So, here's what I'm reading this month . . .




May 2007

My Utmost for His Highest Oswald Chambers "If a person is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common sense, and leap by faith into what He says. Once you obey, you will immediately find that what He says is as solidly consistent as common sense" (May 30). "Be reckless . . . totally unrestrained . . . willing to risk everything—by casting your all upon Him. . . . recklessly abandon yourself, surrendering everything to Him"" (June 18). "Launch out in reckless, unrestrained belief . . ." (June 21).

Chambers is encouraging—and convicting! It's right up there with Imitation of Christ (January 2007) in my humble opinion.



April 2007

Communicate to Change Lives James Watkins The last few months my reading time has been spent with airline magazines and writing my latest book: Most writing books and seminars for Christians are very good at teaching the techniques of good writing and marketing, but I’m not aware of any that specifically deal with how to write to change lives. To me, writing and teaching are too hard

of work to do without feeling I’m making some kind of impact on my audience: helping them laugh their way through a tough time, providing practical ways to live out their faith, or coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.




January 2007

The Imitation of Christ Thomas a Kempis; paraphrased by Donald Demaray "Many praise and bless [Christ]— only so long as He gives comfort,     But if Jesus hides,     leaving them even a short while,     they complain or     get depressed. But those who love Jesus just for Himself,     and not for special comforts,     bless Him in the midst of every trouble and anguish     just as they do when feeling on top of the world" (II.11.1-2).

This book has been a consistent "best-seller" for over five hundred years (second only to the Bible). And for good reason. It's a powerful antidote to the "healthy and wealthy" "name it and claim it" "prosperity gospel" of today. (This is at least my tenth time through this life-changing book.)



November 2006

Dare to Journey with Henri Nouwen Charles Ringma "It is surprising what we hold on to. We prefer the old to the new, the familiar to the unexpected, the predictable to the creative. We maintain the headlong pursuit of goals and objectives that we know will not provide the happiness and fulfillment we seek. We need to learn to let go, even if it means a little dying. Letting go of the wrong and the unhelpful will alone free us for new possibilities, for it creates an emptiness that can be filled with better things" (33).

Pocket-sized devotions with a bigger-than-life message of the importance of solitude and silence in our over-scheduled, sensory dulled society.



October 2006

Let Me Tell You a Story Tony Campolo "Vivid. Passionate. Witty. Poignant. No one tells a story like Tony Campolo. Why stories? Stories have the power to sneak up on us, catch us unaware, and in the process draw us closer to our fellow human beings . . . and to God. And when Tony Campolo tells a story, we are captivated and entertained by the amazing characters and situations he describes."

Yep, the publisher's blurb sums it up well. It's class Campolo—which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your opinion of the controversial author and speaker.



August 2006

Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 Garrison Keillor "I have lusted for a typerwriter so long. Grandpa is looking out the window of heaven, and Jesus is standing beside him. Grandpa says, 'Jesus, why did you give an Underwood to a boy who thinks dirty thoughts all the time?" Jesus says, 'Well, we'll see what he does with it.'" What Garrison does with his typewriter is far, far away from

the quaint innocense of earlier Wobegon books and his radio show, "A Prairie Home Companion." The hero, Gary, (Garrison?) does think dirty thoughts all the time and some would classify the descriptions from the High School Orgies magazine hidden in Look as pornographic with "love sticks," "lucious orbs" and "hairy thickets." Sorry, I love the early Wobegon books, but "Wo" this has "gon" too far!



July 2006

Shattered Dreams Larry Crabb "Shattered dreams open the door to better dreams, dreams that we do not properly value until the dreams that we improperly value are destroyed. Shattered dreams destroy false expectations, such as the “victorious” Christian life with no real struggle or failure. They help us discover true hope. We need the help of shattered dreams to put us in touch with what we most long for, to create a felt appetite for better

dreams. And living for the better dreamsgenerates a new, unfamiliar feeling that we eventually recognize as joy" (35).

Crabb provides an important antidote to the spiritual poison dispensed on the "name it and claim it" "Christian" TV shows. (And click here for my thoughts on dreams.)



June 2006

More Than Forgiveness Steve DeNeff "For those who will listen, the call of Jesus soon compels them to turn in his direction. That I believe is conversion. It is an inner turning toward Christ, who has confronted us. It is not an understanding of certain concepts. It is not a baptism or prayer or even a level of comprehension. It is quite literally, the turning of our inclinations and interest [toward Jesus]" (66).

Steve is Lois' and my pastor, and every Sunday he provides some unique insight into how to better know Jesus Christ. This book is a wonderful compilation of those insights. I highly recommend it and not just because he's a friend. It will change your life.



January 2006

Wesleyan Publishing House Commentaries Just so my ministerial friends don't think that, judging by my recent reading habits, I've become a "liberal" in my theology, let the record show that I've been editing a series of commentaries for the denomination. Ken Schenk's 1 & 2 Corinthians: A Commentary for Bible Students, Rich Eckley's Revelation and David Holdren's 1, 2 & 3 John, Jude are all excellent, scholarly works that are written for laypeople as well as pastors.

