YWAMers READ and COMMENT
latest book reviews added are from Steve Goode
Jeff Fountain | John Dawson |
Alv Magnus | Lynn Green |
Danny Lehmann | Steve Goode | Rick Allegretto
| Jeff Romack | Tom Hallas | Debra Buenting
Disclaimer: While YWAM leaders are sharing thoughts from
their reading, the titles featured and
their content do not represent officially-endorsed views by Youth With A
Mission as a whole, nor does the lack of contributions from the female
gender reflect editorial bias. For feedback, contact
Paul
If you are a YWAM leader (or at least somewhat well-known in YWAM), you are invited to contribute: read more
For Steve Goode's page of reviews (YWAM's Int'l Ministries director for Mercy Ministry), click here
For Lynn Green's page of reviews (YWAM's international chairman), click here
For Danny Lehmann's page of reviews (YWAM's Int'l Ministries director for Evangelism and Dean of the College of Christian Ministries of YWAM's University of the Nations), click here
Debra Buenting (YWAM Communications)
Sex God
-by Rob Bell
“Jewelry, pictures made by children, antiques that have been in the family for years, art projects, souvenirs, velvet paintings, we hold on to them because they point beyond themselves [...] Those relationships and that place and that time are all about something else, something more.”
So states Bell in his first book since the wonderful Velvet Elvis. His main point is that much of life, including the gusto we have for sports and the fever with which we pursue romance, are not really about this, they’re about that; they are about the profound drive God put in us to CONNECT with HIM.
“THIS is actually about THAT,” he writes. “Whether it’s what we do with our energies or how we feel about our bodies, or wanting to have control in relationships, or trying to recover from heartbreak, or dealing with our ferocious appetites, or the difficulty of communicating clearly with those we love, or longing for something or someone better, much of life is in some way connected with our sexuality. When we begin to sort through all the issues surrounding our sexuality, we quickly end up in the spiritual because THIS is always about THAT.”
I appreciate Bell, a pastor as well as author, for his gentle, nurturing and life-giving prose. He is a masterful storyteller, so I’ve always listened to his books instead of reading him in print. He is also brilliant at nurturing critical thinking. I highly recommend this book, as I do Velvet Elvis, whether you cuddle up with his printed versions or listen to the audio books. If you need a deep spiritual drink but don’t want to wade through over-religious waters, try Bell.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures-by Anne Fadiman
This is a powerfully moving account of a little Asian girl in California—the daughter of Hmong immigrant parents—whose battle with epilepsy forced a cultural clash between a historically animistic and agricultural society and American medicine, with devastating consequences. Written in the style of some of the great literary journalists, this true story reveals how profoundly two different cultures can view the same situation because of diametrically opposed worldviews.
I found The Spirit Catches You to be a very useful text in teaching a graduate-level intercultural communication class; I think it had more lasting impact than all the journal articles and texts my students read. That said, I think this easy to read book is a must for anyone involved in cross-cultural ministry or situations, or those who simply want to learn how worldviews can influence outcomes.
After reading it, I thought to myself, no wonder we have wars.
Blink-by Malcolm Gladwell
I enjoyed Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, so looked forward to his follow-up book. Gladwell is a great writer, whose real job is as a staff writer for the renowned New Yorker magazine.
This book is about the art of “thin slicing,” taking charge of the first two seconds of any encounter, to make the right decision. Gladwell gives multiple examples of various people—from psychologists predicting the success of marriages to the police deciding whether to shoot a suspect—who either made correct or disastrous split-second gut decisions based on their ability to instantaneously judge people correctly.
I expected the book would serve as a how-to text on developing this ability. However, I found the book, though a brilliant and entertaining read, did not give me the practical skills I hoped it would. In fact, the point of the book was not summed up until the last sentence! If the purpose of the book is to stimulate thinking about a particular aspect of life, then I suppose it served its purpose. I think it has raised my awareness about assessing people and situations that will hopefully become a more reliable skill as I continue to grow. Ask my opinion in another year or five, after I’ve processed it more, and I may have more to say! That said, I think definitely Blink is worth a ‘look.’
