2010 Reading List

Almost Christian by Kenda Creasy-Dean
One-Word Review: Shocking but not Surprising

Dean reports and responds to a 3-year survey on teenagers and their spiritual habits. She found that the church is producing exactly the disciples it is setup to produce: moralistic therapeutic deists. By and large churches are not making disciples of Jesus Christ but disciples of a culture that sees church as nothing more than a nice thing to do and nothing that requires me to change how I live at all. She also provides hope through suggestions on how we change our churches to make disciples, not deists.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
OWR: Thorough

Kidder gives a very thorough biography of Dr. Paul Farmer, a man whose passion is not making a great and comfortable living as a doctor in the US but one who wants to bring healing to people in Haiti and other extremely poor areas of the world. Two favorite quotes: “the only nation is humanity” and “the fact that any sort of religious faith was so disdained at Harvard and so important to the poor – not just in Haiti but elsewhere, too – made me even more convinced that faith must be something good.” The book was long from time-to-time but that makes it thorough.

The Trouble with Paris by Mark Sayers
OWR: Hyperreality Deconstructed

I’m very much looking forward to hosting Mark on our campus in November. He skillfully pulls apart the world that we want to live in but is not real (hyperreality), explores reality, and where God wants reality to be. Mark is excellent as he explores the seeming paradox of the Western world with its amazing comfort and high rates of young adult dis-ease and even suicide rates. We are literally entertaining ourselves  out of the true life Jesus wants us to have in the here and now.

Not on Our Watch by Don Cheadle & John Prendergast
OWR: Practical & Hopeful

So many times we throw up our hands at the absolute horror and atrocity of great suffering. Cheadle & Prendergast provide a very practical book on how we can influence the first genocide of the 21st century in the Darfur region of Sudan. The text gives you necessary background material and the ways to move political and human capital forward to prevent more deaths (6 million and counting). DWU takes a yearly Advent offering to help out United Methodist efforts there to eliminate suffering.

The Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley
OWR: Do Less

Stanley provides a great resources to train young people on how to lead effectively wherever they find themselves having authority and leadership. He focuses his text on five areas: competence, courage, clarity, coaching, & character. These five areas will make or break the leaders that are to come. Likely due to m other reading, I appreciated the chapter on competence; we must not be afraid to do less to accomplish more in the areas we are most gifted in.

Halos & Avatars – edited by Craig Detweiler
OWR: Interjecting Gray

Beyond quite a lame subtitle (Play Video Games with God) lies some fantastic gems about the benefits and dangers of video game culture. Moving beyond the conventional wisdom that “video games lead to violence,” new evidence is presented that actually proves the exact opposite. An informed and engaged discussion from multiple voices emerges including a great interview from Myst creator and the music director behind the Halo series. My favorite chapters are as follows: intro, 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, & 11.

The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture by Shane Hipps
OWR: Cautionary Tale

I used another of Shane’s books, Flickering Pixels, this past year in a course I taught.  The students felt he was too wishy-washy and never told them what he believed; I find Shane refreshing. He asks questions about technology I’ve not thought to ask and reminds me that new technology is not always a total benefit to ministry. I loved the history behind past technological advancements and how it shapes us, many times unseen.

Wall and Piece by Banksy
OWR: Stirring Creativity

I’m not an art critic by any means; this graffiti art book was suggested by a preaching conference that I was unable to attend. I loved it! It was the story of one person’s trials of doing graffiti art all over Europe, photos were interspersed with some very great (and short) commentary on life. I fairly certain this book was suggested for a preaching conference to get some new creativity going for all pastors.

Simple Church by Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger
OWR: Focus

One of the things I did first when assigned to DWU as campus pastor was to simplify the campus ministry calendar. Apparently, that desire was inline with the notion of focusing all our programs and ministries into one clear process to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Gone are the days of the church will do everything; people, including college students, are way too busy and need the focus of a church with one mission and one focus.

