2010

Adopted For Life- Russell Moore. Forget advice on agencies and policies, those go out of date every year.  This book is all about how adoption is at the heart of the gospel and a beautiful choice for families and churches.  Highly recommended! (10)
 
Church Planting is For Wimps — Mike McKinley.  More of a case study than a ‘how to’ manual.  I’d recommend it to potential church planters and Christians thinking of joining up with a church plant. (7)
 
The Bus- Jerome Bettis & Gene Wojciechowski.  One of my all-time favorite Steelers, a good summer read. (7)
 
For the Beauty of the Church — ed. by David Taylor.  God is an Artist and wants us to care about beauty.  This is a good, fairly quick read with chapters by the likes of Eugene Peterson and Lauren Winner.  Memorable on why sentimental art is often bad art. (8)

 
Eat This Book — Eugene Peterson.  Peterson demands that I use words well, that I let the truths of the Trinity shape me, and that I never let religion be an excuse to avoid God.  There are so many crummy writers and theologians out there, they would all do well to read Peterson. (10)
 
The Last Putt: Two Teams, One Dream and a Freshman Named Tiger — Brian Murphy & Neil Hayes.  The story of Oklahoma State’s victory over Stanford in 1995, this is a very well-written book.  The authors set up the story masterfully and draw us into the personalities and drama.  As sports books go, this is one of the best I’ve read. (10)
 
Simplicity in Preaching — J.C. Ryle.  Good, short tract on the necessity of being simple and clear in our preaching.  Sounds obvious, but I’m not above needing this reminder.  Definitely dated in some of its references, but the principles hold true. (7)
 
Shattered Dreams — Larry Crabb.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough.  This is a perspective-shaping book, a life-changing read. (10)

The Shepherd Leader — Timothy Witmer.  A good church must have good shepherds.  This is an excellent overview of the work of pastors and elders, a modern-day version of Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor.  I’m going to use this in my officer training course from now on. (9)
 
Crazy Love — Francis Chan.  The main themes of this book, dedication to the God who loves you and personal sacrifice for the kingdom have been covered just as well, if not better, in other books.  But I like Chan’s passion, and the American church certainly needs a call to sacrifice and true stewardship.  At times I felt like this was inducing a bit of false guilt, but I probably need a little guilt over how comfortable my life is. (7)
 
Practicing: A Musician’s Return to Music — Glenn Kurtz.  Kurtz was an accomplished classical guitarist who quit the instrument and then returned to it years later.  He’s an excellent writer and I hung on most every word about the music and great musicians who influenced and guided him.  Not for everybody, but if you’ve ever tried to seriously learn an instrument, you’ll appreciate it. (9)
 
Letters to the Seven Churches — William Barclay.  This is kind of a classic commentary on Revelation 2 & 3.  There’s good content here, but Barclay seems very sure of how his cultural research matches up with Jesus’ metaphors, and I’m just not sure you can be quite that confident. (7)
 
On the Dark Edge of the Sea of Darkness — Andrew Peterson.  Peterson is one of my favorite songwriters, so I was interested in his switch to longer storytelling.  This is a fun book, maybe even silly, but it tells a good story about courage and family. (7)

 
Redeeming Pop Culture — T.M. Moore.  I don’t mean to be rude, but I find Moore’s writing to be dull, very textbook-like.  There were good ideas here, but a writer’s first responsibility is to make me want to listen, and I only got through this out of duty, even though the subject matter is very interesting to me. (6)

 
The Intimate Mystery — Dan Allender & Tremper Longman.  A good, not great marriage book.  A lot on sex and the idea of marriage as healing.  It’s odd to me that every anecdote in this book is about Allender.  (7)

 
The Book of Evidence — John Banville.  Banville is a great writer, and there was one page that I read 3 times because it was just so well-written.  The problem here is that I didn’t care about the main character, I didn’t get him or identify with him much.  This is the first in a trilogy, but I’m not sure I’m going to invest the time to read 2 & 3. (6)

