Well, I have some money to spend in the form of Chapters gift certificates — a couple hundred dollars’ worth, so I can pick up several books, but not so many that I don’t have to be choosy. Presently I’m just finishing Don Miller’s Blue Like Jazz and have A New Kind of Christian on deck, but I need to build up a kind of a larger Emerging Church library, so I’m leaning toward books in that vein, along with postmodern introductions and some on the spiritual life. A few other unrelated titles have made the list of potential reads.
Here’s what I have so far:
- More Ready than You Realize — Brian McLaren
- The Revolution will Not be Televised — Joe Trippi
- The Post Evangelical — Dave Tomlinson
- The Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives — (Various)
- The Search to Belong: Rethinking Intimacy, Community, & Small Groups — Joseph Myers
- Spiritual Formation Needs Community — Doug Pagitt
- A Generous Orthodoxy — Brian McLaren
- Ministry to Children in the 21st Century Church — Ivy Beckwith
- Cadences of Home: Preaching Among Exiles — Walter Brueggemann
- The Celtic Way of Evangelism — George Hunter
- The Aqua Church Challenge — Leonard Sweet
- A Primer of Postmodernism — Stanley Grenz
- The Shaping of Things to Come — Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
- Out of the Question… Into the Mystery — Leonard Sweet
- ESV Classit Thinline Bible — (Inspired)
- The Divine Conspiracy — Dallas Willard
- A is for Abductive — Leonard Sweet
- The Church on the Other Side — Brian McLaren
- Adventures in Missing the Point — Brian McLaren & Tony Campolo
- The Story we Find Ourselves In — Brian McLaren
- Cup of Coffee at the Soul Cafe — Leonard Sweet
- Post Modern Pilgrims — Leonard Sweet
- Renovation of the Heart — Dallas Willard
- Reclaiming the Centre — (Various)
- The Prophetic Imagination — Walter Brueggemann
- The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society — Leslie Newbigin
- The Continuing Conversion of the Church — Darrell Guder
- Missional Church — Darrell Guder & Lois Barrett
- Stormfront: the Good News of God — (Various)
- The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul — Wayne Meeks
- Searching for God Knows What — Donald Miller
I’m hoping to get a cross section right off — really, I probably want to read everything by Brian McLaren and Leonard Sweet, but I need to start with a good cross-section of thought on related topics. If anyone has thoughts or reviews on these titles or recommendations for titles I should be adding to the list, please comment below or hit me offline… I’m trying to determine what’s top-of-list reading material and what’s earned people’s hard-earned greenbacks. The title must be available now, not as a prerelease. As a side-note to authors and publishers, I’m not above accepting a review copy… I will review on the blog – Email me for shipping info (how shameless was that!?).
Yiu don’t know me, so these words may not mean much, but for what it may be worth, my two cents on a few of these titles:
A Generous Orthodoxy is one of the most important books I have read in a long time. McLaren is totally dead on with this one.
Divine Conspiracy is perhaps one the two or three most influential books in my entire life. Dallas Willard is a holy man, a deep man, and has a message that needs to be lived, not just heard. Renovation of the Heart is nearly as excellent. While you are attempting to read everything by McLaren and Sweet as you say, I would add Willard to that “everything” list.
Peace to you on your journey.
The Post Evangelical was important to me, personally. Out of the Question was surprisingly powerful. I would add the Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright. I really liked it and I’m told it’s a good intro to his writings. I don’t know if I’ll end up agreeing with everything in his “new perspectivism,” but it definitely makes you think. Forget that Bible thing, just read secondary sources…;-), just kidding.
A few that you might consider: 1) Transforming Mission, by David Bosch. 2) Beyond Foundationalism, by Stan Grenz and John Franke. 3) The Next Christendom, by Phillip Jenkins (Not emerging per se, but will enhance your global perspective on the Church).
In addition to The Gospel In A Pluralist Society, you should definitely pick up The Open Secret,
Foolishness To The Greeks, and Proper Confidence by Newbigin as well. An amazing book that I just
finished (and several of my friends) is The Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll. Also, Don Miller’s
pastor, Rick McKinley, has a new book coming out next week called Jesus In The Margins.