The ABCs of Faith: How Good Theology Leads to Spiritual Maturity

This semester on campus, CSF is studying how what we think about God ties in with our actions, attitudes and experiences.  In an effort to be creative, I titled the series "The ABCs of Faith."  A is for actions/attitudes.  B is for Belief.  Finally, there is "Experience" such as prayer and worship, which I shifted …

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My 2018 Book Awards!

Favorite Classic - Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. This one made my top ten list of all time and is absolutely a brilliant must read. Favorite Spiritual Classic - New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton.  I also ended up making the list of my favorites of all time.  Tremendously challenging. Favorite Enjoyable …

#1 – Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis (My 100 Favorite Books)

I was probably around 9 or 10 years old.  It was a normal Sunday morning in church.  I was exploring the building in the moments between Sunday school and the worship service.  Our church had a small library filled with mostly books I had no interest in.  But there was a small section of children's …

#2 – The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien (My 100 Favorite Books)

What is there to say about these books that has not already been said?  I suppose everyone who loves this story has their own personal story of how they discovered them.  My story is actually rather regretful.  I think it was 5th or 6th grade when I first picked up the Hobbit and I gave …

#3 – A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving (My 100 Favorite Books)

First of all, this book is a piece of brilliant writing and fantastic story-telling.  It is easy to fall in love with the diminutive and irreverent Owen Meany.  John Irving is a great writer, though as I note that, I realize I've only read one of his other books.  Perhaps I should check out his …

#4 – What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey (My 100 Favorite Books)

This book changed my life. Throughout my teenage years, I mostly read Star Wars novels.  Eventually I got into fantasy.  At some point, I decided to move out of the realm of fiction and read some books that might help my faith.  I had been a Christian as long as I remembered and had read …

#5 – The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (My 100 Favorite Books)

I'm currently reading this book for the third time.  Maybe that's all I need to say for why it makes my top five.  The first time I read it, I had heard it was a classic.  But it is not an easy read and I am not sure I was able to follow it well.  …

#6 – The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (My 100 Favorite Books)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was an amazing person who lived quite an extraordinary life.  Its worth your time, if you haven't already, to read one of the available biographies about him.  I recommend Charles Marsh's Strange Glory: The Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Though I have to admit, Bonhoeffer comes across as kind of a spoiled brat in …

Blessed is the one Who is Forgiven (Psalm32, Weekly Word)

I've been blogging about my 100 favorite books of all time for the last four months or so.  My favorite books cover a variety of genres - history, biography, fantasy, fiction, theology and spirituality.  Yesterday I got to number seven!  I hope to get finished in the next two weeks.  But here's a spoiler alert …

#7 – Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (My 100 Favorite Books)

Most of the books in my top ten are ones I read years ago and have stuck with me ever since.  This is probably the one I read most recently and it totally blew me away.  In other words, one year ago this book would not have been in my top 100 and today it …