 
Introducing Covenant Theology — Michael Horton.  Introducing to whom?  Theologians who have a wide background in biblical studies and eschatology?  I can’t recommend this to most people I know, even though he writes some good stuff here.  Some of it was pretty incomprehensible to me, a covenant theology guy. (6)

The Rule of Love — J.V. Fesko.  The Ten Commandments are a deep well of wisdom, and Fesko does a fine job showing how they both point us to Christ but also shape our lives to become more and more like Christ. (8)

 
When Helping Hurts — Brian Fikkert & Steve Corbett.  An excellent study of the problem of poverty and how the kingdom of God comes to bear on our physical lives.  This book caused me to think in new ways and ask different questions.  Good case studies and the authors have a lot of experience in deed ministry. (10)

 
Preaching Christ From Genesis — Sidney Greidanus.  Great resource from a solid theologian who gets the bigger picture of redemption in Scripture. (9)

 
Into the Dark — Craig Detweiler.  Another book finding spiritual themes in movies.  Detweiler seeks to learn new things from God through the common grace/ natural revelation of film.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it’s a bit strained. (7)

 
How People Change — Tim Lane & Paul Tripp.  Great book on the human condition and dealing with the heart. If you counsel people formally or informally, you ought to read this book. (9)

 
Joseph — Charles Swindoll.  Tim Keller says, “The purpose of Bible stories is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The purpose of these Bible stories is to show how God’s grace breaks into your life against your will and rescues you from the sin and brokenness you would not be able to overcome otherwise.”  This book is all about how to have integrity and be a good leader.  Very little about the gospel in Joseph’s life. (4)

Culture Making — Andy Crouch.  A fantastic read that I didn’t want to put down.  Crouch makes the observation that so much worldview thinking has been done by Christians, but not much culture-creating.  His solutions are well-balanced and inspiring for a Christian who takes the cultural mandate seriously.  I agree with Keller’s dust-jacket quote that this book takes the discussion to a new level.  Buy this book. (10)

 
Radical — David Platt.  In the line of Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life, Chan’s Crazy Love, and Shane Claibourne’s The Irresistable Revolution, this book is a very serious and well-intentioned call for Christians to stop being so materialistic and start really following Jesus!  Forgive me for not jumping out of my seat, but I need a steady diet of reflectons on the gospel to fill my heart and move me to greater actions.  Just rehashing all of the ‘hard sayings’ parables of Jesus and challenging me to downsize and go on foreign mission trips just makes me feel false guilt.  Sorry, it’s probably a better book than that.  I’m not even going to rate it, because for the right person, it could be life-changing.

 
Transformational Churches — Ed Stetzer & Thom Rainer.  As a modern pastor, I wrestle with whether I should read this kind of book.  I have a lot of respect for Ed Stetzer, and I recognize that this is a big theological step beyond your average church growth, ‘check out these statistics & change your church’ book.  Still, an awful lot was put on polls and statistics, and while I must contextualize my ministry, my philosophy of ministry is not at core a comparative philosophy, it must be a biblical philosophy. (7)

 
What is the Gospel? — Greg Gilbert.  The theology here is basically biblical, but it’s fairly dry.  If you like theology or philosophy or just want to know what the main theme of the Bible is, read this.  But, Gilbert’s weak in being very engaging in writing style.  And while he gives a good caution for ‘cultural transformers’ who might replace the cross with cultural activity, I think he goes too far in not telling us how the gospel plays out in life- it’s 95% intellectual here. (7)

 
The Gospel For Muslims — Thabiti Anyabwile.  There’s nothing really special or magical about witnessing to a Muslim, particularly in America.  Anyabwile gives his own testimony of conversion from Islam to Christianity and helps us understand the mindset of a Muslim.  But, at the end of the day, it’s still about relationship and the gospel. (9)

 
Real Sex — Lauren Winner.  A gifted writer, Winner wants the church to be more honest in its teaching on sex.  She makes great points about community, domesticity and chastity.  It’s amusing to hear her talk about how she didn’t want to focus on marriage, but in her writing of the book she realized that there’s no way to get around the fact that marriage is the only arena for real sex.  Highly recommended, particularly for college students. (9)

