What are you reading right now?

[MegaJedi]

Just finished "If Democrats had any brains they'd be Republican's" and moved on to "Tortured for CHRIST"  by Richard Wurmbrand.  And playing my KJV on DVD wich counts as reading as the words appear on the screen as they read it to you.

[James Rondon]

Tortured for Christ is interesting, not to mention eye-opening. 

[Howdyboyalan]

The ancestors tale

[marc]

I picked up N.T. Wright's "Simply Christian" today.

[Mere Nick]

I picked up N.T. Wright's "Simply Christian" today.

A subscription to the publication that is, as usual, outstanding, would be cheaper and certified accurate, wouldn't it?

[bml1st]

Jesus At The Margins by Rick McKinley

[Rahn]

I am reading again from Soren Kierkegaard's "For Self-Examination."

[HRoberson]

Things Hidden, Scripture as Spirituality, by Richard Rohr

Excerpts.....

...our family of origin is divine

...it is almost the only task of religion--to communicate not worthiness but union, to reconnect people to their identity...

Sin is primarily describing a state of living outside of union.

It is not that if I am moral, then I will be loved by God, but rather I must first come to experience God's love, and then I will--almost naturally--be moral.

Every other "election" scene is stymied by the stylized line that sounds so right, "Lord, I am not worthy." "Of course you are not," the Gospel seems to say, "but that was never the question, anyway!"

Henceforth, all true morality is simply "the imitation of God." Watch what God does, and do the same thing! It is not a "those who do it right get to go to heaven" thing, as much as it is a "those who live like me are in heaven now" thing!

It's not that God likes anyone better or that they are more worthy than the rest. God's chosenness is for the sake of communicating chosenness to everybody else! That is the paradox, and it often takes people a long time to learn that .... You lead others to the depth to which you have been led.

As the dualistic mind tends to do, we made the Crucifixion into a tit-for-tat thing instead of a revelation of the eternal nature of the heart of God flowing toward us as water and blood.

I really do just love it when smart people agree with me 

Two more.....
The Secret Message of Jesus, Brian D. McLaren
Flirting with Monasticism, Finding God on Ancient Paths, Karen Sloan

[savedbyhim]

I'm going backwards in time this week....I am reading an older book, "Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free" by the late F.F. Bruce. I bought it off of Ebay sometime ago and I'm just now getting around to reading it. Bruce is such an educated writer and it's hard to understand everything, but this is a good book so far.

[HRoberson]

Manifesting God, by Keating
Death on a Friday Afternoon, by Neuhaus

[marc]

Down in the River to Pray: Revisioning Baptism as God's Transforming Work: John Mark Hicks, Greg Taylor

I was ordering a couple of mythology books from Amazon the other day, and I got a message that if I spent a couple of more dollars, I'd get free shipping.  I'd been wanting to read this for a while, so I ordered it.

Interesting so far.  I'm just a couple of chapters in.

[James Rondon]

Don't Waste Your Life, by John Piper.

[Ewigkeit]

Right now I'm reading (or rather, listening to) "Shepherds Abiding", the eighth book in Jan Karron's Mitford Series, and I'm thoroughly captivated by it.  Incidentally, the whole Mitford Series has been published on audiotape by Recorded Books, and is available for check-out in many libraries.

[HRoberson]

Finished Manifesting God. OK book, but not overly original, and is a bit redundant in places.

Moving on to Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered, by Wilhoit.

[mike]

Jesus and the Victory of God, by N.T. Wright.
One of my favorite authors. What a scholar.


On vacation a few weeks ago I read The River of Doubt, by Candice Millard. A great true story about Teddy Roosevelt embarking on an expedition to discover the source of a tributary of the Amazon, deep in the Brazilian jungle, after losing his last bid to be elected president again. Quite a tale about quite a guy.

[Kira]

Am looing for Supernatural communication by Rachel Hickson but cant seem to find it in the bookstores.

will keep searching..

[HRoberson]

Go to bestbookbuys.com and search the title.

You'll get a boat load of sources.

[mike]

Just started Knowing Christ Today, Dallas Willard's new book.

[HRoberson]

"Justification" by Wright

This is turning out to be one right entertaining book.

[BookBean]

The book I'm reading right now is 'Downsized' by Jill Wilkinson.

It's about John Sheppard, a worker at Ford who is suddenly laid off with thousands of other employees. As he is driving home from work, he's mugged by gangsters in a rough neighborhood. As John picks up the pieces of his life and tries to start over again, he learns the importance of relying on God and understanding that God has a plan for everybody. In turn, John grows closer to his wife, family, and friends as he works through his troubles.

I'd say it's an especially relevant read for people who are unemployed or facing financial difficulties, seen through the lenses of a person of faith.

The best place to get the book is probably through Jill's web-site.

[Edited to remove link per forum rules.]

[Kira]

Shaping history through prayer and fasting by Derek Prince

[mike]

Recently started The Resurrection of the Son of God, by N.T. Wright.

I highly recommend this series. The first two are The New Testament and the People of God and Jesus and the Victory of God.

Wright is very scholarly and complete, but very readable. His theology makes a a lot of sense.
 

