current reading

for some reason my “now reading” plugin is no longer working with my wordpress install. therefore i’ll just post about what i am reading until i find a plugin that works for me (if you have a recommendation i’ll gladly take it). so here goes the recent and current ones:

  • surprised by hope” by n.t. wright – i love n.t. wright’s way of thinking about things. this work is a great way of refocusing CHRISTians on the resurrection or as wright puts it “life after, life after death. wright does a great job of explaining why the resurrection should direct who CHRISTians are in the present age. “surprised” was so good that i’ll probably read wright’s “the resurrection of the SON of GOD” even though it is a mammoth book.
  • the brief and frightening reign of phil” by george saunders – a quick and fun read. very kurt vonnegut-esque. an interesting parable of how fear can be used to manipulate people into doing things they would never normally agree to.
  • JESUS for president” by shane claiborne & chris haw- i finished this book 11 days short of a year but it didn’t take that long because of it being boring. it was quite good. the design and typography is unlike much i’ve seen (reminded me of “house of leaves“). absolutely amazing book on living in the kingdom versus living in the empire. “J4p” is claiborne’s most blatant and powerful argument yet for CHRISTian pacifism. i think my favorite part is claiborne’s discussion concerning “building the kingdom.” you’ll hear this phrase around many different ministries. it’s pretty egotistical to think that we can “build the kingdom” for GOD. we get to work “with” HIM as HE establishes HIS kingdom, we don’t build it for HIM.
  • currently reading – “omnivore’s dilemma” – i’m 3/4’s through and i think this will be one of those books that changes the way i live. “the jungle” started freaking me out concerning “industrialized meat” and this book has pushed me even further down this path. pam and i have already discussed moving towards grass fed beef and chicken and now thanks to michael pollan we are going to start making the jump. don’t worry mom and dad we aren’t becoming hippies and joining a commune – yet. 🙂
  • currently reading – “pagan CHRISTianity: exploring the roots of our church practices” by frank viola and george barna – i’m probably 1/3 through this book. not sure how i feel about it yet. i think viola and barna raise some reall good and important points but make some very dubious assumptions concerning those points. in particular i think they often confuse extra-biblical with unbiblical. i’m not far enough into the book yet to really make a good call on the book so we’ll see what happens as i get further into it.

i should finish the “omnivore’s dilemma” tomorrow or thursday and then will start reading shane hipps’ “flickering pixels: how technology shapes your faith.” i really enjoyed what hipps said at Q so i am pretty excited about reading this.

SIDE NOTE – i watched “taken” with the boys tonight and my word! it’s an awesome action flick. interesting story and tons of action.

SIDE SIDE NOTE – the nba playoffs are amazing this year.

3 Replies to “current reading”

  1. not sure jim. argentinean beef is world famous and it is grass fed. pollan’s point on corn fed beef is that cows weren’t created to eat corn and therefore need medicine to enable them to digest it effectively. i’m not sure i won’t those meds in my beef.

  2. If the consumption of grass fed beef makes you a commune nut, we already joined. I have tried grass fed beef. We split a cow with Lynn and Bobby a few years back. Also have gotten some from Fresh market. You have to acquire a taste for it, because it taste different. Cooking is also different. But give it a try, you might like it.

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