 
Where Wisdom Is Found — J.V. Fesko.  A short interpretation of Ecclesiastes.  Christ-centered but not particularly exciting.  Shouldn’t biblical interpretation & application be exciting? (8)

 
The Christian Culture Survival Guide — Matthew Paul Turner.  There were some funny observations here, but the problem is that Turner seems to think that the weirdness he went through in churches growing up gives him a right to treat the Church how he wants. (4)

 
Culture in Christian Perspective — Leland Ryken.  This book is a couple decades old, but I found its teachings to be quite relevant today.  It would be a great primer, for a Christian who has not thought deeply about how to relate to culture. (10)

 
The Returning King — Vern Poythress.  This readable commentary on Revelation is winsome and thoughtful.  There wasn’t much here that I haven’t read in other works on Revelation, though.  Still, if you just wanted to read 1 book to help you understand Revelation, this would be a good choice. (8)

 
An American Childhood — Annie Dillard.  Growing up in Pittsburgh in the ‘50s.  There were amusing vignettes, but that’s about all I can say. (5)

 
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. — ed. by Clayborne Carson.  What a brilliant man.  I’m shamed by how little I stick up for the weak and oppressed.  And I’m inspired by how biblical this man was in his vision for society. (10)
 
Outrageous Mercy: Rediscovering the Radical Nature of the Cross — William Farley.   Nothing earth-shattering here if you’ve read much Reformed theology.  Still, you can’t have too many of these kinds of books- if only for every Twilight book read, one would read a good book on the cross!  This book would be 100 times more beneficial than vampire pulp. (7)
 
Following Jesus — Tom Wright.   Wright has many good things to say, but I didn’t come away with much to really dialogue about with someone (unlike Surprised By Hope which I could discuss at length).  I recommend this book, though, for its insightful overviews on books of the Bible. (7)
 
The Pastor As Minor Poet — Craig Barnes.  A pastor’s job is to look below the surface.  Barnes’ writing style is more exploratory and exhortative than practical, but I was encouraged and gently challenged. (8)

Best Reads from the past few years

Christ and the Future — Cornelis Venema. Good, reasoned, hermeneutically-solid approach to eschatology. I highly recommend this book. (10)

Christ-Centered Worship — Bryan Chappell. Like his book on preaching, this is the new standard introduction for thinking about gospel worship. (10)

Christless Christianity — Michael Horton. Reading the first 3 chapters of this book felt like he was going from one hatchet job to the next, cutting down everyone in his wake who doesn’t emphasize things the same way he does (obviously Osteen & some others deserve harsh criticism). Starting in chapter 4, though, he goes back and lays some groundwork for understanding what the church & the gospel are and why the American church is so far off course. Overall, this is a very insightful book, but I don’t know how well people outside of Reformed circles would receive this book with its ranting. Really good stuff in the last chapter, though, on how the church is missional. (8)

Reflecting Theologically on Popular Culture as Meaningful: The Role of Sin, Grace and General Revelation — Ted Turnau. This free e-book (http://www.ransomfellowship.org/publications/ebook_turnau_reflectingtheologically.pdf) written by one of my seminary professors is a fantastic piece of scholarship and practical writing. Popular culture is meaningful, and Christians should treat it as such. (9)

The Messiah and the Psalms — Richard Belcher. All Psalms are messianic, if you understand how the New Testament writers read them. It’s amazing how few scholars agree with this statement, but I believe Belcher is absolutely right. This is a great resource, I highly recommend it. (10)

Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate — Jerry Bridges. The first five chapters of this book were great, Bridges has a solidly biblical view of justification and sanctification. Read and re-read those chapters. The chapters on our ‘more subtle sins’ are challenging, but a bit weaker. (8)

Fidelity — Wendell Berry. Berry can do more in 20 pages than many writers can do in 200. I really cared about these farmers from Kentucky. (9)

A Severe Mercy — Sheldon Vanauken. A really wonderful love story and the difference God makes in our dreams and our relationships. (9)

