i love to read, and during the summer when i have the time, i voraciously consume all manner of book. my wife is not a reader and prefers conversation, so i have to "hide out" to get good long reading session. (i should interject that i love my wife dearly, and she is becoming more understanding of my enjoyment of reading.)
in the past i have read a lot of fiction and science fiction. i really enjoy the dark tower series by stephen king, the original ender quartet by orson scott card and harry potter. i did try to read the his dark materials books to see what all the fuss was about, but i just could not engage with the first story, so it remains unfinished.
lately, i have been reading more non-fiction, and what the bookstores call "christian inspiration." i'm not a fan of the label because it does not adequately describe the books i choose to read.
wow, what a long introduction to get to my original idea for this post - a list of authors and my comments on them. so here it is, dear reader (if you are actually out there) a list of authors i have read in the "christian inspiration" section, and some i haven't yet, but plan to.
rob bell - i have read almost all of his books. he is very controversial, but i don't understand why. all of the critiques of him i have read, center around a few quotes, taken ridiculously out of context. for a long time i subscribed to his podcast ( i just don't have time to listen right now), and find that he preaches the very things that people accuse him of being against. getting to know his teaching over time, and the heart of the community he has built at mars hill in grand rapids, i am confident that he and his church are committed to living out the teachings of Jesus. he has a fresh perspective on things, and perhaps that is what people fear. or maybe it is his uber-hipness. or maybe, christian culture is afraid of social justice.
john piper - i have heard this man speak several times, and have read several of his books. he has a voluminous output, so i am not making an effort to read them all. one of the things i love about john piper is his consistent message of the supremacy of Christ in all things. he stays on topic. he is highly intelligent, and his prose can tend to be dense and hard to understand, but that is what I love about it. more that any other author on this list, when i read john piper, something in my soul resonates that this is true. unfortunately, recently he has made some interesting statements that give me pause. he is taking an unscheduled sabbatical to focus on his marriage, which is not in trouble, but he is doing the right thing in getting out in front of something he sees might be problematic.
brian mclaren - i enjoyed the three books of his that i read, and they definitely made me think about how the church responds to issues in society. however, there is something in me that is wary of the entirety of his message, so i am very careful when i read. his most recent book has been heavily criticized by piper as heresy. my sister is as wary of him as well. [see how i did that? shout out to my sister :) ]
jason boyett - author of the pocket guides to varying aspects of life and christianity. humorous. slightly irreverent, but in those cases i think it is a good thing. his new book is being released next month and i am looking forward to reading it, since i feel like i am in a similar place. his blog is one of my favorite reads. i also feel a strange kinship with him since his sister moved from texas to san fransisco, as did mine.
erwin mcmanus - i have seen him speak once and thoroughly enjoyed his topic. the book i read was a little disappointing, but he has others i have yet to read so i will say the jury is still out.
jim wallis - i have only read god's politics. i enjoyed it, it opened my eyes to social justice issues as spiritual issues. for the first time i saw them in terms of of something that christians should care about instead of trying to block because they were democrat ideas.
marc driscoll - i have not read anything by this author, but i have watched a few videos of his. i need to read a couple of his books to get a real feel for him, but my first impression is that he says some pretty bone-headed things.
donald miller -i love this guy's writing. when i read his first book, i thought, "these are the things swimming around in my head!" his subsequent works did not disappoint either. his blog is excellent as well.
please note that noticeably absent from this list is anyone with a show on tbn.
so who do you read? what do you like or not like about them?
