Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me: A Memoir of Sorts.

Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me by Ian Morgan Cron is a fantastic read.  In fact, I read the whole thing in one day, I simply could not put it down. 

Cron leads us through his journey with his family, through riches and poverty, through alcoholism and family struggles.  This is not a book that paints a false, and rosy picture of what it means to live for Christ, but because of that it invites the reader into real struggles, and healing.  It is amazing to read the way in which Christ is at work in both Cron's life, and ours as well. 

Forgive the cliche, but this book will make you both laugh and cry.  It is marvelously written and is one of my favorite memoirs in a while.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com 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.”

Unleashed - McManus

Let's get one thing out of the way.  This is McManus' book "The Barbarian Way." If you have read that book, you will be greatly disappointed when you buy this.  Thomas Nelson just re-released the book with a more female friendly title.

That said, this is a simple, but challenging book.  The basic premise is that we as Christians are not called to a domesticated religion, but a passionate faith in Jesus that will lead us into all sorts of crazy and exciting places.

One of the things I appreciated most about the book was the way in which McManus talked about raising his children in the faith.  By not giving them a domesticated religion, but rather introducing them to a wild untamed relationship with Jesus.  It is certainly worth pondering how to raise our children in a way that unleashes them to follow Jesus.

I thought it was a great little book.  The biggest problem with the book is that it is much easier to read than to put into practice.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://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 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Sacred Meal Review

In "The Sacred Meal" Nora Gallagher shares her thoughts on the Eucharist (Lord's Supper, Communion, Sacred Mean etc).  She walks through three steps of taking communion the "waiting," "receiving," and "afterward."  Each had a few interesting reflections and insights that flesh out what we are doing when we come to Communion. 
Over all I was really hoping for something great out of this book.  I had never thought of Communion as a Spiritual practice, so I was interested to hear what Nora Gallagher was going to say.  Unfortunately this book was a disappointment.  While there were a few new insights that will enhance my participation in the Lord's Supper in the future, most of the book was lacking in any depth.  Perhaps most frustrating to me was her side comment that she supports an open table, but then failed to offer any theological or scriptural support for her position.  So far of all the books I have read in this series this was my least favorite.   I have to seriously wonder if Nora was the best choice for this book.  Surely there is someone else who could have had more theological, and biblical insight into this ancient practice.  Instead all we are left with is a few reflections that feel weak and aren't really worth reading.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Guest Post

Hey friends. I know I haven't blogged in forever.  But if you still check this from time to time.  Head over to the Pangea blog and check out my guest post there.  Link is below.

The End of Theological Discussion

100 Books in 2010

So last year I took up the challenge of reading 100 books in 2010.  I am sad to announce that I didn't make my goal.  In the end I only read 80.  Of course there were hundreds of pages of parts of books that I read, many many dictionary articles, and over 100 articles that ranged from 10-55 pages each.  But actual books that I read start to finish, 80.  I have decided that this years goal is 101 books for 2011.  I enjoyed keeping track of what I read and being able to look back over the list.  Most of these books were well worth the time to read.
For those who care here is my completed 2010 list:
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 *
14Double 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 *
42 The Nonviolent Atonement - J. Denny Weaver **
43 Flickering Pixels - Shane Hipps
44 Listening For the Heartbeat of God - J. Philip Newell
45 Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites… and Other Lies You’ve been told - Bradley Wright.
46 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone - JK Rowling
47 Believers Church Commentary: Mark - Tim Geddert *
48 I’m a Stranger here Myself - Bill Bryson
49 Let the Reader Understand - Robert Fowler *
50 Harry Potter: and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling
51 What does the Old Testament say about God? - Claus Westermann
52 The Drama of Scripture - Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen **
53 Models of God - Sallie McFague*
54 Against the Tide - Miroslav Volf **
55 Restless Gods - Reginald Bibby *
56 Rethinking Christ and Culture - Craig Carter *
57 Exclusion and Embrace - Miroslav Volf **
58 Harry potter and the prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling
59 The Sacred Canopy - Peter Berger*
60 Brands of Faith - Mara Einstein*
61 Beyond Opinion - Ravi Zacharias
62 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling
63 Holy Trinity Perfect Community - Leonardo Boff*
64 Harry Potter and the Order of thee Phoenix - JK Rowling
65 Pornland - Gail Dines
66 The Openness of God - Clark Pinnock*
67 Can God be Trusted - John Stackhouse*
68 No Future without Forgiveness - Desmond Tutu*
69 The Gospel According to Jesus - Chris Seay
70 Free of Charge - Miroslav Volf (yes I read it twice)**
71 The End of Memory - Miroslav Volf**
72 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - JK Rowling
73 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow - JK Rowling
74 Embodying Forgiveness - L. Gregory Jones
75 The Magicians Nephew - C.S. Lewis
76 Celtic Prayers from Iona - J. Philip Newell
77 The Fort - Bernard Cornwell
78 Fasting - Scot McKnight
79 Practicing our Faith - Dorothy Bass *
80 Open Secrets - Richard Lischer *


I was asked after I posted this what my top five were.  In no particular order I think

The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture - Shane Hipps
Free of Charge - Miroslav Volf
The Moral Vision of the New Testament - Richard Hays
Models of God - Sallie McFague
The Sacred Canopy - Peter Berger

Honorable Mentions go to 




Take This Bread - Sara Miles
Fasting - Scot McKnight
Open Secrets - Richard Lischer
Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform - William G. McLoughlin 
Mark Commentary - Tim Geddert

* Means that it was a required reading for school
** Means that it was not a required reading for school, but was directly related to school I was doing.