Colossians Remixed — Brian Walsh, Sylvia Keesmaat. Maybe the most interesting commentary I’ve ever read- equal parts apologetic book and cultural commentary, I didn’t agree with all the applications but was very challenged in my reading of Colossians. (9)

The Hidden Smile of God — John Piper. Part of Piper’s biography series, this one was very engaging and reflective of the life of suffering. (8)

Love That Lasts — Gary & Betsy Ricucci. A solid book on marriage. While a bit cutesy in parts, it has a lot of good information and encouragement, theological and practical. (9)

Christ-Centered Preaching- Bryan Chapell. A re-read of the best book on preaching I know of. (10)

When Sinners Say ‘I Do’ — Dave Harvey. What we believe about God (and our sinful selves) determines the quality of our marriage. This book is everything The 5 Love Languages book is not. (9)

Is Christianity Good for the World? — a debate between Christopher Hitchens & Douglas Wilson. An engaging, short read. Wilson ultimately scores a knockout on the question of how an atheist can have any moral indignation. (8)

The Prodigal God — Tim Keller. Classic Keller. Buy this book. Face up to the fact that you’re the older brother. Give it to your Christian friends, give it to your non-Christian friends. It’s that good, and it’s a short read. Chapter 4 by itself has strong potential to reform the church (is that hyperbole?). (10)

The Road — Cormac McCarthy. What if there were a nuclear holocaust and animal and plant life were all but extinct? This is about as realistic a picture of that situation as I can imagine. McCarthy is a brilliant writer and understands sin/evil/darkness (choose your word) and the perplexity of our humanity. Great literature stays with you, and some might not want this book to stay with them. I do. (9)

A Taste of Heaven — R.C. Sproul. It’s been a while since I’d read a new book by R.C. Kind of a misleading title, as there’s not much talk of heaven. But I suppose a title like Thoughts on Worship or Why Presbyterians Do Like They Do wouldn’t sell as well. (7)

When the Darkness Will Not Lift — John Piper. A short book that is right on theologically- I agree that much of our emotional health can be related to our doctrine of justification. But probably not the book to give to someone who’s depressed, and not as good or thorough as the CCEF authors all over his footnotes. (7)

Bringing Heaven to Earth — Nathan Bierma. Utilizing good sources and summarizing the thoughts of others in your own way is a worthy endeavor. This is all good stuff, and stuff that gets my blood pumping and I could see myself writing about. If you haven’t thought about ‘the bigger story of salvation’ and the coming down of God’s kingdom to earth, you should read this. But if you’re going to read this, you might as well read Mouw’s When the Kings Come Marching In and Hoekema’s The Bible and the Future and Jacobsen’s Sidewalks in the Kingdom. (7)

Surprised By Hope — N.T. Wright. A very important book. Which matters more: interpreting end times prophecies or understanding that we are part of a renewal of all creation? Wright argues very convincingly that the ‘life after life after death’ (ie, the new heavens and the new earth) should cause us to care more and act at all times on the knowledge that Jesus’ resurrection changes things. Very orthodox and scriptural, but might be dismissed by many evangelicals who are steeped in platonic dualism. (10)

What is a Healthy Church Member? — Thabiti Anyabwile. Written by an elder of a very good, healthy church, there is a lot of meat here. Not a lot of practical illustrations to help visualize the exhortations, but I’d recommend it to every member of my church. (9)

Restoring the Fallen: A Team Approach to Caring, Confronting and Reconciling — Wilsons, Friesens, Paulsons. I am a real believer (and recent practicer of) Spiritual Care Teams for people who’ve sinned greatly. This book should be read by every seminary student to at least grapple with the issues of how to restore people who’ve made a mess of their lives. (9)

A Thousand Resurrections — Maria Garriott. Would I ever move to the inner-city and pastor a multi-racial church on a shoestring salary? I don’t know, but I’m glad the Garriotts have, and I’m thankful for this honest memoir. (8)

