Series: From My Bookshelf

December 28, 2013

Christian Standard

Studies in Pride, Lessons in Humility

By LeRoy Lawson X Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, and Roger Fischer New York: Penguin Books, 1999 You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You”re Deluding Yourself David McRaney New York: Gotham, 2012 The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Passage of Power Robert A. Caro New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012   “Pride goeth before a fall.” “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” “Just who do you think you are, anyway?” “Blessed are the meek,

November 29, 2013

Christian Standard

Questions, Answers, Death, and Life

By LeRoy Lawson Honest Questions, Honest Answers: How to Engage in Compelling Conversations about Your Christian Faith David Faust Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 2012 Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles that Are Saving Lives Against All Odds Sanjay Gupta New York: Wellness Center, 2009 Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption Laura Hillenbrand New York: Random House, 2010 David Faust is known: pastor, preacher, author, columnist, editor, professor, university president, and national Christian leader. We don”t have a more prominent leader in the Christian churches/churches of Christ. His reputation is reason enough to read Honest Questions, Honest Answers. It”s

November 1, 2013

Christian Standard

Books I Enjoyed about Subjects I Don”t

By LeRoy Lawson   Fermat”s Last Theorem Simon Singh London: Fourth Estate, 2002 Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory Edward J. Larson New York: The Modern Library, 2006  Massive: The Missing Particle that Sparked the Greatest Hunt in Science Ian Sample New York: Basic Books, 2010   Confession is good for the soul, the saying goes””and it is. Whether it is good for the column is quite another matter. Today”s books are held together by a common theme: things I don”t know. I am way, way out of my field here. But just as when driving you get lost

September 26, 2013

Christian Standard

Five “˜Must-Read” Books for Ministry

By LeRoy Lawson Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth Richard J. Foster New York: HarperOne, originally published in 1978 In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership Henri J. M. Nouwen New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1989 Communicating for a Change Andy Stanley and Lane Jones Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2006 Deep and Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend Andy Stanley Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012 Simple Church: Returning to God”s Process for Making Disciples Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2006   Recently Milligan College and Christian Standard asked

August 23, 2013

Christian Standard

Your Church Is Like a Family

By LeRoy Lawson Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue Edwin H. Friedman New York: The Guilford Press, 1985 A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix Edwin H. Friedman New York: Seabury Books, 2007 Friedman”s Fables Edwin H. Friedman New York: The Guilford Press, 1990 Where was Edwin Friedman”s Generation to Generation when I needed it? It”s out of print now, published in 1985, but fortunately still available in used books at Amazon.com. I would have missed this one if it hadn”t been for a highly regarded minister friend who said, “This is

August 1, 2013

Christian Standard

Love Story, Leadership Principles, and the Faith of a Scientist

By LeRoy Lawson Joni & Ken: An Untold Love Story Ken and Joni Eareckson Tada Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013 On Point: Four Steps to Better Life Teams Del Harris Charleston: Advantage Media Group, 2012 God According to God: A Scientist Discovers We”ve Been Wrong About God All Along Gerald L. Schroeder New York: HarperOne, 2009 What I like best about Joni & Ken is that I have finally learned more about that shadowy figure who has for more than 30 years been husband, caregiver, friend, and source of strength for one of modern Evangelicalism”s leading ladies. From the moment she began

June 28, 2013

Christian Standard

From the Trivial (but Interesting) to the Eternal (and Compelling)

By LeRoy Lawson At Home: A Short History of Private Life Bill Bryson New York: Doubleday, 2010 The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life Robert E. Webber Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2006 Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009 Some authors are hard to resist. I”d already read several Bill Bryson books (Mother Tongue, Notes from a Small Island, A Walk in the Woods, A Short History of Nearly Everything), so when I came across At Home: A Short History of