Simple Student Ministry by Eric Geiger & Jeff Borton
OWR: Alignment

I chuckle whenever a ministry book does well because you know the student ministry version isn’t far behind! Same format as Simple Church using youth ministries as an example. Still great content using Apple & Google as two examples of companies that focus like a laser, do a few things with excellence, and are dominating the globe. Could the church be just as effective if we focused and aligned like Apple & Google do?

Following Jesus by Carolyn Slaughter
OWR: Basic Training

Developed as new member training for the folks at Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City, Ohio, this is a great small group study that has take the information of new member classes and focuses all of it on the transformation God wants to do in all our lives. I enjoyed the spiritual gift inventories and the small group focus from United Methodisms early days of classes and societies.

Enough by Adam Hamilton
OWR: RHS (Restless Heart Syndrome)

There are all kinds of financial books, Christian and otherwise, to get your house in order; so why another? Because Adam does a fantastic job in 110 short pages mixing theology, story, and practical advice to get your financial house in order. He diagnoses all of us, me included, with restless heart syndrome. We live in a culture that is dependent upon us to be discontent so we buy more things we do not truly need. Adam calls us back to living simply, beneath our means, and to the truth that it is the simple things in life that are worth it and truly memorable.

Five Practices of Fruitful Youth Ministry by Robert Schnase & Terry B. Carty
OWR: Fruitful Tool

This very short book that reviews the five practices from Schanase’s book of the same name without ‘youth’ in the title. It provides ample space to write, to reflect, and to evaluate ministries that target the five areas: passionate worship, radical hospitality, intentional faith development, risk-taking mission & service, and extravagant generosity.  Even though it is billed for youth ministry, I may have our student leadership team use it to evaluate our college ministry.

Youth Ministry: The Church of the Resurrection Ministry Guides by Jason Gant
OWR: Succinct

We hosted Jason at DWU last October for a youth night and he was fantastic. In this book, he managed to fit some great youth ministry tips, philosophy, stories, and mistakes in 65 pages. It is hard to put out a youth ministry book that is not immediately out of date (due to technological advancements) but Jason advocates for using social networking tools and gives me some ideas how to use (and not lament) the existence of cell phones.

Change the World by Mike Slaughter
OWR: Missional

This read as a manifesto for the 21st-century church. Mike skillfully summarizes the current needs and direction for the American Church to be relevant today and to engage a postmodern, post-Christian world. Essentially, to change the world, we need to leave the walls of our church and become missionaries in our own backyards.

How the Mighty Fall by Jim Collins
OWR: Hopeful

As a United Methodist pastor, I could not help by apply his 5 stages of irrelevance & death to the church that I love. We are likely in stage 3 or 4, on a steep decline but not beyond all hope. In fact, as he points out, success or death is ultimately up to the company. Will we radically focus on our mission of making disciples or grasp at straws ultimately leading to our demise? Because I do not think God is done with us yet.

Simply Strategic Series (Stuff, Growth, Volunteers) by Tim Stevens & Others
OWR: Highly Practical

Tim, the executive pastor at Granger Community Church, one of the largest United Methodist churches in the country, gives some very practical and helpful advice across three volumes. The chapters are no more than 2-3 pages long and deal with everything from problem volunteers to great-looking websites to construction advice. Well written and well done for a 21st century audience that doesn’t like to read and/or have time to read entire books!

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza
OWR: Surreal

I had to remind myself more than once while reading her story that this is not a movie but indeed happened in 1994. I found myself asking how people can act like this, brutally murdering their neighbors and friends. But then I am reminded of the amazing awful capacity of humanity and how it has been happening for millenia. I was doing some reading in the book of Esther that reminded me this is not a new problem.

Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris
OWR: Illuminating

As someone who grew up in a large town from the Dakotas (50,000 people), it was great to inside the minds of small-town folks. She draws some fascinating parallels, although I’m not completely convinced, between monasteries and living in the barren, desolate Dakotas. A great read nonetheless.