The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understand how God changes Lives-by Dallas Willard
The spiritual disciplines taught by the Christian church have conventionally included those of abstinence: solitude and silence, fasting, frugality, chastity, secrecy and sacrifice, as well as those of engagement: study, worship, celebration, service, prayer, fellowship, confession and submission. However, these have rarely been taught in recent times.
This was my first reading of a Dallas Willard book, and I found his approach to be surprisingly fresh. Willard is a forward thinker who has obviously tried to shed his spiritual life of some of the unnecessary and burdensome trappings of modern Christianity. He approaches faith as relevant to all of life, and frames the disciplines not as hard and fast rules or legalistic requirements, but rather as life-giving practices that can enrich the life of postmodern Christ-followers. I recommend The Spirit of the Disciplines as a great introductory text to practices that have been explored and followed for centuries.
Devotional Classics-by Richard Foster (editor)
This is a perfect companion text to Willard’s Spirit of the Disciplines. It contains writings by the ancients including Augustine, Luther, Kierkegaard, Bonhoeffer and Wesley, in addition to women of faith who have too oft been ignored in Christian circles, including Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, Madame Guyon, Anne Dillard and Kathleen Norris.
The book is divided into the following themes:
• Preparing for the spiritual life
• The prayer-filled life (The contemplative tradition)
• The virtuous life (The holiness tradition)
• The Spirit-empowered life (The charismatic tradition)
• The compassionate life (The social justice tradition)
• The Word-centered life (The evangelical tradition)
• The sacramental life (The incarnational tradition)
Simply Christian:
Why Christianity Makes Sense-by N.T. Wright
This is simply a beautiful book. Some have compared it to C.S. Lewis's classic apologetic, Mere Christianity. I like it better. Wright's skill both as a writer and theologian make this book equally effective for the person who knows nothing about Christianity as it is for the long time believer. He speaks of the human longing for relationships, justice, spirituality, and beauty as "echoes of God's voice" resonating in the human heart. Once you've read this book you will have a clear understanding of what Christians believe about God. And, you will know what it looks like to follow Jesus, to be energized by his Spirit, and to serve him in the world. This book should be read slowly, not that it is difficult, but to be meditated on and savored.
The Shaping of
Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church-by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
This book presents a discussion of the missional church in a western and postmodern context. I think YWAM bases at their best should be understood as missional communities. As such, they are uniquely positioned to impact the communities in which they exist; they should not simply train and send graduates off into the world (like so many other training institutions). Many missiological concepts usually understood and applied in a frontier mission situation are here presented and given application for discipling the post-Christian West.
This book will be most helpful for those doing mission in that context. The book is written by a couple of Aussies... so you guys in OZ should do your part and pick up a copy. see also Exiles
Bible and
Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern World-by Richard Bauckham
This little book is a fresh look at a biblical theology of mission in the changed context of the postmodern world. I recommend it highly to those who teach the Biblical Basis of Mission in our schools and for those who are thinking about the process and effects of globalization. The gospel has something to say to the global powers that would dominate our world today. Jesus is Lord!
What Saint Paul
Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity?-by N.T. Wright
Okay, this is the third recommended book by N.T. (Tom) Wright. (Jeff Fountain earlier recommended Wright's The Challenge of Jesus. I do too.). Take the hint and go read something by Wright. You will not be disappointed. I've been a YWAMer for twenty-five years but it took Tom Wright to help me understand what the gospel really is--considerably more than an invitation to having sins forgiven and a free pass to heaven when I die. Let's face it; that's the message as it is usually presented. Then we wonder why the church is like it is?
Wright is a prolific author, a great speaker (if you ever have the opportunity to hear him don't miss it) and the most influential NT scholar today. His work on Jesus, Paul and the Kingdom of God is impacting the Church worldwide. For all those that think there is nothing new to be learned in reading the Bible.Think again!
