A Summer Reading List For Your Teen

It's a big world, prepare your teen to face it

Yesterday I gave some simple guidelines to help you pick books for your teen to read during summer vacation. Today, I give you a list of book recommendations to help get your started. They cover everything from theology to money. 

Do Hard Things by Alex and Bret Harris
The Harris twins have one message for teenagers: Do something hard. Teens today might find it hard to believe, but life does not begin after college. It starts now, and they can actually do something great for God no matter what their age. They wrote a follow up book called Start Here

Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper

John Piper is a small, unassuming man who happens to have a fiery passion for God. His message is simple: God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him. Spend your life living for the glory of God. This book, and the conferences and music they have spawned, have been a huge hit in college campuses. This is a great book to give a high school grad. 

The Universe Next Door by James Sire

Aimed at college students, this book can still be helpful in preparing older teens to face the variety of points of views they are going to encounter in college. Looking at views like marxism, secularism, and new age thinking from a Christian perspective, this book will prepare your teen to think about the world they live in. 

What's Your Worldview? by James Anderson

Dr. Anderson is a philosophy professor who challenges people to think about how they look at the world. This isn't a normal book either. It's more like a choose your own adventure book that takes a look at different worldviews, and how they as Christians can see from the lens of the Bible. 

Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello To Courtship by Joshua Harris

So your teen is ready to date? Time to bring out some helpful guidance on dating. In a time when dating is just seen as a rite of passage where two people can just hang out, mess around and not think about the consequences, Harris call teens to date in a way that that will be both honoring to the other person, and glorifying to God. See also Boundaries in Dating

The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask: (With Answers) by Mark Mittelberg

After a doing survey of the toughest questions Christians hate being asked, Mark Mittelberg decided to write a book answering them. If your teen is vocal about her faith, then this book will help her answer the though questions she's going to be asked. The questions range from gay marriage to the problem of evil. See also Tactics: a game plan for discussing your Christian convictions

Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know by Wayne and Elliot Grudem
Grudem has written a very short intro to theology. It covers twenty topics (each coming from his massive book Systematic Theology) and gives a bite sized overview to help young Christians learn about the foundations of their faith. A great book for a teen or college student who wants to learn theology. 

Smart Money Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money  by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze

In a college finance class I remember a teacher telling us that we had a responsibility to raise kinds who were money smart. Seeing how kids today are being called "the most indebted generation," that responsibility is even clearer. Dave Ramsey teams up with his daughter to teach parents how to train kids in the ways of wise financial planning. This is a book for parents and teens to read together. Who knows, maybe it will inspired your teen to find a summer job? 

Thriving at College: Make Great Friends, Keep Your Faith, and Get Ready for the Real World! by Alex Chediak

What's going to happen to your teen when they go to college? Pastor and college prof. Alex Chediak fills them in on the ups and downs and the best ways to get ready for their time in school. 

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey
If you've read the original, then you know the advice here is solid. Based on the character ethic, Covey gives sound advice on the habits that can make anyone effective at what they do. 

Life on the Edge by James Dobson

Say what you will about Dobson, but he cares about kids and wants them to thrive in their teens and college years. This book covers a lot of the problems they are going to face: drugs, premarital sex, peer pressure, and more. I read this book in high school and I am pretty sure it played a role in keeping me out of a lot of trouble. This is one you want your kid to read. 

The Action Bible 

I love graphic novels. And someone decided to turn the Bible into one. It's been done before, but not like this. The art is amazing and would make for a great way for your teen to see what the entire Bible is about in a very unique way. 

I'm sure there's a lot of worthy books I could add to the list, but I wanted to give you a place to start. If you have any recommendations please feel free to leave a comment. 

What is your teen reading this summer? Some helpful ideas part 1

image source Pierre-Olivier Bourgeois

I loved summers as a kid. Who doesn't? It was a time to sleep in, watch cartoons all morning, talk shows after lunch, swimming at the local pool, and then watching more cartoons in the afternoon. In Junior High that began to change when my mom started going on women's retreats. They were held at a Christian retreat center that had a bookstore that sold books on all sorts of subjects, but from a Christian point of view. That book store would change my life.

