Books That Helped Me…Move On
I’m coming up on 20 years as a pastor. You spend 20 years doing anything, you’ll start to look back on the memories and think about the moments or experiences, right? I thought about my journey, particularly with faith. It’s been quite an experience and the journey isn’t over. There have been plenty of moments and experiences that have shaped me profoundly. Many of them have helped me “Move On” from legalism and harmful viewpoints of God, people, and myself.
Among those experiences, I count books. You ever “experience” a book? It’s quite a thrill to get lost in a great book, right? A couple weeks ago, I created my “Can’t Put This Book Down” list. I narrowed it down to 30 books I’ve read over the past 20 years that I couldn’t put down. Many of these have been deeply formational for me. Some of them have provided much needed joy and escape amidst some very dark and trying seasons of life. Some of them were books that forever changed me.
As I continue writing on the theme of “Time to Move On”, I thought I would share some written works by others that have helped me “move on”. I hope you’ll pick one to read. If you are looking for a particular topic, shoot me a message and I’ll see if I can help narrow it down for you.
In chronological order dating back to 2004 (except #1 was childhood and I’m rereading again now for maybe the 20th time)
*Great Vacation Reads
**When I read this, it was like scales falling from my eyes. These are the most formational books I’ve read that I couldn’t put down. When I did, I saw the world, faith, and life differently.
*All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
**Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne
**The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
**The Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaille
Unapologetic: Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense by Francis Spufford (As real and authentic as it gets. A case for faith from a former atheist without all of the flowery language that usually fills apologetics books. Be ready for some F bombs)
**The Starfish and the Spider (best book I’ve read on organizational leadership)
*The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs
*When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
*Open by Andre Agassi
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
The Pastor by Eugene Peterson
Night by Elie Wiesel
*Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
**Can You Drink the Cup? by Henri Nouwen
*Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
**Discernment by Henri Nouwen
*Petty: The Biography by Warren Zanes
*Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
*Here is Real Magic by Nate Staniforth
Refugee by Alan Gratz (YA novel on the refugee experience)
*Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern (I’ve never laughed so hard reading a book)
**Falling Upward by Richard Rohr
**Cross Vision by Greg Boyd
**A Failure of Nerve by Edwin Friedman
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
*A Burning in My Bones by Winn Collier
When Everything’s On Fire by Brian Zahnd
Unlikely Nomads by James Wilder (if you want the best overall viewpoint of what’s going on with Christian faith in the U.S., this is the book)