I know, I know. From the title, you were expecting aliens. Finally, you thought, we are going to hear John’s views on Roswell, Area 51, and all things big headed and bug eyed.

Sorry.

This post is about something more important, I think.

In the last few years, one of my most important learnings has been that Christianity as a world religion is not marked or defined by my experience as a white male growing up in an Evangelical North American background. I don’t intend to disparage my own background, but it has been helpful to recognize that there are many voices that have been, and still are, shaping the Christian faith from many backgrounds. Beginning to hear from voices outside my own background has helped lead to a more vibrant understanding of Christianity for my own journey.

And it’s something that will be help for others to hear as well, especially those of you who share my background as white North Americans. While Christianity may be declining in North America, it continues to grow rapidly in the global south. While no one can agree with every unique expression of Christianity in North America, or elsewhere, it is valuable for us to learn from other expressions as they challenge some of the beliefs and practices we might hold dear.

I had the opportunity to review two recent books from IVP. They are very different books, but both are related to the reality that there are many vibrant expressions of Christianity beyond the experience of most Evangelicals in North America.

The Next Evangelicalism, by Soong-Chan Rah
The subtitle says a great deal about the content of this book: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity. While reading this text, there were times I wanted to pump my fists in the air in agreement, while others where I was discouraged. Rah doesn’t hold back in identifying some of the challenges he sees in the Western culture’s form of Evangelical Christianity. Much of what he has to say is important, and I grateful he was willing to speak up, while at other times, I felt like his generalizations were unfair, and didn’t apply to me or my experience. But that is always a challenge when dealing with difference — generalizations are helpful in addressing difference, but must be accepted to some degree to learn from the dialogue. I hope you can read this book with an attitude of learning from the perspective of another with the humilty to be challenged by what you disagree with but the conviction to reaffirm some of your views that are worth holding on to.

The New Shape of World Christianity, by Mark Noll
While addressing some of the same issues, Noll’s book take a very different approach. Noll is a historian, and writes about how North American Christianity has been a shaping influence in recent world history. He addresses how North American Christianity has spread to other parts of the world, but also how that Chrsitianity is taking on forms and expressions of its own as it interacts with local cultures. This was also a helpful book from an information standpoint, though I found that nature of the book to be less challenging to my soul or my views.

I’ve read a respectable chunk of NT Wright’s work, and he takes up more space on my bookshelf than any other author. It’s not often that I read one of his books and am left wanting. But after reading Justification, that’s where I found myself.

That’s not to say that Justification isn’t a good book. Like most Wright books, it is well written (even when it gets technical), and his arguments are well developed.

I was left wanting more from where I sat as the reader than where he came from as the writer. I have at best dabbled on the fringes of the conversations about Pauline theology — specifically those related to the New Perspective(s) on Paul. It is a large conversation that I’ve not yet had the interest or personal resources (ie time and energy) to invest in it.

My hope was that Justification would take a large theological conversation and present it at the popular level. Wright does this so well, as we have seen in Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope. (Yes, the fact that this was published as part of IVP‘s Academic should have served a warning to me that this wasn’t the case.)

The reader should know that Justification primarily serves as a response to John Piper’s The Future of Justification — a book I haven’t read. I walked away with more understanding, even having only read part of the conversation. But when I do decide to work my way a little further into the Pauline discussions, I hope that someone like Wright will offer a helpful introduction.

I few years ago, I blogged about LibraryThing. It’s a site designed to share and network your book library with others.

For some reason I can’t fully explain, I abandoned updating LibraryThing in the last year and became an active user on goodreads. I think it is because goodreads let’s me feel more connected and up to date with what others are reading. It’s been a helpful place to be introduced to new or interesting books being read by others.

Maybe I can do the same for you. If you are on Goodreads, or if you join, you can find my profile here.

By the way, it was easy to add my entire library since I track it on my computer with Delicious Library. I was able to export the ISBN numbers of my library and import them into Goodreads with little effort.

