Archive for 'Book Recommendations'

A Walk to Remember?

A Walk to Remember?

Posted on 12. Feb, 2011 by Tim Stoner.

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A Walk to Remember is a heartbreakingly romantic book. In it the protagonist, now in his late 50’s, remembers a walk that he has never been able to forget. In my fundamentalist tradition the walk we were never to forget was that one we took during the “altar call.” It would serve as the reminder of the iron-clad guarantee of our eternal security. However, Hebrews disabuses us of all notions that our confidence is in a brief stroll in the past. Instead the picture is that of a grueling race in which victory is not at all certain. There is great danger of falling short, falling away, or falling down. Thanks to a sermon by David Platt on the Rich Man and Lazarus, I am wondering whether I am in danger of doing all three.

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Generous Justice: Justified by works not faith alone

Generous Justice: Justified by works not faith alone

Posted on 22. Jan, 2011 by Tim Stoner.

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In Generous Justice Timothy Keller does something almost impossible: he wrestles a golden calf off its marble pedestal while keeping the conservative reader from pushing the eject button. The argument he makes is that caring for the widow, orphans, immigrants and the poor is not an option, it is a duty—it is a necessary act of love. Starkly: choosing not to sacrifically serve those in need is not stinginess but “an offense against God”. And most starkly of all: refusing to “do justice” means we have not been truly saved. He does this gently, but for those with ears to hear Dr. Keller has issued a prophetic pronouncement that will rock the boat and hopefully the world.

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Unbroken: Impossibly true

Unbroken: Impossibly true

Posted on 15. Jan, 2011 by Tim Stoner.

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This astonishing, miraculous true story makes you believe it is possible to transcend yourself. If nothing else it tempts you to think that there is no wall too high, no limitation too restrictive, no pain too intense, and no suffering too excessive, that it need stop us from performing feats of heroic grace. It also says to us that there is always the very real possibility of a miraculous transcendence—despite the terrifying impossibility of the present moment. It is “a celebration of gargantuan fortitude” and easily, the most inspiring book I have read in a decade, at least.

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Desiring the Kingdom: Humans are Lovers not Thinkers

Desiring the Kingdom: Humans are Lovers not Thinkers

Posted on 18. May, 2010 by Tim Stoner.

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Desiring the Kingdom was authored by James K. A. Smith, a philosopny professor at Calvin College and is one of the 10 most influential books I have read. It shines unrelenting light upon the deficits of the traditional perspective on Christian formation-discipleship. Its thesis can be summarized simply: Christians have been wrong for over 400 years in defining humans by placing the focus on the mind–we are thinking beings that are containers for ideas. He argues that being a disciple of Jesus is not primarily a matter of getting the right ideas and doctrines and beliefs into your head; rather, it is a matter of being the kind of person who loves rightly. We are first of all lovers not thinkers. And then he gets dangerous.

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Jesus of Nazareth (Pope Benedict XVI)

Jesus of Nazareth (Pope Benedict XVI)

Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by Tim Stoner.

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This is the best book about Jesus I have ever read. Pope Benedict has written about Jesus brilliantly and insightfully. But, what won me over was His love for the Man he was writing about. This book taught me, corrected me, inspired me and illumined the life of Jesus for me in ways I cannot recall that any other book about Jesus has. It made me love (as well as honor) Jesus more. As a supericilious Protestant, it also humbled me.

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