Lost in Translation

Since we've been on furlough I've have had more time to read. I've been reading a number of "cross-centered" books, but have also had time to read some more diverse books. Here are a few:

Living the Cross Centered Life by C. J. Mahaney
This book is easy to read, but the concepts are wonderful! I've been on a six-month quest to think through the implications of cross-centered living and ministry and this book helped me.

The Cross of Christ by John Stott

I'm reading an older edition (McGrath doesn't show up), but this book has given me a deeper understanding of the cross. Stott is great for pointing out things that I'd never noticed in the text before (e.g. Jesus was "saying" "Father forgive them...", not just "said").

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose
This has been the most fascinating book I've read this year (I read it on my Kindle). It's about a student from Brown University who goes to Liberty University and pretends to be a Christian. He experienced in one semester more of college life than I think I experienced in four years at my Bible college. He writes from a secular persective and sheds light on many aspects of Liberty's culture and the way that American college students view the Christian faith. There are a few things that are a little rough around the edges, but I felt like I was living in the Liberty dorms with Kevin. Highly recommended for you Bible college deans out there!

Cross-cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christ-like Humility by Duane Elmer

Pastor Will loaned me this one and I enjoyed it. I thought that most of the book was common sense, although I know that that isn't always that common. We need to model openness, acceptance, and trust in order to serve people as Jesus did. The author shares a number of moving illustrations of these truths. Note: this book is not just for missionaries. If we look around we need cross-cultural servanthood almost every day in a lot of the U.S. (Today in Ames I interacted with two people from Colombia, a friend from Morocco and a lady from Israel).