 When mom would come back from those retreats, I was always the first one to greet her. I was excited  because she would bring me back a book to read. I was in heaven.  It was because for the first time I had found books that were in English that I could relate to (I didn't go to a non-Spanish Christian bookstore till I was in my late teens). In many ways, this is where my love for theology books started. It is something I will always be grateful for. And it's something that has shaped my life.

I know the list of things that can occupy a teen is much longer these days. In addition to tv shows, today's teens have a buffet of distractions calling them, including: the web, netflix, XBox One, redbox, and an ipad full of apps. But there is also a greater access to books. My hope is that this summer can also be a time for you to encourage your teen, or tween, to take time to learn something about themselves, their world, and their God. Today, I want to share a few things to keep in mind when helping them pick out books.

1. What are they interested in?
Some of you might be getting mad at me now, but come one, you should know a thing or two about what your kid is interested in. And you should encourage them to learn more about the things they like. If it's sports, how about the autobiography of someone they could look up to? If it's video games, how about the history of the video game industry? Maybe they want to be a website developer? There's a lot of books aimed at teaching teens to do just that. The point is, make sure your kids have books on things that they'll want to read. They might even learn that some things aren't worth their time.

2. Where stage are they in life?
Different life stages call for different books. I mentioned that I was in my teens when my mom would bring me books on teen issues. She was wise enough to know that I would need a little advice, and she was right. A lot of those books played a role in keeping me out of trouble. So where is your kid? Are they a tween ready to hit puberty? Are they ready to start high school? Or college? There's a book for that! It might just keep them out of trouble.

3. What challenges are they facing at school?
No kid is perfect. When it comes to school, grades are proof of this. So what classes gave your kid the most trouble this year? It's usually math, but maybe it was science, or English lit. Take time to talk to your kid about where they need help for the next semester and perhaps, you can pick out a few books on those subjects to better prepare. I also suggest that you visit Khan Academy. It's a free, online school with a very unique way of teaching common high school subjects.

4. What challenges are they facing in life?
I'm not a parent, yet,  but I have young nieces and nephews that I worry about. The problems just a few years ago were simple: smoking and underage drinking. Today's problems are much more complicated. Easy access to porn, states legalizing weed, and even bad friends, will make things harder for parents. But preparing your kids for the future isn't optional. Find out what questions they have and start looking for answers.

5. How is your teen's faith?
 Your child's first spiritual mentor has to be YOU. Youth groups are great, but the statistics are grim. Kids who go to youth group, and church, are leaving the faith once they hit college at alarming rates. The best solution to this is for parents to take responsibility for the discipleship of their children. I'm talking to you. The teen years are the perfect time for them to make the faith their own. Tomorrow I'll be sharing a list of about twenty or so books that will help them (and you) in this area.

Feel free to leave comments, questions, and complaints down below.

LeVar Burton Wants to Bring Back Reading Rainbow!

I loved this show growing up. It was great seeing LeVar talking about books, doing cool things, and cracking jokes along the way. If there is one thing from the 80's (the show ended in 2009!) I want to see make a come back it is THIS. Well it's time to bring it back. Go to the kickstarter page and donate today! Oh and watch the video it's pretty funny. 

Morning Links (May 28)

Great Tasting Kindle Deals

Shepherding A Child's Heart 1.99

Totally Sufficient: The Bible and Christian Counseling 3.99

A Proverbs Driven Life 4.99

7 Toxic Ideas Polluting Your Mind - 6.99

Great Tasting Links

Psalms EP: Vol. 1 Robbie Seay Band is letting you download their collection of Psalms set to music. Take a listen. They're really good. And FREE!!!!!! HT: Baptist 21

God Will Give You Everything You Need John Piper answers what it means that God will "add all these things unto you". The answer is always thought provoking

7 Toxic Ideas Polluting Your Mind David Murray Reviews the new book covering the ideas that are popular in today's culture that are really hurting us. I have a link to the book above. 

Is it ok to have sex with a robot?  Russell Moore (The SBC's go to ethics guy) asks some tough questions about sex in the future. 

Morning Links (May 27)

Picture source wikimedia commons

Looks like there's some great deals today. Also some great links to check out. 