Live to Tell by Brad Kallenberg | The Last Word, N.T. Wright | Ancient-Future Faith by Robert Webber
The 360 Degree
Leader-by John Maxwell
On Mission
With God-by Henry Blackaby & Avery Willis
Jeff Fountain
(YWAM's Europe Field director resides in The Netherlands)."The WorldChristian booklist gives me a problem: I want to buy at least half of the titles! But do I have time (let alone the budget) to read them all? The selection is excellent, timely and broad. World class authors range from the pope to leaders of emerging churches, addressing key issues facing the World Christian movement today. This is my first-stop bookstore to discover books that will stretch my horizons." He reviews:
The Challenge of Jesus:
Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is -by N.T.Wright
N.T. Wright (Bishop of Durham), is a refreshingly original evangelical Anglican historian re-examining the person and character of Jesus in the context of the first-century Jewish world.
Not light reading but greatly challenges our own cultural or sub-cultural presuppositions about Jesus. He makes very clear application of the Easter story to the message of hope we are to live and share in a postmodern world.
Bono: In
Conversation with Michka Assayas-by Michka Assayas
I haven't yet read it, but the opening chapter has the intriguing title: 'There are stories to tell that aren't songs...' which is why he allowed a book to be written. In that chapter he describes his conversations with his dad who had lost his (Catholic) faith.
Bono's dad: "It's a one way conversation... you seem to hear something back from the silence!" I said: "that's true, I do.... I hear it in some sort of instinctive way, I feel a response to a prayer, or I feel led in a direction. Or if I'm studying the Scriptures, they become alive in an odd way, and they make sense to the moment I'm in, they're no longer a historical document."
Jubilee
Manifesto-ed. by Michael Schluter
Required reading for those of us who attended the Winter School of the Jubilee Centre in Cambridge, England, the first week of January 2006. A group of nine YWAMers, including Lynn Green (see his comments below), attended to reflect on how Relationism, a Biblical framework for social reform, can provide an agenda for the task of discipling nations.
Fire
of God: Discovering Its Many Life Changing Purposes-by Joy Dawson
Perhaps it is better for somebody other than myself to recommend 'The Fire of God' because I am the author's son, but I do feel that this book helps spiritual leaders to lead in this time when so many are suffering and going into a season of sorrows in the earth.
(Editor's note: we felt it significant to note that he reads his mother's books. The "suffering" he alludes to, refers to the multiple deaths in the YWAM family at the end of 2005--fatal accidents in Nigeria and India, untimely deaths in Brazil and Zambia.)
Derek Prince: A Biography-by Stephen Mansfield
I recommend the new biography of Derek Prince put out by Strang and authored by Steen Mansfield. This story of Derek Prince's life is a gripping fascinating epic, full of inspiration and instruction to all.
God's Passion for His Glory: Living the
Vision of Jonathan Edwards(with the Complete Text of by Jonathan Edwards' The End for Which God Created the World)
-by John Piper
I think it brings in a perspective of the importance of a God-centered theology in a man-centered Western culture. I believe we should pay special attention to the negative influence on the Christian community from a thoroughly humanistic and hedonistic culture. Nothing can be more helpful as a contrast, than Edward's perspective.
C.S.Lewis said that for every book one reads from one's own era, a book should be read that originates from another time period in history. That way we can hope not to be blinded by the bias of our own era.
The Suffering of
God- by Terence Fretheim
I have been tracking through the material of the "openness group": authors like, Clark Pinnock, John Sanders, Gregory Boyd, et al, and have found that all at some time refer to Terence Fretheim in their writing. I first met Fretheim in his wonderful representation of God in "The Suffering of God."
In this book, he lays the foundation upon which many of the openness (open theism) writers continue to build. In the first chapters, he develops the appropriate hermeneutic for viewing the Old Testament Scriptures and then proceeds to view the Scripture through that lens. He is referred to by the group as the 'master of metaphor' and takes the view that humans are “theomorphisms” rather than human experiences, just like emotions being attributed to God as anthropomorphisms. A must read for all who wish to develop an appropriate theology of the Personhood of the Godhead.
The Myth of a
Christian Nation- by Gregory Boyd
Having read Dr. Gregory Boyd's two books, Repenting of Religion and now his latest one, Myth of a Christian Nation, I am convinced that they are expressions of God's heart and desire for us as a Mission.
