I asked this funny looking group that I get to work with to reflect back over the past year and share a book that stands out to them from the past twelve months. So moving clock wise from the top left corner of the picture let’s work our way around the group.
Kay: Patrick Lencioni’s The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business (Jossey-Bass, 2012) – I appreciated Lencioni’s way of looking at what success means for an organization. Success takes on a whole new meaning. It isn’t just about numbers.
Emily: Francine Rivers’ Her Mother’s Hope and Her Daughter’s Dream (Tyndale, 2011) – During my travel time to different music festivals ministering with LightsOut this past summer I found myself reading these two books. They compose a wonderful story of a family going through good and difficult times and how their faith in God helped them heal old wounds and move on as a closer, stronger family.
Brent: Rick Richardson’s Reimagining Evangelism: Inviting Friends on a Spiritual Journey (InterVarsity, 2006) – What I really appreciated about Richardson’s perspective is that he took the fear and intimidation out of “evangelism” as having the right “words to say” or knowing all the verses corresponding to “the bridge” that many of us have been raised under. Richardson simplifies “evangelism” as helping people belong so that they can come to believe. The best way to help people belong is by living our transformed life and sharing about our transformation in the presence of those who do not know Christ.
Randy: Wayne Rice’s Enjoy Your Middle Schooler (Zondervan, 1994) – Wayne and Marci Rice gave this book to Susan and me before we had Liam. Never thought I would read it. But have found it timely and helpful as we parent Liam through his middle school years. Wayne maintains a deep concern for how to help kids have an honest relationship with God through the early adolescent years.
Pam: Joyce Rupp’s Walk in a Relaxed Manner: Life Lessons from the Camino (Orbis Books, 2005) – I love hiking and in recent years have been intentional about finding my way to some pretty amazing hikes in North America. In this book Joyce Rupp shares her spiritual learnings from hiking Spain’s Camino de Santiago 37-day, 500-mile adventure. This book was significant to me because daily life is also a pilgrimage and we always have the opportunity to stretch and grow on the path before us.
Rob: N.T. Wright’s The Case for the Psalms: Why They Are Essential (Harper One, 2013) – I have spent the good part of the past decade sinking into the significance of the Psalms to my life. Wright added so much to my thinking in this small little book. He highlights the way our reading and singing and praying the Psalms is essential to our formation as Christ followers in community and on mission.
If you have some time, let us know what book stands out to you from 2013 by leaving us a blog comment and a short description of why it stood out. Thanks.
May you have both a restful and meaningful couple weeks. Merry Christmas!
Paul On December 19, 2013 at 8:39 pm
Thank you for this list. So far, I’ve place an order for one of them. Guess which one.
Paul
Rob Loane On December 20, 2013 at 5:11 pm
My first guess Paul would be the Wright book.
Rob
Paul On December 25, 2013 at 4:13 pm
Good guess, but wrong.
I have a middle schooler and a fretting wife.