors and ministers.  People who hold the truth in their minds.  People who have the keys to restoring our individuality and relationships.  People who are willing to serve others, meeting their needs.

Just like the people in Guy Montag’s world accepted their imprisonment by their society, we have put up with our own for far too long.  We need to stop reveling in our bondage, our sin.  We need to return to reality; return to the Truth.  We are trapped.  We need a Savior to free us.

While Fahrenheit 451 may not have been written with a spiritual purpose in mind in 1953, there is a message there for those with eyes to see and ears to hear.

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Reading List for 2009-2010

BooksSo I’ve been really thinking and praying about what I need to soak into my life over the next several months in my reading schedule.  And I think I’ve finally narrowed my list down to a manageable amount.  And by “manageable,” I mean I’ve narrowed it down to about twenty books that I feel like God will use to teach me this year.  Just twenty.  Out of dozens more that looked like I would /could gain from reading them.

This is a pretty optimistic list.  Because I know there will be several other books that will make it onto my shelf to be read this year as well.  For instance, anything new that Ted Dekker releases will probably take immediate priority.  I just can’t help it.  Dekker is the unchallenged favorite fictional author that I’ve ever read.  He’s even trumped Tom Clancy and John Grisham! (for shame!) 

But after browsing in bookstores, and Amazon, and my own personal library…  And praying over the books that I’ve pulled from the shelves or purchased… I feel like God has identified these books to meet needs in my life and in the lives of my family, and eventually in the life of our congregation.  

The impact these authors could have in my life is potentially enormous.  I pray that I’m big enough to take it all in, and process it, and grow from it…

I plan to post my reading list here in a day or two.  If you have read any of the books I list, and want to make a comment about them, I would love to hear it.  And thank you for it.

Stay tuned…

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Book Review – Why We’re Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be) by Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck

Why We're Not EmergentThe Emergent or Emerging Church has been the buzz of Christianity over the last several months. But is it the glorious answer to taking the Bride of Christ into the 21st century that it claims to be?

The Emergent Church has stepped up to the plate, claiming that it is the new Christianity, for a post-modern world. But, according to DeYoung and Kluck, the Emergent Church has struck out.

According to these two guys, the Emergent Church is little more than liberalism (not just liberal Christianity) redressed. And while social activism and conversations about our faith are good and needed, they do not replace our need to know the specific details concerning our faith: the doctrine presented faithfully for over two thousand years, from generation to generation.

Looking at the Emergent Church, I fear that they face making a dangerous error: “they love what Jesus loves but do not hate what Jesus hates.”

At the risk of quoting too long of a passage from Kevin DeYoung’s epilogue, here is a succinct summary:

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Book Review – The Noticer by Andy Andrews

The Noticer

 Jones is a man who notices. Jones notices things most people miss, even though these things are in plain sight to everyone. And Jones uses what he notices to help others. He notices things about situations and people that produce perspective. “That’s what most folks lack – perspective – a broader view. So I give them that broader view… and it allows them to regroup, take a breath, and begin their lives again.” 

In The Noticer, Andy Andrews tells the story of a simple man who notices things about people. And then he imparts wisdom and perspective into the lives of the people he comes into contact with; and into the life of the reader in the process. 

Filled with wisdom and insight, The Noticer is one of the best books I have ever read. Simple, and easily read in a couple of evenings, The Noticer is full of nuggets of truth that hit home, sometimes with painful intensity, and deals with some of the most difficult issues in life. 

Andy Andrews hits the nail on the head repeatedly in The Noticer. I cannot help but recommend that everyone I know reads this book. It is life-changing in its simple, yet profound, wisdom. A pleasure to read, and re-read. Add this one to your book shelf today! 

If you are interested in reading The Noticer, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

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Book Review – Put Your Dream To The Test by John C. Maxwell

Put Your Dream To The Test What is your dream? What are you so passionate about that you would do whatever it takes to see that dream realized? Are you willing to do anything to make that dream a reality? 

In Put Your Dream To The Test, John Maxwell identifies ten questions you need to ask yourself, and answer “yes” to, in order to see your dream through to fruition. Asking questions like, “Do I clearly see my dream?” and “Do I have a strategy to reach my dream?”, among others, Maxwell gives us the tools needed to help make our dreams come true. 

While John Maxwell has included a lot of great leadership material here, much of it can be found in many of his other books. That said, it is still helpful to have good material refreshed in my mind occasionally. Maxwell has done just that with Put Your Dream To The Test. 

Put Your Dream To The Test gave me some great ideas and encouraged me to examine my passions. Am I doing what it takes to see my dream become reality? I am much closer to that now than I was before I read this book. 

If you are interested in reading Put Your Dream To The Test, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Book Review – The Faith: Given Once, For All by Charles Colson and Harold Fickett

The Faith

Most Christians today have no idea what they believe, why they believe it or even why it matters. As a result, they have a very difficult time understanding and defending their faith; and find it even more difficult to live out their faith. Charles Colson and Harold Fickett have addressed that need by presenting a concise and accessible summary of the basic truths of Christianity.

Divided into two sections, The Faith lays out a detailed, yet understandable view of Christian Orthodoxy (right belief). The first section, entitled God and the Faith, examine several foundational doctrines that are central to Christianity. The second section, The Faith and Life, looks at truths and doctrines that relate to how we live out our faith within the context of community.

Why is it so essential that we comprehend clearly what we believe? Because truth matters. Truth matters because the heart of what we believe is at stake. When doctrine and truth are abandoned, the results are frightening. “Right doctrine leads to right behavior, often with unforeseen but wonderful consequences” (page 206).

Colson and Fickett have hit a homerun with The Faith. They have correctly identified that Christianity is not a religion, nor even a relationship, but a worldview. Christianity speaks to every part of our lives with authority. But if we don’t know what we believe, or even what Christianity is, how can we understand it, live it or defend it? We are truly crippled by our ignorance.

I highly recommend that you add The Faith to your bookshelf. It’s a great resource to help us return to the foundations of Christianity.

If you are interested in reading The Faith, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”