[mike]

"Justification" by Wright

This is turning out to be one right entertaining book.

I read a bit about this book on Amazon. I understand that it was written partly in response to criticism from Piper.

Have you finished it yet? Do you agree with what Wright has written? Do you recommend the book?

[marc]

So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church
by Leonard Sweet

[HRoberson]

"Justification" by Wright

This is turning out to be one right entertaining book.

I read a bit about this book on Amazon. I understand that it was written partly in response to criticism from Piper.

Have you finished it yet? Do you agree with what Wright has written? Do you recommend the book?

2/3 of the way through....took a break for the holiday. I like a lot of what Wright has to say, and his theology is good. Wright makes no bones about this book being a reaction to Piper and that is one of the nice things about it - you get a glimpse of some of Wright's frustration with his critics in this book. He makes direct reference to Piper and others of the the "Old Perspective" (he's been labeled one of the New Perspective folks). It reads pretty well but there are a couple rough spots - probably due to the rapidity with which he produced this text. He essentially argues that justification is a legal term and has reference not to the actual guilt or innocence of the party acquitted, but simply with the declaration of the court. His argument is extended so that rather than our gaining some sort of imputed character correction (we take on the perfect character of Jesus), our justification is simply due to God declaring us to be righteous. It is an absolute statement not subject to argument. A fine distinction perhaps, but an important one.

I like Wright a lot.....was introduced to him through his "Paul in fresh perspective." So I may be a bit biased.  So, yes, I'd recommend it.

[mike]

"Justification" by Wright

This is turning out to be one right entertaining book.

I read a bit about this book on Amazon. I understand that it was written partly in response to criticism from Piper.

Have you finished it yet? Do you agree with what Wright has written? Do you recommend the book?

2/3 of the way through....took a break for the holiday. I like a lot of what Wright has to say, and his theology is good. Wright makes no bones about this book being a reaction to Piper and that is one of the nice things about it - you get a glimpse of some of Wright's frustration with his critics in this book. He makes direct reference to Piper and others of the the "Old Perspective" (he's been labeled one of the New Perspective folks). It reads pretty well but there are a couple rough spots - probably due to the rapidity with which he produced this text. He essentially argues that justification is a legal term and has reference not to the actual guilt or innocence of the party acquitted, but simply with the declaration of the court. His argument is extended so that rather than our gaining some sort of imputed character correction (we take on the perfect character of Jesus), our justification is simply due to God declaring us to be righteous. It is an absolute statement not subject to argument. A fine distinction perhaps, but an important one.

I like Wright a lot.....was introduced to him through his "Paul in fresh perspective." So I may be a bit  So, yes, I'd recommend it.

Thanks. I have enjoyed several of Wright's works. It sounds like this a book that I need to put on my reading list.

[nycsunshine]

After a good friend of mine recommended it to me, I just finished reading Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom. I had not heard of this author before, but after loving Tuesdays With Morrie, I decided to find out more about this author. He is coming out with a new book, Have A Little Faith, and I found this YouTube video which shows Mitch Albom reading the first few pages, and I am truly touched (can you imagine how I'd be after reading the whole thing?). I thought I'd share it with you guys below, and I hope you will enjoy it as well.

[edited to remove link per forum rules]

[Mere Nick]

Right now I'm re-reading Atlas Shrugged.

[Tantor]

The Collectors

[walker starr]

     Talking to heaven

[columbo]

THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH: UNDERSTANDING GOD'S WILL FOR YOU
by Robert Lloyd Russell
Not a well-known author but every page is full of meaningful content - yet easy to read.
I find myself re-reading it a lot - it is very clear, very convicting, and very useful for daily living.
I plan on reading it in entirety about every year or two.
ENJOY!

[marc]

So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church
by Leonard Sweet

This was the best book I've read this year.  When I get time, I'll start a thread.

[DCR]

I've just started reading a book written by John Price entitled, Old Light on New Worship.

The subtitle reads, "Musical instruments and the worship of God, a theological, historical and psychological study."

What caught my interest and prompted me to get and read it was that this is not from a CofC perspective.  The author is from the Reformed Baptist tradition.

"About the author -- John Price is a graduate of Trinity Ministerial Academy, Montville, New Jersey.  He is currently the Pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Rochester, New York, where he has served since 1995."



It appears that this particular church has recently gone a cappella, doing away with the instruments once used after "studying" the issue.  

"As a result of the study, the church where I am pastor has moved from Group #2 (instrumental) into Group #1 (non-instrumental).  We have become convinced that we should no longer use any musical instruments in accompanying our congregational singing."

(From the preface on page 16.)

[CK_Quarterman2009]

Greetings, I just joined this forum so plz help me get used to it friends. Any ways I joined the forum coz I am very religious person and like to be gathered by such fellows too. So I guess I have to contribute to this forum as every one else do. so I came cross a site a few weeks ago I like to share it with u guys

[edited to remove link per forum rule 3.3.  Please click this link to familiarize yourself with the forum rules: FORUM RULES]

it has very interesting e-books. And some really strange questions I would like to discuss with u all. So I hope u like it

Regards

[James Rondon]

Tortured For Christ, by Richard Wurmbrand