KINDLE DEALS!

• How We Got The Bible by Rose Publishing (3.99)
• Pastors in the Classics: Timeless Lessons on Life and Ministry from World Literature  (6.63)
• Jesus's Blood and Righteousness: Paul's Theology of Imputation (8.69)
• Is Jesus the ONLY way? by Phillip Graham Ryken (4.79)

LINKS!

The Good News About Marriage A new book takes a look at divorce rates and what they really mean. Looks like a lot of what we know is wrong. Especially about divorce rates in church.

Al Mohler's Summer Reading List If reading were an olympic sport, Mohler would be a gold medalist. Here is his summer reading list.

Was Christ's Death Divine Child Abuse?  A lengthy, but in depth, response.

As always I'm happy to hear from my readers. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. God Bless!

Morning Links (May 25)

Tasty Kindle Deals

• Is God Anti Gay? (Questions Christians Ask) by Sam Allberry (5.99) 
•  How To Help People Change by Jay Adams (5.99)
• The Church: The Gospel Made Visible by Mark Dever (.99)
• Did Jesus Rise From The Dead? by William Lane Craig (3.99)

Tasty Morning Links

The 5 Worst Christian Videos A little humor for you guys

10 Important Things To Ask a Potential Pastor Something to think about if you ever look for a pastor. As always, R.C. Sproul has some great questions. 

Are There Any Gray Areas With From God's Poin Of View? R.C. Sproul Jr. tackles this question

How to remove permanent marker from everything A handy guide

A Few Theology Books That Changed My Life

Ok, some of these aren't theology books. But everyone wants to talk about the book that changed their life, or the way they looked at the world, or made them sad. On reddit  this week there was a long thread discussing books that changed the way people looked at the world. I figured I'd share my thoughts on that. As a student of theology most of my books will be theological-but a few won't ;) Many of these challenged me and shaped the way I looked at things.

Desiring God by John Piper

What is the purpose of the Christian life? Dr. Piper answers that throughout his whole book with one phrase: To glorify God BY enjoying him forever. Our job is to desire what we will enjoy the most, and according to the Bible, that's who God is. At nineteens years of age I came across this book and years later I still go to it for encouragement, challenge, and wisdom. I was surprised that by the end of I was given what is essentially Reformed theology. And it is no surprise to me that this is the book that has made many people Calvinists. Dr. Piper's passion and love for God's glory shows on every page. It gave me a whole new way of looking at the Bible and the Christian life.

Humanity and Sin by Robert Pyne

Before the word "worldview" entered my vocabulary, I had no idea that that was what Christianity was. It is a way of viewing the world. Pyne's book is a look at what we are as humans and what sin does to us. However, he does so much more. He actually shows how looking at things like evil, vice, drugs, etc... from a Christian perspective can give us an idea of how to deal with them, and how to help  people in our churches who are dealing with these issues. I'm sad that it is out of date, but I HIGHLY recommend you get it and read it. It's a great look at what the Bible says about man, his sin, and our salvation.

The Cross of Christ by John Stott

How important is the cross? In Bible college I learned just how much after reading this book. Stott's book covers the cross from so many angles your head might just spin if you're not careful. But that is what the cross is: an unfathomable event that touches us deeply. The different pictures of salvation that he studies are very helpful in understanding just what went on when Jesus died. Today people want to single one view over another, but in reality it's a diamond with many faces, each as important as the other.

How to read the Bible for all its worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart

One of the first books I read in Bible college that actually helped me make sense of the Bible. It reminded me that the Bible is like many great works of literature. It's an anthology of history, poetry, prophetic vision, moral teaching, and gospel. Each one has to be read with different rules in order to be understood. That is something we miss when we sit down to read scripture. If you want to know how to read by the rules, take a look at this book. Just don't take their advice on what Bible to read. They endorsed the TNIV and that was a mistake. I think they should have gone with the ESV.