I’ve worked through another small pile of books that I received as an Ooze Select Blogger. Publishers partner with the Ooze to send me free books, and I tell you what I think about them on my blog. Here are some titles I received throughout the fall that I’ve had a chance to work through:

Not the Religious Type: Confessions of a Turncoat Atheist, by Dave Schmelzer – It’s hard to argue with someone’s story, and it’s also easier to be interested. Schmelzer has a good writing style and comes off as a likable guy that I’m sitting down for a conversation with. Not to mention that pastors a large Vineyard in the midst of the academic elites of Boston…something that I wouldn’t expect. If I have a critique, it comes from the subtitle…Schmelzer’s atheism was more of a questioning faze in his late teens. The book addresses it, but I don’t think it is the most suitable subtitle.

If God Disappears: 9 Faith Wreckers and What to Do about Them, by David Sanford – I shy away from books that have a number in the title meaning that the book is just a long list. (Usually, it seems like they could be reduced to an article without losing much). Strike 1 for this book, and strike 2 was the generic cover. But you know what? I think it wasn’t too bad. I’m not really in a season of life where I question what God is doing, so it was hard to engage personally with the book, but I liked the tone enough that I think I could recommend this book to someone who is in questioning God. In fact, if you’re feeling that, leave a comment, and I’ll send you the book. I’d be curious to hear what you think of it.

Deliver Us from Me-Ville, by David A Zimmerman – Based on the title and concept of the book, this is a book that we need. This is a book that I need. But I couldn’t connect with it. Honesty demands that I tell you I only got halfway through, but I felt like there was a flaw with that book (that perhaps was better addressed in the part I didn’t read). It seems like a book about getting over “Me” should focus on how I live in relation to others, but mostly it focused on the internal. The approach is what I need to do about me, and it seems that to get over me, I need others. But others have been favorable about this book, so maybe it really is just “me”!

This morning, Tim Keller’s apologetic work, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism came to my mind in one of those random and varied thought chains that I find myself in. Often.

You have those too, right?

Please tell me yes.

The next thought in the chain was alarm that I did not include this book in my Favorite Books of 2008 post a few weeks ago. Hard to say if it would have been a top 10 book, or an honorable mention, but it belonged somewhere in that post. You can read my impressions of the book after I read it last spring here.

At the beginning of 2008, I made one resolution. I was going to read more stories. I always wanted to have at least one work of fiction or a biography/memoir going. Pat me on the back, because I was successful.

With every visit to an online or virtual bookstore, I am overwhelmed with all that I want to read. Even so, giving up some reading time to novels was worth every turn of the page. And what captures me in these books is not story, but characters. Good characters stick with you even when you set the book down. I have met characters that I wanted to love, hate, harm, protect, and just hang out with.

I’m always open to new recommendations, so send them my way. In the mean time, here’s a look at the stories I read this year:

I know we have a few days of ’08 left, but I don’t think I’m going to be finishing any more books this year. So…it’s time for post I always look forward to — my favorite books of 2008. (Previous years: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004)

It’s a good exercise to review my reading list. I read on a broader variety of subjects this year, but my favorite books betray my primary passions. Since we are in the midst of shaping a new church community, the books that stick with me are those that stretch my imagination about church and mission. As usual, my main criteria is to ask myself which ones have stirred the most thought and helped shape my thinking. Which ones initiated thoughts that continue to swirl around in my mind? There were other books that did some of this, but these books, I think, did this to the greatest degree. I recommend any of them. Here they are, presented in the order in which I read them:

The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch
Blog entries: the forgotten ways, being life together
Hirsch has been an important voice for me since I first read The Shaping of Things to Come. I’m glad to see his reach is expanding, and I think he has much to say to the North American church.

