I’ve come across some great books lately and thought you might find them helpful.
Concentric Circles of Concern, by W.Oscar Thompson, Jr. This book is about 30 years old, but there is a 1999 revised version that I found in a used bookstore. Our church went through an evangelism emphasis in November, and this was a helpful book for creating a meaningful, and realistic approach to sharing our faith. Using the theme of social circles, Thompson focuses on being intentional about using your influence to help people discover faith in God. The book is somewhat technical as it has stages and strategies, but when those are combined with several real life stories, the process makes sense. This may not be the only book on evangelism that someone would want to read, but it definitely introduces some great concepts and helps you see that sharing your faith is hardly the difficult task that we often see it to be.
You Lost Me, by David Kinnaman. Few books have challenged my thinking on the church as this book has. The book sets out to explain why young adults have left the church. While Kinnaman’s earlier book unChristian dealt with perspectives on the church from people outside of the church, this book looks at people who have had the church experience and found it lacking. While I wanted to disagree with the reasons that the young adults disconnected, it was hard to argue with many of their reasons. This book is a must read for people who want to reach the young adults who have disaffected from church life or even faith in God.
Doctrine that Dances, Robert Smith, Jr. I first read this book as a divinity school student, but truthfully I was not able to really consider its applications until recently. As I have had more opportunities to preach and teach, I find the book has become a great resource for helping me shape a theology and a practice of preaching. With so many of our church members doctrinally and Biblically illiterate, Smith encourages the preacher to resist the urge to tickle people’s ears with “sermonic snacks.” It’s a challenging book, but it is also an encouraging book as it helps the preacher understand his or her place in the ministry of proclamation and the ministry of the Word.
ESV Study Bible, by God by way of Crossway. I am a huge study Bible fan. I can remember when I first found out that there were Bibles that could actually help me understand the passages that I was reading. A good study Bible allows you to remain in the text while providing context and access to the deeper meaning of the passage. The ESV Study Bible is really excellent at doing this. It’s a huge book, but the notes are incredibly helpful, and the appendices with introductory articles on doctrines and hermeneutics are excellent.
Journey of Faith 