Huckleberry Finn — Mark Twain. I never read this as a kid, and it’s not the easiest read. But it’s been called the greatest novel on race relations, and it is both hilarious and deeply insightful about human nature and relationships. (9)

The Supremacy of Christ in the Postmodern World — John Piper, Tim Keller, David Wells, etc… Excellent work from some of my favorite people. If you want to understand the modern landscape and a bit more of how the church has responded and should respond to it, this is a very good resource. (9)

The Old Man and the Sea — Ernest Hemingway. Man’s struggle is noble when it’s done honestly, but ultimately futile. Short, sad, beautiful. (8) 

The Word Became Fresh: How to Preach From Old Testament Narrative Texts — Dale Ralph Davis. If I ever become a professor, I want to be like Ralph Davis. Not sure if I agree with his comments on forcing Christ on a text (as Bill Boyd says, “Can you out-redeem the Bible?”), but maybe the difference is of degrees rather than substance (he’s certainly Christ-centered). (8)

The Mystery of Marriage — Mike Mason. I have had this book on my shelf for 15 years, and I finally read it. Loved it. Mason has a way of putting things and shares devastating insights into intimacy and pain. You’re not going to get ’10 fun date ideas for married couples’ here, but you might just get what you need to really love God and your wife. (10)

Shepherding a Child’s Heart — Tedd Tripp. I had skimmed this book a while back, but I’m glad I went back and re-read it. It is a jewel among parenting books; the go-to resource for Christian parents, IMHO. (10)

A Great Mystery: 14 Wedding Sermons — Peter Leithart. Great stuff, I’d recommend to any engaged or married couple (and to pastors who do weddings). Unfortunately, many people I know would complain if they went to a wedding where the homily was as long as some of these. Their loss. (8)

A Theology As Big As the City — Ray Bakke. More of a biblical survey through noting how the biblical writers address the city and work in urban environments and relationships. Some thought-provoking stuff here. (7)

Relationships: A Mess Worth Making — Tim Lane & Paul Tripp. A book that pools together a lot of the things that define the CCEF way of biblical counseling. Not systematic or exhaustive, more of a conversation, it’s well worth the time to read and dwell on these concepts. (8)

The Hobbit — JRR Tolkien. Guillermo del Toro better not mess up this film adaptation. (10)

The Myth of Certainty — Daniel Taylor. What does it take to be a reflective Christian and what are the risks? I can’t tell you how much this book has meant to me. (10)

Kingdom Come — Allen Mitsuo Wakabayashi. IMHO, the great weakness of evangelicalism is the ‘reductionist’ and ‘individual consumerist’ approach to the gospel- ie, ‘let’s make a 4 point outline to get people to say the prayer and get their ticket punched to heaven and we’re good.’ This book, by a campus minister, gives the right alternative- the gospel of the King and His kingdom. While it’s not on the level of Wright, Ladd or even Goldsworthy, I’d recommend it particularly to evangelical college students. (Thanks, Jack, for the recommendation) (9)

Through the Screen Darkly — Jeffrey Overstreet. What a book on faith and film should be- personal, thoughtful, instructive and challenging. I put this up there with Robert Jewett’s books on St. Paul Goes to the Movies. (9)

The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus — D.A. Carson. Carson is so helpful and reliable, that I appreciate most everything he writes. Good stuff here on Jesus’ last supper words of encouragement and Trinitarian theology. (9)

The Reason for God — Tim Keller. I love how Keller begins each chapter by raising a serious objection to the Christian faith. He does it so convincingly and respectfully that you wonder how he’s going to get out of it, but then he lovingly turns the question upside down to show how the doubt is actually an alternative set of beliefs. Keller said this book can’t replace Mere Christianity, but I like it better. (10)

UnChristian — David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. “Groundbreaking research”? Hardly; for anyone who’s been paying attention to our culture the research and conclusions are not surprising, and the recommendations and solutions are good but not in-depth (I don’t expect them to be in this format). If you’re an evangelical pastor consumed with winning the culture war and living the idea that “we’ll do anything short of sin to convert someone, and I don’t care who we offend” then you need to read this book. And develop a better theology of ministry. (8)