The ESV Study Bible

The Bible had to be here but I decided to mention one of my favorite Study Bibles. There's just so many these days. I'm glad that they're almost all ESV but this is the one that started it all. Years ago the Bible translation of note was the NIV. I read the entire new testament one week from the NIV. But as I learned more about Bible translations I knew I wanted a Bible that was not too loosely translated. Enter the English Standard Version. An update to the old Revised Standard Version, it quickly got the attention of theologians and pastors everywhere. Somehow in all this, it became the translation to get. In became a rock star in the world of Bible translations and the official bible of Calvinists everywhere. When it was announced that Crossway publishing (publishers of the ESV) were making a study Bible that would have some hefty scholarship, everyone cheered. It has scholarly notes, a gospel centric theme, in depth maps, articles, and even a mini systematic theology in the back. It's also heavy. Too heavy for me to take to church, though it has since been released in a slimmer, shortened version.

On Writing by Stephen King

If you can only get one writing teacher, make it Stephen King. His book is a tour of his imagination. You see what went on as he wrote his now classic horror stories. You also get a lesson in writing that is worth the price of the book alone. His section on where he gets his ideas has always stayed with me and is the reason I've ever attempted to write. If you're looking for a summer read, this is it.

Watchmen by Alan Moore

If comic books can be serious business, then Alan Moore's Watchmen is an industrial complex. Watchmen has been credited with being part of a new wave of more serious comics with complex stories and a deconstruction of the comic book superhero that began in the 1980's. I got it as a birthday present from my friend a few years ago. I read it in a week and it blew my mind and it left me reading comics ever since. Watchmen is the story of retired heroes who are forced to look for a killer. But that's just the start. The real story is the heroes themselves: their failures, their struggles, and fears. It also tackles the nature of crime fighting and the best way to save humanity. Moore's prowess as a comic book writer is that he is able to tell a story using traditional and non-traditional methods. The story is told from many perspectives and through recollections, newspaper articles, journal entries etc... It tackles relationships, rape,  justice, the comic book industry, and the ethics of crime fighting. Moore is a master of the graphic novel medium. In one chapter, one character is looking at the various evens in the past and the present. Each page doing something I thought could only be done in the movies. When I first read that chapter is blew me away. Graphic novels are serious indeed. Needless to say, I hope to write my own one day. 

Morning Links (May 24 )

Kindle Deals. Mmmmmm yum!

• Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung-3.99
• An Approach to Extended Bible Memorization by Dr. Andrew Davis (.99)
• Captivated: Beholding the Mystery of Jesus's Death and Resurrection by Thabiti Anyabwile (4.99)
• Totally Sufficient: The Bible and Christian Counseling by Ed Hindson et. al (3.99)
• What's Your Worldview?: An Interactive Approach to Life's Big Questions by James Anderson (7.39)

Links 

The End of Books! What is the purpose of reading in the Christian life? The author of Lit! tackles that question over at the Desiring God Blog. 

Embracing the Strangeness of Christianity with Clarity Justin Taylor shares a little of what people think is weird about us Christians. Some helpful insights on talking about your views of marriage. 

An overview of Genesis 1-11

Over at the Bible Project, they're creating video introductions to every book of the Bible. Here's their intro to Genesis 1-11

Friday Kindle Deal's

Hello all! I know I've been gone for a while. I've been doing a lot of posting over here. I hope you'll forgive me for not being around. Anyway, here's a cool kindle deal for today. And a reminder that I'm back!

• How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth by Fee and Stuart $1.99

     This is the book I read in Bible College that taught me to read the Bible according to genre and according to context. It's  definitely worth keeping in your library if you want to learn how to properly read different parts of Scripture. 

• Paul's Letter To The Roman's (Pillar New Testament Commentary) $2.99 

THIS IS A NO BRAINER. I have a rule: would I be crazy not to get this at this price? This book get's a solid YES from me. I have the previous book on Roman's from this series (by Leon Morris) and it's nice that ten years later we're getting a nice update. I'm always glad to recommend solid theological books (at low prices) and the Pillar series is worth getting. 

• The MacArthur Daily Bible by John MacArthur $3.03

A devotional Bible for you fans of Johnny Mac!

• R.C. Sproul's Critical Questions Series FREE!

R.C. Sproul has kindly made his Critical Questions free for Kindle. Some of the titles include: Who Is The Holy Spirit? What Is The Trinity? Get it while you can! 

