Comments on: Five Books

By: john pleasant

john pleasant — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:34:09 +0000

“Little Chapel on the River”.

By: kim

kim — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:49:20 +0000

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien
Chronicles of Narnia C.S. Lewis
Wrinkle in Time series Madeline L’Engle

This looks like only three books but it could be considered 15 or so, depending on how you look at it. I have many more favorite books but not many worthy to be on the same comment as these.

By: Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:01:31 +0000

Celebration of Disciple by Foster
Mere Christianity By C.S Lewis
Life Together by Bonhoeffer
Poems and Letters from Prison by Bonhoeffer
How I Survived the Curch by Yancey
All of Leonard Sweet’s books

J. Lewis

By: JanF

JanF — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:18:06 +0000

1) Christless Christianity by Michael Horton
2) Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss
3) Knowing God by J.I. Packer
4) The Universe Next Door by James W. Sire
5) Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner

By: Mike Stroud

Mike Stroud — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:08:47 +0000

Five Smooth Stones by Eugene Peterson
Servants Like Him (or anything else) by Henri Nouwen
The Hiding Place by Corrie Tin Boom
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
Mere Discipleship by Lee Camp

By: Broderick Greer

Broderick Greer — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 23:26:03 +0000

1) The Secret Message of Jesus – Sometimes you read books that make you pee your pants: McLaren’s Secret Message did that for me.

2) Surprised By Hope – We’re not “just a passin’ thru” earth, this is God’s good creation, and believers are called to build for God’s coming reign. N.T. Wright makes a strong case in this work for the resurrection of Jesus and how the people of God are called to be an Easter community.

3) Simply Christian – If the Christian faith has lost depth, beauty, and meaning for you, read Simply Christian and it will all be infused for you once again. It’s cool knowing the different places where heaven and earth “intersect” as Wright says.

4) The Shack – William Young does an amazing job of taking the reader into God’s heart. We see a God who loves, serves, and is obsessive over his creation. It is a beautiful story of trust, hope, and dreams, all converging on a shabby shack situated far away (but all too close) to home.

5) Jesus For President – It’s handy having a guide to the Biblical narrative and how God is the rightful King. Haw and Claiborne explore creative ways of expressing the kingdom of God as an alternative to the failing kingdoms of human beings.

By: Josh

Josh — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:24:50 +0000

Here are some of the more meaningful books I’ve read the last two years.

Home (Robinson)
An Altar in the World (Taylor)
Kite Runner and Thousand Splendid Suns
Blood Done Sign My Name (Tyson)
The Misunderstood Jew (Levine)

By: Ray B.

Ray B. — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:34:53 +0000

BJH ,
Thanks for listing the books of J.D. Bales . He was a great man of God.

By: K. Rex Butts

K. Rex Butts — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:02:24 +0000

In no particular order, here our five which I have thoroughly enjoyed that others have not mentioned yet…

1. “Theology of Hope”, Jurgen Moltmann – Not the easiest book to read but it changed my way of thinking about eschatology.

2 “The Shaping of Things to Come,” Michael Frost & Alan Hircsh – Not another ‘how to’ church growth book but good missiology applied to the emerging postmodern, post-Christian culture and easy to read.

3. “The Kingdom of God is Within You,” Leo Tolstoy – This will rattle the bones just a bit…perhaps more than a bit.

4. “Reviving the Ancient Faith,” Richard T. Hughes – For everyone 30 years of age and up who was raised in a Church of Christ, this is a must read.

5. “Understanding Genesis, ” Nahum M. Sarna – since Mike mentioned the Pentatuech and Genesis is one of my favorite OT books, this is a good small (not a commentary) theological study of Genesis.

Grace and peace,

K. Rex Butts

By: Jody B

Jody B — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:36:18 +0000

1) Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
2) The Jesus I Never Knew – Philip Yancy
3) Deuteronomy – Moses/Joshua (Sorry Mike. I’m finding more an more relevance today from this book than from those of a hundred contemporary authors.)
4) My Utmost for His Highest – Oswald Chambers
5) Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China – Jung Chang ( My choice for secular reading. If you want to reach 1.6 billion people, you must understand from where they come.)

By: L

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:58:17 +0000

1. The Greatest Generation – Tom Brokaw
2. Escape From Freedom – Erich Fromm
3. To Have or To Be – Erich Fromm
4. Man’s Search For Meaning – Victor Frankl
5. Night – Eli Wiesel

By: DU

DU — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:39:44 +0000

Here are 5 Spiritual books that have impacted me. I’m not sure what my top 5 overall (regardless of subject) list would look like. It probably would include some of these.

The Barbarian Way- Erwin McManus
The Cost of Discipleship- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Jesus Proposal- Rubel Shelly and John York
The Divine Conspiracy- Dallas Willard
Irresistable Revolution- Shane Claiborne

Bonus Book- What’s So Amazing About Grace- Phillip Yancey

By: Terry Cagle

Terry Cagle — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:57:36 +0000

Five?!? I’ll go “old school” since these have stood the test of time and all had a profound effect on me in my “early years” and still:
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Ron Sider
The Call to Conversion, Jim Wallis
The Kingdom of God, John Bright
Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis
The Way of the Heart, Henri Nouwen

By: louis

louis — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:49:18 +0000

Hadji Murat — Tolstoy
A Handful of Dust — Evelyn Waugh
Pilgrim’s Progress — John Bunyan
A History of Warfare — John Keegan
Hank the Cowdog — John R. Erickson

By: David A.

David A. — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:50:38 +0000

1. Night – Elie Wiesel
2. Leaving Church – Barbara Brown Taylor
3. Gilead – Marilynne Robinson
4. Reaching Out – Henri Nouwen
5. Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth – Prayers of Walter Brueggemann