May 25, 2013

Christian Standard

From Three of My Favorite Female Authors

By LeRoy Lawson   Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson Boston and New York: Mariner Books (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), 2009, 2010 An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith Barbara Brown Taylor New York: HarperCollins e-books, 2009 (HarperOne) Acedia and Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer”s Life Kathleen Norris New York: Riverhead Books (Penguin Group), 2008   This month”s books are by three favorite female writers. Each has earned respect by life well-lived and books well-written. The first is Temple Grandin”s Animals Make Us Human, perhaps a surprising choice

April 28, 2013

Christian Standard

Churches, Brains, and Change

By LeRoy Lawson   Messy: God Likes It that Way A. J. Swoboda Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2012 Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships Daniel Goleman New York: Bantam Books, 2006 Memoirs of an Addicted Brain: A Neuroscientist Examines His Former Life on Drugs Marc Lewis New York: PublicAffairs, 2012 Gutenberg the Geek Jeff Jarvis Kindle Single, 2012 Early in my ministry I took comfort in a joke””probably already stale””that made the rounds in preacher circles. A pastor ran into a former colleague who was now making his living working in a funeral home. When he asked him why

March 31, 2013

Christian Standard

Shared Secrets for Ministers, Useful Advice for Elders

By LeRoy Lawson   Open Secrets: A Memoir of Faith and Discovery Richard Lischer New York: Broadway Books, 2001 Answer His Call (2009) Reflect His Character (2009) Lead His Church (2010) Enjoy His People (2011) Jim Estep, David Roadcup, and Gary Johnson Joplin: College Press The Healthy Elder: Vital Signs of a Strong Leader Jim Estep, David Roadcup, and Gary Johnson e2 Effective Elders, 2012 Effective Elders: What Every Elder Should Know””a digital curriculum (CD/DVD combo) Jim Estep, Gary Johnson, and David Roadcup e2 Effective Elders  A colleague recently asked for recommendations for articles or books on the subject of

February 25, 2013

Christian Standard

Failing, Fathering, and Falling Toward Maturity

By LeRoy Lawson   The Damnation of Theron Ware Harold Frederic Various editions; first published in 1896 Gilead Marilynne Robinson New York: Picador, 2004 Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life Richard Rohr San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011 Pastoral ministry can be among the hardest jobs there are””or the easiest. Since pastors are granted freedom to set their own schedules and priorities, the conscientious minister tends to work too hard and the indolent one finds every excuse to take it easy. What this means is ministry attracts””or creates””the finest of characters or the worst. I”m exaggerating of course,

February 1, 2013

Christian Standard

Leadership Proverbs and Models of Change

The Leadership Wisdom of Solomon: 28 Essential Strategies for Leading with Integrity Pat Williams with Jim Denney Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 2010 Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard Chip Heath and Dan Heath New York: Crown Business, 2010 Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology (Two People, One Year, Zero Watts) Eric Brende New York: Harper Perennial, 2004 Of the writing of leadership books there is no end. So much of what you read in one seems to be copied from others of them. In Pat Williams”s The Leadership Wisdom of Solomon, though, what impresses is not that there is

December 16, 2012

Christian Standard

Choosing to Love, Discovering the Enemy

By LeRoy Lawson   I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor”s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity Izzeldin Abuelaish London: Bloomsbury, 2010 Son of Hamas Mosab Hassan Yousef, with Ron Brackin Carol Stream: SaltRiver, an imprint of Tyndale House, 2010, 2011 For many years I led tours to the Holy Land. It never failed that as we prepared to go, someone would ask, “Don”t you think you should wait until there”s peace in the Middle East?” My answer? “We have been waiting for 4,000 years now. I don”t think we can wait any longer.” Flippant, admittedly. But

November 20, 2012

Christian Standard

Missionary Books, Missionary Enterprise, and Workings of the Mind

By LeRoy Lawson The Jesus Documents (The Missiology of Alan R. Tippett Series) Alan R. Tippett (Shawn Redford, editor) Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2012   River of God: An Introduction to World Mission Doug Priest and Stephen Burris, editors Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2012   Thinking, Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011 (accessed at Audible.com) I remember when Alan R. Tippett came to study at the fledgling Church Growth Institute, which was then meeting on the campus of my alma mater, Northwest Christian College (now University) in Eugene, Oregon. Donald McGavran had only recently