For the Beauty of the Earth — Stephen Bouma-Prediger. Apart from a couple rambling chapters of visualizing ecological settings, this is a marvelous book for anyone wanting to know how the Bible addresses creation care. Good in science and in theology, this is the kind of balanced book that really adds to the environmental discussion rather than just adding rhetoric. (9)

Sex God — Rob Bell. I have always seen the spiritual side of intimacy and marriage as a deep canyon most people miss. Bell doesn’t miss it, he revels in it in a good way. He’s ultra-trendy, and you get the feeling he goes with the flow more than any pastor you know. But, wouldn’t you want to hang out over a couple of brews with him? (9)

Churches, Before You Build — William Couchenour. Guess what my church is thinking about doing? This was a good, helpful book for someone who knows next to nothing about such things. It didn’t change my view of God or architecture, but it is what it is. (8)

Confessions of a Reformission Rev — Mark Driscoll. Hilarious and sobering at the same time. This book made me glad for my copy of the Book of Church Order, because as an independent, Driscoll spends so much time re-inventing the wheel, I would have burned out years ago. Also helpful to see his distinction between ‘emerging’ and ‘emergent’ and hearing him call us back to contextualized Biblical Christianity. (9)

The Genesis of Sex — O. Palmer Robertson. A subject-by-subject review of different areas of sexuality in the book of Genesis. Thought-provoking, especially for those who think the Bible is for prudes, or for the prude himself. (7)

Everything Bad is Good For You — Steven Johnson. Ok, so the title over-reaches a bit. But this is an interesting read on how video games actually make kids problem-solvers and story-arcs in television are much more sophisticated today than in the ‘good old days’ of linear conflict-resolution drama. This book challenges my inner Pharisee. (7)

I Am Charlotte Simmons — Tom Wolfe. This is the side of college life that I never saw, but it reads as very true, and I’m practically catatonic thinking this is the world that might await one of my daughters. Very raw (a movie of this would be rated ‘R’), but somewhat profound work on identity, fear and pride. (8)

The Genesis of Justice — Alan Dershowitz. This book asks some good questions and is quite thought-provoking. Dershowitz quotes a lot of rabbis and mishnas, unfortunately he never really considers the teachings of Rabbi Paul or Jesus. He ends up with a sovereign God who is not really sovereign and justice that has to conform to human (his?) standards. Points for being interesting, though, and making me think about Genesis differently than I normally would. (7)

Last Things First — J.V. Fesko. Arguing that we must continually keep Jesus and the future city of God in mind, this is one of the greatest treatments of Genesis I’ve ever read. The author is very well-read, and courageous enough to critique John Murray. Sometimes bogging down in intellectual arguments, nevertheless if you at least have a working understanding of the concepts of covenants and eschatology, you should read this. My new favorite book. (10)

Jesus Storybook Bible — Sally Lloyd-Jones. Best children’s Bible on the market, easily. Most adults would learn a lot about the plan of redemption and how to read the Old Testament. (10)

The Tempest — Shakespeare. A very redemptive tale with great themes of our inherent draw to idolatry and lust for power. (9)

The Peacemaker — Ken Sande. The current textbook for conflict resolution in my circles, I appreciated this work. A bit repetitive, but very helpful and practical. (9)

Why Men Hate Going to Church — David Murrow. A very practical take on an interesting phenomenon. (7)

The Suburban Christian — Albert Hsu. A deeper theology of the suburbs that sees that places are not evil and that Jesus is renewing even suburbia. Very thoughtful chapters on isolationism and consumerism. (8)

Restoring Broken Things — Scotty Smith/ Stephen C. Chapman. Scotty Smith has an influential voice that is shepherding a lot of people and pastors. Highly recommended. (9)

Not the Way It's Supposed to Be — Cornelius Plantinga. A true 'breviary' of sins, this is a thoughtful book that is also very humorous in some of its illustrations. (8)