• In Christ's Alone: Living the Christ Centered Life by Sinclair Ferguson FREE!

A great book on what it means to be In Christ and how that affects our daily lives.  

Giving Away A Small Theology Library

FREE!!!! It's everyone's favorite word. If you read this blog FREE BOOKS is even better. It's true, I'm going to give away a small theological library for FREE! Here's what I'm offering:

• The Doctrine of God by John Frame
• Christian Theology Millard Erickson
• Introduction to the Old Testament R.K Harrison
• Commentary on the Old and New Testament Jamesson, Fausset and Brown (6 Vols.)
• Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament  Daniel Wallace
• Deep Church Jim Belcher
• Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture William Rowanowski
• God's Greater Glory Bruce Ware
• When Skeptics Ask Norman Geisler
• A Harmony of the Gospels (NASB) Thomas and Gundry

Rules and Conditions

This is where some of you are asking "Oh great what do I have to do?" and I'm glad you asked. I've been out of work for a while, and so I'll be blunt. I offer these books as a reward to the person who can help me get a full time job in Orange County (Southern California) by the end of the month. If you think you can do that, message me in the comments and I'll send you my resume.  My background is in school (substitute), office (and warehouse) and church work. Get me a job and the books are yours. Thanks again. 

Blogging Through The Complete Works Of Francis Schaeffer

A few years ago I had the great pleasure of being introduced to the works of Francis Schaeffer. He was first and foremost an evangelist and a pastor who sought to speak Christianity to the world he lived in. He believed that the Christian worldview alone could speak to modern man and his need. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend his documentary (and companion book) "How Should We Then Live?". Not long ago, I was able to buy his complete works from a former professor (for 20 bucks no less!) and have had them sitting on my book shelf ever since. It's time I take them out and read them.

In honor of Dr. Schaeffer's 100th Birthday, I shall be reading all five volumes of his complete works and will be blogging my way through them. It's something I'll be working on for the rest of the year. I will also be reading through some thoughtful criticisms and evaluations of Schaeffer's work. What I really want is to learn from a man who's writings are still making a mark in people today and hopefully see how his ideas speak to where I'm at in my time and space. My first post will be next week. Til then, here is a post I did last week on the anniversary of his 100th birthday. I posted video of his sermon titled "A Christian Manifesto"

A List Of Systematic Theologies On Kindle For $1.99 Or Less!!!!

Last year, my good friend Jonathan Chan gave me a Kindle for my birthday. As a book lover, I could not have been more pleased. As a Reformed book lover, I'm bursting at the seams! If you have a Kindle you know Amazon has a lot of great deals on classic books. They're usually free or cheap.  What I recently learned was how MANY classic systematic theologies and theology books are for sale on Kindle for $1.99 or less. Here's the list of books you can start reading today*, but if you know of any others, please let me know in the comments.

1. Charles Hodge's Systematic Theology Vol. 1.  
2. Charles Hodge's Systematic Theology Vol. 2 
3. Charles Hodge's Systematic Theology Vol. 3
4. Summary of Christian Doctrine by Louis Berkhof
5. History Of The Church by Eusebius
6. The Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas
7. Christian Theology Vol. 1  H. Orton Wiley (Free!)
8. Christian Theology Vol. 2. H. Orton Wiley (Free!)
9. Christian Theology Vol. 3  H. Orton Wiley  (Free!)
10. Systematic Theology by A. H. Strong
11. Systematic Theology by Charles Hodge (One Volume)
12. A Defense of Calvinism by Charles Spurgeon
13. The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther
14. Holiness by J.C. Ryle
15. Works of Jonathan Edwards Vol's 1 and 2
16. Complete Works of St. Augustine
17. On The Incarnation by St. Athanasius
18. Abstract of Systematic Theology by James Boyce
19. A Manuel of Theology by John Dagg
20. Outlines of Theology A.A. Hodge
21. The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination
22. Lectures on Calvinism by Abraham Kyuper
23. A Commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith by A.A. Hodge
24. Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen

Just for fun here are a few that are 2.99 or more

1. Calvin's Complete Commentaries (Yes all of them!)
2. The Complete Works of John Owen (22 books!

*If you don't own a kindle, you can still read the books on your computer or smart phone by using Amazon's free cloud reader.

