Every now and then I see people list their favorite books of the last year or of all time. I want to take a crack at it as you might find some books in here you want to read and I would love to hear back from you on what would make your list. In book in this list is a “must read” in my opinion on various topics. Let’s start with spirituality and spiritual formation.
The Holy Bible – in a variety of translations and from the Hebrew and Greek. This goes without saying – my life would be nothing without this book. I am indebted to the truth found in its pages and the faith it has helped produce in my life.
The Father Glorified – A story of Jesus’ Movements among Muslim nations. This book will inspire you to dream bigger and expect more from God than the tiny box we often try to force God into.
Desiring God By John Piper – As much as I don’t agree with hyper-Calvinism, this book will increase your love for God along with his other book Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ and the next one…
Desiring the Kingdom by James K.A. Smith – this book unpacks so much about what drives us. A Work of Heart by McNeal and Crazy Love by Francis Chan are similar books on a more popular, less academic, level
Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard – Hard to make a list like this and not have Dallas Willard on it. This book is profoundly insightful in understanding the intersection between spirituality, theology and anthropology.
Reimagining Church by Frank Viola – You will want church to be what you read about in this book. It is refreshing and made me as the question “why not?” over and over again. I will include this book again in my ecclesiology/church list but this book has to go here too!
Life Work By Randy Harris – One of my favorite books of 2014. This book will change the way you make decisions. His other books in this series are excellent but this one is the best.
The Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight – Excellent balance of scholarship and devotional material that really helped me get in tune with some things. I would put alongside this book one of his other books, One Life. That book is very motivational and will leave you desiring to be more purposeful in your relationship with God and others.
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster – This book has to be on any list regarding spiritual formation. This is the nuts and bolts teaching on the basics of spiritual disciplines. Every Christian should read this book.
What would you add to your list? C.S. Lewis? Anybooks from among the Churches of Christ or Restoration Movement at large you would add?
5 Responses
Living God’s Love: An Invitation to Christian Spirituality by Gary Holloway and Earl Lavender Great text introducing people to the Spiritual disciplines. Begins by rooting people in relationship and grace and uses this foundation as a lens to understand the disciplines. Perfect place to being with outsiders in my opinion.
Thank you for sharing that one! Gary posted over at Wineskins today making us aware of the World Convention – https://wineskins.mystagingwebsite.com/2014/09/09/did-you-know-we-have-a-world-convention/
Great list! “After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters” by N.T. Wright was helpful to me.
As a Christian animal lover I cannot think of a more appropriate book to recommend than “Watson’s Way” by Joel Lund (https://bit.ly/WatsonsWay). I have always felt that animals, more specifically, dogs are some of the best teachers in the world for how we, as Christians, should behave and treat one another. This book embraces that notion and uses humor and soul to convey this to the reader. By using his family dog Watson as a guide, the author takes us on a wonderful journey through everyday life, making sure we pick up lessons and tips for living a better life. This book focuses on many subjects that can be issues for children, teens and adults alike and shows us how to better deal with these subjects. I would like to give it my full endorsement!
I would like to recommend a book by author Andre Atabaki titled “The Bible of Mithra: A Book of Clarity” (https://www.persianastrology.com/). This was a very interesting read. As a lifelong Christian I sometimes have a hard time understanding other belief systems, but I try to stay open minded. This book was great in the fact that their is no religious “recruitment” going on. The author is an equal opportunity practitioner in trying to get you to be the best, most connected spiritual person that you can be. There are some really deep and fascinating incites in here that were hard for me to wrap my head around at first but by the time I closed the book I felt like I had actually grown in a way. It is not just a book but an experience.