Understanding my Bookshelf
To begin, you must understand that my personal library exceeds 1,500 volumes - I'm a bit of a bookworm, or at least I was. What's listed on the bookshelf here are the just ones that make it from my study to my "current" pile - stuff I'm currently reading, ones I've read before and pulled off the shelf for some reason, or ones I haven't read but that I want to. This latter category may include books that have been in my library for years. Understand as well that I don't always accomplish the task of reading everything I intend to read. I used to get close to that goal, but now it isn't even a contest. There may be method or purpose to the mix of what's on the shelf, but I don't guarantee it.
"A tale of spiritual renewal for those who thought they had given up on church" —
sounds good to me. This one is "on deck" right now, but I've read the introduction and that
was more insightful than many books I've read, so I'm looking forward to digging into the
book itself. This one is kind of an "emerging church classic" I guess; it was recommended
to me as a kind of "everyone should read at least this one" sort of book.
In September 2004 I found this book in the local Christian bookstore and although
I didn't buy it, the news of the week was that I'd actually found a book I
wouldn't mind reading. In November 2004 over the course of one week, three
different people in three different and unrelated conversations told me to buy
I read this one several years back, and found it adjusted my view of how God
speaks to people - through what Gire calls "Windows of the Soul" or which we might
imagine to be summed up as sheer circumstance and life events. Currently just pulling
the odd tidbit from it. I think this one did confirm
The cover at left is not the same as either of my copies; the one I've got out right now is a great old hardcover
volume in excellent condition with the dust jacket intact. I don't think it's a first, but it is one of the early
English printings. Anyhow, it's out because I'm thinking about the church, and no serious thinking about the church
should be done without this volume somewhere near at hand, as it's a genuine classic. I've just been reading bits and pieces in no particular order.
The 
This isn't at all theological, doesn't try to be... but it does achieve or at least spark what I find to be
a relatively profound view of how or why a seeminly chaotic disorganized structure must be so in order to function.
He's talking about the Internet, I'm talking about the church... more on these thoughts are contained 
Now here's a book that isn't among the ones you really want on your "current" shelf. I picked it up a few
years back when talk of "Spiritual Abuse" was all the rage and there were some much less gracious books out
there, the ones that you feel slimed by reading because they themselves seek to destroy rather than build up.
I only actually purchased one book on the subject, this one - it seeks to build, not to destroy, and focuses on
helping those who have been hurt by misuse of spiritual authority or position, rather than seeking only to slander
or accuse those perceived of inflicting abuse on others. If you're only going to read one book on the subject,
I suggest filtering with the same criteria - look for one which focuses on the helping the victim rather than
on accusing the perpetrator. Further thoughts and notes on this book are 
Basically a classic, my copy was published in 1956 (copyright is 1951) and it's still in
in print. Despite being 50 years old, the subject addressed is timeless — how Christ
relates to the culture in which one lives. Back in my college days, the subject of the
gospel and culture was a missiological one, one which seemed to presuppose that the culture
to which the gospel must be related would not be one's own, but one in "the mission field."
In actual fact of course, the gospel is foreign to all cultures, so the question must be
asked of ones own culture as well. Today, the question is to be specifically asked
concerning postmodernity.
The cover pictured is newer than my copy. A synopsis for the newer edition runs like this:
"Though he wrote almost a century ago, Allen's ideas addressed problems in missionary thinking that survive to this day. He exhorts missionaries to biblical simplicity and sound doctrine while warning against the cultural and organizational tendencies of mission organizations and the churches they plant."
I have also found it in digital form