From The Web: 25 Things I Learned Opening Up A Bookstore

Over at the Open.Salon blog, JL Sathrie gives a list of 25 things she's learned since opening her used bookstore. I support local bookstores and thrift stores (and you should too!) and I found some of these pretty funny and helpful. Take a look. 

I'm having a BOOKSALE!!!!!!!

I've been collecting books for a few years now, and I think my collection is pretty nifty. So I've chosen to share my good finds with you, at a modest price. I would like to sell them ASAP, so feel free to make me an offer and I'll save your book/s and send it out as soon as I can. Heres' my list

How do you pick a book?

As this is a book blog, I have tried to gather some good ideas on how to pick a book. Hopefully this can be of use to you all. Since many of you may be Christian, I will jump ahead and focus on how to get a feel for a book by a Christian author (though I think this would also apply to non-Christian authors too).

1. Amazon
If you are like me, you spend time on Amazon.com just browsing to see what's around, what's coming up, and what people generally think. I usually do this when I buy, am about to buy, or read a new book. Read the reviews. Does it have one, two, or five stars? Do the reviews seem fair? Are there any recurring problems mentioned? Many older theology books are notorious for having bad binding. Are you better off buying it used or in a newer digital format?

2. Blurbs
Who blurbed the back of the book? Blurbs are the endorsements given to an author by other recognized authors, personalities etc.. They're usually found on the back of the book. This one can say a lot or a little. I once thumbed through a book that was endorsed by Donald Miller. He is the author of "Blue Like Jazz" which many of you know makes some "interesting" theological statements. I almost put the book away, but it turned out to be a great book on how to do church discipline today. If I could remember the title of said book I'd recommend it (Something like 10 mistakes churches make)! Of course, seeing well known, respected leaders recommend a book helps. But you must go deeper still. Does anyone who's opinion you trust like the book you are about to read?

3.Table of Contents
Yes, at some point you have to pop open the book and read what the author intends to communicate (you knew you were going to at some point). Is there a structure? What are the headings? Is there an apppendix? If it has a scripture index, does it have a lot of scripture? How long is the book? Who gets mentioned a lot in their bibliography or endnotes? I once had to read a book that had a lot of end notes referencing Carl Jung. It was by a Christian psychologist and it made me be a bit more wary about what the author had to say. 

4. Publisher
Who published it? A company like Crossway is known to publish Reformed authors. The same goes for P&R Publishing and Reformation Trust. Zondervan is one of the bigger evangelical book  publishers. Though recently, I've been concerned as they are cashing in on the Emergent movement with an Emergent line of books. This doesn't mean that all Zondervan books are bad. And yes, to be fair some Emergent books are decent (sometimes). If anything Intervarsity Press is guilty of publishing many questionable books (the openess of God anyone?). I should also add that a publisher's website could have some helpful information-maybe even a free copy of the book. 

5. Time
What year was this published? If this is older than a decade, the information maybe outdated. But, there are those few books that stand the test of time, so don't hold onto that too hard and fast to this rule.

6. Author Info
Who is this person that you are about to let into your thoughts? Thanks to today's world, you can find a ministry website for almost all Christian authors. Just be careful that their book isn't just an endorsement for even more (and more expensive!) material from them. What is their testimony? What school do they teach at? Have they made controversial statements in previous books? Is their church a good place? Do they have a blog? Are there incriminating pics of them with Lady Gaga?

7. Your own interest
Why do you want to read this? What is it that you need to know? Some books need only a quick glance and a read through a chapter or two to get what you need. Others demand a lot of time, and are worth every hour of reading. In other words, "what's the point"?
8. Does your enemy hate or like it?
You either see this one or you don't.

9. What are the bloggers saying?
Tim Challie's page Challies.com is now THE place to get a good Christian book review. He truly is the Christian Uber-blogger/book reviewer. I trust his judgement when it comes to reviews.

10. Author's intent?
Why was this book written? To inform? Persuade? Make a point? Share an experience? These are things you want to keep in mind. If it's just an angry screed, it would be best to leave it at Borders.

