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Books

Some books I have enjoyed

A friend asked for books I have enjoyed. I think he specifically said he likes biography and history. 

Here is the list I gave him in March 2018. 

Biography and Historical:

  1. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin,
  2. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand,
  3. Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty by John M. Barry,
  4. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography by Eberhard Bethge,
  5. The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932 by William Manchester (first volume of 3),
  6. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris (first volume of 3),
  7. Grant by Ron Chernow,
  8. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen Ambrose,
  9. John Adams by David McCullough,
  10. 1776 by David McCullough,
  11. The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough,
  12. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson,
  13. Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King,
  14. The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson,
  15. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis,
  16. Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis,
  17. The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis,
  18. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell,
  19. The Road to Character by David Brooks,
  20. What Are We Doing Here?: Essays by Marilynne Robinson,
  21. The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today by Thomas E. Ricks,
  22. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg,
  23. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander,
  24. Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age by Arthur Herman.

Fiction / Classics / Literature / Award Winners:

  1. Middlemarch by George Eliot,
  2. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy,
  3. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky,
  4. The Underground Railroad: A Novel by Colson Whitehead,
  5. Golden Hill: A Novel of Old New York by Francis Spufford.

Some people keep track of their books on Goodreads. I should do that.

Most of these I have tweeted about at https://twitter.com/AndyRowell

Here is how to Search Twitter:

https://twitter.com/search-advanced 

Categories
Bethel Seminary Books Church Growth Church Planting Dietrich Bonhoeffer Evangelism John Howard Yoder Leadership Lesslie Newbigin Missional Practical Theology Teaching Tim Keller

My Fall 2013 Required Textbooks at Bethel Seminary for Discipleship, Evangelism, and Leadership courses

Here are the textbooks I am requiring for my three Ministry Leadership (ML) courses this fall at Bethel Seminary (St. Paul, MN). I am teaching each of these courses this three times this year and I am teaching each in both traditional format as well as in an online or intensive format. I would love to have you. Registration begins today: July 1st, 2013. 

 

ML 506: Discipleship in Community

Parrett, Gary A., and S. Steve Kang. Teaching the Faith, Forming the Faithful: A Biblical Vision for Education in the Church. Downers Grove, IL.:
IVP Academic, 2009. 

This is a thoughtful theological treatment of teaching and theological formation in the church–drawing on the richness of the literature in Christian education, social science, and spiritual formation. Parrett is known as a superb person and teacher as well as (along with Kang) being cognizant of the need to be sensitive and thoughtful about diversity in the church. This is the preeminent text today for helping pastors grasp the spiritual formation task while equipping them for teaching effectiveness. Too many pastors know nothing beyond preaching and thus try to bring the lecture method into all settings including small groups and classrooms and are oblivious of the challenges and rewards of seeing adults, youth, children really learn and grow. 

 

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible. Vol. 5.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1996.

Bonhoeffer's Life Together is both a classic warning against pride in ministry leadership while also being an inspirational description of a passionate, creative, ecumenical, emergency attempt to form pastors for ministry. It is a classic and it only gets richer as one learns more about Bonhoeffer's life and his theological work from the beginning of his career to the end of it which reinforces his ideas here.

 

ML 507: Missional Outreach and Evangelism

Bowen, John P. Evangelism for "Normal" People: Good News for Those Looking for a Fresh Approach. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2002. 

Bowen, with years of experience in post-Christian university contexts with Inter-Varsity university ministry as well as steeped in the biblical and theological thoughtfulness of evangelical Anglicanism, describes the process of inviting outsiders into Christian community. This textbook in evangelism by a leading professor of evangelism sketches the biblical and theological case behind virtually all of the thriving contemporary approaches to church and ministry today.

 

Keller, Timothy J. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.
New York: Dutton, 2008. 

Keller, one of our most articulate theologically-interested church leaders is also one of the best examples of an effective evangelists in 2013. Here he plies his craft–knocking down objections to the Christian faith and making his case for it so as to make intellectually plausible the winsome life with Christ which he hopes Christians live out before their non-believing neighbors. 

 

Newbigin, Lesslie. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. Grand Rapids,
MI: Eerdmans, 1989.

Newbigin, in his life and in this book, demonstrate the full scope of sophisticated philosophical reflection on epistemology in a pluralist world, strong biblical sensibilities, as well as an emphasis on the sociological demonstration of the gospel in the church. In Newbigin, we see a first-rate apologist, academic, missionary, pastor, and leader. 

 

ML 523: Introduction to Transformational Leadership

Northouse, Peter G. Leadership: Theory and Practice. 6th ed., Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2013. 

Both of my colleagues teaching leadership at Bethel Seminary, Mark McCloskey and Justin Irving, also require this classic leadership textbook which familiarizes students with the latest in leadership theory and modeling.  

 

Wren, J. Thomas. The Leader's Companion: Insights on Leadership Through the Ages. New York: Free Press, 1995. 

This books provides readings from a variety of figures throughout history on leadership–fleshing out the analytical contemporary models and theories in the Northouse volume. 

 

Yoder, John Howard. Body Politics: Five Practices of the Christian Community Before the Watching World. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1992.

This 80-page gem by genius theologian and ethicist John Howard Yoder gives a compelling description of what the church should look like. A leader in the church has the task for wrestling with how this vision compares with the status quo. We'll start the course with this to catalyze our reflection.  

 

Categories
Books Parenting website

First chapter books for 7 year olds and other 2nd grader book recommendations

Our 7.5 year old Ryan listened to all of the Magic Tree House books by audio (from the library on CD or downloaded through the library from Overdrive) when he was 5 and 6. But since he started reading himself when he turned 7, he has enjoyed reading Dick King-Smith books such as Babe: The Gallant Pig which was made into the movie BabeCam Jansen Mysteries, Secrets of Droon series (audio books available), and Beast Quest series.

Ryan also liked the audiobooks: Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo and Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl.

We continue to recommend Jim Trelease’s recommendations for books to read to kids in The Read-Aloud Handbookthe only book you need to buy–for everything else, there’s the library. I read to Ryan Poppy by Avi which I recommend.

I am now reading Christian singer Andrew Peterson‘s series: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, North! Or Be Eaten, Monster in the Hollows. We are in the middle of the second book. The first book has a slow first 100 pages of background information but then it is fun. Our 5 year old Jacob couldn’t handle the vocabulary but Ryan loves it. (We are reading to Jacob The Boxcar Children: series books 1-2 instead). We enjoy Peterson’s music for us as adults (try Counting Stars) and have seen him in concert and he has three great Slugs and Bugs kids CD’s so we have some “relationship” and trust with him. All of the Peterson stuff is at our Blacknall Presbyterian church library. 

Also looking forward to reading a chapter Advent book with the kids starting today: Jotham’s Journey: A Storybook for Advent by Arnold Ytreeide–one of three by Ytreeide that can be read during Advent. (Bartholomew’s Passage and Tabitha’s Travels) are books 2 and 3)–recommended by Jodi Fernando.

Also looking forward to Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress recommended by Curtis Freeman.