Shooting the Breeze
I am a teaching pastor at Central Christian Church in Arizona. We currently have two campuses in Mesa and Gilbert. I blog my thoughts about my reading, the Bible, spirituality, and life in general at tomorrowsreflection.com. It serves as a great journal for me to process my own thoughts, as well as a platform to connect with other people and share ideas. I hope to establish some new connections through Kevin’s great idea of guest blogging. I have been married for three and a half years to my incredible wife Michelle and we have an amazing seven month-old son named Gavin. I graduated with a BA from Hope International University in Southern California.
What book (apart from the Bible) has impacted you the most?
Wow, this is a great question and an impossible question for me to answer. It is a great question because I have long since felt that we don’t stress the importance of what we read enough. In his book, The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership (see below), Steven Sample addressed this in a fantastic way. “All leaders… are heavily influenced by what they read. Indeed, in many cases leaders are directed and inspired as much by their readings as they are by their closest advisers. Thus the choices a leader makes as to what to read can be crucial in the long run.” As a result, I am beyond excited that Kevin’s theme for the guest blogging is an opportunity for all of us to expand our reading and highlight the benefits of it.
However, it is an impossible question for me because there is no way that I could possibly narrow it down to just one book. Instead of writing an in-depth review about any particular book, I’ll offer teasers for a few. So I ask, in advance, for Kevin’s forgiveness (and his readers) as I share four that have challenged me the most in different areas. The criteria I’m using to define “impacted” is how much a book has caused me to continue processing its ideas long after I’ve finished it or how much of my lifestyle / personal philosophy I’ve changed as a result of reading it. With those two filters in mind, here are my top 4 in no particular order.
The Reason for God by Timothy Keller (Christianity/Apologetics)
I would compare this to a modern day Mere Christianity. In the first half of the book, Keller addresses the most dominant reasons people currently have for not believing in God and explains why they don’t add up. Then, in the second half he gives different reasons why believing in God makes the most sense logically. Too often, people think you must choose faith over logic and reason if you want to believe in God. Keller explains how absurd this notion really is. Faith is involved in atheism and religion alike. This is a well-articulated book that explains the Biblical view of Jesus and challenges people to not only doubt, but to push through the doubt and find the truth at the end of it.
Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley (Preaching)
I was a preaching major in college so I’ve read my fair share of preaching books. However, Stanley’s book is the best I’ve read hands down. This book has drastically shaped my own preaching style and given me the tools to better grasp how I approach preaching in general. I would recommend this to anyone who teaches/preaches on a regular basis. I’ve found that stylistically, many preachers will disagree with his approach. Regardless, it will cause you to think of your own method and work through it to see if it is the most effective way possible.
The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership by Steven B. Sample (Leadership)
This is by far the best book on leadership I’ve read yet (and there are endless amounts of books on leadership). Extremely thought-provoking and challenging. His premise is built on the idea that a leader must do things contrary to popular belief to truly be able to lead others. Many of the concepts will keep you thinking long after you’ve put it down. I liked it best for its insights into what and how leaders read. That chapter itself is worth the price of the book.
The Maker’s Diet by Jordin Rubin (Health)
Warning…this book will mess you up! Rubin was diagnosed with one of the worst cases of Crohn’s Disease ever documented. On the verge of death, and after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on every cure available, he went to the Old Testament and designed a diet based off of what God instructed for the Israelites. He cured himself of an “incurable disease” by adhering to the diet. His premise is that even though our technologies for producing food have advanced exponentially, our bodies haven’t. This offers you an intriguing perspective on Old Testament culture as well as challenges your own diet and lifestyle beliefs. I haven’t been able to eat pig ever since!
I keep an ongoing list of books I read and my recommendations for them on my blog. Click here to see it.
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Jeremy Jernigan
tomorrowsreflection.com
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Thanks Jeremy for all of your recommendations. I especially think that "The Reason For God" sounds like a must read. I have several loved ones and friends in my life that feel they can logically make a case against God. I would love to hear the reasons the author gives why belief in God logically makes sense. I definitely appreciate your insight. Thanks again!
The makers diet, it reminds me that, " the unsinkable ship, remember not even GOD can sink the Titantic, however ameteurs suilt and made it safely in the Ark!"
Great thoughts and review Jeremy. I agree completely on the contrarian's guide to leadership! A definite must read. And Tim Keller, well very few can say it as good as him. Nice to meet you on this blog!
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Susan
http://ovarianpain.net