11. Would I want to own this?
Or would I be happy borrowing it from the library? There are a few books I wouldn't want to be caught dead with. Seriously.

12.The friend test
Ask your friends what they think about it (if they have read it). They may save you a trip to the bookstore.

13. Re-read factor
Is this one of those books you'll want to own long enough to read again? Granted some of those books are hard to spot at first, but some you just know you'll read again and again.


Ok there you go, pray, reflect, but for goodness sake tell people. We need to have more open discussions about the books we're reading. 

Summer Reading

Summer is almost here. This will mean a lot of time at the beach, theme parks and family get together's. But if you're like me, you will go to these places with a lot of books. Between BBQ's, lines to the next ride, and that hour after you eat, you will find time to read. But for all my years of reading, I've never really had a summer reading list. Since a lot of people seem to be sharing their lists, I figured I'd share my first summer reading lost. I't's not complete, but it's a snapshot of what I've been trying to read for the last year or so. I think this summer is the time to catch up.

1. Tom Sawyer. Mark Twain's famous children's book is finally going to get the attention is deserves! I'm sorry to admit I haven't read it before, but I assure you I did read some great kid's books growing up.

2. The Reason for God. I'm a fan of Tim Keller. I can't wait to read and listen to a lot of his work. So I want to finally finish this book on apologetics before I start the rest of his works.

3. Christianity and Culture Revisited. D.A Carson wrote a book about the different ways Christians deal and engage with culture. I've heard some positive reviews. I have to admit the first chapter is very eye opening. In essence he asks if C.S. Lewis would be the C.S. Lewis we know, if he had been raised in the killing fields of Cambodia. A good place to start if you ask me.

4.Gospel in Life. Tim Keller's study guide to his Gospel and Life DVD just came out, and it has a lot of great information on living the gospel in the real world.

5. Dark Tower 2: The Drawing of the Three. A little Stephen King never killed anyone. I started reading his magnum opus in High School. Of course, he hand't finished it. All these years later, it's finished and I plan on reading all 7 books. I'm currently reading through this one.

6. Truth Decay. Ten years ago Douglas Groothuis released a book warning us about the dangers of relativism and post-modernism as they were related to the church. I'd like to see what he was warning us about in 2000 and see if his predictions have come to pass. I seriously want to interview him for the blog.

7. The Screenwriters Bible. I got this because I still believe in the stories that are floating around my brain. This summer, I want to started getting ready to get them out.

8. The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God. John Frame is a master of philosophical theology. His book is an introduction to theological method and it tries to answer a very tough question: What does it mean to KNOW God? How do you do it? What DO you know? As preparation for Seminary in the fall, I can think of no other book to sharpen the old thinking skills.

9. Don't Waste Your Life. John Piper's books has gotten a lot of the Young Restless Reformed people's attention. I plan on reading it this summer. Perhaps a good think to think through as I start seminary.

10. 1984. Orwelle's famous book on totalitarianism is still good reading, and a great piece of fiction to think through.

Well, that's my list. Please feel free to comment. How about you? What are you reading this summer?

Trevin Wax Christmas Giveway

As a great Christmas present, SBC blogger Trevin Wax, is giving a copy of each of his favorite books away to one lucky winner. Included in the package is an ESV Study Bible. (those things are becoming real collectors items!). For rules and quilifications, please visit his blog (here).  He will be picking the winner on Christmas.

Book Review- "The Power of Less"

As the new year starts,  Tim Challies (Uber christian book blogger) has this to say

I am going to continue on a trajectory I began several months ago—a trajectory leading toward control and simplicity. In a wired, digital world, I’ve too often felt like technology owns me and drives me instead of the other way around. I’ve started to try to regain that sense of control, sometimes scaling back, sometimes changing the way I do things. I hope to continue that through 2009 and beyond.

I find this interesting because I've seen a rise in blogs, websites andbooks (as my title suggests) on the idea of simplicity. I've also been reading through "The New Media Frontier" (review forthcoming) and have been wondering about our life in the digital smorgasborg. As someone described it, it is like trying to drink water froma fire hydrant. So what are we to do? Blogger Leo Babauta of Zen Habits has written a book on just that.

