Ten Religious Books That Influenced Me

Yesterday (Monday) I wrote two posts.  The second one was my "Passing the Torch" article.  Go back and read that if you missed it and be sure to read the other articles I linked to.  The first post yesterday concerned ten books that are among my favorite non-religious books. Today, I am sharing a list of Ten Religious Books that Influenced Me.  You will notice that I did not include the Bible in this list.  The Bible is by far the most important of all the religious books I read, but for this list, I wanted to include books by men and not the Book of Books by God.

1. Old Light on New Worship - John Price
2. Biblical Eldership - Alexander Strauch
3. Jesus and the Victory of God - N. T. Wright
4. What Did Saint Paul Really Say - N. T. Wright
5. The Gospel According to Jesus - John MacArthur
6. Living Jesus - Luke Timothy Johnson
7. The End Times - Russell Boatman
8. Is the Holy Spirit for Me - Harvey Floyd
9. Showtime - Dan Chambers
10. The God Who Risks - John Sanders

Honorable Mention -
- Twelve Ordinary Men - John MacArthur
- The God of the Towel - Jim McGuiggan
- Adrift - Phil Sanders
- Saddlebags, City Streets, and Cyberspace - Michael Cassey

Keep Reading and Keep Growing

Scott

My Ten Favorite Non-Religious Books to Read

This morning I thought I would give you a reading list.  I like to read.  I read fiction, non-fiction, and religious books.  I enjoyed Harry Potter and the Lemony Snickett series and a few other pre-teen and teen books, but I also read on my level.  Here are ten books (both fiction and non-ficiton) I liked enough to read most of them more than once.

1. The Old Man and the Sea - Earnest Hemingway  - (Classic man against nature)
2. A Farewell to Arms - Earnest Hemingway - (The realities of war on one man)
3. A Painted House - John Grisham - (a departure from the normal Grisham style)
4. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - (I really like Jem, Scout, and Atticus Finch)
5. 1776 - David McCullough - (Historical reconstruction)
6. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson - (Not much better than pirates, treasure, and adventures at sea)
7. Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain - (The copy I first read had an early 1900's publishing date)
8. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain - (same as above)
9. Greece to 14 A.D. (?? Shuckburg, Putnam Bros. 1906) - (A rare history book)
10. Due South - R. Scott Brunner - (Scott's dad is a friend of mine.  This book is a collection of humorous stories and anecdotes about being a Southerner.  Scott's maternal grandparents are members where I preach and recently celebrated their 73 wedding anniversary.)

Grab a book a read.

Scott

Weekend Reading

Here a few Blogs and Articles I found interesting this week. You might want to read them over the weekend. Enjoy and keep reading.

• Trey Morgan writes about Griping and Complaining. His mom and mine must have learned from the same book.

• John Brown (seriously) reminds us to Taking it Seriously. Many of us may use humor too frequently, but maturity teaches us that there is a time to laugh and a time to be serious.

• Tucker invites all to a View from the Casino. He is not saying what you think he is.

• Chris Brady ponders about Twitter Worship . The title alone was enough to grab my attention.

What good things have you read this week?

Top Signs You Are Not Reading Your Bible Enough

This list developed from a group of friends on Twitter and a post from House to House Heart to Heart ( http://tinyurl.com/crnsm5 ). There were many more posted, but I limited this blog to twenty. I tried to give credit to those who sent them in.

20. You think Tim LaHeye and Jerry B. Jenkins wrote Revelation. (joeysparks)

19. The Bible you recieved at High School Graduation 5 years ago still has pages stuck together. (jrmatheny)

18. You find it under 6 months of Readers Digests and TV Guides. (scottmccown)

17. The binding cracks and breaks when you open it. (jrmatheny)

16. The Preacher calls out Hezekiah 3:6 for his text and you look for it among the minor prophets. (scottmccown)

15. You think, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" is in Proverbs. (GallagherPreach)

14. You think Mel Gibson wrote a Gospel called the "Passion of Christ." (GallagherPreach)

13. You think Sleepy, Doc, and Grumpy were among the twelve apsotles. (TimothyArcher)

12. You complain to the publisher that Numbers should be spelled with a "3" not an "e". (faughfamily)

11. You think the Minor Prophets worked in the rock quarries (or were not good enough for the Majors) (joeysparks)

10. The preacher announces the the sermon text is from Genesis and you check the table of contents. (HousetoHouseHTH)

9. You've heard of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and think they may have had a few hits in the 60's or 70's.

8. You are mad because you cannot find Charelton Heston in the table of contents or the concordance. (HousetoHouseHTH)

7. You think Numbers is a gambler's handbook. (jrmatheny)

6. You turn to Psalms and a WWII savings bond falls out. (HousetoHouseHTH)

5. You think Jezebel is a wonderful name for your baby daughter.(faughfamily)

4. You catch your preteen son reading Song of Solomon and you demand, "Who gave this to you?" (faughfamily)

3. You tell your children bedtime Bible story about King Ahab and a great whale. (scottmccown)

2. When asked who your favorite Old Testament character is you answer, "Hercules." (HousetoHouseHTH)

1. You bet on the outcome of the Battle of Jericho and lose. (joeysparks)

Do you have any to add? Keep it going and keep reading your Bible!