Category

Books

05.07.08

Brian McLaren has Another Book Out?
Books, emerging church (0)
I must have really been living under a rock for the past few months. I didn't even know he was working on a book, and I read on another blog that he just released another book. The man is a machine. I wonder what controversy he'll stir up this time.
04.17.08

Now Reading: Everyday Theology by Kevin Vanhoozer (ed.)
Books, Theology (1)
As I said yesterday, I hoped to pick up a good book in the evening, and I did. I've been looking forward to reading Everyday Theology since it first came out. I've been a fan of Vanhoozer ever since I was introduced to him in Dr. Castleman's class. I expect this to be a somewhat "practical" book that will be especially helpful for doing youth ministry theologically. I'll give more insight about this particular book as I read more of it. My expectations are already high, so I hope it doesn't let me down. ...
11.15.07

Revisiting “Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry”
Best Youth Ministry Books, Book Reviews, Books, Christianity, Neo-Youth Ministry, Theology, Youth Ministry (0)
Yesterday, I posted on Andrew Root's brand-new book, Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry. I spoke with pretty high regard for the book, saying, While reading the book, I came to the realization that, to my knowledge, there is no youth ministry book that is as theologically deep and rich as Root’s. Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster’s book The Godbearing Life is the only work close to Root’s in nature, but even it does not probe the depths of a particular theological subject like Root’s. In my estimation, Root’s book will be noted as being the first in a line ...
08.24.07

Best Youth Ministry Books: Postmodern Youth Ministry, Chapter 2
Best Youth Ministry Books, Book Reviews, Books, Christianity, Youth Ministry (2)
Chapter two in PMYM is titled, "A missional agenda", which is highly necessary given the current reality of living in a post-Christian world. Essentially, Tony argues for a kind of youth ministry that is missional at its core: As we youth workers begin to see ourselves as misisonaries, we can reconfigure our job descriptions so they look more like mission pastors and less like program directors. The chapter gives a brief overview of Christendom beginning with 313 AD - when Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which made Christianity the official religion of the Western world. This resulted in ...
08.23.07

Best Youth Ministry Books: Postmodern Youth Ministry, Chapter 1
Best Youth Ministry Books, Book Reviews, Books, Christianity, Youth Ministry (1)
The first chapter in Postmodern Youth Ministry (PMYM) provides the a brief introduction to postmodernism. Tony surveys the development of modernism through the philosopher Rene Descartes and the subsequent philosophical shift the occurred with Frederick Nietzche, which led to what we now call postmodernism. Rather than hurting the church, Nietzche's declaration that "God is dead" gave the church a valuable tool: deconstruction. Tony gives the following "credos" of postmodenism: Objectivity is out, subjectivity is in. Question everything. There is no Truth with a capital "T". Tell stories. Never make lists! He also offers the following values of the modern/postmodern era: Rational::Experiential Scientific::Spiritual Unanimity::Pluralistic Exclusive::Relative Egocentric::Altruistic Individualistic::Communal Functional::Creative Industrial::Environmental Local::Global Compartmentalized/Dichotomized::Holistic Relevant::Authentic Tony cautions readers that ...
08.22.07

Best Youth Ministry Books: Postmodern Youth Ministry
Best Youth Ministry Books, Book Reviews, Books, Christianity, Youth Ministry (3)
Postmodern Youth Ministry by Tony Jones is the book I would recommend to youth ministers if they could just read one youth ministry book. I first read the book in my Foundations and Practices of Youth Ministry class at John Brown University. After the preface to the book there is a page titled, "The Day My World Changed" where Tony tells of a conversation he had with a woman. He was trying to "witness" to her (my words, not his) and brought up the C.S. Lewis tri-lemma: Jesus must be either Lord, liar, or lunatic. ...
08.20.07

Best Youth Ministry Books Series
Books, Christianity, Youth Ministry (0)
In the coming days I am going to begin a new series of posts looking at what I consider some of the best youth ministry books. The list at this point includes: Postmodern Youth Ministry by Tony Jones Contemplative Youth Ministry by Mike Yaconelli The Godbearing Life by Kenda Creasy Dean The series will include an introduction into why I found the book helpful and then subsequent posts on each chapter in the book. Look for the first post soon.
08.18.07

My Wishlist is Shrinking
Books, Personal (0)
In my last post I linked to my Amazon.com wishlist and thought it might be a good idea to go back through it and make sure it was still current. Well, it wasn't. I removed about 40 books from the list. The encouraging thing was that I think over half of them I have actually read. About a quarter I now own and the other quarter I no longer want. For the first time in years, the list is actually getting smaller. I guess my recent reading pace is paying off.
08.17.07

Birthday Books
Books, Christianity, Personal, Theology (3)
My birthday was last week. And, as birthdays go, I got some pretty decent birthday money. So, what did I do with it? Buy an iPod? Surround sound? A bluetooth earpiece? Heck no. I bought some books. And they are: The Mediation of Christ by Thomas Forsyth Torrance Principles of Lutheran Theology by Carl E. Braaten A Community Called Atonement by Scot McKnight Simply ...
02.18.07

Book Review at YMX: Choosing Church
Book Reviews, Books, Christianity, Youth Ministry (0)
Since I have a desire to do some writing, I decided a good place to start would be reviewing books. I chose to submit a book review to Youth Ministry Exchange (YMX) and they decided to publish it! Now, I know this isn't a super-big deal or anything, but it's neat to see your name on a website that you visit regularly. This was my first time to submit my writing to a publisher that "reserves the right to edit an author's work", so I was interested to see what editorial changes they might make (I know I've mixed ...

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