Greg's newest book can be read over-critically as a promotion of passivism if something of his heart is not already caught by the reader in his previous Repenting of Religion. I believe that God is wanting us to grapple with His overwhelming generosity; it is summed up in the statement from 2. Cor 5, that the Father was in Christ embracing the whole world while not holding our sins against us.
To live this message in the face of threat to our own life, etc., will require a very strong embrace of the cross. It is my concern that God has carried us through our unique journey as a tribe to be prepared for this challenge.
May we be able to be as Paul, who said about his going back to Ephesus after they had beaten him nearly to death, "the love of Christ constrains me."
How We Got the Bible
How We Got the Bible |
How
to Read the Bible |
How to
Choose a Translation |
Introducing
the Bible |
Misquoting Jesus |
Lost
Christianities |
Breaking the Da
Vinci Code |
What Saint Paul Really Said |
The Missing
Gospels |
The Scripture Principle |
The Last Word
How To Change Our World... Where To Start
How to Change the
World | Three Cups of Tea |
Everybody Wants to Change the World
| Good News about Injustice |
Justice, Mercy and Humility |
Good News and Good Works |
New Friars, The |
Revolution, The: A Field Manual for
Changing Your World | Terrify
No More | This Immoral Trade
| Transforming Power |
When Invisible Children Sing |
What If You Got Involved |
Building a People of Power | Jubilee
Manifesto | Butterfly
in Brazil
The Problem of Evil
Evil and the Justice
of God | Unspeakable |
God at War |
Satan and the Problem of Evil |
DVD: Evil |
DVD: Problem of Evil |
Deliver us from Evil |
How long O
Lord? |
The Innocence of God
Titles on China
Back to Jerusalem
| CD-ROM:
Operation China |
China |
China-Culture Smart |
Heavenly Man
| Jesus
Sutras |
Jesus in Beijing |
White Devil
| Yun |
Hudson
Taylor |
Lottie
Moon |
China's Christian Millions |
China's
Christian Martyrs |
Living and
Working in China |
Jonathan Goforth |
Keys of the
Kingdom |
Good Earth
|
Gladys Aylward |
Florence Young |
Eric
Lidell |
C.T. Studd
| Faith of
Our Fathers
Titles on Europe
God's
Continent |
The Birth of
Europe |
Living as People of Hope
|
While Europe Slept |
Menace in
Europe |
Without Roots |
Lost Land of the Bible
| How the Irish
Saved Civilization |
How the Scots
Invented the Modern World |
Reformation
| Londonistan
| The Cube and the Cathedral |
Christianity and the Crisis of
Cultures |
Titles on Africa
Against All
Hope: Hope for Africa |
African Friends and Money Matters |
Cross and Flag
in Africa |
New News Out of Africa |
Africa and the
Bible |
Rowland Bingham: Into Africa's Interior |
David
Livingstone: Africa's Trailblazer |
Shackled
Continent |
Soul of a New Cuisine
Titles on the Middle East
Arabs in
History |
Closed Circle |
A History of
the Arab Peoples |
Crisis of Islam
| Empires of
the Sand |
From Babel to Dragomans |
From Beirut to
Jerusalem |
Light Force |
Multiple
Identities of the Middle East |
Peace to End
All Peace |
Seven Pillars of Wisdom |
What Went
Wrong? |
Who Are the Christians in the Middle East |
Islam and the
Jews |
Whose Promised Land |
History of the
Jews | I Am
a Palestinian Christian |
Ornament of the World
What Has Christianity Contributed to the World
The
Victory of Reason
| How the Catholic
Church Built Western Civilization |
What
Has Christianity Ever Done for Us? |
For
the Glory of God
| The Rise of
Christianity
| Jesus Sutras
|
Six Modern
Myths about Christianity & Western Civilization |
Legacy of William
Carey |
Religion and the Rise of Modern Science |
How
Christianity Changed the World
A 2000 survey identified the books that impacted Christians most significantly during the last century.
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THE
TOP 10 of the 20th Century