suggested reading: other christian

 

 

The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destorying the Church by Gregory A Boyd

Recommended by John Rasz

 

Arguing from Scripture and history, Dr. Boyd makes a case that when the church gets too close to political or national ideology, it's disastrous for both the church and society. Boyd contends that the American evangelical church has allowed itself to be co-opted by political parties and exposes how this is harming the church's unique calling to build the kingdom of God.

 

 

Leadership That Works by Leith Anderson

Recommended by Rich Nathan

 

Hope and help for church leaders seeking guidance in today's complex world. Defines changes required in leadership and the perplexing issues to be faced. This is sound, practical counsel. An award-winning book from pastor and author Leith Anderson.

 

 

 

 

Sister Aimee by Daniel Mark Epstein

Recommended by Ken Wilson

 

A scamp in school, a widow in China, and a neurotic house-wife in Rhode Island. Then the Lord spoke to Aimee Semple McPherson, and a ministry was born. Here's the story of a unique woman whose ministry brought her fame as well as loneliness.

 

 

 

 

10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can't Because He Needs the Job) by Rev. Oliver "Buzz" Thomas

Recommended by Don Bromley

 

A minister addresses tough contemporary questions from a centrist perspective. In this short book, he takes on today's big religious questions: homosexuality, the place of women, evolution vs. creationism, the plausibility of miracles, religious pluralism, life after death and others.

 

 

 

Who Is My Enemy? by Rich Nathan

Recommended by Ken Wilson

 

An invitation to look at people outside of the church, not with condemnation or negative stereotypes, but with compassion to understand that feminists, postmodernists, homosexuals, liberals, and new agers are not enemies to avoid.

 

 

 

 

 

Empowered Evangelicals by Rich Nathan & Ken Wilson

Recommended by Ken Wilson

 

After years of witnessing the sometimes rancorous controversy between the evangelical and pentecostal camps, authors Rich Nathan and Ken Wilson suggest it's way past time to recognize that there's really only one camp. Empowered Evangelicals examines the teaching and practice of empowered evangelical churches and shows both pentecostals and evangelicals how to combine the best elements of both congregations.

 

 

Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Recommended by Ken Wilson

 

Unabashedly inspired by Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, the brothers Heath—Chip a professor at Stanford's business school, Dan a teacher and textbook publisher—offer an entertaining, practical guide to effective communication. Drawing extensively on psychosocial studies on memory, emotion and motivation, their study is couched in terms of "stickiness"—that is, the art of making ideas unforgettable.

 

 

Worship Is a Verb by Robert E. Webber

Recommended by Rich Nathan

 

Worship. It isn't an entertaining showcase for a talented soprano or a lecture on textual criticism or a pleasant weekly reunion of friends and family. Instead, true worship is a joyous celebration of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And as we actively turn our hearts toward God in earnest praise of God's great works, God in turn speaks to us and blesses us with a healing and renewing touch.

 

 

Turning Points by Mark A. Noll

Recommended by Donnell Wyche

 

What do the destruction of Jerusalem, the Diet of Worms, the French Revolution, and the Edinburgh Missionary Conference all have in common? According to leading evangelical historian Mark Noll, they are among a select number of pivotal events in the two-thousand-year history of Christianity.

 

 

 

 

The Powers That Be by Walter Wink

 

Theologian and biblical scholar Walter Wink helps us reformulate our ancient concepts - such as God and Satan, angels and demons, principalities and powers - in light of what we now know. Wink's theology is shaped as much by his study of the Bible as by his involvement in the civil rights movement and the fight against apartheid in South Africa. The result is nothing less than a new worldview.

 

 

 

 

No Future WIthout Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu

 

In No Future Without Forgiveness, Tutu argues that true reconciliation cannot be achieved by denying the past. But nor is it easy to reconcile when a nation "looks the beast in the eye." Rather than repeat platitudes about forgiveness, he presents a bold spirituality that recognizes the horrors people can inflict upon one another, and yet retains a sense of idealism about reconciliation.

 

 

 

Urban Ministry in a New Millennium by David Claerbaut

 

This is both a practical and academic book dealing with Christian ministry in an urban context. It provides an intelligible analysis of the city in all its complexity and then moves in the direction of showing realistic ministry models for the city. The important historical perspective is provided in order to better examine the current context of globalization and regentrification on the city, the church, and urban ministry.

 

 

 

Power Evangelism by John Wimber and Kevin Springer

 

John Wimber's first book, this describes the core of his ongoing ministry: the releasing of God's power today through signs and wonders to refresh, renew, heal and equip his people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christian Counseling: An Introduction by H. Newton Malony and David W. Augsburger

 

H. Newton Malony is senior professor at the Graduate School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary, and David W. Augsburger is professor of pastoral care and counseling at Fuller Theological Seminary.