Everything Must Change, by Brian McLaren
Blog entries: everything must change, ecological (a missiology for the west
Of all his books, this might be the best representation of the what it is that McLaren has to say to the church of today. It is too bad that McLaren is often avoided by some who think he is too liberal. Whether you agree with him or not, his ideas are challenging and thought-provoking.

The Kingdom of God is Like…, by Thomas Keating
Blog entries: pass the mustard, into the parables
A simple, but rich, book on the parables. Keating offers perspectives on a number of the parables that gave me new insights into faith and life within the kingdom of God.

Surprised by Hope, by NT Wright
Blog entries: this is the book i wanted to write, so much for harp lessons, wholes, not souls, surprised by hope
A true understanding of Christian faith requires an understanding of what God has done so far and what God is working toward. It is then that we can line ourselves up between the two. With this in mind, Surprised by Hope is one of the most helpful books I’ve read to offer a correct understanding of what God is working toward.

The Tangible Kingdom, by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay
Blog entries: the call of community, the tangible kingdom
When people are trying to understand what we want to be about as a church, this is usually the first book I recommend to them. Too many people are still unfamiliar with this book. As I’ve described it to a number of friends, they have shown that the things that Frost and Hirsch write about work not only in Australia, but in North America as well.

Believing in the Future, by David Bosch
Blog entries: what do we have to become christians for?, believing in the future, ecological (a missiology for the west), countercultural (a missiology for the west), ecumenical (a missiology for the west), contextual (a missiology for the west), laity (a missiology for the west), a local worshiping community (a missiology for the west)
I think the number of blog posts listed above say enough about this short little book.

Signs of Emergence, by Kester Brewin
Blog entries: space for imagination, the nothing church, a trio of great reads
This is one of those books that can fool you. It is deceptively easy to read, but the ideas in it require a lot of reflection. Brewin gets back to the true idea of emergence — it’s not a label for trendy, culturally engaged churches, but a scientific principle about “bottom-up change.”

Jesus Wants to Save Christians, by Rob Bell and Don Golden
Blog entries: destiny or despair, a trio of great reads
I’ll just repeat what I originally said about this one: “I think it gives a helpful framework for reading the Bible as a whole. It should only be seen as a summary of the Biblical narrative, and not a comprehensive one at that. But, it provides an important understanding for how one should see the context of Jesus’ ministry in the first century and the ministry of the church in the 21st.”

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, by Seth Godin
Blog entries: so simple, so accurate, simple leadership, tribes
This book caught me by surprise. Like I said about Brewin’s book above, it is easy to read, but lots of reflection should go with it. Besides being rich in ideas, it was also inspiring. I could only read bits at a time because I wanted to jump up and get to work.

The Moral Vision of the New Testament, by Richard Hays
Blog entries: my job description
In the interest of full disclosure, I actually have a couple of chapters left in this one, but it deserves a spot on the list. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard this book recommended or mentioned, and now I know why. I am wary of seeing the Christian faith as a bundle of moral principles, but Hays offers an understanding of New Testament morality that is true to the text and a larger grasp of the Christian faith.

Bonus coverage: I had a hard time carving the list down to the standard ten, so here’s a few books that just barely missed the cut:

Last week, I wrapped up three books that I had been working through. It has been a rich couple of weeks reading these books, and I wouldn’t be surprised if all three of these make it on my list of favorite reads of 2008. By the way, none of these were books I was sent for review…just good reads that I think are worth a mention…

Jesus Wants to Save Christians – by Rob Bell and Don Golden
Rob Bell continues to be a voice that helps shape a lot of my thinking. This was my favorite of his books, and I think it gives a helpful framework for reading the Bible as a whole. It should only be seen as a summary of the Biblical narrative, and not a comprehensive one at that. But, it provides an important understanding for how one should see the context of Jesus’ ministry in the first century and the ministry of the church in the 21st. Scot McKnight’s response to this book matched up with many of my own thoughts, or perhaps I should say my thoughts matched up with his.