October 22, 2012

Christian Standard

Africa and Afghanistan, Ethics and Unity

By LeRoy Lawson Say You”re One of Them Uwem Akpan New York: Little Brown and Company, 2008 The Places in Between Rory Stewart Orlando: Harvest Original/Harcourt, 2004 Just Ministry: Professional Ethics for Pastoral Ministers Richard M. Gula Mahwah: Paulist Press, 2010 The History of the Open Forum on the Mission of the Church 1983″“2009 John Mills Middleburg Heights: Open Forum/Southwest Christian Church, 2011 Oprah”s Book Club is not my usual source to find a good read. Not that good books aren”t there. It”s just that my interests and her recommendations haven”t often jibed. That is, until now. Or until 2009,

September 14, 2012

Christian Standard

Shakespeare, Steve, Science, and Scripture

By LeRoy Lawson   Shakespeare: The World as Stage Bill Bryson New York: HarperCollins, 2007 (Audible.com version)  Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011 The Language of Science and Faith: Straight Answers to Genuine Questions Karl W. Giberson and Francis S. Collins Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2011 It”s been a long time since I had the fun of introducing high school and college students to a lifelong fascination of mine: William Shakespeare, beyond dispute the greatest poet in the English language and among the handful of greatest poets in the world. Well, maybe not beyond dispute. The

August 19, 2012

Christian Standard

Pondering Religion, the Bible, and How to Grow a Church

By LeRoy Lawson   Roadside Religion: In Search of the Sacred, the Strange, and the Substance of Faith Timothy Beal Boston: Beacon Press, 2005 The Rise and Fall of the Bible: The Unexpected History of an Accidental Book Timothy Beal Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011 God-Size Your Church John Jackson Colorado Springs: Biblica, 2008, 2011 Timothy Beal, professor of religion at Case Western Reserve University, is a new discovery. A good friend recently sent me two of his books without explanation or recommendation, so I read them without expectations. Well, that”s not quite right. When I started Roadside Religion my guard

July 19, 2012

Christian Standard

Preaching, Prevailing, and Seeking

By LeRoy Lawson The Collected Sermons of Fred B. Craddock Fred B. Craddock Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2011 When You Come Home: The True Love Story of a Soldier”s Heroism and His Wife”s Sacrifice Nancy Cavin Pitts Kingsport: Christian Devotions Ministry, 2011 The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West . . . AGAIN (10th Anniversary Edition) George C. Hunter III Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010 I”ve known of Fred Craddock almost as long as I”ve been preaching, but I”ve never met him. When I was a guest preacher at the Christian Church in Newport, Tennessee, his ghost filled the church. He wasn”t dead,

May 21, 2012

Christian Standard

Pursuing God, the Cure for Narcissism

By LeRoy Lawson The Pastor: A Memoir Eugene H. Peterson New York: HarperCollins E-books The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell New York: Free Press, 2009 13 Things that Don”t Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time Michael Brooks New York: Vintage Books, 2009 Eugene Peterson was feeding his fellow Christians long before he published The Message, his paraphrase of the Bible in contemporary English, but that amazing tour de force raised our gratitude even higher. His insights into church and ministry have refreshed many a weary minister,

April 27, 2012

Christian Standard

Angels, Demons, and the Future of the Church

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined Steven Pinker New York: Viking Penguin, 2011 Charles Dickens: A Life Claire Tomalin New York: The Penguin Press, 2011 The Meeting of the Waters: 7 Global Currents That Will Propel the Future Church Fritz Kling Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2010 Every now and then a book comes along that won”t let go of you. It takes what everybody knows, shakes it up, and puts it back down head-first. That”s Steven Pinker”s The Better Angels of Our Nature. Go to any church you want and you can count on the

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