Devil in the White City — Erik Larson. If only history were written this well, we'd all love history. Great juxtaposition of the myth of progress with the reality of human nature. (10) A Sacred Sorrow- Michael Card. This is well-written and Christ-centered, but I probably enjoyed it as much as I did because I have almost no categories for lament in my practical theology. (9)

Stop Dating the Church — Joshua Harris. Short and concise while still being theological. He even talks about preaching as being the word of God. Highly recommended as a popular call back to a biblical view and practice of the church. (9)

The Christian Imagination — Leland Ryken, editor. Every writer who's a Christian should read this. Great and wide-raning essays from Tolkien, Lewis, Leithart, Flannery O'Connor, Madeleine L'engle and others. Creativity and beauty are gifts God gives through His writers. (9)

Sidewalks in the Kingdom — Eric Jacobsen. Great book, about new urbanism and the Christian faith. Highly recommended. (10)

Far as the Curse is Found — Michael Williams. Excellent work on covenants and the story of redemption; easier read than the classic Christ of the Covenants. (9)

How the Irish Saved Civilization — Thomas Cahill. Great re-telling of the story of the monks who saved and copied the great works of western civ. after the fall of Rome. (9)

The Brothers Karamazov — Fyodor Dostoevsky. Classic novel of patricide and faith, one my professor friend says is “the greatest apologetic for the Christian faith outside the Bible.” (10)

When the Kings Coming Marching In — Richard Mouw. An excellent, though short, treatment of Isaiah 60. (9)

Ministries of Mercy — Tim Keller. I should have read this about 5 years ago. (10)

Reforming Marriage — Douglas Wilson. I was surprised at how good this book was. Makes most other marriage books look pretty shallow, with great insight on covenant, headship, and how our marriages exist for the glory of God (not primarily our happiness!). (9)

Crime and Punishment — Fyodor Dostoevsky. Can my conscience really let me be Napoleon? Do little people matter? (10)

On Being Presbyterian — Sean Michael Lucas. A great introduction to Presbyterian (focusing on PCA) history, character, and beliefs. Very winsome, too, which is what I expected from Dr. Lucas. (9)

Scribbling in the Sand — Michael Card. God's creativity should influence our creativity. This is a good, inspiring read for artists. The chapter with letters from great artists is the best part of the book. (9)

Work Excellence — Chuck Garriott. A short, concise read on work and its value. A good introduction to the subject that would work well in a small group setting. (8)

The Cross Centered Life — CJ Mahaney. This book sums up very concisely what I'm trying to do at Grace Stillwater. Should be required reading to represent biblical Christianity in every comparative religion class. (9)

Telling Secrets — Frederick Buechner. I love people who are honest, and this book is painfully honest and insightful. (9)

Blink — Malcom Gladwell. Do our instant instinctual reactions work better for us than our careful reasoning and second-guessing? Well-written and thought-provoking. (9)

Telling Secrets — Anne Lamont. Did I say Fredrick Buechner was honest? He's got nothing on Lamont, except he's a better writer. Good to read if you're a perfectionist or hyper-critical (and if you're one, you're probably the other. (8)

A House for my Name — Peter Leithart. Great insights and understanding of the Old Testament. I never would have linked the 'head wound' theme in Genesis 3:15 with Sisera, Abimelech, Goliath and Absolom as types of the enemy of the seed. (10)

The Pearl — John Steinbeck. Classic story about depravity and contentment. (9)

A Scandalous Freedom — Steve Brown. His finest work that I've read. (10)

An Affair of the Mind — Laurie Harris. A compelling look at the devastating impact of regular pornography intake. A true story, not for the faint of heart. (9)

Searching for God Knows What — Donald Miller. I don't care what some reviewers say, I like Miller's writing style and his heart. (8)

False Intimacy — Harry Shaumberg. The second-best book on sexuality that I've ever read. Shaumberg shows how sexual addictions are issues of the heart, not primarily behavioral. (9)

Sex and the Supremacy of Christ — John Piper, others. The best book on sexuality I've ever read; would have gotten a 10 if Piper had written every chapter. (9)

Total Truth — Nancy Pearcey. Francis Schaeffer for today. (10)