Signs of Emergence – by Kester Brewin
This book was first recommended to me a few years ago when it was published in Britain under the title The Complex Christ. I wish I wouldn’t have waited so long to read it. If there an “emerging church genre” of books, than this one is at or near the top of the list for me. It is a thoughtful book, and not just a “here’s some cool stuff we’ve done to be emerging in our church” kind of book. Lost in much of the emerging church discussion at a popular level is how the term came about in the first place — the idea that “the principle of emergence is all about bottom-up change.” (pg. 35) The emerging church must be seen as more than a response to the prior church, or as a popular church culture phenomenon, and Brewin helps us understand its origins in the developing science of emergence.

What is the What? – by Dave Eggers
I have to be honest here, when this book released a few years ago, I shied away from reading it. I assumed it wouldn’t be as ‘fun’ to read as Eggers’ previous books. It isn’t. It is the story of one of the Sudanese Lost Boys. It is published as fiction, though it is based on the life and memories of Valentino Achak Deng, who worked closely with Eggers. The fiction label, along with the description of events that seem to awful to be true, created a bit of denial for me as I read the first half of the book. I knew that stores such as this happen daily, but when you don’t see them firsthand, it is so much more convenient to write them off, isn’t it? But I need to be reminded, I need to see what happens in our broken world, even if I don’t see it firsthand every day. Now may God give me the will and courage to repond to that which I don’t want to see.

I’ve worked through another small pile of books that I received as an Ooze Select Blogger. Publishers partner with the Ooze to send me free books, and I tell you what I think about them on my blog. Here’s the latest stack:

The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher: A Novel, by Rob Stennett – This is a satire of a real estate agent who plants a church because he sees it is an excellent business opportunity. It gets a little bit messy since he doesn’t even believe in God. Somehow, Stennett offers a commentary on contemporary church planting methods without coming across as a complete cynic. This was a fun read for me.

Porn Nation: Conquering America’s #1 Addiction, by Michael Leahy – When speaking to the sexuality of our culture, there is a fine line for the church between being moral police and being a loving presence. I feared this book would be the former, but it was the latter. Leahy’s vulnerability is striking as he shares the affects of pornography and sexual addiction in his own broken story. It is a needed, and candid, look at the affects of sexual addiction.

Six Prayers God Always Answers, by Mark Herringshaw & Jennifer Schuchmann – I always feel bad saying I didn’t like a book, because I have great respect just for any author just because they pushed through the writing process. It doesn’t help that this is a book on prayer…feels unspiritual to say that I didn’t like a book on prayer. But…I didn’t like this one. Just didn’t connect with me in writing style or content. (But, it’s gotten some very positive reviews on Amazon…so maybe I’m just not very spiritual.)

You can’t judge a book by it’s hype. Or maybe you can.

I was interested in reading The Shack the first time I heard of it early this year. But, at the time, I was in the midst of an obscure series called Harry Potter that I didn’t want to break away from, so I figured I’d get to it. As the months passed, I saw the hype around The Shack begin to build, and so did my skepticism. I guess I’m just enough of a cynic that I assume that the more people think something is good, the less likely I am to be interested in it.

But, I did read The Shack. And I liked it — enough to overshadow my primary critique. One thing many fiction writers say is that their best characters are unpredictable — they don’t often do what the writer expects, or wants, them to do. And in reading fiction, it seems like you can tell when the character has taken on their own life, rather than just done the bidding of the author.

Because of this, I am a skeptic of any sort of story that is meant solely to teach. Dialgoue becomes less believable when it is just used as a vehicle for the author to make a point. So my critique of The Shack is that some of the characters (some of the Most Important characters, if you know what I mean) come across a little too flat, because they serve only to make a point.

That said, the points they make are often beautiful and the story was moving. Few books have stirred so much emotion in me, and I’m thankful that this book was able to take me places that I didn’t intend, or want, to go.