Last week’s podcast was about the importance of reading in the life of a pastor, if you haven’t listened to it yet I would encourage you to click and listen to it. We had a great discussion and several books were mentioned. The list below was typed up by the Saddleback Staff and we wanted to make it available to you for your reference.
“The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis” Alan Jacobs
“Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” Susanna Clarke,Portia Rosenberg
“The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order” Samuel P. Huntington
“Letters to a Young Catholic (Art of Mentoring)” George Weigel
“The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success” Rodney Stark
8 responses so far ↓
Jon Sharp // June 4, 2007 at 12:47 pm
The ’scottish author’ mentioned was Alexander McCall Smith, and his novels set in Namibia ‘The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency’ ‘Morality for beautiful girls’ ‘The Kalahari Typing School for Men’ etc
Great for PEACE cultural orientation!
BTW I loved this podcast - so true about reading past and present. When I was in High School I read Homer’s Odyssey, and it was so evocative of human emotions just like ours, though set 5000 yrs ago, that it convinced me that the ‘ancient’ Bible might not be a complete right-off, and hence was a key step in my acceptance of the truth of the Bible.
Jimmie Davidson // June 5, 2007 at 12:58 am
A great book that helped me several years ago is titled, “Death by Planning Growth by Accident” I hit a leadership and growth lid in our church and my good friend Nelson Searcy recommended I read this book. It was exactly what I needed. As I began to do again what God shaped me to do our church began to do again what it had done for years, grow!
Troy // June 5, 2007 at 11:54 am
It seems that I go through stages of reading. There are times that I will devour anything I can get my hands on and then I just stop. I guess I need time to process. One of the books that has been an influence on me lately is “The Present Future” by Reggie McNeal. It challenges us to look at why we do the things we do in church. Great read. Thanks for the podcast each week
Mike Sorcinelli // June 7, 2007 at 6:26 am
Since there’s too many books to read and too little time to read them, I try to be strategic in what I read, by finding the best books on the subject I’m interested in. There’s hundreds of books on any given subject, why not read the best one! Also, I only read books related to my priorities: Every year in addition to reading my Bible, I try to read a book on youth ministry (I’m a youth pastor), theology/doctrine, leadership, marriage/family, & finances. Also, for the most important books I buy a hardcopy, but for others I’ll purchase the audio version through iTunes. I’ve been really challenged to invest my free time instead of wasting it on “the boob tube” as Rick called it. I don’t watch that much, but at the end of the week it still adds up to several HOURS. Those hours could be invested in personal growth and development. It’s my day off today and after listening to this podcast I have the motivation to invest my day, instead of wasting it. Thanks Rick & friends. You guys rock.
J. K. // June 8, 2007 at 5:30 am
Good list. I wish you had left off the mystic.
I’ve linked to it on my blog.
I had already read two or three.
I’ve also ordered quite a few of them.
Eric // June 10, 2007 at 8:12 am
I appreciate how you encouraged us to read authors who represent ideas and convictions we disagree with in order to better understand our own position.
However, I would like to point out that if someone simply read the blog and didn’t hear the podcast they might think you were suggesting we adopt a [specific] theology (which of course was not the spirit of the show) Just thought I would offer this comment for anyone who may not have listened to the entire show.
I appreciate you Rick. Thanks for this podcast.
Tommy // June 15, 2007 at 2:51 am
I appreciated the conversation and would like to include the book “Criswell’s Guidebook for Pastors” by W.A. Criswell. This book is a great encouragement for me. In my oppinion, it lines up with what you are doing on your podcast.
Robin Steele // July 15, 2007 at 12:09 pm
A great book for pastors is “Made to Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath. It shows why some ideas survive and others die. There is even a Saddleback reference in the book!
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