December 2005

Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith Anne Lamott "I don't know why God won't just spritz away our hardships and frustrations. I don't know why the most we can hope for on some days is to end up a little less crazy than before, less down on ourselves. I don't know why we have to become so vulnerable before we can connect with God, and sometimes with ourselves" (28-29). I loved Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith

(although I do wish she'd sanctify her vocabulary). Lamott continues her refreshingly honest, heart-felt and vulnerable observations on faith, although—in my opinion—Plan B gets a B compared to Traveling Mercies. (She also gets a D on orthodox theology.) So, if you're a fan, borrow the book from the library rather than spending $25.


November 2005

Blue Like Jazz Donald Miller "The first generation out of slavery invented jazz music. It is music birthed out of freedom. And that is the closest thing I know to Christian spirituality. A music birthed out of freedom. Everybody sings their song the way they feel it. . . . [So] what song will you sing when your soul gets free?" (239, 240). Donald Miller is not a conservative, Evangelical, teetotaling,

Republican Christian—but that's one of his main points. He does have a deep love for Christ and His church, and he expresses it with honesty, humor, and conviction.


October 2005

Abba's Child Brennan Manning ". . . make the Lord and his immense love for you constitutive of your personal worth. Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. God's love for you and his choice of you constitute your worth" (49). This is at least the fifth time I have read this life-changing book. I need to constantly remind myself that my identity

is not in being a writer and speaker, but of being a loved child of God.

I've listed it as number 2 in my list of books that have most influenced my life.


September 2005

Levi's Will W. Dale Cramer "Dusk. A barn lot on an Amish farm in Ohio. Will's father doesn't recognize him at first—it's been eight years—so he holds a match up to Will's face to see him better. 'I thought you were dead,' Levi Mullet says faltly, then blows out the match and walks away. No hug. No party. This is not how it's supposed to be" (book jacket).

I rarely read novels—especially literary novels—but for the powerful prose and brutally honest story of broken and restored relationships, I glady made an exception for this 2005 Christy Award winner. (And, best of all, it's 100 percent "Christian cliche" free!)


August 2005

With Unveiled Faces: Experience Intimacy with God through Spiritual Disciplines Keith Drury "So, if [the Christian life] is all due to God's grace, why practice the spiritual disciplines? The spiritual disciplines are a means of grace. God has chosen certain channels thorugh which He most often mediates His transforming grace. When we practice the spiritual disciplines we put ourselves in the current of God's river of grace" (7).

July 2005

Breakthrough Prayer: The Secret of Receiving What You Need from God Jim Cymbala I wish he would have addressed how does the freewill of those we are praying for figure into the whole scheme of prayer. Some good points, however. "Don't be afraid to ask God for great things. Anything less dishonors the One who has given us such awesome promises" (47-48).

June 2005

Sorry, spent the month moving books rather than reading them.


May 2005

Changes That Heal: How to Understand Your Past to Ensure a Healthier Future Dr. Henry Cloud No wonder I'm so messed up! "We have seen what happens when there is grace without truth, truth without grace, and time without either. When they all come together, we can for the first time have the true self loved and accepted, and through practice and experience, grow in the likeness of God" (38).

April 2005

The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown I finally read kabillion-selling novel The Da Vinci Code. It's a well-written, plot-twisting, page-turning novel. My problem with it, however, is that in an early page dubbed "FACT," Brown makes the point that there is a "Priory of Sion" and an "Opus Dei," and that all art descriptions are "accurate." My fear is that the reader will assume it's also a "fact" that Jesus was a mortal human being and not the Son of God—which would make it well-written, plot-twisting, page-turning heresy.

Cracking Da Vinci's Code: You've Read the Fiction, Now Read the Facts James Garlow If you're going to read Dan Brown's novel, balance it with James Garlow and Peter Jones' nonfiction. A well-researched and documented explanation of all the fallacies in Brown's book, which we have to keep telling ourselves is only a novel, is only a novel, is. . . .

March 2005

Bang! Getting Your Message Heard in A Noisy World Linda Kaplan Thaler, Robin Koval, Delia Marshall (Currency, 2003) From the ad agency that brought you the AFLAC duck (and many other classic commercials), their secrets to getting your message out with a "Big Bang." "A Big Bang creates an ever-expanding universe for the product, and turns occasional users into fierce loyalists. A Big Bang cuts through the clutter and gets people to sit up and take notice" (5).

Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner Frederick Buechner (HarperSanFrancisco, 1992) Thought-provoking and soul-enriching bits and pieces from the Christian novelist who fears he's too secular for Christian readers and too Christian for secular readers. "'We are fools for Christ's sake,' Paul says . . . the lunacy of Jesus [is] saner than the grim sanity of the world" (95).

February 2005

Days of Whine and Noses Lisa Espinoza Johnson (Jossey Bass, 2004) The cover notes it's for "Tuckered-Out Moms" but just as helpful for pooped out pops! The stories are so funny because they are so true! "Sometimes [children] make us laugh. Sometimes we laugh to keep from crying. But always these Days of Whine and Noses offer us the richest lessons of life—a deeper meaning than meets the eye' (xv).

God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It Jim Wallis (Harper/San Francisco, 2005) I've always believed Republicans need a heart, Democrats need a brain and they both need a soul. Jim Wallis offers a well-thought out, well-researched book on that very premise. (Great minds think alike! Ha.) 'The religious and political Right gets the public meaning of religion mostly wrong—preferring to focus only on sexual and cultural issues while ignoring the weightier matters of justice. And the secular Left doesn't seem to get the meaning and promise of faith for politics at all—mistakenly dismissing spirituality as irrelevant to social change' (3-4).

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