One of the catalysts that we can use to challenge our own personal beliefs and paradigms of our society is through reading.   Reading has the ability to move us past ourselves and into a broader conversation that we are neither ready for or desire, but it is an avenue to spark within us the fire of hope and change that has the ability to sweep through us and consume our communities for Christ.

I wanted to share some of my current reads with you.  Although I am nowhere near the prolific reader that some of my friends are, this is still an important part of my life I wanted to share.

Current reads:

• Speeches 1-10 by Demosthenes
• Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II
• Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther
• Heretics by G.K. Chesterton
• The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited by Scot McKnight

Near future reads

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
• A Queer Thing Happened to America: and What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been by Michael Brown

Recent reads:

• A Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament: A Practical Introduction for Teaching and Exegesis by Steven Runge (7 volume collection on Discourse Analysis, and yes, I am that big of a nerd)
• The Doctrine of the Real Presence, as Contained in the Church Fathers by EB Pusey
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Mother Teresa: Come By Me Light: The Private Writings of the “Saint of Calcutta” edited by Brian Kolodiejchuk
• Bunyan’s Dying Sayings by John Bunyan
  
• Dark Night of the Soul by St John of the Cross
  
• Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick
  
• Son of Hamas by Yousef Mosab Hassan
  
• A Case for Antioch by Jeff Iorg
• Apostolic Fathers by J.B. Lightfoot
• Screwtape Letters by C.S Lewis
• Bernard of Clairvaux: Between Cult and History by Adriaan Bredero
• Days of Anguish Days of Hope by Bill Keith
• Anthology of Arthur W. Pink by A. W. Pink
• Love Wins by Rob Bell
• The Kosher Sutra: Eight Sacred Secrets for Reigniting Desire and Restoring Passion for Life by Shmuley Boteach
• Same Kind of Different as Me by Denver Moore and Ron Hall
• The Life of St. Anthony by Athanasius (translated by EA Wallace Budge)
• Radical: taking back your faith from the American Dream by David Platt
• Visioneering: God’s blueprint for developing and maintaining personal vision by Andy Stanley
• Psychological Body Armor by George S. Everly and James Reese
• To Live in Peace: Biblical Faith and the Changing Inner City by Mark Gornik
• Street Signs: A New Direction in Urban Ministry by Ray Bakke and Jon Sharpe
• A Theology as Big as the City by Ray Bakke
• The Doctrine of Election by AW Pink
• A History of the Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist by Darwell Stone
• The Lord’s Prayer by AW Pink
• The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ : A Devotional History of Our Lord’s Passion by James Stalker
• City of God by St. Augustine
• Defence of the Doctrine of Justification by Faith in Jesus Christ by John Bunyan
• Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin

Challenging reads that I highly recommend:

• Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright
• Doing Local Theology by Clemens Sedmak
• We Have Been Believers by James H. Evans, Jr.
• Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence
• Urban Ministry: the kingdom, the city, the people of God by Manuel Ortiz

Favorite Books/ Stories:

• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
• Odyssey by Homer
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad