Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Reading and Relaxing?

During the month of January, I've been doing lots of reading and relaxing. Here's some books [click any pic or title for more info] I've read [or re-read]. ● The Cost of Discipleship starts and ends with a bang. "Cheap grace," Bonhoeffer begins, "is the grace we bestow on ourselves...grace without discipleship...Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the girl which must be asked for, the door at which a man must know...It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."
● Don't let your New Testament get in the way of your Old Testament. Don't be scared to read this book or the Old Testament the same way ever again [and hear its author live in Toledo on March 5-6]. ● Because my church already has a contemporary worship service, is trying to balance traditional and modern tastes, and is seeking relevant worship for a secularized society, I wanted to read this book by Greg Scheer.

Here's some others still captivating my attention: Proverbs [you know, the book in the Bible?!!], The Collected Works of John of the Cross, The Lost World of Genesis One, and The Art of Pastoring: Ministry Without All the Answers. Still in my stack: The Dance of Change, Surprised by Hope, Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) and Waking the Dead. As for relaxing, I've enjoyed spending more time with Jackie and my pastor mentors instead of preparing my weekly 10 page paper [i.e. sermon—who is glad I don't share everything I find?!!], and sipping my healthy smoothies every day. I can also now putt better in Wii Golf than real golf and I thoroughly enjoyed Avatar in 3D even though the Vatican did not [click pic to see why]. I hope you can make time to read and relax too!!!

1 comment:

Jim Lange said...

I'm proud of you for actually getting some relaxation in Mike! Thanks for being a great example!