Things I'm Reading

Ok... I know I've been saying that I need to slow down on my reading... but I just can't help myself :-) I love reading, and I love learning... and I love geeking out with a good comic... so I guess I'm just going to accept the fact that I'll always be reading something new to challenge me.

Here's an update on a few of the things I've been reading lately.

Secret Invasion

I LOVE the Avengers comics. I read ever single Avengers title and major character (New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, The Initiative, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk). This year's big tie-in event is about a race of shape-shifting aliens called the Skrulls who have been hiding among the heroes for years planning a secret invasion.
At first I was really loving this series... especially the tie-in issues which have been revealing which super heroes were actually Skrulls in hiding...
But after several months of this... well... I'm bored. And I'm especially bored of the tie-in issues. I think it's time to finish off this story line and move on. Only a couple of months left and it will be all done.
Maybe they could reveal that Spider-Man is really a Skrull... so that whole stupid Brand New Day disaster could go away and Spidey could be an Avenger again!
Who Stole My Church?

I'm currently half-way through Who Stole My Church? by Gordan MacDonald. I picked this up at the book table at an Expository Preaching Lecture I was at on Monday. The description of the book really intrigued me...
As a guy who didn't grow up in the church and isn't tied a specific denomination or tradition... I, unfortunately, can develop a reputation of not being respectful of people who are. I DEFINITELY don't mean any disrespect EVER when it comes to people and the church... but I just really struggle when we as church do things simply for the sake of tradition when it doesn't seem to have any fruit come form it (whether people grow in their relationship with Jesus... or new people come to know Jesus). Or when we expect evangelistic and outreach events that worked 20 years ago to work in our culture today...
This book is a wonderful fictional discussion between a pastor in 60s and a group of Builders and Boomers who are not happy with the direction of their church that they've work so hard to build.
I love the look at the history of the church and how in every single generation there has been growing pains. No generation had it perfect... and all needed to be dependant on God to go forward and impact the generations after them.
This book is a definite must read for all church leaders and those who are not happy with some of the changes going on in their church. This a very thought provoking and is going to get additional reads from me again and again.

Comments

Jilliefl1 said…
I agree-traditions that don't bear fruit and hinder the Body of Christ need to be abandoned.

Along those lines, “Reimagining Church”, by Frank Viola, is a book that approaches this topic from a different angle. It goes deeper to the root of the problems and addresses them with practical alternatives. “Reimagining Church” is the sequel to “Pagan Christianity?”, by George Barna and Frank Viola. It’s endorsed by Leonard Sweet, Shane Claiborne, Alan Hirsch, and many others. You can read a sample chapter at http://www.ReimaginingChurch.org. It’s also available on Amazon.com.
12:20 PM
Pastor Kevin said…
I have Pagan Christianity sitting on my shelf... I keep meaning to get to it... I'll have to bump it on the list of priority to read it. Thanks!
10:57 AM
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