Reading List

A few days ago, I had someone ask me for books that I would recommend. I gave her a few recommendations, but I thought it might be valuable to actually put together a list.

Authors I Like
These are authors that I have read or heard speak on more than one occasion, and I would probably pick up anything they wrote.

Erwin McManus - Chasing Daylight, Soul Cravings, The Barbarian Way, Uprising, Stand Against the Wind. He is my favorite author. I highly recommend anything he has ever written.

Rob Bell - Velvet Elvis, SexGod, the Nooma videos.

Donald Miller - Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows What


Brian McLaren - the New Kind of Christian series, The Secret Message of Jesus, Adventures in Missing the Point (with Tony Campolo). I don't agree with everything Brian McLaren has to say, but even what I disagree with has value because it makes me think.

Max Lucado - this is Cheryl's favorite author. You can ask her for specific recommendations.


Books I Recommend
These are books that I have have read recently and really liked. In most cases, I haven't read anything else by the authors.

Justice in the Burbs by Will and Lisa Samson

The Gospel According to Starbucks by Leonard Sweet

Be the Change by Zach Hunter

Church Re-Imagined by Doug Pagitt

Emerging Hope by Jimmy Long

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis

Devotional Classics by Richard J. Forster and James Bryan Smith

My Current Reading List

These are the things that are lined up beside my bed, waiting to be read. They look like they are interesting enough that I want to read them, but I can't really recommend them yet. I'm afraid that this list is going to get longer after the Youth Specialties convention next week...

Frequently Avoided Questions by Chuck Smith Jr. and Matt Whitlock

The Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives edited by Leonard Sweet. It includes pieces by Erwin McManus and Brian McLaren.

Finding Faith: A Search for What Makes Sense by Brian McLaren

Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture by Michael Frost

The Suburban Christian by Albert Y. Hsu

An Emergent Manifesto of Hope edited by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones

ChurchNext: Quantum Changes in How We Do Ministry by Eddie Gibbs

I'm sure you can find something on this list that would be worthwhile to read and that would expand your thinking about Jesus and how we can make him relevant to the people around us.