"The Power of Less" is a short read on a big subject: simplicity. Who knew we were so cluttered we needed to be taught be simple again? From multiple e-mail accounts, to extra appointments, to lots of work projects, we are dying in a culture of paper and digital clutter.Taking the paper and digital beats is what Babauta does. The two essential steps he begins with are quite "simple": find the essential and get rid of the rest. If you can do that, the rest of the book is pretty easy. Steps like focusing on what is at hand, starting small, focusing on a few things to do per day.
As an example he cties going to the gym and eating  as things that need to be simplified. He suggests you start going to the gym for 10 minutes at a time and staying longer every week. As for food, he suggests you chew slowly and not do anything else. I'm guilty of trying to read, watch tv and listen to music while I eat. You would think that doing less might be counter intuitive, but doing exactly that Leo has trained for a few marathons, started a business and quit smoking. Pretty impressive for a guy who was working more than 40 hours per week and only ate junk food.

So is simplicity the new "going green"? Possibly. Zen habits is a very popular blog, as is The Slacker Method and Life Hacker. Getting control of clutter in an easy way is going to become more of a need as we become a more cluttered culture. The main culprit however is the internet. So try a no-media hour today. Take an hour where you won't be on-line, on a computer, or with a cell phone. If you can't  do that, you should pick up this book.

New Blog Alert!!!!!!

If you have the time visit Alan Jabob's page at Culture 11. Culture11 is in itself an interesting blog for young thinkers to visit as well. It was good of them to invite a season English Professor from Wheadon to contribute his thoughts. I dare say he seems to be as well read as Al Mohler (who has an impressive blog himself). Check out his inaugural post. Here's a quote from his first post

Hello, and welcome to a new blog about technologies of reading and research and, well, knowledge. I’m not going to turn this first post into a manifesto, because manifestos tend to be a lot more boring than they’re meant to be, and in any case if you hang around you’ll see what I’m up to. But in brief:

I’m a fifty-year-old professor of English and therefore, as you might suspect, a lifelong reader. Books and magazines have been near the core of my identity since I learned to read at age three. I love the printed word and think that it embodies a set of technologies whose virtues can’t be replaced by other media. But I also have a deep interest in and attachment to the online world; I tend to get pretty excited about what I can do, what I can learn, what I can read, and in general what I can experience online.

Visit his page and tell him I sent you. Oh I should add that he likes books as much as I do, so thats one other reason I endorsed him here.

New Book Alert

As you all know, I am a big fan of all things book. More so, I'm a fan of theology books. Here is a new book that I'm sure will get a lot of people talking in the blogosphere. From Green Baggins blog, he loves to talk about new books. He's made mention of a new book coming from Crossway (who else?)


Reforming or Conforming? Post-Conservative Evangelicals and the Emerging Church seems to be a book many people will be talking about. The description says:

In Reforming or Conforming?, scholars such as John Bolt, Scott Clark, Paul Helm, and Paul Helseth join editors Gary Johnson and Ron Gleason in analyzing and critiquing the ideas of those who promote postmodernism as a positive force in theology. Pastors, laymen, and college students will find this book a helpful resource in understanding and refuting postmodern evangelicalism. Includes a foreword by David F. Wells.

* Contributors: Paul Wells
* John Bolt
* Paul Helm
* Scott Clark
* Paul Kjoss Helseth
* Jeffrey Waddington
* Guy P. Waters
* Phil Johnson
* Martin Downes
* Greg Gilbert
* Gary Gilley

Editor Information: GARY L. W. JOHNSON, pastor of the Church of the Redeemer, Mesa, Arizona, holds a DTheol from the University of South Africa.

RONALD N. GLEASON, pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Yorba Linda, California, holds a PhD in systematic theology from Westminster Theological Seminary.

304 pages
Published September 2008

Sounds like another book that will get both sides going. I've seriously wanted to have a different book out there. I would call it "The other side of the conversation". It could be a dialogue in book form between two parties. Or a point counter point format. Not too dissimilar from the Opposing views series Zondervan has. Any takers? I would love for this to be the blog that got that going. I have someone in mind that would love to do it. He's a genius friend of mine. I'm taking offers.