Wow…I haven’t put anything up here since Valentines Day…that’s crazy…I’m sure my vast fan base will be in an uproar soon…
But until then, I figured I would share some good books I’ve been reading…
I just got through reading John Stott’s “Basic Christianity”. This book floored me with its simplicity yet uncompromising intellectual description of what it means to be a Christian. It’s a great book if you are like me, and kind of missed a lot of the more important concepts of Christianity growing up in church. It really gets back to the “basics” while offering up fresh ideas I had not yet wrapped my mind around as a Christian. I recommend giving it a read especially if you are curious about the gospel. Stott really simplifies the gospel, Jesus’ message and what it means to be a believer all in this book; something the church has tried to over-complicate for years.
Next, I just started reading Tim Keller’s “The Reason For God: Belief In An Age of Skepticism”. As a skeptic sometimes myself, I have really enjoyed this book so far. Keller started a church in New York City called Redeemer Presbyterian Church.
Redeemer is a church in Manhattan and continues to grow and influence church planters from around the country. What’s unique about Redeemer is its location which doesn’t seem to be the best location for growing church membership; especially a church with a very traditional worship service. Manhattan isn’t necessarily the bible belt, but Keller’s honest and rational take on Christianity provides a general curiosity for people who may have never given Christianity a second look. It’s a relief to me that just by being inviting, tolerant and disciplined to the gospel message can be enough to attract non-believers to church without having to have elaborate aesthetic worship tools to get people interested in coming (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
Back to the book. It reminds me a lot of C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. He’s speaking to skeptics here and counters a lot of the arguments we all here about the reasons why God can’t exist. He exposes a lot of the hypocrisy that comes with challenging God’s existence and really makes an intellectually credible case for God. The most popular argument non-believers make seems to be this perceived intellectual sacrifice they feel you must make to believe in God. Keller does a good job countering this argument throughout the book in a respectable and honest way. Go read it mm’kay..
Til next time…
1 Comment
March 27, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Keep goin’ man. After Reason for God, you gotta go with Desiring God by Piper. See ya Sunday.