3 More: Books I’m Reading

Yesterday I posted about my desire to finish up before the end of the year the 10 or so open books that I have been reading. To continue with that post here are 3 more books that I’d like to finish before 2010.

ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch
Alan Hirsh wrote a great book called The Forgotten Ways a few years ago. That book was a call for Christians to bring the power and community found in the first century church to the here and now in order to make a great impact for the kingdom. ReJesus is about the source of that power and community: Jesus Christ. I have had this book waiting in the queue for most of the year and I am very much looking forward to getting into it.

So what’s this book all about? It’s all about Jesus, with direct implications for our discipleship, some radical challenges for our churches, and some suggested reformulations for our spirituality. In short, it’s about reJesusing the church. So this book is dedicated to the recovery of the absolute centrality of the person of Jesus in defining who we are as well as what we do. As hard as it is to truly follow him, we assert that we must constantly return to Jesus to authenticate as well as legitimize ourselves as his people. We have no other Archimedean point by which to set our coordinates or any other touchstone by which we can assess the abiding validity of our faith and to see if we are authentically Christian. The love of Jesus, and our commitment to live in conformity to him, is in effect an inbuilt spiritual mechanism at the heart of the church’s theology and experience that provides an instrument for our ongoing renewal. It seems to us that a constant, and continual, return to Jesus is absolutely essential for any movement that wishes to call itself by his name.

Fresh Start: God’s Invitation to a Great Life by Doug Fields
I’m not even going to deny it. I am a Doug Fields fan. I picked up Fresh Start in order to adapt it for my winter retreat but have found myself connecting with its message on every level. The message Doug wants to get across is that through Jesus, we have all been given a fresh start free from sin. Although we are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit many of us struggle every day to live free. Doug is a great, practical writer and Fresh Start is one of his best.

Here’s my confession: although I’ve been a follower of Christ for many years, there are still areas in my life that feel stuck. I’m talking about being spiritually stuck—bad habits that I can’t seem to get under control, nagging sins that never seem to go fully away, positive character traits I should have developed by now but that are still not apparent in my life. I desperately want to go forward and find greater maturity in my relationship with Christ, but it seems as though something is always holding me back from a fresh start. As a pastor, I always acknowledge I’m just one bad decision away from being a front-page scandal. (I’m sure you’ve read about some of my colleagues.) So for me, one example of me being stuck is connected more with my ugly thoughts (the ones I know I shouldn’t be thinking after thirty years of following Jesus), or the thoughtless, stupid words that occasionally fly out of my mouth (I should know better!). In short, the person I want to be (really want to be), well, I’m just not quite there yet. I feel bogged down in some areas of my life. Can you relate? I’m guessing you can.

The Power of Persistence: Breakthroughs in Your Prayer Life by Michael Catt
If there were one spiritual discipline that I would want to stand in the power of every single day it would be prayer. The Power of Persistence is a great primer on how to pray according to the scriptures. This small book has been a great encouragement to me this season and I can see myself revisiting it over and over.

The ups and downs of church history can be written in the prayer life of God’s people. The strength of the church has never been in programs, numbers, or events, but in prayer and obedience. God is not interested in our innovative methods. He is not impressed with our twenty-first century technology. God is still moved by the prayers of simple saints who learn in the quiet place to lay hold of the throne of grace. Prayer is not incidental to the work of God—it is the work! When God’s people face godless times, that’s when they need to turn up the heat in prayer. Tough times are no time for God’s people to sit by, cold and indifferent. As you read 1 Kings, you will discover that before the showdown on Mount Carmel, God was preparing Elijah in prayer. Elijah was learning how to ask God for the impossible and believe God in desperate situations. Before he ever stood on Carmel and confronted the false prophets, Elijah was a man of prayer and faith in the promises of God. All of us must be tested as to whether we will take matters into our own hands or take them before the Lord.