the last few (5) books i've read

i'm sure that if i got really creative, i could come up with other stuff to write about, but since i want to include the books i'm reading on this blog, that means that all i'll have time for tonight is a quick summary of the last few books i've read. so here they are:

1. Small Group Leadership as Spiritual Direction by Heather Webb (former professor at Mars Hill Grad School). after having led small groups and bible studies in church and parachurch settings for several years, i'm wishing this book had been out well before i ever got started in ministry. this is one of those books that makes me wish i were ten years younger and reading it - though i probably couldn't have thought clearly enough then to know how much of it needs to be applied. i did get frustrated with her writing style though - at times crystal clear and precise, at times vague and wandering. i know that it's a book focused on spiritual direction, but i still thought it could have been more practical, even if simply by giving more case studies or examples. but this is definitely a book i'll be recommending to small group leaders i know.

2. Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture by Walt Mueller. Walt was a youth minister for years, and now seems to primarily work in research and now has a more family/youth centered focus in his ministry (Center for Youth and Parent Understanding). this book was rather intense, very well researched, and directly pertinent to our time (unlike most youth ministry books i've seen). it's geared not only towards youth ministers, but parents and teachers and anyone else working with this emerging generation. he clarifies how if we plan on reaching this next generation, we need to see ourselves as missionaries entering their culture. we can't simply expect them to understand our language, our norms, our culture, our expectations, but that we need to hear the way the speak, listen to their music, watch their stories (movies, etc.), and go to where they are. i haven't read a book with this many footnotes in a while. :)

3. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell (pastor of National Youth Workers' Convention, since i was fascinated by his study and knowledge of first century Judaism. the writing style can get old though since it is essentially web writing on the printed page (you know, no indents, spaces between paragraphs, small blue arial-like font, and ellipses where completely unnecessary). but what he says is worth getting past the stylistic problems simply for the sake of allowing the dialogue of Truth to continue instead of allowing it to remain stale, crusty, moldy, irrelevant, and not as True as it could be.

4. Leading with a Limp by Dan Allender (president of Mars Hill Grad School). in my opinion, one of the best books on leadership i've seen in a long time. but, of course, i'm a bit biased towards Dan's writings, since he's one of the few people i tend to agree with so much of the time, and i've been so moved and changed by previous books of his. there was so much that affected me in this book, i don't really know what to say about it. i guess the only thing i can come up with at this late hour, a couple of weeks after reading it, is that the thing that struck me the most is something i least expected: his constant use of she or her in his writing. i think this is the first leadership book from a Christian perspective (maybe even Christian book in general) that was so obviously inclusive, it almost felt as if he used she/her more often than he/him. i'm far from being a feminist, yet i can say that i greatly appreciated that, it was cool.

5. Blue Genes by Paul Meier and some other guys. so this is a book about certain mental illnesses (such as ADD, Depression, Anxiety, etc.) and the genetic causes behind them. be forewarned: this book comes from a 'Christian' perspective. having read my share of books on these sorts of topics, i can't say i was overly impressed with this one. for one, i felt that they put too much emphasis on the genetic aspect (as i could have guessed by the title), ignoring environmental aspects (such as attachment issues, home life as a child, etc.) perhaps for the sake of making sure not to cause people to not 'honor their mother and father;' but in doing so, they leave out way too much research and don't look at the whole story (i'm not saying genes aren't a part of it, but i think they swing too far in that direction). second, i felt that the passages from the Bible that they used were not always in context (proof-texting) and they just kept using the same few to prove their point, over and over and over again. lastly, the book was very simplistic in style and information (i hope it's not an indication that we Christians are so ignorant that people need to write 'down' to our level). i guess it would be a good primer for someone regarding mental illness, if they come from a Christian perspective, and if they are unfamiliar with the topic or feel that all mental illness is due to sin.

so i guess i've averaged about a book every two days. not bad. except that probably means i could be much more productive with my time if i could just get myself to put these books down when i have other stuff to do.