One of the things you should know about me is that I love to read. Here is a compilation of my favorite reads over the past couple of years.
2016 Top 15 Reads
- The Way of a Pilgrim and the Pilgrim Continues His Way by Anonymous.
- Surprise the World: The Five Habits of Highly Missional People by Michael Frost.
- The Orthodox Way by Kallistos Ware.
- City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin.
- Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times by Soong-Chan Rah.
- A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story by Michael Goheen.
- Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel by Russell D. Moore.
- Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of Family and Culture by J.D. Vance.
- Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospel by David H. Stern.
- Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No the Culture of Now by Walter Brueggemann.
- Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.
- The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore.
- Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America’s Most Perilous Year by David Von Drehle.
- Public Faith in Action: How to Think Carefully, Engage Wisely and Vote with Integrity by Miroslav Volf and Ryan McAnnally-Linz.
- Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood by Lisa Damour.
2015 Top 10 Reads
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- The Sabbath: It’s Meaning for Modern Man by Abraham Joshua Heschel
- The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus by Dallas Willard
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
- Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church by Scot McKnight
- The Martian by Andy Weir
- Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller
- Play Ball by John Feinstein
- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtury
- The President’s Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy
2014 Top 10 Reads
- Jesus: A Theography by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola
- Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
- Scripture and the Authority of God by N.T. Wright
- The Fire of the Word: Meeting God on Holy Ground by Chris Webb
- The Cave and the Light: Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization by Arthur Herman
- Remarriage and Divorce in Today’s Church: Three Views, edited by Mark L. Strauss
- One Last Strike: Fifty Years in Baseball, Ten and Half Games Back, and One Final Championship Season by Tony La Russa with Rick Hummel
- Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus by Klyne R. Snodgrass
- The Next 100 Million: America in 2050 by Joel Kotkin
2013 Top 10 Reads
- The Passage by Justin Cronin
- Discourses by Epictetus
- The Power of Appreciative Inquiry by Dianna Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom
- The Baseball Codes by Jason Turbow and Michael Duda
- The Twelve by Justin Cronin
- Mighty Stories, Dangerous Rituals by Herbert Anderson and Edward Foley
- Spy the Lie by Phillip Houston, Michael Floyd, and Susan Carnicero
- Mike and Mike’s Rules for Sports and Life by Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic
- The Duck Commander Family by Willie and Korie Robertson
- Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians by Ben Witherington III
2012 Top 15 Reads
- The Drama of Scripture by Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen
- A Million Miles In A Thousand Years by Donald Miller
- Culture Making by Andy Crouch
- The Stand by Stephen King
- Dream Team by Jack McCallum
- I Am A Follower by Leonard Sweet
- Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin
- Being As Communion by John Zizoulas
- The Beginning and the End by Michael W. Pahl
- You Lost Me by Dave Kinnaman
- The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons
- Practicing the Way of Jesus by Mark Scandrette
- The Living Word of God by Ben Witherington III
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
- Sandy Koufax by Jane Leavy
2011 Top 15 Reads
- The Great Omission by Dallas Willard
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- One.Life by Scot McKnight
- Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis
- Prophets by Abraham Joshua Heschel
- Decision Points by George W. Bush
- Strengths-Based Leadership by Tom Rath & Barry Conchie
- Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember by John Feinstein
- The Tea Party Goes to Washington by Rand Paul
- How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
- The Mentor Leader by Tony Dungy
- Resurrection: The Power of God for Christians and Jews by Kevin J. Madigan and Jon Levenson
- Managing Polarities in Congregations: Eight Keys for Thriving Faith Communities by Roy M. Oswald and Barry Johnson
- Practicing Gospel: Unconventional Thoughts on the Church’s Ministry by Edward Farley
- Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education by Martha C. Nussbaum
2010 Top 15 Reads
- Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- The Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight
- What Good is God? by Philip Yancey
- Poets Against the War, edited by Sam Hammill
- Practice Resurrection by Eugene Peterson
- The War for Late Night by Bill Carter
- After You Believe by N.T. Wright
- American Lion by Jon Meachem
- The Yankee Years by Tom Verducci & Joe Torre
- Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Rediscovering Values by Jim Wallis
- The Pocket Guide to the Apocalypse by Jason Boyett
- Stories That Feed the Soul by Tony Campolo
- The Justice Project by Brian McLaren
2009 Top 10 Reads
- The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns
- Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell
- The Jesus Way by Eugene Peterson
- Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2 by Steve Stockman
- The Sermon on the Mount by Clarence Jordan
- Essential Judaism by George Robinson
- Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller
- God Works by Randy Harris
- Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis
- Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson (re-read from 2008)
2008 Top 10 Reads
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- God in the White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush by Randall Balmer
- Red Letter Christians by Tony Campolo
- The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs
- The Preacher King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Word That Moved America by Richard Lischer
- Three Nights in August by Buzz Bissinger
- Living the Sermon on the Mount: A Practical Hope for Grace and Deliverance by Glen Stassen
- Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ron Sider
2007 Top 10 Reads
- Theology for the Community of God by Stanley Grenz
- The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness by Simon Wiesenthal
- The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne
- Renewing God’s People: A Concise History of Churches of Christ by Gary Holloway and Douglas Foster
- Preaching and the Literary Forms of the Bible by Thomas Long
- Leaving Church by Barbara Brown Taylor
- The End of Words: The Language of Reconciliation in a Culture of Violence by Richard Lischer
- Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero by David Maraniss
- Shepherds After My Own Heart by Timothy Laniak
- Like A Shepherd Lead Us: Guidance for the Gentle Art of Pastoring / Good Shepherds: More Guidance for the Gentle Art of Pastoring. Edited by David Fleer and Charles Siburt
2006 Top 10 Reads
- Mere Discipleship by Lee Camp
- Simply Christian by N. T. Wright
- The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch
- Fantasyland by Sam Walker
- Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel
- The Last Days According to Jesus by R.C. Sproul
- Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- God’s Politics by Jim Wallis
- Trolls & Truth: 14 Realities About Today’s Church That We Don’t Want To See by Jimmy Dorrell
- The Witness of Preaching by Thomas Long
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