The Sacred Journey: "Let's Go for a walk together"

In his book "The Sacred Journey" Charles Foster argues that our spiritual lives are like water.  "If water stops moving, it gets foul (p. 36)."  For our Christian lives to stay vibrant we need to learn the art of pilgrimage.  There are a number of really good sections of this book.  I really enjoyed chapter three "Bias To The Wanderer" and I think he nailed it.  Chapter 7 "Where To? Thin Places" was another one of my favorite chapters.  Fosters' book is certain to challenge the reader.  Either you will be challenged by his use of many non-Christian pilgrims, monks, mystics, gurus and you will give up on him.  Or you will grasp the message that he is trying to give and will be challenged by your complacent lifestyle.  Not every pilgrimage requires leaving and going somewhere new.  Pilgrimage can also happen on your daily commute our your trip to Starbucks.  There is a challenge in this book to go, and do it with new eyes.  While this is hardly the best book I have read, it is certainly a valuable book.  It is good to be reminded of the value of going, of pilgrimage, and for that reason if you find this book in a used bookstore one day make sure you pick it up.

**Disclosure of material connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishing as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Books I've Read in 2010

So my friend Erica decided to try and read 110 books in 2010.  I thought it sounded like a good idea and so I've been keeping track of everything I've read so far this year.  Here it is

1) Religious No More - Mark Baker
2) Thirteen Moons: A Novel - Charles Fraizer
3) Interpretation First Corinthians - Richard Hays
4) Take This Bread - Sara Miles
5) Justification - NT Wright
6) The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture - Shane Hipps
7) Free of Charge - Miroslav Volf
8) Paul a Very Short Introduction - EP Sanders
9) Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform - William G. McLoughlin
10) A Wind In The Door - Madeline L’Engle
 11) The Gospel According to Lost - Chris Seay
12) The Art of Reading Scripture - ed. Ellen F. Davis and Richard Hays
13) The Souls of Black Folk - W.E.B. Du Bois
14) Double Take -Tim Geddert
 15) All Right Now - Tim Geddert
 16) Jesus Matters - ed. James R. Kraybill and David W. Shenk
 17) A Multi-Site Church Road Trip - Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, Warren Bird
 18) Drops Like Stars - Rob Bell
19)  Ungodly Women - Betty A. DeBerg
 20) The Story of Christianity Volume 1 Justo L. Gonzalez
 21) The Story of Christianity Volume 2 Justo L. Gonzalez
 22) Canadian Evangelicalism in the 20th Century - John Stackhouse Jr,
 23) The Burning Land - Bernard Cornwell
 24) St. Patrick - Jonathan Rogers
 25) Texts Under Negotiation - Walter Brueggemann
 26) Different Eyes: The Art of living Beautiful - Steve Chalke and Alan Mann
 27) The Little Book of Restorative Justice - Howard Zehr
 28) The Little Book of Biblical Justice -Christ Marshall
 29) The Act of Bible Reading - Edited by Elmer Dyck
30) Reading Scripture with the Church: Toward a Hermeneutic For Theological Interpretation  -   A.K.M Adam, Stephen E. Fowl, Kevin J. Vanhoozer, and  Francis Watson.
 31) Between Two Horizons - Edited by Joel B. Green and Max Turner
 32) Sensual Orthodoxy - Debbie Blue
 33) A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada - Mark A. Noll
 34) The Moral Vision of the New Testament - Richard Hays
 35) The Nature of Atonement - ed. James Beilby and Paul R. Eddy
 36) Mark: the way for all Nations - Willard Swartley
 37) Inca Gold - Clive Cussler
 38) Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross - Ed. Mark Baker
 39) Christus Victor - Gustaf Aulén
 40) The Smell of Sawdust: What evangelicals can learn from their fundamentalist heritage - Richard J. Mouw.
41) Recovering the Scandal of the Cross - Joel Green and Mark Baker

If you need something to read here are the best I think from the list

Best Sermons
#32 Sensual Orthodoxy - A nice collection of sermons.  Debbie is an incredibly gifted writer/preacher.  While sometimes it seemed like she stretched a text a bit it was a great read, and very nourishing.

Best book on Ethics
# 34 The Moral Vision of the New Testament - What can I say, Hays is amazing.  This is a must read. 

Best book on Forgiveness
#7 Free of Charge - This is the book that really got me thinking about my Thesis, so obviously a favorite.

Best book on Electronic Culture
#6 The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture - Hipps blew my mind.  If you want to think about church and the place of technology within it, you need to read this one.

Best Commentary
#3 Interpretation First Corinthians - An amazing commentary on 1 Corinthians.  I gave it to my mom and she used it for teaching her sunday school class.  It is both scholarly and accessible, a beautiful combination.

Best Biblical Interpretation book
#12 The Art of Reading Scripture - A great collection of essays written by a bunch of different men and women (Hay's 3rd contribution to my list).  One of my favorite parts is at the end when they take all the tools they have given you and work them into sermons.  Very powerful and great reading.

Best History Book
#9 Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform - McLoughlin looks at the social factors that surrounded the great awakenings and revivals in the United States.  It is an incredible book that shows some of the other factors that influenced the outbreak of these revivals.  It is a must read for pastors and those who work in the church, it explains so much about why the church is the way it is, and why it is that some people resist change, even when it is a good thing.  I have to say that also #19  Ungodly Women was a great book.  It is especially helpful in understanding some of our fundamentalist roots as evangelicals. 

Most Controversial
#4 Take this Bread - I loved it.  But I am sure that there are many people who will just be downright offended by this book.  It is a radically different look at the Lords Supper and what Jesus means when he says eat my body. 

Best by a MBBS Faculty
Ahhh... you caught me... I have to say all of them #1 # 14 #15 #38 #41 all worth the read.  If I could only pick one though I would choose #1 AND #14

So far I have been blessed to have read a lot of books this year. I am already a good way through numbers 42 and 43 and have a few more lined up to go.  I'm not sure if I'll make my goal or not, but I will give it a try... if only some of these books weren't 600 pages or more life would be a lot easier :)